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Tomato Soup posted:I'd suggest checking Merrell Moab Ventilator out. They have great arch support and are hella comfortable. I'm on my second pair now and when the soles wear out, I'm getting the same model again. Thanks! I'll check them out.
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May 8, 2013 21:42
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Anyone have any thoughts about steripens or various other UV light devices for sterilizing water? I recently met up with some buddies who were trekking through Nepal and North India with them, and they swear by the things. They kept recommending them while sneering at my bottled water, which I plan to keep using since even the locals are saying they won't drink from the tap. Also, despite my buddies recommendations they'd been battling some sort of parasite for a month or so, and I'm pretty sure one of then had an enflamed liver. Even if it does kill bacteria, I don't know if its covering all the bases. I'm very skeptical, but open to hearing other anecdotes.
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May 10, 2013 19:40
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I asked some hiking guy about them one time and he said they're ok but he doesn't trust them because they don't kill X. I forgot what X was. Probably some sort of parasite.
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May 10, 2013 20:21
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The science supports them but it's kind of a wasted effort if you're not going into the wilderness. I wouldn't use them on tap water because they're really just sterilization devices. Anything that started out in that water is still in there, it's just dead now. They're not filters or anything. Also they don't do anything about minerals or toxicity so if there's lead pipes you'll still get all the same amount of lead, or whatever. Personally I just stick to bottled water.
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May 10, 2013 21:07
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The Steripen works best in combination with a filter like a Katadyn - you get rid of the big stuff in the filter and then zap any biologicals that make it through with the Steripen. I often carry them with me but I'd use clean bottled water before purified suspect water anytime.
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May 11, 2013 03:06
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Timbuk2 has a pretty nice-looking new pack, I just wish it had padded handles: http://www.timbuk2.com/tb2/products/aviator-travel-pack
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May 15, 2013 20:28
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The Arc'Teryx Covert C/O (the carry on size case  ) is on the pricier end of bags and lacks padded handles but I've found really nice in terms of carrying capacity and is actually pretty easy to carry. If you're going to be taking all your belongings with you everyday then you'll be better off with a proper backpack but if you want a nice carry-on pack with lots of space, a good selection of pockets (but not so many you can never find where you left stuff) that's easy transporting then it's a really nice bag. There's a handle on each side and the backpack straps are actually reasonably comfortable. The shoulder strap configuration feels a little precarious though if it's fully loaded but I might just be a little paranoid about clip strength (had the bag pretty fully loaded).
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May 19, 2013 02:23
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Can anyone recommend me a backpack for hostelling around Europe that is within Easyjet's 56x45x25cm size requirement? We're bringing a separate suitcase for hold luggage, so I need something that will be allowed as a carry on.
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May 20, 2013 07:39
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Mr.AARP posted:Can anyone recommend me a backpack for hostelling around Europe that is within Easyjet's 56x45x25cm size requirement? We're bringing a separate suitcase for hold luggage, so I need something that will be allowed as a carry on. A year ago my wife and I spent 3 weeks in Europe. We both had the MEI Executive Overnighter and they worked out great. We didn't check any luggage and you probably shouldn't either.
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May 20, 2013 15:44
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Checking luggage should be avoided indeed. If you're in Canada or close to Canada you could probably find the perfect pack at MEC. Maybe check their site https://www.mec.ca
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May 20, 2013 18:53
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Ghumbs posted:We didn't check any luggage and you probably shouldn't either. I'll echo this too. My wife and I travel to Europe every summer. Last year was the first year we went without a checked bag. While difficult on her, it has now been learned, that this is the only way to go. Trains and buses and the unexpected headaches you can and will get from checking luggage through international planes make it worth the hassle.
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May 20, 2013 21:51
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For me the first time I cruised by the other 300 people on my flight and went straight to customs made it all worthwhile. Deal alert: both Timbuk2 and Eagle Creek stuff is on sale right now.
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May 20, 2013 21:54
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qirex posted:For me the first time I cruised by the other 300 people on my flight and went straight to customs made it all worthwhile. We learned this in the worst way possible waiting for bags at the Frankfurt, Germany airport for 2 HOURS!!!!! one year. Then, we and 200+ of our tired traveling plane-mates, had to wait for a customs check for another 30-60 minutes as the rest of the morning international flights started to arrive. It does and will happen to you too. Never, ever again.
