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pumped up for school posted:Wasn't sure which backpacking thread to post, but this one says gear, so... sorry if wrong thread. For carrying 50+ lbs of gear, including lots of bulky/awkward stuff, I'd look at military-style rucks, especially the stuff targeted at the SF community. Something like a mystery ranch crewcab might be a good place to start looking, but a ton of brands have popped up over the past decade to service people with needs similar to yours. At the other end of the price scale, a surplus ALICE or MOLLE pack might also work for you- they'd both be top-loaders but both are wider than most civilian gear, so you'd have an easier time packing what you need.
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Aug 5, 2019 16:30
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My favorite pillow solution for camping ended up being a really lightweight packable down jacket. Makes a decent pillow when it’s packed into it’s pocket, and serves double-duty as a extra layer when I need it.
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Aug 5, 2019 17:22
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For a pillow, just use a bladder from your box wine. Add a little air to it and boom. Double duty for when I'm cold. 12% goes a log way when you're tired.
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Aug 5, 2019 17:42
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My pillow is the venerable thermarest trekker pillow. Spare clothes, empty stuff sacks, anything that's vaguely soft gets crammed in there. Not perfect but I'm not super sensitive to pillow quality so it's been fine.
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Aug 5, 2019 17:47
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xzzy posted:My pillow is the venerable thermarest trekker pillow. Spare clothes, empty stuff sacks, anything that's vaguely soft gets crammed in there. Not perfect but I'm not super sensitive to pillow quality so it's been fine. I guess I must order one. 70 grams for a pillow is a lot, but what can you do.. I usually stuff my climashield apex jacket to a pouch but they are all silnylon so they are not very comfortable.
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Aug 5, 2019 17:54
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Heh. I picked up a Nemo Fillo which comes in at a healthy 255g. I can’t stand air pillows; they feel like sleeping on a balloon. And stuffing a puffy and some clothes into the hood of my bag has worked traditionally, but I figure an extra few oz is worth the comfort of a “real” pillow. Never could get used to the stuffing in the thermarest pillows.
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Aug 5, 2019 18:04
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I got the Sea to Summit Aeros Premium Deluxe pillow. It's an inflatible pillow but it also has a soft quilted fabric on the top so it's a bit of a hybrid between both. It's also freaking huge which is great because I'm a stomach sleeper and usually put an arm under my pillow.
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Aug 5, 2019 18:11
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The only pillow that I've ever been able to sleep on is an old-rear end Thermarest compressible. I don't think they've even updated them in the decade since I bought mine, since they're primarily a way for Thermarest to recycle the donut holes that they punch in their foam pads and make extra profit. I could use something lighter, or smaller volume, but I didn't think the money, time, and effort would be well-spent buying things, trying them out, and then returning them if they bombed. The only problem is that compressing it is pointless, it will never re-expand to the point of being usable before you go to sleep unless you leave it out in the sun for the entire day.
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Aug 5, 2019 18:16
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OSU_Matthew posted:
Kind of like surveying + geology. I'm a geophysicist, but a field / applied guy rather than an academic. You use fairly specialized equipment to try and image what's underground. A lot of it was designed by people who never go outside. So heavy, unergonomic, fragile. A good amount of stress for the job is fixing gear once you're out in the sticks. We build some of our own toys into pelican-style cases because we break poo poo. Example field day would be 4-5 of us drive an hour from an old roadside motel to a staging area on BLM land, load up the packs with the toys, grab a GPS, radio, and some hand tools, and just start humping to the top of a hill. You are usually dragging a wire or cable behind you, so straight lines, no switchbacks. Get to your assigned station, you dig a hole, install a sensor, hook up the wire, and radio the poor schmuck in charge (he's got the heaviest pack) that you are ready to record. Maybe do this 5-10 times a day; your stations can be anywhere from 50m-500m apart. I tell people that the pay sucks (it really sucks for field guys), but we get paid to go places other people save to go on vacation. Job has taken me around the world, and way off the beaten paths. Re: MOLLE / modular pack suggestions. *smacks forhead* When I first started doing this poo poo we all used military packs because you could get them in any town with a surplus store. A lot of rucks lashed to frames, when I was in oil & gas in the 90s. I got out of oil and gas and into more environmental stuff, and everyone was using hiking packs & boots so I just got caught up in "this is the way we do it now" and I admit I haven't looked at modular systems in years. I'm not going back to the logging boots, though. That Crew Cab has a price tag that made me cough, but it gives me solid ideas.
