|
So I got 3 snow shovels and a snow saw for Christmas... Time to do some snow camping methinks. I had a collapsible black diamond snow shovel on my wish list so someone on one side of the family got me that then my dad who was an old school mountaineer in the cascades wrapped up and gave me two of his climbing snow shovels that he used to use. I'll probably use the black diamond for actual stuff and one of the old ones as a loaner for friends that join as well as to keep in the car for snowboard days. I was hoping someone who has done some snow camping could recommend a good book or web resource for packing lists/preparedness as well as best practice type info. I've watched enough videos on building quinzhee huts that I think I'll have that figured out but the more prepared the better right?
|
#
¿
Dec 28, 2012 00:54
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 4, 2024 06:12 |
|
|
Speaking of winter camping... I'm planning a trip to go snow camping on mt. hood with a friend in March. We probably won't hike in far, maybe a few miles into some closed for the winter campgrounds with snowshoes. Neither of us has camped in a snow-shelter before though. I'm hoping to find a weekend where there's fairly fresh snow but it's not too cold and not raining... say 25-32 degree weather which is fairly normal for that area this time of year. I wanted to ask though, should my 20 degree North Face Cat's Meow sleeping bag do the trick if we're sleeping in a shelter? Does anyone have experience building quinzhee huts? That was our plan, and from what I'm reading they can stay fairly warm if you build them right. I just thought it'd be a fun first experience snow-camping.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 6, 2013 01:10
|
|
|
PabloBOOM posted:You only say that because you're still asleep when you roll over at 3am, while your hiking buddy shoves leaves in their ears. I've never really understood how people that are light sleepers deal with sleeping outside on camping trips without some industrial strength earplugs or something. I always read complaints about air mattresses that are too noisy or whatever and for some reason I just can't wrap my head around how something like that would wake someone up when you're sleeping outside with wind/rain/river/animals all around you making various noises.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 6, 2013 01:54
|
|
|
mastershakeman posted:I've done quinzhees probably a dozen times, including in my back yard in Chicago. Expect to spend all day working on it, because you really need to let the snow settle for several hours. And make it really, really big, because the last thing you want to have is very little clearance for getting in/out, because you'll get absolutely soaked doing so, especially in warmish temperatures like you're planning on being. I think as long as you have an insulated pad and thick clothes you'll be fine in a 20 degree bag, especially in a shelter, but you might want to try out a night in a backyard if you can beforehand to make sure. wish I could, but we'd be making a rain quinzhee in my backyard. Portland's at about 50' above sea level, where we'd be camping is 3600+ ft. or closer to 5,000 ft if we wanted to go up even higher on the mountain. But yeah, winter around here is typically 40 degrees and rainy while it'll be between 20-30 degrees up on the mountain. So it's really several hours to wait eh? I mean I guess what we could do is get up there around noon or so, pile up the snow, go hike around and eat lunch, come back and hollow it out right before sunset and then just go to sleep early or something. I was hoping to take some nice late night landscape photos. This is where I'd like to head, inspiring photo of the lake/mountain that makes me want to get out: http://www.portlandhikers.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=14214 MMD3 fucked around with this message at 06:35 on Feb 6, 2013 |
|
#
¿
Feb 6, 2013 06:32
|
|
|
mastershakeman posted:Yeah, it takes a few hours to settle. I'd build it to at least 5 feet tall for most of it just to make sure you have room, since it'll probably settle down at least a foot, and you need to leave a decent amount of snow for thickness. I served my time in the midwest... went to school in Grand Rapids, I've had enough of lake-effect winters to last me a good long while :/
|
|
#
¿
Feb 6, 2013 06:43
|
|
|