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May 20, 2013 22:17
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LaserWash posted:I'll echo this too. My wife and I travel to Europe every summer. Last year was the first year we went without a checked bag. While difficult on her, it has now been learned, that this is the only way to go. Trains and buses and the unexpected headaches you can and will get from checking luggage through international planes make it worth the hassle. And it becomes a real nightmare if your luggage gets lost... especially if you're moving around a lot.
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May 21, 2013 01:12
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Ghumbs posted:We didn't check any luggage and you probably shouldn't either. Edit: Nevermind, we'll only be bringing carry ons now as per the overwhelming advice. The bag I decided on was the Osprey Porter 46 since it narrowly skirts the restrictions of all of the airlines we'll be flying on. However, the Juniper Green pack is $20 cheaper than the charcoal version. I know the advice is to avoid flashy packs to avoid thieves attention, but is it worth an extra $20? 
Mr.AARP fucked around with this message at 04:15 on May 21, 2013 |
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May 21, 2013 02:42
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That pack isn't flashy don't worry about it. Drab green is probably less attractive to thieves than charcoal anyway, it's colors like bright yellow or red that naturally draw the eye that you want to be a little cautious about buying, or anything with a bunch of horrible brand name poo poo all over it (Louis Vuitton or Coach or whatever). Save the 20. Also bravo on converting your evil sister. She'll see how right you are after a week. Score one more for travel gear thread. raton fucked around with this message at 04:25 on May 21, 2013 |
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May 21, 2013 04:22
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Sheep-Goats posted:
Yeah, funny enough it was actually my mother who was most adamant about us bringing checked baggage. Once I convinced my sister that the chances of something happening to our luggage while going through 5 airports was astronomically high, it was a pretty easy sell. I figure any souvenirs we pick up along the way I can just mail home from the post office since Air Berlin has a weight limit of 17.5lbs for carry on.
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May 21, 2013 04:35
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I've flown a huge number of times, still do, and have never had a problem. I mean I get the security of having stuff on you at all times but I think you may be overestimating the frequency at which checked luggage mistakes occur.
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May 22, 2013 22:09
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All this talk of no check luggage is making me jealous. I'm off to a two week company trip to Europe. So that means loading up on samples, catalogs and all sorts of things for checked luggage. Oh and my co workers are deathly scared of going hungry in an European city so that means instant noodles and a kettle. I will probably bring a big empty hard shell with rollers. Yes I can bring an empty duffel bag instead but carrying one for a business trip is not the greatest impression :-(
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May 23, 2013 01:52
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CelestialScribe posted:I've flown a huge number of times, still do, and have never had a problem. It's not so much the frequency but the massive inconvenience if something does happen. If you're going somewhere on holiday and taking one flight, chances are nothing happens and if it does then you'll probably get your bag to the hotel a day or two late. Bags actually vanishing are unusual (although recently a friend of mine had some visitors in China who were bringing him out some prescription medicine he couldn't/wouldn't get there. They put the medicine in one of their checked bags and of course that was the one that disappeared. I think it got back to them after 6 weeks or so). The problem if you're flying from country to country is that even if your luggage just ends up on a flight the next day you might be going on to somewhere before it gets to your hotel and the whole thing becomes a clusterfuck. The chances of something happening also go up a lot as you're taking a number of flights and if you've not got a lot of time in a place even just having to spend a couple of extra hours in the airport can gently caress with your schedule a lot. Basically if you're just flying somewhere for a holiday and keeping a central base for a couple of weeks then checked baggage isn't any kind of worry. If you're country hopping on planes and have a relatively tight schedule then the risk avoided and cumulative time saved waiting for luggage is probably worth it. Anything in between is, well, in between.
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May 23, 2013 04:40
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caberham posted:Oh and my co workers are deathly scared of going hungry in an European city so that means instant noodles and a kettle. Uh, I don't know that there is a European city you'd really need to worry about this in... if you were talking about being dropped off to camp in the middle of a desert or something... The trip I went on most recently to South America was the first time I tried carry-on only. I was mystified at not having to wait in line at all to get through customs. Seriously, I went from plane to waiting for the park-n-ride shuttle in about 5 minutes, in Dallas. It was insane. Compare that to taking ~1 hour and fifteen minutes the last time I came in from an international country. I was able to pack 8 days worth of clothes into an eBags Weekender and had my papers and some electronics in my small backpack. I actually ignored this thread's advice and packed an extra pair of shoes (that I never wore) and had tons of clothes left over at the end of eight days. It's more than worth it. Next time do what I did and just refuse to bring anymore than a carry on. Unless you're totally destitute it's not like buying a shirt here and there or a pair of pants/socks/boxers will be difficult. Well, unless you're heading back to that desert again, maybe.