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Aug 5, 2019 20:34
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If a job like that opens up that is exclusively in the rocky mountains, give me a call.  It's always hard to balance out the merits of "making money" and "seeing stuff" but at this point in my life it reallly feels like I hosed up taking a desk job. xzzy fucked around with this message at 20:41 on Aug 5, 2019 |
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Aug 5, 2019 20:39
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xzzy posted:If a job like that opens up that is exclusively in the rocky mountains, give me a call. When I was in school I took some time off and worked on seismic crews and that was some of the most fun I'd ever had. Explosives, helicopters, bar fights and truck rollovers. This was late 90s and tail end of an era of no real safety culture. After graduating my first job was a desk job, and I hated it. Stuck under flourescent lights staring at a screen, looking at data someone else collected, that sucked. I took a sizeable pay cut to go back to the field. Eventually I got expensive and I don't get to do much fieldwork these days. I can't keep up with the young guys anyway, they are like billy goats up the mountains. So I do short hitches for specialized stuff, or when we're short a body. Feels like a vacation. Guy in the office next to me calls it "seagull management" where I fly in, poo poo all over everything, then leave. Someone else has to clean up the mess I left. I will say looking at the last few pages of these backpacking and camping threads has given me an itch. I'm in the Sierras now, and since I'm not doing 3-week hitches in Alaska, Northern BC, East Asia or South America anymore, I've got to find my own views. I don't see myself breaking the habit of overpacking and going ultralight, but weekend trips in my neck of the woods should be pretty easy.
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Aug 5, 2019 21:12
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Any suggestions on water purification for a couple? I had an MSR pump filter that took forever and clogged pretty quickly, switched to an MSR Trailshot which worked great out of the box but still a lot of pumping (what a grip strength workout though!) and the filter appears to have failed within a few uses (completely clogged despite backflushing, and this was filtering water from the top of Lake Michigan, so virtually clear/clean already...) I'm thinking gravity system, but can't decide which one. We have two 3L Osprey bladders for our packs and a 6L MSR Dromedary for pre-filling when car camping. I like the idea of a 6L system so I can fill either both bladders or the "basecamp" bladder in one go (so the Katadyn Gravity Camp for example) but I also like having an in-line filter for more versitility (e.g. Platypus GravityWorks). Both have mixed reviews online, but folks seem generally happier with the Platypus). Thoughts??
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Aug 7, 2019 15:19
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amenenema posted:Any suggestions on water purification for a couple? I had an MSR pump filter that took forever and clogged pretty quickly, switched to an MSR Trailshot which worked great out of the box but still a lot of pumping (what a grip strength workout though!) and the filter appears to have failed within a few uses (completely clogged despite backflushing, and this was filtering water from the top of Lake Michigan, so virtually clear/clean already...) I wonder if our lovely collection/assortment of microplastics is treating your filter unkindly.
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Aug 7, 2019 15:24
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I'm always going to recommend the Sawyer squeeze for filtering water. Tiny, lightweight, no moving parts to worry about, and relatively cheap. If you're dead-set on having a gravity filter option you can use the bits that come with the filter to inline it between two reservoirs or get a Cnoc bag that screws right into the threads on the sawyer and hang that.
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Aug 7, 2019 15:26
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I think you should get the filter that is not built into a bag along with quick release couplers to tap into your existing lines. Give you self some options of what to carry. I have a Sawyer squeeze, it's cheap and works fine as a gravity filter, but gently caress actually squeezing the pouches to filter as they intend. Just holding the pouch and filter up as chest level with the filter attached to my hydration pack on the ground gets water filtered faster than me squeezing the pouch to the point of nearly bursting it. One other minor note about gravity filtering: if the filter is up high, the filtering will be slow if there is air in the line below. The total water column height is what gives the pressure gradient over the filter.
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Aug 7, 2019 16:57
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I have a Sawyer as well and it's good for the reasons mentioned. I've never had problems with squeezing gently by rolling it up like a toothpaste tube. It can be tricky filling up the bladder in slow moving water, cattle troughs, ponds etc. Ideally you could use a cup or something to scoop water up and pour but then you're contaminating your cup with giardia.
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Aug 7, 2019 18:59
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amenenema posted:Any suggestions on water purification for a couple? Two sawyer squeeze filters
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Aug 7, 2019 22:22
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For a gravity filter, you can't go wrong with the platypus gravity works. Back flush it now and then and you'll get great flow. Mine has been great for years of use. Never had a single issue with it and requires no pumping or squeezing. The filter itself has 2 nipples, one on either end that will attach to any bladder hose. They also come with quick disconnects so you don't need to fumble with threads etc. The platypus system can be great for one person or a group. You can really make it as big or small as you need. I've gathered several different bladders of various brands over the years and mixed and matched a lot of the hardware like connectors, mouthpiecesand, quick disconnects and such. It's pretty easy to modify them to fit your needs. If you're handy, you can make a lot of modifications and create your own custom attachments.
