Overall I am pretty careful with my gear. Most of my repairs are due to age — things that have just plain worn out — such as my Chouinard Pyramid Tent. Once in a great while, I do damage something due to carelessness or unavoidable situations, such as traveling cross country in deserts through area lush in such wonderful environments that can be packed full of cacti or catclaw. Continue reading Repairing Gear with Tenacious Tape
It sounds counter intuitive, but I spend much less time on the Internet since I retired, even though all my time is free time, that is, I can do whatever I like, as long as Joyce is happy. I keep myself busy around the house with many tasks, plus we camp more often, not to mention my time spent backpacking.
One thing I am seeing more and more on the Internet are Top Ten Lists for all kinds of consumer goods. Given a good portion of my readers are backpackers, this begs the question, “Can you trust these reviews?” The short, quick answer is, “No.” If it is, “No,” then where can one find good quality trusted reviews?
Continue reading The “Top Ten Lists” – Can You Trust Them?
What kind of a name is that? I can’t pronounce it and can barely spell it. So I looked it up via Google. It is a river in Oregon that is a main tributary of the Columbia River. The Deschutes also flows north, which is atypical for a North American river. The manufacturer of the Deschutes CF tarp is Six Moon Designs and they are located in Beaverton, Oregon. Mystery solved. What a sleuth I am.
That one is easy. Cuben Fiber. Also known as CTF3. It is a non-woven fabric that is strong and extremely light. A lot of my gear is made from Cuben Fiber.
Oh, and yes, I bought a new shelter, the Six Moon Designs Deschutes CF tarp.
A while back I posted about Dave Chenault’s Pyramid Shelter article. At that point it dawned on me that I have not discussed this shelter previously. The Wild Oasis seems to be a shelter that often gets little love. It has been around for quite a while; I bought mine in 2008. But I don’t see many people talking about it these days. I typically only used mine for those days when I expected a lot of flying insects. But since I decided to do a review, it occurred to me that I should use it more often.
A pretty good post by Dave over at Bedrock & Paradox. An incomplete treatise on ‘mid selection.
A few things stand out in the first paragraph, in my mind, about Dave’s comments: