Post Ridiculous Climbing and Camping Gear Here

Jeff Luton wrote: If only someone would come out with a beer clip for the harness

Listen to me, Jeff, when I tell you to wear that damn helmet. 

Oh, look it comes in colors, too, and a size XL.

​https://www.theclymb.com/Product.aspx?l=00011790174400000000&p=KER01350&et=lls&s=00000

For when that road needs a good drive by fertilizing. 

Greg R wrote:

When the weight of the pack bottoms out on its downward travel isn’t that putting increased load on yer knees at that point. Seems better to have a constant weight than a cycle of decreased load followed by  increased load. 

In addition to the above answer about one result being that the pack doesn't end up moving up and down as much, it also has much more gradual velocity changes, and the rate of velocity change is what is related to the force that you exert on it. Note that they're advertising lower _peak_ force, which comes through a combo of having a smaller range of motion and more gentle turnarounds. The peak force happens at the bottom, just as you suggest, and it's just smaller in one system than in the other. The _average_ force exerted by the user is still exactly the same (the weight of the pack); there's just less variation. It's the nonlinear human response to bearing the load that makes one 'easier' on you than the other. 

The Wenger 16999 Swiss Army Knife
87 implements

Behold the BioLite camp stove, which allows you to charge your USB devices and burns 'twigs, sticks and pinecones' so you don't have to carry the inconceivable weight of a butane canister. Fortunately it comes with a USB Flexlight®©™, because there's no easy way to produce light using fire. Thanks REI!

https://www.rei.com/rei-garage/product/130453/biolite-wood-burning-campstove-with-flexlight

Gerrit Verbeek wrote: Behold the BioLite camp stove, which allows you to charge your USB devices and burns 'twigs, sticks and pinecones' so you don't have to carry the inconceivable weight of a butane canister. Fortunately it comes with a USB Flexlight®©™, because there's no easy way to produce light using fire. Thanks REI!

https://www.rei.com/rei-garage/product/130453/biolite-wood-burning-campstove-with-flexlight

Working link. 

The entire Biolite has always seemed like a joke to me. I mean, I carry a stove BECAUSE I don't want to burn twigs, sticks and pinecones, not so I can.

I won a Biolite for free from a raffle (this was when they were new so they didn't come with a USB light yet). It actually worked really nicely when I tried it on a hike and it rained, because it only required a small bit of dry fuel to get started, and then was able to burn moderately wet stuff due to the higher burning efficiency from the fan. The problem I had with it was it burned stuff too efficiently, and it was hard to feed it fuel fast enough. This problem was exacerbated by the size, which meant you couldn't feed it anything large. I can't imagine keeping it going long enough to charge a phone (maybe they've worked out this issue with later models?).

I think it's kind of a cool idea but I probably wouldn't pay for one.

David Kerkeslager wrote: I won a Biolite for free from a raffle (this was when they were new so they didn't come with a USB light yet). It actually worked really nicely when I tried it on a hike and it rained, because it only required a small bit of dry fuel to get started, and then was able to burn moderately wet stuff due to the higher burning efficiency from the fan. The problem I had with it was it burned stuff too efficiently, and it was hard to feed it fuel fast enough. This problem was exacerbated by the size, which meant you couldn't feed it anything large. I can't imagine keeping it going long enough to charge a phone (maybe they've worked out this issue with later models?).

It would be an awesome Youtube video to do a time lapse of someone collecting enough twigs to charge an iPhone + battery from dead to full.

Here in CA there are huge areas where you could NEVER find enough twigs to even make a cup of tea.

Nut Tool wrote:

You should pre order the 2019 petzl meteor. 

Ill work on it for sure. Great winter project

This one has gotten me for a long time

https://www.rei.com/product/869679/maxim-alex-honnold-signature-bi-pattern-glider-99mm-x-70m-dry-rope
I thought he was famous for not using a rope?

Señor Arroz wrote:

It would be an awesome Youtube video to do a time lapse of someone collecting enough twigs to charge an iPhone + battery from dead to full.

Here in CA there are huge areas where you could NEVER find enough twigs to even make a cup of tea.

FWIW, it did get pretty decent boil times. Nothing approaching the JetBoil I use now, but better than my old MSR stove or the super-light GigaPower stove I carried for a bit. I don't think it's an improvement over other stoves but it's an improvement over building a cooking fire, and in some cases it might make sense to not want to carry fuel. I just don't get the USB charger thing. If I were to design it from my own experience with it, I'd focus on making it a better fuel-efficient fire and scrap the USB charger aspect.