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Aug 7, 2019 22:31
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The Platypus Gravity Works filter was a revelation the first time I saw it a few years ago. I was hand-pumping with my MSR and my buddy just dipped into the lake, hung the thing on a tree, and had two liters before I was even half way done pumping my first liter. It was like that scene form the Three Amigos where they're all drinking from empty canteens and Dusty Bottoms just rolls up with a bottle full of water. I bought a kit when I got home.
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Aug 8, 2019 01:03
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I’m going to work on a hammock setup this fall. As far as warmth goes, I know an under quilt is good so that it doesn’t compress under weight, but can I get away with something more packable than a sleeping bag for on top? Some kind of light down blanket? I’m thinking no lower than 40F.
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Aug 20, 2019 20:38
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I've ordered this little guy: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BTHREMK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_image_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I'm hoping it'll replace my way-too-big sleeping bag. I get to begin testing it this week in my living room. Cuz I ain't no punk bitch.
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Aug 20, 2019 20:53
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Camped in a hammock for one night, had a great time Took my girlfriend out this past weekend for her first ever camping trip, so I brought my tent And I just Can’t loving to back to tent camping now So now I guess I’m investing money into a better hammock setup hooray
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Aug 20, 2019 23:22
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Are all of you back sleepers or something? e: I kind of want one for campsite lounging though. They seem pretty nice for when you just want to chill out and read your kindle. waffle enthusiast fucked around with this message at 02:37 on Aug 21, 2019 |
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Aug 21, 2019 01:02
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I’d tried hammock camping for a night, didn’t feel quite right for me, but even worse was my dog couldn’t figure out what to make of it, and kept nosing me to check that I was still there every 20 minutes. Or maybe he was just mad it prevented his usual exploiting my being asleep to use me as a pillow, who knows.
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Aug 21, 2019 01:29
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Dangerllama posted:Are all of you back sleepers or something? I can only fall asleep on my side, and then immediately roll onto my back And then my apnea takes hold and I wake up and have to repeat the process But it im sleeping in my hammock I can fall asleep on my back with no issue? And the apnea seems to be gone, maybe from having my head elevated, I dunno. And I don’t have to deal with the hard ground and lovely pillow situation and gosh it’s just the fuckin beeeeest sleep I’ve ever slept
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Aug 21, 2019 05:25
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Dangerllama posted:Are all of you back sleepers or something? Big hammock fan, and I’m a side/stomach sleeper normally. What’s nice is that a hammock fabric cradles you perfectly so you don’t have pressure points, and I can flip into a fetal position and splay my feet to get comfortable a lot better than on a ground pad &mummy bag. Only downside is not sleeping with your SO, but if you’re both hot and sweaty, that’s actually a relief imho. Rolo posted:I’m going to work on a hammock setup this fall. As far as warmth goes, I know an under quilt is good so that it doesn’t compress under weight, but can I get away with something more packable than a sleeping bag for on top? Some kind of light down blanket? I’m thinking no lower than 40F. Highly recommend Hammock Gear’s Econ line: https://hammockgear.com/economy-burrow/ I own several of their quilts and under quilts and have been super happy with them over the years. Plus they’re made locally to me in Columbus, so that’s pretty neat, and they’re affordable and customizable for height etc. The down they use in their Econ line is of slightly lower fill power than their premium down, and the fabric is slightly different but still super soft and comfy. However the grey duck down fill power they use now is still higher than my 6 year old premium white down quilts were to begin with, so it’s all relative. You basically gain 1-2 ounces and save a hundred bucks, which is a great deal in my book. Also, if you’re looking at hammocks, I highly recommend Warbonnet Blackbird XLC: https://www.warbonnetoutdoors.com/product/blackbird-xlc/ Expensive, but durable, easiest and quickest suspension I’ve found, comfiest with the foot shelf, and I’ve found that buying well the first time saves money in the end. Also recommend looking at Dutchware Gear: https://dutchwaregear.com/ He’s always got clever and awesome products for hammocking. Plus! Since you motorcycle, Hammocks are great to take on the bike because how well they pack down to easily stowable pouches. No long awkward rods for the tent. Catatron Prime fucked around with this message at 06:45 on Aug 21, 2019 |
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Aug 21, 2019 06:41
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Didn't Dutch get cancelled for treating a bunch of people in the industry like poo poo? I remember reading someone fairly prominent creating drama on BPL but can't find it now.
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Aug 21, 2019 07:38
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OSU_Matthew posted:Big hammock fan, and I’m a side/stomach sleeper normally. What’s nice is that a hammock fabric cradles you perfectly so you don’t have pressure points, and I can flip into a fetal position and splay my feet to get comfortable a lot better than on a ground pad &mummy bag. Only downside is not sleeping with your SO, but if you’re both hot and sweaty, that’s actually a relief imho. Thanks! And yeah, motorcycle camping is the eventual plan. I’m hoping I can get an under/over quilt, my SingleNest, straps, net and tarp to pack better than my full bag, pillow, pad and passage 2 tent. I’m assuming it’ll be easier. Plus I’m just an uneasy sleeper when I’m on the floor of a forest.
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Aug 21, 2019 16:01
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OSU_Matthew posted:Big hammock fan, and I’m a side/stomach sleeper normally. What’s nice is that a hammock fabric cradles you perfectly so you don’t have pressure points, and I can flip into a fetal position and splay my feet to get comfortable a lot better than on a ground pad &mummy bag. Only downside is not sleeping with your SO, but if you’re both hot and sweaty, that’s actually a relief imho. All good recommendations. If you're looking at Hammock Gear also check out Enlightened Equipment (especially if you're looking for synthetic fill options). They make custom stuff but also have off-the-shelf items (mostly returns I'd guess) at a discount.
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Aug 21, 2019 23:43
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Just bought a klymit luxe pillow to go with my luxe sleeping pad Both SUPER solid buys. Very comfy, pack down light and tiny. I don't need a ton of R value so they're perfect for me.
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Aug 22, 2019 01:14
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Side sleeper, went from hammocking to tenting and been chilling there for a few years. A good pad makes a difference
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Aug 23, 2019 00:16
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Just a point of note: There are only 2 venomous snakes in Australia that can climb so if you're not interested in being a hot water bottle for a snek then getting off the ground is a viable strategy for a good nights sleep in the bush.
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Aug 23, 2019 00:25
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Everything is poisonous or monstrous in size or both in that roasted hellscape
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Aug 23, 2019 01:48
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Inceltown posted:Just a point of note: There are only 2 venomous snakes in Australia that can climb so if you're not interested in being a hot water bottle for a snek then getting off the ground is a viable strategy for a good nights sleep in the bush. Only 2 can climb. The rest can fly.
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Aug 23, 2019 02:20
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Inceltown posted:Just a point of note: There are only 2 venomous snakes in Australia that can climb so if you're not interested in being a hot water bottle for a snek then getting off the ground is a viable strategy for a good nights sleep in the bush. I will never
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Aug 23, 2019 04:42
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I use source liquitainer 2L and 1L with Sawyer squeeze. Sawyer comes with adapter that allows you to connect the water bottle and filter together. I just leave the bag to hang from tree/walking pole and the bag fills up automatically. I also pop katadyn chlorine tablets to kill viruses, just to be extra sure. 2 water bottles are 90g, Sawyer 110g and Sawyer pouch+adapter like 50g. Water purification tablets in a film can are maybe 10grams So for 260grams you can purify all water and carry 5liters if needed. I think it is quite reasonable weight. The plastic "bag" type bottles seem to be durable too unless you poke holes to them with sharp objects. Pouch can be hard to fill sometimes, but I use my cooking pot as a scoop. I boil water for 1-2mins after that to sterilize the cooking pot. Ihmemies fucked around with this message at 20:00 on Aug 23, 2019 |
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Aug 23, 2019 19:51
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Rolo posted:I will never I don't get why I never see americans talking about these guys: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarantula_hawk quote:Tarantula hawk wasps are relatively docile and rarely sting without provocation. However, the sting—particularly that of P. grossa—is among the most painful of all insects, though the intense pain only lasts about five minutes.[8] One researcher described the pain as "...immediate, excruciating, unrelenting pain that simply shuts down one's ability to do anything, except scream. Mental discipline simply does not work in these situations."[5] In  seems terrifying to me e: their venom is really interesting. They reproduce by laying larva in the bodies of tarantula's they have paralyzed with their venom, but it specificly does not kill them as then their bodies would start to rot too fast. Separately, their venom is extremely painful to all verterbrates to the extent that they have no known predators. distortion park fucked around with this message at 09:08 on Aug 30, 2019 |
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Aug 30, 2019 09:00
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MooseJaw is having a sale along with everyone else but they’ve got ENO stuff for 25% off. I finally pulled the trigger on turning my hammock into a command center!
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Aug 30, 2019 18:08
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Car camping question: what’s the current go-to for pots/pans? I have an ancient MSR cook set that’s wearing away the Teflon. I want to replace it, and would prefer a non-Teflon option. I also usually bring a cast iron skillet, which means I mostly need a solid pot option. I’d rather not bring any of my “real” cookware from home. It’s not very packable and I don’t want to accidentally screw it up. The boxes they sell at REI like the GSI Bugaboo, or Glacier stuff all feel a bit too “kit” for car camping though?
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Aug 30, 2019 21:00
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Dangerllama posted:Car camping question: what’s the current go-to for pots/pans? Thrift store. The stuff they sell at camping stores is overpriced and unnecessary for car camping. You can build a complete car camping cook set for like $20 at your local thrift shop, and its cheap status will mean you don't care about dings and dents and whatever.
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Aug 31, 2019 00:55
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