Dumbest outdoor gear purchase

Pnelson wrote:Ok, 'fess up. Did anyone ever buy this when it came out? blackdiamondequipment.com/e…

I bought the edlerid version, it's actually pretty sweet when i got a grigri it immediately replaced it though, great device though i pair it with a steel oval, suuuuuuper smooth.

Alps Mountaineering 4 season tent - great price, really poor design that takes forever to set up. Would be a nightmare in the mountains. Shoulda known by their other product selection. Missouri company, USA, not Europe. Total Steep n Cheap brand.

Dr. Long Arm wrote: Probably because it's an unnecessary 2-3 extra pounds to bring with you on what could be an otherwise ultralight trip. It's not too hard to just string your food bag in a tree...or just sleep on your food bag like a pillow and have your whistle ready!

Depends where you are. In Canada and Alaska, you're easily above treeline among bears and Marmot's for even easy backpacking and climbing trips, think Talkeetna's. There's no other good option.

JPVallone wrote:
Not sure if it falls under this topic, but I am gonna go with Health Insurance.

To which Ball replied:
+1

A long time ago, the above was posted in this thread......

It's really, really bad advice. There's all sorts of expensive shit that can happen to you at any age, no matter how healthy you are. Recall that the largest cause of bankruptcies in the US is medical costs.

My simple, no-complications appendicitis several years ago had charges totaling $18,900. Thanks to insurance, my out of pocket was $650.

Tri-Nuts are my worst purchase (fortunately, not a very expensive one like some of you!)

for reference since i'm too lazy to post pic.
supertopo.com/climbing/thre…;tn=20

Marc801 wrote:A long time ago, the above was posted in this thread...... It's really, really bad advice. There's all sorts of expensive shit that can happen to you at any age, no matter how healthy you are. Recall that the largest cause of bankruptcies in the US is medical costs. My simple, no-complications appendicitis several years ago had charges totaling $18,900. Thanks to insurance, my out of pocket was $650.

Isn't that what crowdsourcing is for now? Who needs insurance when you can guilt all of your friends into paying your bills!

I bought a pair of 5:10 arrow heads for £30, what a load of shit they were. so far they are the only things i regret.

Nolan Huther wrote: I have a friend who has one. Whenever anyone questions why he uses it, be says that since it only has one tube, it "saves weight." (He got it for a gift fwiw)

Yeah, I always thought that was bad logic. If you're in a situation where you really want to save weight, you're probably on a multipitch where, well, you'd want a rappel device.

Pnelson wrote: Yeah, I always thought that was bad logic. If you're in a situation where you really want to save weight, you're probably on a multipitch where, well, you'd want a rappel device.

unless its a moderate alpine route with a walk off descent. Still, I don't think the weight savings are justifiable. You can just take a shit before your hike in and shave off more weight than this thing.

eli poss wrote: unless its a moderate alpine route with a walk off descent. Still, I don't think the weight savings are justifiable. You can just take a shit before your hike in and shave off more weight than this thing.

And leave the cordelette and whateverlette behind as well.

Fun Thread!

Worst purchase? Proally a "Bigwall" harness.....way too heavy/bulky for all but those window washing jobs. I always just tell folks to find the harness that is the most comfortable for them. (I bought the bigwall style harness when I first came to Yosemite, and remember Steve Gerberding, who had just climbed El Cap for his 100th time joking, 'bigger harness, bigger welts.' Steve climbed his routes in a sleek trad harness of that day, called the Petzl Jump, but all the big route climbers I know, short of the super slow 1-2 weeks-on-the-wall folks, just use a decent trad harness).

To all the folks ragging on inflatable sleeping pads - you're crazy, those are the best things ever (and I joined the club late) - super light (or reasonable if you are only walking short distances or 'basecamping') and can allow you to bring a lighter weight sleeping bag. If you're using one in mostly car camping situations, I"ve been blown away by the versatility of this Thermarest Neoair Dream:

rei.com/product/896045/ther…

Best part is it doubles as a spare bed when folks come to visit - it's seriously that comfortable (I haven't tried the 2016 model with the internal pump - that sounds like a little too much, haha).

Woot!
Erik Sloan
Yosemitebigwall.com - Rockclimbyosemite.com

corpse wrote:Tri-Nuts are my worst purchase (fortunately, not a very expensive one like some of you!) for reference since i'm too lazy to post pic. supertopo.com/climbing/thre…;tn=20

I bought some tri-nuts knowing I would never find a placement for them. Never even racked them, or even put them in the backpack for the day. They hang on my wall of antiques an oddities, right next to a couple scalloped nuts, also from OP. The scallop nuts are actually un-terrible.

Climb X cams , absolutely 0 range at all , totally useless pieces of crap, wasted so much money cause I didn't know and trying to be cheap. Could have bought a set of DMM Dragon for all the $$ . Another one is Bluewater rope bucket, totally useless, never needed, super bulky, a tarp is way cheaper and more useful.

Erik Sloan wrote:Fun Thread! Worst purchase? Proally a "Bigwall" harness.....way too heavy for all but those window washing jobs. (I always just tell folks to find the harness that is the most comfortable for them!)

The difference between Black Diamond's big wall harness and a mid level harness is a messily 11 ounces. That's the weight difference of three quickdraws. The comfort difference between a sport climbing harness and a wall harness is pretty big if you're weighting your harness for more than 20-30 min.

40 meter ski mountaineering rope.

20 kN wrote: The difference between Black Diamond's big wall harness and a mid level harness is a messily 11 ounces.

That's probably because the black diamond "bigwall" harness is most definitely NOT a bigwall harness. It's a trad hardness at best and I can't imagine using my big gun for any bigwall a unless it's a singe day affair.

Edit, I stand corrected, why anyone would get a biggie when it's the same weight as a shield is beyond me.
Yates shield = 23oz
Bdel big gun = 23oz
Bdel Chaos = 12.6oz

Woodchuck ATC wrote: Not even allowed for His Leads? Respect the tri-cam!!

Tri-Cams ARE pretty much useless with modern gear that works FAR better. They work once in a blue moon where not much else will where I've climbed, but, I'll just move up 6 feet and find something better.

F tri-cams.

BigNobody wrote: Tri-Cams ARE pretty much useless with modern gear that works FAR better. They work once in a blue moon where not much else will where I've climbed, but, I'll just move up 6 feet and find something better. F tri-cams.

Elsewhere they work much better than in the utah desert. In north carolina you would be banished for uttering such blasphemy. The rock in the southeast really lends itself to the use of tri-cams. Out west, the features where which they really shine are few and far between, hence the whole useless thing.

OTOH, tri-cams were actually design for fragile desert flakes, as they don't have a constant cam angle and exert less outward force as they cam. In theory, the more the flake flexes, the less force the tri-cam will exert.

However, I doubt you and others are open minded enough to understand that they work wonders for people other than yourself, and so you will continue to hate and flame away. Que 5 more pages of tri-cam love and hate bickering before we finally get back on topic.

One of those Mammut ropes that uses recycled fibres or whatever. It's all dark coloured so you can't even see the half way mark! I thought I was being so smart by getting the cheapest dry-treated rope...

Also the Mammut Smart Belay.

Anything mediocre quality. I just end up buying something better later.

...Life Lesson...? :O