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May 23, 2013 05:14
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caberham posted:Oh and my co workers are deathly scared of going hungry in an European city so that means instant noodles and a kettle. I'm currently in Slovakia. It might not be known for its food but the supermarkets, small food stands and restaurants serve everything and anything you'd find back home and I'm sure all European cities is the same. Depending on where you're going I'd ditch the kettle and buy one locally. 1 you won't need to buy a fancy power converter that will probably fail on you and screw up your kettle and 2 not only will you not need a converter for it but it will probably be so cheap to buy one that you can ditch it before your leave.
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May 23, 2013 10:39
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I've never had checked luggage lost before (I rarely need it), but I'm well aware that airport baggage handlers hate me, and they hate my luggage. Not specifically me, just everyone who is human and travels on a plane. caberham posted:Oh and my co workers are deathly scared of going hungry in an European city so that means instant noodles and a kettle. Please tell me this is a joke. If it's not, slap them into unconsciousness and when they come around please inform them that if all they can eat is burgers and fries, then they can get burgers and fries. Probably from a McDonalds too if that's important.
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May 23, 2013 12:48
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Mr.AARP posted:Edit: Nevermind, we'll only be bringing carry ons now as per the overwhelming advice. Hey, that's my bag! I really love that thing, it's the easiest bag to pack I've ever used and it's amazingly resilient. I hauled it around for 18 continuous months and right now it's on its second trip with me. It's been through about 30 countries, two monsoons, a flood, two deserts, more bus racks and rainstorms than I can count and more than its fair share of being kicked around and it's not even showing signs of wear yet. The shoulder straps are comfortable enough to haul around for a few hours at a time, it's totally nondescript next to all the bright-colored pocket-covered crap everyone else uses and because of the lack of visible outside pockets and bits hanging off of it, once you clip those outside straps shut it looks way smaller than it really is. The best thing about it is that it's just one big rectangular pocket, and all the extra pockets are clearly sewn into places where someone noticed they could create more space with them rather than eating into the box. So it's really easy to fit packing cubes into it perfectly without wasting space, and you wind up with much more compact luggage (I use two of them and it's perfect, there's almost an entire 20L-sized bag worth of spare space afterwards and 90% of my clothes fit in the cubes). I pack somewhere around the middle range by backpacker standards but that Osprey bag winds up always being one of the smallest actual packages in every luggage office it's ever sat in just because it compresses down so well. The one downside is that it's not really the best thing to hike with - I wouldn't take it backpacking, in the camping sense. The hip strap isn't great. I have carried it on my back for 6-7 continuous hours without any major discomfort, I just wouldn't want to do that every day. But for travel backpacking it's perfect, I haven't seen anything easier to handle moving around between planes, trains, buses etc. and it's both much more secure and far easier to pack than most bags. e: oh and the dongles broke off all of the important zippers pretty much immediately but the zippers themselves are totally reliable heavy-duty things. I just tied some string to the zips and haven't had problems since. duralict fucked around with this message at 12:54 on May 23, 2013 |
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May 23, 2013 12:51
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Azzip posted:Please tell me this is a joke. If it's not, slap them into unconsciousness and when they come around please inform them that if all they can eat is burgers and fries, then they can get burgers and fries. Probably from a McDonalds too if that's important. I too thought maybe it was a joke, but after the whole "there was a dog kidnapping in Germany, can I bring pepper spray on the plane for when I go?" question in the Help I'm Going to Europe thread. I assume all questions/ideas are at the up most importance.
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May 23, 2013 13:27
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Azzip posted:Please tell me this is a joke. If it's not, slap them into unconsciousness and when they come around please inform them that if all they can eat is burgers and fries, then they can get burgers and fries. Probably from a McDonalds too if that's important. As I recall, caberham lives in HK. I've heard of Chinese tourists bringing instant noodles (much to the chagrin of tour operators/restaurateurs), but I don't know if I'd heard of HKers doing it.
