Jonman wrote:Yeah, I don't think a thing exists that is portable enough for camping, and comfortable enough for full time home use.
I mean, I love my Big Agnes pad and all but I'm opting for the king size memory foam bed every time I'm at home.
But if you're looking for a pad, that thing is a treat. I got the long, wide size, cos I'm a spread out sleeper - got an untapered bag, so I needed an untapered pad. It packs down to a third of the size of the decades old Thermarests I replaced, it lighter and warmer. Only downside is that it's a little noisy when you roll over.
I have a BA Lost Ranger bag and the same pad and have never really had a good night's sleep on it because I feel the air mattress just either shifts too much or feels like I am balancing on a balloon. I much prefer an old fashioned foam roll.
#oldmancamper
I hear the balloon-balancing issue - I've found that there's a sweet spot of inflatedness, and it's easy to overinflate it and end up balloon balancing. Let a teeny bit of air out, and it'll let you settle into a dip in the pad made by your weight, vs rolling off the bloody thing.
But honestly, my old pads were so old that these are such a step up in comfort that I may be blinded to their shortcomings.
I'll say I bought these with backpacking in mind, so the compactness and lightness are bonuses to me too, where for a car camper, that's not a big deal.
I have a klymit I bought to replace my old thermarest pad, and you know what? Pretty damn good.
Paleocon wrote:Jonman wrote:Yeah, I don't think a thing exists that is portable enough for camping, and comfortable enough for full time home use.
I mean, I love my Big Agnes pad and all but I'm opting for the king size memory foam bed every time I'm at home.
But if you're looking for a pad, that thing is a treat. I got the long, wide size, cos I'm a spread out sleeper - got an untapered bag, so I needed an untapered pad. It packs down to a third of the size of the decades old Thermarests I replaced, it lighter and warmer. Only downside is that it's a little noisy when you roll over.
I have a BA Lost Ranger bag and the same pad and have never really had a good night's sleep on it because I feel the air mattress just either shifts too much or feels like I am balancing on a balloon. I much prefer an old fashioned foam roll.
#oldmancamper
I hear the balloon-balancing issue - I've found that there's a sweet spot of inflatedness, and it's easy to overinflate it and end up balloon balancing. Let a teeny bit of air out, and it'll let you settle into a dip in the pad made by your weight, vs rolling off the bloody thing.
But honestly, my old pads were so old that these are such a step up in comfort that I may be blinded to their shortcomings.
I'll say I bought these with backpacking in mind, so the compactness and lightness are bonuses to me too, where for a car camper, that's not a big deal.
I did the same. The grand plan was to hike stages of the AT with the wife. That is mostly fading from reality now, though who knows? Her sister is saying it would be great to do a three day couples hike of the sections through WV/MD/PA now.
I had another thought that I don't know you've considered. I don't know your partnered status or proclivities, but I did have the image of you bringing a person home for some hanky panky, them seeing a couple camping pads on the floor and saying "you know what, never mind".
:hump:
SCHWING oh.
That's not really an issue, but I can see how it might be in another context.
Hello everyone, just joined the community. I was wondering if there are any rock climbers out there. I've been rock climbing for 4 years, work at a climbing gym and I like to play games casually.
Never formally climbed... I did get stopped by the police when I was climbing the (windowless) side of a 4-storie apartment block, as a kid. I was up to the 3rd floor, when they asked me to climb down. When they asked why I was doing it, I said “How could I not... just look at it”.
I still get tempted when I drive past it, now 
I've done some climbing, but only at gyms. Been meaning to get back into it now that we've moved to a city that has climbing walls again. My few climbing muscles have probably atrophied back to my previous noodle-armed state though, so it's going to be a painful affair. 
I went to my girlfriend's climbing gym once. It was an education in how many tiny muscles I have that never get used. I basically had to quit halfway up the second easy climb as my finger strength was shot and I couldn't hold on any more.
I was big into strength training at the time - my arms and legs had plenty of gas left in the tank. But I could barely pick up the beer we went and got afterwards. .
