Category: Tech
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Winter clothing systems
As a follow-up to this morning’s post: some thoughts on winter clothing systems. Outdoor ought to always be a system, and that system should always be crafted to best cope with a specific set of conditions in the way in which you commonly encounter them. As discussed this morning, the former requires an accurate assessment…
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On hiking in winter
Hiking (or snowshoeing, or skiing) in winter is one of those subjects which is to many mundane, and to many other terrifying. BPL has been inundated for months with daily threads asking about insulation, footwear, and shelter suggestions for winter. Some thoughts on the matter follow. 1: Define your winter -If you intend to get…
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Read this blog: AK Pete is back
During the 2007 Kokopelli Trail race I kept yoyoing with this tall guy on a red Lenz with a big black pack. He’d stop to take pictures or eat in the shade of a juniper and I’d plug past, only to shortly be overtaken yet again. I lost him as he continued to diesel along…
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My pack fetish
I like packs. Always have. Yes they’re perhaps more deserving of care and obsession than other items of outdoor gear, but my appreciation and interest goes far beyond the strictly practical. I bought this pack last week. A Black Diamond Bbee. While I was (until last week!) lacking in a nice perfect little pack (save…
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More on windshirts (Rab Boreas first and second look)
A few weeks ago I did something I thought I’d never do; I sold my Patagonia Houdini. It and my Traverse pullover funded the purchase of an on-sale Rab Boreas pull-on, their replacement. Nice hood on the Boreas, That odd peak on the forehead seals very well over a hat with a brim, like a…
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New bike = stuff on clearance
[Updated 10/24 am] M on rappel in Zion, en route to long night out. It’s been since July ’09 that I last set foot on the CO Plateau! For the first time four years I’ve got a new bike on the way, but once it arrives I’ll be a few crucial parts (wheels, bb, freewheel,…
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Futures of the Packraft (Alpacka Yukon Yak review)
I’ve had my Yak since June of last year. It’s been paddled in almost every month of the year, on exploratory creeks and well-known big rivers, first descents, first packraft descents, day trips, big trips, and as every packraft should be, in Alaska. I finally put a hole in it this past weekend (easily patched…
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The Variegated Nature of Trails
Autumn in Glacier has been this year particularly fine and delicious. Yesterday morning I woke up at 430. Not a common occurrence, especially as I’m still in a post-Classic torpor of only wanting to go fishing and beer drinking (fishing season is about over, so I need to get back in shape). The plan was…
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Gear: Review
In continuation from yesterday.. I’ve always been interested in outdoor gear. I studied gear catalogues from a very early age, years before the internet made fetishization so convenient. We’re talking about an eight year old in Ohio, who took enthusiastic but not nearly frequent enough backpacking and camping trips with his family. I continued to…
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Simplicity: Gear
It’s too bad Ryan Jordan’s blogging is so stochastic. When he does write, it’s always worth reading and is usually one of the more thought-provoking things I’ll encounter online in that particular week. The most recent post is no exception. In it he discussed favorites bits of gear (and when I say gear I mean…
Bedrock & Paradox 
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