JAY ZERO SUM GAME posted:If you guys in the US don't use Google Earth to help plan trips, you're missing out. They have every trail in every National Park well marked, with distances between waypoints and campgrounds, you name it. please tell me there's a way to load google topos/routes onto my garmin 450, that'd be rad.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 12, 2013 04:59
|
|
|
FYI for anyone wanting to try for the Enchantment Lakes in WA this summer, permit lottery starts this week: http://www.recreation.gov/wildernessAreaDetails.do?page=details&contractCode=NRSO&parkId=72280
|
|
#
¿
Feb 12, 2013 07:08
|
|
|
i_heart_ponies posted:I can only speak to the east side of the park, since that's where I've spent the past few weekends. Fall River Road and Trail Ridge Road are both closed until Spring, but the Beaver Meadows Entrance is accessible and all the fire closures that were hopping in December along around the Moraine Park and Bear Lake Road have been lifted. There is some construction on Bear Lake Road where the road is graded dirt / gravel for about 10-15 minutes before Glacier Gorge, but the only even moderately sketchy part of that road (the final switchbacks up to the Bear Lake trailhead) is still paved. The entire thing is passable to any car. the 450t comes pre-loaded, I bought the version w/out preloaded maps. I've been meaning to look into taking a class or something to maximize how I use my GPS. I haven't used it as much as I was hoping to date. Was really hoping to start logging all of my hikes so I can load them up to garmin connect or whatever as a sort of journal. At the moment it has this mapset loaded on it: http://www.switchbacks.com/nwtopos/
|
|
#
¿
Feb 16, 2013 01:30
|
|
|
jamal posted:I have that map too. It's pretty good but I use one specific for my state (Montana) plus an extra trails overlay. are you or anyone familiar with a good iOS offline GPS mapper? A friend of mine was showing me Orux maps on Android and it pulls topos and satellite maps from Google from the looks of it. It'd be amazing if there was something similar for iPhone. I've seen a few offline gps mappers but not sure if any of them are as good and they cost ~$10 so I'd rather get some recommendations before I start purchasing them.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 17, 2013 21:54
|
|
|
I don't suppose anyone here has experience with Snow Peak's tents? I've got some of their titanium cookware that I love as well as one of their stoves but don't know much about the rest of their equipment. I might be doing some event photography for them which would pay money + gear credit and I'm looking at their catalog to see if any of their tents would be something I'd like to pick up. The only reason I'm even remotely questioning it is that I can get 50% off of Mt. Hardwear tents pretty much whenever I want. Wondering if the credit would be better spent on car-camping gear like a table and chairs or something. Here are their tents: http://www.snowpeak.com/shelters/tents.html
|
|
#
¿
Feb 25, 2013 20:59
|
|
|
MMD3 posted:I don't suppose anyone here has experience with Snow Peak's tents? I've got some of their titanium cookware that I love as well as one of their stoves but don't know much about the rest of their equipment. I might be doing some event photography for them which would pay money + gear credit and I'm looking at their catalog to see if any of their tents would be something I'd like to pick up. The only reason I'm even remotely questioning it is that I can get 50% off of Mt. Hardwear tents pretty much whenever I want. Wondering if the credit would be better spent on car-camping gear like a table and chairs or something. So I've got a $1000 gift card for Snow Peak for doing a photography job for them. Trying to figure out the best way to spend this, it shouldn't be too difficult considering they have tons of rad stuff and it's all pretty $$$ but I'm trying to make sure I don't waste it on stuff I'll never use. I was happy to discover they carry Gransfors Bruks axes so I think I'll have to get a small hatchet that I've been ogling for a while now. I already have some Snow Peak Ti cookware that I've been using for backpacking for a few years as well as one of their stoves Some of the stuff they make is stuff I'd never have considered taking on a backpacking trip but I really like the thought of it. Is something like a collapsible aluminum backpacking table a really dumb idea or something that may actually be handy? I may just end up stocking up on some car camping gear like a table and some folding chairs even if I wouldn't use them as frequently as backpacking stuff. A titanium flask is a dumb waste right? right??