Never formally climbed... I did get stopped by the police when I was climbing the (windowless) side of a 4-storie apartment block, as a kid. I was up to the 3rd floor, when they asked me to climb down. When they asked why I was doing it, I said “How could I not... just look at it”.
I still get tempted when I drive past it, now ;)
Haha, you should definitely try.
I've done some climbing, but only at gyms. Been meaning to get back into it now that we've moved to a city that has climbing walls again. My few climbing muscles have probably atrophied back to my previous noodle-armed state though, so it's going to be a painful affair. :-D
I started climbing outdoors. I can say it is the thing that moves my life right now. The muscles will get used to it in time.
I went to my girlfriend's climbing gym once. It was an education in how many tiny muscles I have that never get used. I basically had to quit halfway up the second easy climb as my finger strength was shot and I couldn't hold on any more.
I was big into strength training at the time - my arms and legs had plenty of gas left in the tank. But I could barely pick up the beer we went and got afterwards. .
I feel you. That still happens whenever one trains hard of after a climbing trip (where there are several continuous days of climbing). Fortunately nowadays I can grab the beer later.
I loved rock climbing when I was younger. Ran the official club in undergrad and hit a gym weekly in grad school... Sadly the real world makes it harder to maintain that... its been years since I have even bouldered. I love outdoor climbing, but it can take a toll on your body a lot more than indoor.
Unfortunately I have neither easily available to my current location.
Just got back from a weekend Wilderness Survival course, and it was superb. Spent the weekend making fires in the woods, learning to build an emergency shelter, and intentionally getting lost.
For you Washington folks, I can't recommend the Wilderness Awareness School highly enough - I'm going to be going back for lots more of their courses.
Dabbled a bit in Trad climbing more than a decade ago, never did lead though. Did an alpine route that was a three day trip, but never took the rope out and set up proper protection for the exposed sections. They weren't that bad, but silly to carry the rope all the way up there and not use it. Did some sport climbing when I was in Germany 8-9 years ago. Germany and Europe were really nice because they had a lot of KletterSteig/Via Ferrata routes set up. The Klettersteig route up the Alpspitz was really neat, and my wife and I did a route above Lake Garda in Italy.
I've been eyeballing a peak nearby, now that I'm getting back into shape a bit, that involves a 3 pitch climb to summit. It's only a few miles hike in as well. Maybe not this year, but next fall.
Anyone have any hiking boot brand recommendations for big feet? I'm US15 and the only in store stuff I can find here in Australia is US14, if I'm blind ordering, may aswell do it on something with a recommendation. Ive owned Carhartt, Keen and Columbia boots but haven't been blown away by their longevity (Columbia probably pick of the bunch, though I wonder if the Keens were knockoffs)
Dunno about the big feet aspect but I swear by my Keens. My girlfriend similarly swears by her Vasques, and she basically lives in those boots - wears them every day.
I like my Oboz
Arise, thread!
What's the best way to keep ticks off your dog when you're hiking? He's on Frontline, but we always find one or two when we get back.
Just 1 or 2?
Seriously, no way to keep them off short term. The way Frontline and other tick preventatives work is to make your dog unappetizing to ticks. The danger is not ticks on dogs, it is ticks jumping off dogs and on to you.
What's the best way to keep ticks off your dog when you're hiking? He's on Frontline, but we always find one or two when we get back.
I have a fool-proof method I can tell you about. Report back once you've secured a miniature hot-air balloon with a basket, about 100 feet of sturdy rope, and have taught your dog to unhook sand-bags with its teeth.
You can do better than that Coldstream.
Two words.
Dog Drone.
Two words.
Dog Drone.
There we go.
Which one of us is sending the invoice for our consulting work to Trichy?
So I'm trying to set a goal each year for myself to work towards. Last year was weight loss. Part of what I did to increase my activity level was to start hiking more. To continue that, I decided that in September of this year, I'm going to do a solo hike of the Tennessee stretch of the Appalachian Trail. That'll be 74.2 miles, with the goal of completing it in ten days. I'm working with a trainer to get my joints in shape, continuing to lose weight (pack weight isn't the only thing I need to keep as low as possible), and going out camping for at least one weekend each month to test and adjust my loadout in preparation.
