Category: Tech
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Buck PakLite sheath mod, and Megalight update
The Buck PakLite series are good knives at a great price. I bought my regular sized Skinner for 19 dollars, and it holds a pretty good edge for a pretty long time. It’s thick enough (4mm) that you can beat on it while splitting wood with no regrets, but still filets a fish or guts…
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The season of inverted water bottles
When it’s consistently below 25 F, hang your exterior water bottle (the one not wrapped in insulation in your pack) upside down; be it in a belt holster, your side pocket, or on a shoulder strap. This keeps the thermal mass down on the threads and helps them not freeze up. Even with this technique,…
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2012 Outdoor State of the Industry report and Holiday Gift Guide
Yesterday I discussed how 2012 has, in the cycling world, been the year of the fat bike. Below I’ll examine various other categories, in a non-definitive fashion, to highlight similarly industry-shifting developments. These are products which speak of a significant and promising trend, and which I know from personal experience or reliable reports to be…
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All the hats again
It is that time again, when clothing choices are not mere subjects of fancy and fashion but tangible margins of safety. While the exact percentage is up for debate, thermoregulation on and of the head remains the easiest way to get a leg up here. Last winter I wrote about hats, and this summer wrote…
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Quantifying skis, and repairing the Trak Bushwacker
Counting ounces is an easy place to loose perspective, and comparing ski weights are a great example of this. All the common areas of ambiguity loom especially large here, namely that claimed dimensions are often wrong, and that relevant performance rubrics like flex cannot be quantified. For a recent article I wrote for BackpackingLight (on…
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One year later (backpacks for the woods, part 5)
One year ago I wrote a series of posts on packs for wilderness adventure. I discussed how packs work, why we owned the packs we did at the time, and details of several of my own packs. True to form, none of those larger packs are still in our possession. This post will discuss why.…
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Wood stove acalculia
Some numbers to consider: -fully tricked Megalight (linelocs, center guy points each with 12′ of line, stove boot): 29 oz -homemade wood stove (Walmart can): 16 oz -5 foot long, 3 inch diameter stainless stove pipe, with spark screen, end ring, and three cable rings: 15 oz Installing the stove boot is easy. I bought…
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Skis by numbers
Chart by Measured Mass. If you’re a backcountry skier, gear dork, or just like looking at numbers aggregated well, you must go read the above post. As in, now. And the rest of the blog is quite interesting, too.
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La Sportiva Sideral: numbers and rationale
First, the numbers: in mondo 28 the shells weigh 37 ounces (each, w/o footbed or powerstrap), the liners 6.7 ounces. Not too bad when you consider my size 46 BCX11 pleather three pin boots are 44 ounces each. I use size 45 Sportiva trail runners, for a generous fit in the toes, and the…
Bedrock & Paradox 
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