|
|
#
¿
Mar 4, 2013 20:09
|
|
|
jollygrinch posted:Yes, but I've been so close to getting one so many times now... It'll happen, I can feel the money melting out of my wallet. I've got this Ti set: http://www.snowpeak.com/cookware/backpacking/ti-mini-solo-combo-scs-004t.html and one of these single walled cups: http://www.snowpeak.com/tableware/cups-mugs/titanium-single-cup-2-mg-002.html A double-walled mug would certainly be nice though.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 7, 2013 04:39
|
|
|
enraged_camel posted:Hey guys! I've been playing around with some ideas for a business. One of them is a website that sells niche backpacking items. In addition to dropshipping them to the customer, the website would also contain high quality guides and articles for properly setting up and using the equipment. I'm trying to think of any backpacking or camping gear that would require a setup guide that doesn't already come with it. I mean most backpacking gear is painfully simple to use, only exceptions that I can think of are some water filters and tents but those typically come with good instruction manuals. I also am having a difficult time thinking of any backpacking gear that I can't get fast shipping on through amazon or direct sale through the manufacturers site and I'm drawing a blank. Not trying to shoot down your idea, I'm sure someone can think of something but honestly I can't think of any type of product that would meet your description right now. Do you have some items in mind already that you can give us as an example? I can think of niche backpacking brands but not niche items... seems like your average packing list for any major backpacking trip has very standard/familiar equipment in it although everyone's preference differs on which brands they prefer and what their personal philosophy is for weight vs. cost etc. I think an interesting idea for a site might be some well curated packing lists based on specific locales or trips, with the equipment well photographed and a business model built around affiliate marketing. IE if I'm new to backpacking and I want to learn everything there is to know about what to pack for the AT and how to shop for gear I could go to this site, see some example packing lists, click on each item and see some product reviews and tent setup guides on youtube, etc. If you made it stylish enough and the navigation was easy to figure out you might be able to cut out a market.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 17, 2013 07:55
|
|
|
BleakLewis posted:Looks like REI has calculated dividends! Haven't seen the usual %20 off coupon yet. $37, WOOH! not sure what to buy... sure I'll think of something at some point but I'm pretty well stocked at the moment.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 19, 2013 01:10
|
|
|
another vote for shock absorption being nice in trekking poles. I've got a pair of Leki's that have them and I really appreciate them. I only use trekking poles on hikes with serious incline/decline for the most part and it's really nice to have that little bit of absorption. They still hold plenty stiff and feel solid, it's not like a pogo stick. If you've never used them before I'd certainly recommend trying them out.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 19, 2013 07:24
|
|
|
GobiasIndustries posted:I've been looking through my clothing recently and I realized that with spring/summer coming up I'm woefully under-prepaired for outside adventures; hell, the only real winter coat I have is from J-Crew. I just got my REI dividend along with a 20%off one item coupon so I think I'm going to invest in some sort of jacket, but I have no idea where to start. I was up at the REI in Boulder a few weeks ago and there were a ton of different jackets with different features, insulation levels, & price ranges. This'll probably be a dumb question but is anyone able to do a small write-up on different types of jackets? Would a thin rain jacket be a good place to start with layering underneath? The type of jacket you should pick up first is really going to depend on what the bulk of your outdoor activity is going to consist of. If you don't plan on doing a lot of hiking in the rain then I wouldn't recommend a rain jacket as your first purchase. Here's a really basic/quickly whipped together run-down of what types of jackets you'll want to have for outdoorsy stuff. Fleece Jacket - insulating layer for wearing over a base layer (read short or long sleeve shirt). Fleece is great because it's lightweight, has good insulating properties, and is fairly breathable but it won't keep you dry. Soft Shell - a cross between a fleece and a outer shell, personally I'd rate soft shells as the most versatile piece of outerwear if you could only buy one. They'll have some water repelling properties and some insulating properties and should be highly packable. Great for day hikes and as a piece to layer under or over other layers as you pick up other jackets. I wear my Arc'teryx soft shell over a base layer, or over a down sweater, or under a hardshell. Hard Shell - the most water repellent layer, these are what are typically known as rain jackets, they'll keep you dry but the downside is they're less breathable than a fleece or soft shell and they won't have much insulating value. Down Jacket - these can come in lots of weights, the patagonia-popularized down-sweater style is thin, super-lightweight, and highly packable, not your highschool North Face puffy coat. Lots of brands make down jackets in lots of fills, just don't get them wet because they lose insulating properties quickly if you do and take a while to dry out. Great for crisp/cool fall days or for putting on once you've set up camp and are hanging out in your tent or by the fire. Hope this helps get you started, I'd probably suggest you look into a fleece or soft shell for your first jacket if you don't have those covered already.