Anyone who has experience with this kind of thing, I'd love any tips that you may have. I've got seven months to prepare, and I want to do it right.
So I'm trying to set a goal each year for myself to work towards. Last year was weight loss. Part of what I did to increase my activity level was to start hiking more. To continue that, I decided that in September of this year, I'm going to do a solo hike of the Tennessee stretch of the Appalachian Trail. That'll be 74.2 miles, with the goal of completing it in ten days. I'm working with a trainer to get my joints in shape, continuing to lose weight (pack weight isn't the only thing I need to keep as low as possible), and going out camping for at least one weekend each month to test and adjust my loadout in preparation.
Anyone who has experience with this kind of thing, I'd love any tips that you may have. I've got seven months to prepare, and I want to do it right.
Couple things spring to mind:
1: always something i ask myself when solo backpacking - what's your disaster plan? say you trip over and break an ankle on the most remote section of trail - what then? Do you have bailout routes planned so you can bail on day 4 without having to hike back thru days 1-3?
2: on a lighter note, what's your entertainment plan? What are you going to do once you've set up camp and before you go to sleep?
That sounds fun! I've only really ever done shorter backpacking excursions where you'll just hike in 6 miles or so and camp for a weekend or a week.
I suppose I did do a hike on the south island of New Zealand that was maybe 30 miles or so over a few days. They make it easy there, though, because they have cabins you can stay at instead of having to set up tents. I think it was called the Grand Traverse or something. I can't really remember.
trichy wrote:So I'm trying to set a goal each year for myself to work towards. Last year was weight loss. Part of what I did to increase my activity level was to start hiking more. To continue that, I decided that in September of this year, I'm going to do a solo hike of the Tennessee stretch of the Appalachian Trail. That'll be 74.2 miles, with the goal of completing it in ten days. I'm working with a trainer to get my joints in shape, continuing to lose weight (pack weight isn't the only thing I need to keep as low as possible), and going out camping for at least one weekend each month to test and adjust my loadout in preparation.
Anyone who has experience with this kind of thing, I'd love any tips that you may have. I've got seven months to prepare, and I want to do it right.
Couple things spring to mind:
1: always something i ask myself when solo backpacking - what's your disaster plan? say you trip over and break an ankle on the most remote section of trail - what then? Do you have bailout routes planned so you can bail on day 4 without having to hike back thru days 1-3?
2: on a lighter note, what's your entertainment plan? What are you going to do once you've set up camp and before you go to sleep?
So I'm buying this satellite communicator, and logging my route with the park officials (required now for anyone traveling on any stretch of the Appalachian). I also recently finished a course on wilderness trauma, including a section on self-injury and treatment, and will be packing a field trauma kit with me. No point on the trail is more than ten miles from local roads. It's one of the reasons I picked this one.
For entertainment, I cannot sing the praises of the Kindle for backpacking enough. Light enough that it's not a major burden, has enough storage that you can bring a library, and the battery life (especially on airplane mode) is enough to last for weeks.
Hit me up I can talk for hours on through hikes and whatnot. I'd be happy to help on discord preferably, but other stuff works too.
My brother and I do a lot of smaller versions of this as well as plan for his trips on the same trail.
Last year I did the Milford Track here in New Zealand, I uploaded a selection of my photos from the trip if anyone wants to take a look.
Be warned, there is a rather bruised finger, and even more horrifying, my face!
Last year I did the Milford Track here in New Zealand, I uploaded a selection of my photos from the trip if anyone wants to take a look.
Be warned, there is a rather bruised finger, and even more horrifying, my face!
Did you see any elephant-sized spiders or drop bears?
Did you see any elephant-sized spiders or drop bears?
TFW you get mistaken for Australian again.
Oh nice! Great photos! I lived in Christchurch for a year with my family back in the early 2000s and really enjoyed it. Did a bunch of scuba diving and tramping. The tramping vs US backpacking differences are interesting where they do a lot of huts at points.
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