Black Diamond Mega Light Pyramid Shelter: Not A Review

Backpacking Gear, , , ,

Time to write about something other than our house remodel. Since we are forced to stay at home, I can’t go backpacking or camping for a while; thus I can’t share any trip reports. Writing trip reports are a pain in the ass anyway, something I have mostly quit doing the past few years.

This isn’t a review. In my opinion, a review requires several years of use, or a few hundred days/nights of use. For that reason, I find most gear reviews of limited value. Often I find gear reviews useless.

This is a Shelter Comparison

Continue reading Black Diamond Mega Light Pyramid Shelter: Not A Review →

House Remodel: Guest Bath Demolition Phase

House Remodel

 

Before the remodel.

If I haven’t bored you yet, this is the next post on our house remodel.

Of all the rooms I completely tore down to the wall studs during our house remodel, this was the easiest. Probably because my skills improved as I progressed room-by-room, it was more intuitive to anticipate problems, and there was only one big obstacle in this room. Continue reading House Remodel: Guest Bath Demolition Phase →

House Remodel: Kitchen Demolition Disaster

House Remodel

Again, I’m continuing the House Remodel series. What else can I do since backpacking and camping in California are pretty much closed to me. I have patience. The last post in the series was about our master bath demolition, which went well over all. The same cannot be said about the kitchen.

Of all the work I had planned, the kitchen was supposed to be the easiest.

In my post on planning for the demolition, I mentioned that,

A simple galley kitchen, there wasn’t a lot that could be done without some really, really major construction. So we would end up upgrading the cabinets, countertops, and flooring.

As it turned out, we found a plethora of problems after we removed the old kitchen cabinets. Continue reading House Remodel: Kitchen Demolition Disaster →

Lockdown or Liberty: How to Deal with Stay-in-Place Orders

Backpacking, Camping, General Talk, ,

Or When Can We Go Backpacking & Camping Again?

Like almost most Americans, we are isolated at home due the our local state, county, and city “stay-in-place” orders. Life isn’t working out according to plan. After a full-time engagement of four years of house remodeling projects, this was going to be a year of extensive backpacking and camping. I should point out that during the previous four years, we did are fair share of camping, probably more than most people. I also did several backpacking trips during each of the past four years of my retirement. Currently, in the State of California, most backpacking and camping opportunities don’t exist. Most places are closed to use. At the same time, we are in a high risk population as regards coronavirus infection. I’m scheduled to reach my 70th year milestone on the planet and Joyce isn’t far behind. Approaching 70, the fact is very real I don’t have a lot of backpacking years ahead, so I would like to maximize each year going forward.

Given all of this, it is wisest for us to stay in place until life equalizes and gets back to some sort of normality. So we are stuck at home, or perhaps better stated, we are willing staying at home for a while.

Staying at home for extended periods of time is a new state of being for many Americans today. Many aren’t handling it well. So the purpose of this post is to share my experiences as a retiree for the past four year, and more importantly, the 18 years I spent working from home – often for months at a time. The following topics will be reviewed with a focus on how to maximize your time, or better yet, how not to waste time. Continue reading Lockdown or Liberty: How to Deal with Stay-in-Place Orders →

Adding Satellite Radio to an OEM Vehicle Radio

Ford F-250 Super Duty

Back in 2007 I purchased a “lifetime” subscription to Sirius Radio. The subscription was first tied to our 2003 Ford Expedition, and then to our 2012 Ford Expedition, which we sold to purchase our new F-250. The F-250 did not come with a SiriusXM capable radio. But our 2015 Hyundai Genesis is SiriusXM radio ready.

I asked Joyce if she wanted to move the subscription to the Hyundai. She said she would rather have it in the F-250, since we spend more time driving together in our trailer tow vehicles, often traveling in remote places without any radio reception when towing the trailer. Adding satellite radio wouldn’t be simple, but it wasn’t impossible. The question was, could I come up with a suitable solution. Continue reading Adding Satellite Radio to an OEM Vehicle Radio →

Obituary: Chouinard Pyramid Shelter (1985-2020)

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This shelter is an old friend. It finally died. More specifically, it really isn’t cost effective to resuscitate it.

Death isn’t unknown to most of us. Just about everyone have friends and/or relatives who have passed away. We cannot replace those loved ones. The same goes for pets. Our wonder dog, Corky, passed away last year and he cannot be replaced. Oh, we could get another dog, but Corky was Corky, an animal with a personality and distinctive characteristics.

A shelter can be replaced. What is replaced? A completely different shelter with dissimilar construction would be a replacement. A similar shelter with the same materials, shape, and structure might be considered a direct replacement.

I am going to get a direct replacement.  Continue reading Obituary: Chouinard Pyramid Shelter (1985-2020) →

MSR DragonFly Stove: 12 Year Review

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Why did I buy this stove in the first place? Was it because this stove…

  • can use white gas, automotive unleaded gas, diesel, kerosene or even aircraft jet fuel?
  • can simmer better than just about any backpacking stove on the market?
  • can handle big heavy, wide pots up to 10 inches in diameter?
  • is so sturdy?

Is this the stove for you? Continue reading MSR DragonFly Stove: 12 Year Review →