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 20, 2013 05:14
|
|
|
Business of Ferrets posted:Just to add, an alternative to a fleece jacket is a lightweight synthetic insulated jacket; I use the Patagonia Nano Puff Hoody, but plenty of makers have comparable models. These are warmer for their weight than fleece, many models cut the wind better, and they tend to compress better and so take up less space in a pack when not needed. I picked up my Nano Puff for use as some sort of emergency backup insulation piece in the event of wet weather, but it turned out to be the jacket I've used most this past winter. It is too thin to just hang around in if temps are near freezing, but for moving around (hiking, etc.) it is perfect. Now that I think about it, the only fleece I own is an R1 Hoody, and only because it is such a great piece. I've replaced the rest with insulated jackets, and have been very pleased. very true, totally missed synthetic lightweight jackets. I sort of figure they fill the same hole as a down jacket, just that they're better for wetter climates. Similarly I picked up my Patagonia down sweater last winter and it's become my favorite every-day jacket, great for keeping me just that little bit warmer on cold days but so light that it doesn't feel like I'm wearing a jacket. I can tell I'll have some sort of jacket like this in my closet all the time from here on out.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 21, 2013 20:07
|
|
|
MojoAZ posted:Just wanted to add my thoughts on soft shells. While they are wonderfully comfortable garments under many conditions, I don't find them that useful for backpacking. While they offer some warmth, they are typically not warm enough to be carried as your only insulating garment. Similarly, while they will resist some precipitation, they'll wet out and leak in any serious rain, so you typically have to carry waterproofs anyway. Also, on backpacking trips there will be times where you want water resistance but not insulation, or where you want insulation with maximum breathability/no water resistance, neither of which the soft shell does very well. Soft shells occupy this weird nebulous zone where they're great for mild conditions but not actually versatile enough to replace separate garments that serve the same functions, usually for less weight. I have several soft shell garments and I love them for dayhikes and casual adventures where the consequences of being a little wet or cold aren't a big deal, but they've never found their way into my backpacking load. My advice was geared toward someone who said they were starting to get into outdoors activities and wanted a first jacket. If you have the money to buy dedicated layering pieces then by all means, do it right the first time and get purpose-specific pieces. If you're looking to get something that should be a good versatile starter piece for a variety of activities though then I'm going to stand by a softshell being a great first jacket. I've got plenty of jackets at this point to meet any number of needs, but for general wearing around town in pacific northwest spring and fall weather, for day hikes, for 2-3 day backpacking trips, and for snowboarding, my arc'teryx hooded softshell is my single most-used piece of outerwear. Just my $.02, if you have the money and want to get all of your layers at the same time then sure, you might find that a soft shell isn't the absolute most efficient piece to pack for extended backpacking trips, but I'm willing to bet if you don't already know that and are asking people for advice then a soft shell will probably do the job just fine for you for most situations.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 24, 2013 07:43
|
|
|
JAY ZERO SUM GAME posted:I have a softshell only for winter/snowy conditions. The minimalist rain jacket goes with me any other time. yeah, depending on what part of the world you're in though spring/fall can be a whole lot colder than other parts of the world, hell even summer nights can be chilly enough here in the PNW to warrant the soft shell going on.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 25, 2013 19:23
|
|
|
Heners_UK posted:Has anyone got any really gold recommendations for making your own maps? E. G. Something reasonably clear, 1:20000 or better with 200m contour lines, that you could plot points/tracks on... Preferably vectors/svg for better printing still? Garmin Mapsource + whichever open-source topo's you prefer?
|
|
#
¿
Mar 27, 2013 00:28
|
|
|
is it wrong of me to want to return my Garmin Oregon 450 to REI to try to upgrade to something better? My biggest frustration with it is that it takes like 10 minutes sometimes to get a decent satellite lock. I bought it hoping to use it for all of my random weekend hikes so I could keep a running gps log/journal of all of the trips I'd taken but typically when I get to the trailhead and go to turn my gps on nobody wants to wait while I hold it up to the heavens praying for a signal. My iPhone can get a lock in a fraction of the time that this $$$ dedicated GPS unit can. What takes so drat long? Is it realistic to expect that a newer unit might do a better job of acquiring a signal faster?
|
|
#
¿
Apr 2, 2013 04:49
|
|
|
jamal posted:We have a 450 and it locks on almost immediately every time. On the other hand I tried to use strava on my phone yesterday and it wouldn't pick up a signal. I'd never heard of the WAAS/EGNOS setting so I just switched it to that from Normal. It acquired a signal really quickly in my house just now, I'll give it a try out on the trail in the next week or so here and see how it performs, thanks for the tip! PhantomOfTheCopier posted:I just don't have the general mindset to be returning stuff unless it's not up to standards. It sounds like your 450 may have a malfunction or isn't set properly for your region.. Three-dimensional accuracy from an initial lock generally takes more time, and some units will attempt synchronization in a round-robin fashion, so one can typically expect startup times from 20 seconds to five minutes. Maybe I'm a slow old man, but turning on the GPS before I put on my boots and visit the facilities is typically enough to lock, even if it's inside interference of my vehicle. Yeah, I honestly have never really abused the REI return policy and have pretty much the same mindset as you. I can't even remember the last time I returned something to REI, I was really just starting to feel like that pretty much, this doesn't perform like what I'd expect from a $300 dedicated GPS, I would think it would acquire signals faster and be more accurate. I'll give it a try again after changing settings but I'm not going to rule out trying to exchange it for a newer or higher end model if it's still having trouble. The hikes I'm doing are mostly in heavily forested areas and a good amount of them will be in the Columbia River Gorge which has some pretty steep walls so I'm expecting that will effect it to some degree but then that's why I got a dedicated GPS and wasn't just using my phone. While we're on the GPS topic, I just started playing around with Basecamp (was using MapSource up until now) are there any ways to visualize your track data in-app? I'd like to be able to see elevation graphs and speed heatmaps or whatever they call them but I can't figure out a way to do it in the app itself, I would think it should be able to do exactly that. Also what's the deal with the birdseye maps, you have to have a Garmin subscription or something to use those? Is it worth it? why can't I just pull satellite map imagery from Google or Bing or something?
|
|
#
¿
Apr 2, 2013 16:07
|
|
|
jamal posted:I'm pretty sure going to a newer/more expensive garmin is not going to improve anything. Really the difference between the 450 and the 550 is the camera, and then the Montana 650 gets a bigger screen. Functionally I think they are all identical. awesome, I'll try that out. I just noticed the Oregon 650 came out but if they aren't changing the antennas at all then I suppose it doesn't matter if I have a bigger screen or whatever. I used gpsfiledepot to grab the set of maps I'm using now, I think I've got these two loaded: http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/maps/view/412/ http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/maps/view/27/ as well as the US 100k map.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 2, 2013 20:21
|
|
|
Miron posted:Double clicking the track or right click->open brings up the detail window that has the elevation and speed graphs. ahhh, got it, thanks. I was trying to click on the tracks in the top left under Library > My Collection, didn't realize you have to click on them in the bottom, not sure I totally understand why it does that but I'll try to play with it some more.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 3, 2013 17:07