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May 23, 2013 15:42
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Well, my guys are good folk but the company culture is very very frugal and historically going to Europe/The West is a major expensive thing. They are also not very adventurous. I better stop revealing more  It's my first time going but last year my co-workers were train hopping every other late night across Europe and Eastern Europe, checking in at rural town hotels or arrived at really small train stations. Sometimes when it's 10pm the restaurants were already closed and the people had to settle for noodles. They did buy some from the supermarket but "the soup base tasted really gross and ruined the instant noodles"  This time, we are just going to Stuttgart, Venice, and Berlin. The co-workers always feel more confident this time because I can help them out ordering food. It was a bit embarrassing picking some random dish when it turns out to be raw beef, eggs and onions (yum);
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May 23, 2013 18:03
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I usually stuff a couple of Clif bars in my bag in case of emergency but bringing a kettle just for instant noodles seems like a bit much.
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May 23, 2013 18:46
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caberham posted:This time, we are just going to Stuttgart, Venice, and Berlin. The co-workers always feel more confident this time because I can help them out ordering food. It was a bit embarrassing picking some random dish when it turns out to be raw beef, eggs and onions (yum); I can't speak for Stuttgart but the other two places you will have no problem getting 24-hour food.
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May 24, 2013 01:39
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I was on an internship to China in college and one of the Americans packed a loving desk lamp because he didn't know if they'd have lights.
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May 24, 2013 01:49
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Hi guys, almost done packing. It's a nice suit case:
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May 24, 2013 09:21
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caberham posted:Hi guys, almost done packing. It's a nice suit case: I think I figured it out. You and your colleagues work for an instant noodle factory and you're all going to Europe to strengthen the euro noodle exchange policies.
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May 24, 2013 11:17
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Kolta posted:I think I figured it out. You and your colleagues work for an instant noodle factory and you're all going to Europe to strengthen the euro noodle exchange policies. Backing this theory too. World domination awaits!
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May 24, 2013 11:48
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Well now I'm just pissed off... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDXEngeRvt4 JUST CARRY THE loving THING YOU LAZY DOUCHE
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Jun 3, 2013 23:00
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Sheep-Goats posted:Well now I'm just pissed off... In fairness, I think the bike attachment is kind of a cool idea. Dunno how practical it would be in real life though.
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Jun 3, 2013 23:21
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Sheep-Goats posted:Well now I'm just pissed off... That said I think I don't think this design makes a lot of sense; it's sort of neat but perhaps too complicated and it turns the bike into a trike. It makes much more sense to attach something like a Burley Travoy to a normal bike:  This being a burley product it's a bit expensive but I'm sure you could rig something like this yourself from a normal handcart. mystes fucked around with this message at 00:41 on Jun 4, 2013 |
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Jun 4, 2013 00:38
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mystes posted:You can go a lot farther a lot faster on a bike, and with a lot of weight it wouldn't be that comfortable to carry.  That stupid thing (from my video) isn't going to stop theft either. He actually attaches a normal wheel to it at the end of the video anyway. loving useless.
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Jun 4, 2013 00:48
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So, shoes are turning into quite a mission to find (in the UK) what looks like the right pair for me. My main requirements are to have extremely durable sole (vibram), and good breathability for the hot climates. Also would want the option of being able to pass as semi-formal where needed as per the OP. http://www.newforestfootwear.com/men%27s-sword-walking-shoes-781.html These seem good, though I'm wondering if the styling is a bit "trainery" (would welcome others opinions on this). Also kinda pricey, but I'd rather spend a bit more a decent pair that'll be exactly what I need than trying to skimp for a few quid. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Merrell-ORBIT-GLOVE-Trainers-Schwarz/dp/B007YHCMLW/ref=sr_1_47?s=shoes&ie=UTF8&qid=1370811569&sr=1-47 Also, does anyone have experience with these or similar? My last pair of Merrell's lasted ages and were well comfy, so this is always a plus, but I haven't worn the "barefoot" style before. Looked in a few shops but they didn't have any. Styling seems like it could work in the pass-for-formal test as trousers/pants would hang down over the trainery bit on the side I reckon.
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Jun 9, 2013 23:12
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Azzip posted:
My two cents, replace the laces with solid colored ones and they'd pass for dressy.
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Jun 10, 2013 01:42
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Azzip posted:So, shoes are turning into quite a mission to find (in the UK) what looks like the right pair for me. My main requirements are to have extremely durable sole (vibram), and good breathability for the hot climates. Also would want the option of being able to pass as semi-formal where needed as per the OP. Try Ebay too. You can probably find some decent leather shoes with a vibram sole used for like 60 bucks there whereas they'd be hundreds new. Let us know what you end up with -- this thread is still hungry for shoe info and UK info. Personally I think those Merrells would be pretty good!
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Jun 10, 2013 02:29
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