BigLoad
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Pancakes!
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Post by BigLoad on Dec 1, 2020 12:47:33 GMT -8
Do you have a piece of gear that you enjoy for what others might not consider objectively good reasons?
I was thinking about this yesterday when a big storm was moving through. I have an analog, dual-scale barometric altimeter, where the inner scale (in mmHg) is fixed and the outer (feet) rotates for calibration. ( link)
I enjoy checking the pressure frequently as the weather changes and periodically recalibrating for my home elevation. Yesterday's storm was intense, and the barometer agreed. The reading dropped by ~1200 feet (over 1.1 mmHg) in a couple hours. WNBC reported wind gusts to 60 mph and it rained over 2 inches. Fortunately, the weather inside was pretty dull.
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rebeccad
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Writing like a maniac
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Post by rebeccad on Dec 1, 2020 17:22:52 GMT -8
Well, I would consider that a lovely piece of gear . I think most of the gear I have passes the reason test, even if for many others it wouldn’t pass the necessity test (thinking about my need to have both something to read and something to write on).
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 1, 2020 19:16:18 GMT -8
I don't know, most of my stuff is part of a system I have used in one iteration or another for years. But from a purely weight perspective, I'm sure many would poke a finger at the camera gear I lug around.
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Post by hikerjer on Dec 1, 2020 21:47:54 GMT -8
I don't know that I have one but my youngest son who is an extremely experienced and heavy duty backpacker always takes his favorite pillow. This is not an inflatable or anything like that but an almost full sized regular bed pillow. He scrunches it in his pack for every trip. We've discussed this at length and he refuses to leave it at home. Other than that, he's a pretty reasonable and common sense kind of guy. Somewhere I failed in educating him I guess.
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Post by bluefish on Dec 2, 2020 2:20:05 GMT -8
I suppose it would be the double bivy my wife and I designed and sewed out of WP/B fabric with a radiant material on the inside. We use it with a wide quilt or sleeping bags used as quilts and has been amazingly warm and effective in the winter. It also has kept weight and bulk down significantly. We often stay in Adirondack shelters, shelters on the AT in VT. or Harriman State Park, so the bivy is our only shelter. We have used it cowboy style when it didn't threaten much snow and I set up a tarp in conjunction with it. We did go through a 6" early Oct. dump in The Sierra with it. We'll soon employ the bivy for fat bike trips, I'm currently designing and building racks for panniers for them.
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walkswithblackflies
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Post by walkswithblackflies on Dec 2, 2020 6:21:14 GMT -8
I don't know that I have one but my youngest son who is an extremely experienced and heavy duty backpacker always takes his favorite pillow. Don't underestimate the benefits of a good night's sleep. I always carry a separate set of "camp clothes" to sleep in.
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Post by Coolkat on Dec 2, 2020 7:39:35 GMT -8
This is not an inflatable or anything like that but an almost full sized regular bed pillow. He scrunches it in his pack for every trip. I'm very jealous but not jealous enough to do it myself. Maybe I wouldn't wake up 6 times during the night if I followed his example.
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Post by Coolkat on Dec 2, 2020 7:42:40 GMT -8
Do you have a piece of gear that you enjoy for what others might not consider objectively good reasons? Hmmm... maybe my pocket knife? I always carry it and it comes in handy a lot. However, I will say that it doesn't hardly ever gets used when I'm on the trail. Kind of counter-intuitive. I will say that did use it once to get a fire going in very wet conditions but it wasn't a do or die situation.
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Post by cweston on Dec 2, 2020 8:09:15 GMT -8
I don;t really have anything that qualifies, but I do take possibly inordinate pleasure from using one piece of gear: my Platy 4-liter gravity filter rig. It's super overkill when I'm solo, but I just take such pleasure in being able to bring ample water back to camp and, most importantly, not pump.
I know that something like a Sawyer Mini with repurposed water bottles would be a lighter rig, and the vast majority of my hiking is in well-watered places where I could get away with carrying less water, but the gravity rig just makes me smile and appreciate the ease of it every time.
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BigLoad
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Post by BigLoad on Dec 2, 2020 8:30:29 GMT -8
Do you have a piece of gear that you enjoy for what others might not consider objectively good reasons? Hmmm... maybe my pocket knife? I always carry it and it comes in handy a lot. However, I will say that it doesn't hardly ever gets used when I'm on the trail. Kind of counter-intuitive. I will say that did use it once to get a fire going in very wet conditions but it wasn't a do or die situation.
Oddly enough, I also find a knife more useful in civilization than on the trail. I have knives stationed around the house so I never have to go get one when I need it.
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almostthere
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putting on my hiking shoes....
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Post by almostthere on Dec 2, 2020 8:48:17 GMT -8
It depends on what "no good reason" means. I figure if I want to take the thing, that's a good reason to take it. Although, there was that time my rain gear (in a black stuff sack) drifted all the way to the bottom of the pack and rode there for two more trips, with me packing a second set of rain gear in addition to it, simply because I hadn't bothered to up-end the pack and make sure nothing else was in there before packing it. That would be 'no good reason.'
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Dec 2, 2020 10:50:55 GMT -8
Although, there was that time my rain gear (in a black stuff sack) drifted all the way to the bottom of the pack and rode there for two more trips, with me packing a second set of rain gear in addition to it, simply because I hadn't bothered to up-end the pack and make sure nothing else was in there before packing it. That would be 'no good reason.' 🤣🤣
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FamilySherpa
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Post by FamilySherpa on Dec 3, 2020 5:17:50 GMT -8
Probably my sven saw.
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ErnieW
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Post by ErnieW on Dec 3, 2020 17:26:19 GMT -8
I don;t really have anything that qualifies, but I do take possibly inordinate pleasure from using one piece of gear: Same for me but me it is my Toaks long handle Ti spoon. I almost giggle in anticipation when I get to use it out in the woods. I don't understand why.
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Post by colonelc on Dec 3, 2020 18:39:22 GMT -8
I drilled a hole in this hatchet to attach an Etool blade. Not that I need a hatchet, saw, and shovel, but since I made it. I carry it.
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