|
|
|
Please help me spend my money Hiking & Backpacking goons! I did a job for Snow Peak and part of my payment was $1000 in product credit. I spent $120 of it on a Gransfors Bruks axe already but now I can't figure out what to do with the rest of it.  All of their product is on their site here: http://www.snowpeak.com/ and they've got some pretty rad stuff. My problem is I don't really need anything that they have. I already own some of their titanium backpacking cookware, and one of their gigapower stoves. Beyond that I like some of their car camping stuff but it's all so expensive that I can't help but feel like I'm being ripped off even though it's essentially free money that I can't spend anywhere else. They have some nice camping tarps, but they're like $500 :cough: They have a nice lantern and I need a lantern but it's like $200 :cough: They have nice bamboo foldable picnic tables, and nice camp chairs... those are pretty spendy too. They have a nice modular camp table/grill system but I'd spend all of the gift certificate just getting the frame, a stove, and some inserts. I guess I'm just hoping someone can tell me what I'd get the most use out of if I'm going to spend an exorbitant amount of money on some camping gear. I wouldn't mind an ultralight tent but their tents are super overpriced and I can't seem to find any good reviews on them... I can also get 50% off of Mtn Hardware tents so I'd probably go with one of those or a Big Agnes when I go shopping for a new backpacking tent. Any advice? It's not like I'm not thrilled to have some credit to spend on nice stuff, I just feel like I could get 3x as much quality gear if this gift card was for REI or somewhere else. Should I just buy $800 worth of fuel? or a half dozen more axes?
|
|
#
¿
May 13, 2013 19:01
|
|
|
PRADA SLUT posted:I have their Titanium Spork and I always carry it with me in my pack. Seriously. yup, I've got one of those as well... suppose I could buy a crate full of titanium sporks. Their backpacking gear is high quality and competitively priced, I feel like it's mostly their car camping gear where prices start going crazy.
|
|
#
¿
May 13, 2013 19:32
|
|
|
mastershakeman posted:Take requests on what to buy in here, sell it for 80% the sale price and pocket the cash? I would... consider this, I feel like I can find something I can make use of though. Speleothing posted:Browsing their website, I'd focus on the car-camping stuff. A lot of the heftier cookware would be pretty good just for the kitchen at your house. Of course, I'm at the stage in my life where I'm just starting to build a collection of home-goods. If you're already well furnished then I don't know what to say. we've got most of our home cookware figured out, their cast iron is too small for home use, kind of an odd specialty type of thing that would make a lot of sense if you do a lot of campground cooking of cobbler and stuff like that I suppose, I've always been a pretty minimal campground cook but it'd be nice stuff for being a little more gourmet. I do want/need a gas lantern but... isn't $225 for a gas lantern a little ridiculous? It'd be nice to have a common fuel w/ my stove but I just can't figure out what makes their lantern worth 5x as much as a Coleman or whatever other lanterns are out there. I've got one of their Ti sets already for backpacking and it works nicely enough but it's just like pot/dish set for cooking dehydrated meals or making coffee or whatever. I've got a new Osprey Atmos 65 pack but I'm going to try to get my girlfriend to try on one of the boreas packs since she's in need of a new pack.
|
|
#
¿
May 13, 2013 22:18
|
|
|
PRADA SLUT posted:I have one more gear question. I've got an arc'teryx gamma soft shell that I've had for like 4 years or so now and it's one of my favorite jackets I've ever owned... I also have a pair of Beta AR pants and they fit incredibly well and keep me completely dry. I've never had one of their hard shells but I'm sure they're amazing. If you can spend the dough I'm sure you won't be disappointed. I can't remember the last time I washed one of my shells. I'm not usually crawling around in mud or anything though so I'm not sure how long you'd go before you hit 4 washes or whatever.
