Category: MYOG
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Black Diamond Distance poles review
Last flight of the Zpole. Trekking poles are a matter of, if not controversy, at least healthy debate amongst hikers. In the past 15 years they’ve gone from rare to ubiquitous, with a saturated market (not just Leki). Purists scoff that crutches are for cripples, the enlightened enjoy the added stability in rough terrain and…
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The rise of the (larger) vestpack
Outdoor retailer is upon us, and as usual a modest array of interesting things have come bubbling to the surface of the internet. One emerging trend I find more interesting than most is the rise of larger vestpacks. Years ago I had a first-gen Nathan HPL020, which was an impressively stable and accessible way to…
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Pack mods and rain pants
12 months ago I owned no waterproof pants. The Classic last year made me a believer when it showed just how much heat can be lost through soaked legs. Today I have two sets of rain pants, each meant for a rather different use. Shown above and below are my fully homemade sil/epic pants. The…
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June trip report contest (!)
Summer, whatever that may mean in your particular locale, is right around the corner. Here in NW Montana the rain has stopped, for the moment, the sun is shining and the rivers are running high. Snow is melting and the fat season of long easy days, crampons and shorts, tourists driving foolishly, and wide open…
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The 610 pack
All packs must have a name so I can keep them straight, and DX-40 was so cool and the race pack was too big for day trips and I can never have enough packs. 29 inches tall, 9 inches wide at the back, 6 at the front, and 8 (for the most part) deep along…
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Design and construction of the Black and White pack
Dimension-Polyant DX-40. It’s been over three years since I started making whole packs mostly from scratch, and I’ve learned an enormous amount through all the hiking, packrafting, skiing and especially combinations thereof I’ve done since. I don’t care to count all the exact iterations the various packs have gone through, but as of today it…
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Marmot Haven (2p) by the numbers
I’ve been using trekking poles less and less in the last year, which creates something of an issue as they’ve become the cornerstone of most UL shelters, including the Shangri La 2 we often use. A paddle works for larger mids, but having it in the middle can be a bit of bummer for couples…
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Bob Open pre-game
72 hours ago my participation this weekend was very much in doubt. All weekend I was on the couch without much energy and a weird appetite, not a good confidence booster for such a hard trip. As I write this I’m almost back to full strength, but the ambiguity my physical condition has introduced replaces…
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Osprey GrabBag: looks dumb, works good
I came upon the GrabBag by accident; didn’t even know it existed until a few weeks ago. I had been thinkering about using a small fanny pack for the GrizzlyMan, to keep map and food instantly accessible, and thought that such a thing might be useful for backpacking as well. On-the-go accessibility is an ongoing…
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Rolltops, drawcords, and larger packs for cycling
I made another bikerafting descent of the main Flathead today, using experience from last trip to dial in the crossings better. I did fewer boat crossings (six versus nine), rode a lot more, and did the whole deal hours faster. It’s a sweet route. With slightly warmer weather and more confidence in my rigging abilities,…
Bedrock & Paradox 
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