I kind of wonder if a thermoelectric element attachment could be made for the JetBoil that would work better.

Floyd "PC" Eggers wrote:

For when that road needs a good drive by fertilizing. 

I want one of these. Extra nice that it comes in camo. 

Josh Gates wrote:

In addition to the above answer about one result being that the pack doesn't end up moving up and down as much, it also has much more gradual velocity changes, and the rate of velocity change is what is related to the force that you exert on it. Note that they're advertising lower _peak_ force, which comes through a combo of having a smaller range of motion and more gentle turnarounds. The peak force happens at the bottom, just as you suggest, and it's just smaller in one system than in the other. The _average_ force exerted by the user is still exactly the same (the weight of the pack); there's just less variation. It's the nonlinear human response to bearing the load that makes one 'easier' on you than the other. 

A response above stated there was no bottoming out because the pack didn’t actually go up and down because of a hocus pocus gyro effect. You seem to dispute that. OK then, I can’t wait, so inspite of the additional weight I guess we can expect to see everyone carrying these things by next year. Sorry, still looks like a joke to me, but whatever!!

Greg R wrote:

A response above stated there was no bottoming out because the pack didn’t actually go up and down because of a hocus pocus gyro effect. You seem to dispute that. OK then, I can’t wait, so inspite of the additional weight I guess we can expect to see everyone carrying these things by next year. Sorry, still looks like a joke to me. 

This product has virtually no application for you and I this thing is made for soldiers who have to run with 40lbs+ on a regular basis and the fact that it generates power makes it pretty damn useful in the field.

that guy named seb wrote:

This product has virtually no application for you and I this thing is made for soldiers who have to run with 40lbs+ on a regular basis and the fact that it generates power makes it pretty damn useful in the field.

"Rome and his colleagues envision a backpack for soldiers, Marines, first responders, and even children on the way to school to help lighten loads and generate electricity for portable devices." -www.militaryaerospace.com

Tell us again how this backpack is way too badass for us civilians who don't understand what real operators are up against out in the field, braj. I hope all the tacticool webbing on it can double as a lint cloth for mirrored Raybans. ;)

David Kerkeslager wrote: I won a Biolite for free from a raffle (this was when they were new so they didn't come with a USB light yet). It actually worked really nicely when I tried it on a hike and it rained, because it only required a small bit of dry fuel to get started, and then was able to burn moderately wet stuff due to the higher burning efficiency from the fan. The problem I had with it was it burned stuff too efficiently, and it was hard to feed it fuel fast enough. This problem was exacerbated by the size, which meant you couldn't feed it anything large. I can't imagine keeping it going long enough to charge a phone (maybe they've worked out this issue with later models?).

I think it's kind of a cool idea but I probably wouldn't pay for one.

But did yours have the built-in fleshlight?

Greg R wrote:

A response above stated there was no bottoming out because the pack didn’t actually go up and down because of a hocus pocus gyro effect. You seem to dispute that. OK then, I can’t wait, so inspite of the additional weight I guess we can expect to see everyone carrying these things by next year. Sorry, still looks like a joke to me, but whatever!!

I don't think that it bottoms out in the sense of clanking at the bottom, but when it moves down and slows down or moves up and speeds up, the upward force exerted on it from the user exceeds the weight. I just mean that - the bottom half of the oscillation cycle.

Kevin Mokracek wrote:

Thats kinda personal.  I was just thinking how hygiene in the backcountry sometimes take a backseat and how eating with one of these sporks switching from one side to the other with dirty hands is asking for trouble.   Most people don't realize that Giardia is most commonly transmitted by dirty hands from not washing up after going number two.   Getting Giardia from streams or lakes is actually a pretty low occurrence.   californiamountaineer.net/g…

Are you one of those people who clips a tube of hand sanitizer to your harness on multipitches? 

I've always been amused by how specific clothing companies are with the activities for which their clothing is appropriate. 90% of "climbing" clothing has absolutely no features that make it more appropriate for climbing than for, say, hiking or kayaking. The jeans I climb in are advertised as yoga jeans. Nobody has ever said to me, "Why are you climbing in those pants, those pants are for yoga!" In fact, the only comment I've ever gotten on them is, "What kind of jeans are those? I want some jeans I can climb in."

I get it, it's about selling people an identity as a climber or a yogi rather than actually creating products appropriate for a specific activity. But the disconnect between marketing and reality is a bit amusing to me.