|
|
#
¿
May 21, 2013 20:15
|
|
|
krispykremessuck posted:I tend to over-pack even for day hikes. For example, I never go anywhere at this point in the season without my ice axe and microspikes. Trails may be a bit different here in the sense that there are tons of places with 10+ feet of snow still, and some of that snow is getting rotten or melting out from underneath. The point is, I'm prepared for really lovely conditions. I don't hike ultra-light because I'm training for some serious summits this summer, and because I just don't like being un/under-prepared. I've also seen some pretty gnarly trail injuries because of stupid/piss-poor decisions about what people should/shouldn't bring/wear. ahhh, see, you're talking about PNW "hiking" here. I think most of the folks in this thread are AT/East Coast hikers. probably important to call out that there are going to be some big differences in what a minimum safe loadout is for this time of year depending on what part of the country (or world) you're in. I hike primarily in Oregon and Southwest Washington where there's still snow on top of most of the trails in the cascades and the columbia river gorge. I'm also a pretty fairweather hiker though so I'm never going to have microspikes or an ice axe on me because if I come across snow that's too deep on the trail I'll likely just call it a day and head back down to the nearest brewpub for lunch. I think it really all depends on what you're setting out to tackle. snow/ice on the trail really ups the ante regardless of where you are.
|
|
#
¿
May 23, 2013 19:25
|
|
|
Chroisman posted:For snow shoes and crampons, do they usually just strap onto any boot across the board, or do you have to have boots that are more so catered towards putting crampons and snow shoes on? I'm not likely to do anything like that in the immediate future but I was just wondering. Crampons, yes, snowshoes, not so much. Crampons are typically designed to fit on hard boots that have a toe and healed designed for them to latch on. Micro spikes or yaktrax will fit on any boots. Snowshoes should fit on any as well.
|
|
#
¿
May 24, 2013 03:41
|
|
|
Verman posted:VVVVV - Agreed, my closest hiking buddies and I have a "wuss" rule meaning that nobody will think or speak negatively of anyone on the trip if we need to call it quits early for any reason. A lot of times groups of people, especially guys, can get competitive and feel like they need to prove something so they don't voice their concerns and can get themselves into trouble. Before setting out, especially with new people, we make it very welcoming for anyone to speak up about concerns. It generally leads to really good trips and a general group understanding that safety is the primary focus, which relaxes everyone and makes it really enjoyable. This is a great policy definitely don't want to be hiking with people who would peer pressure you into potential serious injury.
|
|
#
¿
May 24, 2013 17:50
|
|
|
PRADA SLUT posted:Does anyone know a fairly easy overnight hike in northern Oregon-ish? Unfortunately hood still has too much snow on it to do most overnights above timberline, I've been meaning to go to goat rocks as I hear its Great for overnight but that might be a good option in southern Washington. I'll think of some more good ones.
|
|
#
¿
May 28, 2013 01:29
|
|
|
so Elijya mentioned that he keeps all of his survival gear in a small pouch that he just moves from one pack to the other... got me thinking I should probably make one of these since I use different packs for different trips. Does anybody have a recommended packing list or a link to a video or site that has a good list to use as a basis? thinking like compass, bandaids, gauze, some paracord, moleskin, whistle, etc. minimalist and lightweight but good emergency gear. MMD3 fucked around with this message at 22:52 on May 30, 2013 |
|
#
¿
May 30, 2013 21:31
|
|
|
rcman50166 posted:Edit: While we are at it, are tents sold by Eastern Mountain Sports and Dick's Sporting Goods actually good quality tents or are they marked up incredibly? They're around $200-$400 for a 2-3 person Eastern Mountain Sports is far more likely to carry good name brand tents than Dicks, at least if the Dicks out your way has similar selection to what ours out west have. EMS in my experience carries similar brands to REI, unless its changed a lot in recent years.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 2, 2013 17:17
|
|
|
ATP5G1 posted:On Friday I'll be headed out to middle-of-nowhere Colorado (Westcliffe) to stay in a cabin for a week. I hope to do a lot of hiking and outdoors stuff. No camping though because we don't have the equipment. I'd rather have 2 pairs of quality socks than 5 pairs of cheap ones. I'm a big fan of Smart Wool but REI's branded socks are good as well. If you're hiking any kind of great distances or if you were backpacking I'd suggest you try out silk sock liners too but probably not too necessary if you're not backpacking. I'd certainly suggest you get some better, synthetic, hiking pants, they don't have to be terribly spendy or fancy but anything is going to be better than denim. For an all day hike you definitely want more than a 20oz water bottle... you should probably look at a small camelbak or platypus style hydration bladder that you can throw in your pack. You can get most of this gear for not too much money and you'll be much more comfortable for it.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 4, 2013 01:22
|
|
|
I've never abused that policy, haven't even ever returned anything after a year I don't think.... I don't mind that they're making it stricter at all, I just hope they still have the flexibility to be reasonable when people return things for legitimate reasons past the 1 year mark.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 5, 2013 00:42
|
|
|
I would say a more legitimate reason is just wear. you purchase a high performance apparel piece that starts breaking down after 18 months or something say.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 5, 2013 01:29
|
|
|
LogisticEarth posted:Isn't that something that would be covered more through warranties and directly dealing with the manufacturer? REI does sell a lot of house brands though. I forget, do they have warranties/guarantees on their own stuff? yes, but historically REI has handled all of that for you. and that's one thing I've always really appreciated, I'd rather have all warranty issues handled by the retailer where I bought the product since they already have a history with them a process in place for sending things back and forth. I'm terrible about mailing anything out and I'd much rather just drop by REI and let them know that the product I purchased from them has developed a leak or whatever. Speaking of product returns. Does anybody have much experience with Patagonia? I have a down sweater jacket that is only a year and a half old, I bought it at a Patagonia store here in Portland and it's developed a hole that is leaking down. Normally I'd say, oh, my fault, I snagged it on something and just let it ride but the hole is right over where the cinch is for the waist drawcord so it's clear that just the placement of the cinch caused for too much abrasion in the fabric. It seems like it could be a design flaw that could be fixed pretty easily with just some reenforcing there or a repositioning of the cinch. Is this something that is worth bringing in to Patagonia or am I being an rear end for thinking that's on them?
|
|
#
¿
Jun 5, 2013 17:38
|
|
|
stealie72 posted:68 litres isn't exactly getting into an extended expedition sized pack. Frankly, I'm not sure how you'd fit two people's gear in there. It will work just fine for your gear for a 1-3 night backpacking trip, though. This ^^ I've been really happy with my Camelbak pack for daypacks, all of their cycling/mountain biking packs feel very well designed for day hikes. They have just enough room for a hydration bladder, a jacket, your sunglasses/camera, and enough food to get you through the day. The plus side is they come with a good quality 2-3L hydration pack, the down-side is they're on the spendy side. If you don't mind looking for a sale or picking up an odd color (brighter colors always go on sale) you can get them for a reasonable price on amazon or in a shop. I've been using an older model of this one for day hikes and biking for the past couple of years and it's served me great: http://shop.camelbak.com/blowfish/d/1028 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2J3MaIKwwE If you don't mind this yellow one you can pick it up for $56 on amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Camelbak-Hydr...s=camelbak+mule MMD3 fucked around with this message at 19:56 on Jun 6, 2013 |
|
#
¿
Jun 6, 2013 19:47
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 4, 2024 06:12 |
|
|
contrapants posted:I didn't know Camelbak was a brand of pack. I thought it was the name of the hydration system that went in to other packs. They originally just made the hydration bladders but have since started making a large line of packs in various sizes for holding their system. The running ones are super minimal and don't hold a ton of water or gear but they've got enough room for like a few energy bars and your keys or whatever, the cycling ones are what I tend to feel are the right size for light hike day packs. I've been backpacking with my dslr for several years now and I think the best way to do it is just to buy a camera wrap like this http://www.amazon.com/camera-photo/dp/B00009R88F and maybe a few extra for lenses if you carry more than one lens. Then I just make sure I have my dslr at the top of the pack and I don't set my pack down hard when I'm stopping for a break. Lowe Pro makes some good packs that you could feasibly use for backpacking but I think you'll be better served just buying something more specific to hiking and then wrap your camera in something protective to keep it from banging around.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 7, 2013 06:32
|
|
