Camping and Backpacking GEAR thread

Of course right after I buy my Big Agnes tent they get put on sale for $40 less.

 

Contact the seller. You should get a refund of the difference.

 

You should call Osprey customer service and see if they will fix it for you. That’s what I did and they just replaced my backpack with a brand new revised version. They have pretty good customer service.

 

FTFY.

They have a lifetime warranty that they stand behind with no questions asked. I've had two packs replaced by them. One was a QC issue that was missed and that pack only had a few trips on it.

The other pack was my Aether 60. That pack was over 10 years old. It's my alpine multi-day climbing pack. It's been drug over counless moraines and has hundreds of days of very heavy abuse all while carrying a full rack and rope plus food and shelter. Basically that pack lasted way longer then it should have. The last 3 years of it's service it had Gorilla tape holding the bottom together. It finally got worn enough I needed to replace it.

I get attached to certain gear that has been with me a while. I decided to call Opsrey and see if they could repair the bottom of the pack. I told them it's history and fully expected to be charged for the repairs. They gave me an RMA and I sent it in. A few days later I get a call from them. The guy on the phone offers me 2 choices. A brand new pack to replace mine or they can repair my old one. Normally they just replace with the current model he told me. Since I had such a history with the pack he wanted to reach out and offer me another option. Of course I took option 2 and told him I'd be happy to pay for the repair. That pack had gone above and beyond it's "normal' lifespan. I received the pack a few days later fully repaired. I also never paid a dime for this service.

That was 4 years ago and my pack is still going strong. lol

 

@4WDTrout @theesotericone
Cool beans!!

https://www.osprey.com/us/en/culture/history

 

I have a go pro knockoff that I fastened a strap that I can attach to my shoulder strap on my pack. I then decided it just was not worth the hassle vs just carrying a phone.

 

Which tent is that? I'm speccing out a KLR build of my own (in my head for the moment) and this would be perfect.

 

Maybe get a chest attachment gopro. Might not see as much as you would with a helmet mounted one but i doubt youre wearing that while hiking usually

 

It's probably ten years old and still works. It just doesn't seem right to ask them to hook me up with a new pack now. Good to know their customer service is exceptional though.

Big Agnes Fly Creek HV UL2 bikepack version.

 

Thank you for the revision of my post. Indeed, Osprey absolutely has “EXCEPTIONAL” customer service.

 

We did Reavis Ranch trail and camped near the stream. Once we got up to the meadow it was amazing weather!
Need to rethink my need/wants a little better as the weight coming back out was a little tough.

 

First hike since the ankle blow out. 2.5 miles rt on the blue ridge passage of the azt. Very little soreness and slight swelling the day after, but still very tender and slightly painful moving over rocky terrain. Camped tentless in the truck bed, perfectly clear skies and zero bugs

 

I love the footage I get from my Samsung Note 9. I now also carry the Rylo 360 video camera and hold it in my hand with a small Ultrapod which also acts as a small tripod or folds up as a selfie handle. I love that it captures all 360 degrees in 5k so I don't miss a thing. I can then go in post edit and look in any direction that I want and it takes amazing full 360 video or crazy panorama stills. I love being able to film everything with one camera no matter which way it's facing.

I also have a mount for the Rylo that clamps quickly on my trekking pole so I can get much more wide angle shots of me with a ton of background.

 

Recently discovered this video. Looks like a good piece of kit. Maybe not if you're an ultralight backpacker though.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKUqnY-wkgw

 

https://www.backpacker.com/news-and-events/appalachian-trail-attack

Couple was attacked on the AT sometime between Sat night/Sun morning, one fatality. Pretty scary stuff, I think it happened in the grayson highlands section of the trail.

 

Read about it this morning, crazy since a couple of my buddies were planning a hike recently through the same area.

 

I proposed to my wife on that section of the trail, it's a beautiful hike through there. It's just a miserable thing to happen to those folks.

When I first started backpacking I carried a gun because I was going solo and was scared. Realized I'm relatively safe in the woods and started going with a friend or two so at least I had company. But man, this has me questioning things.

 

We had a sketchy dude around azt this year too

 

Reading more about this the guy had been reported on the AT forums repeatedly and had already threatened and assaulted multiple people. But no one would arrange to testify against him (presumably since everyone was from out of state and was going to still be on the trail trying to thru hike) so law enforcement wasn’t having any luck getting him locked up or committed.

Scary, but like most things more likely to die crossing one of the roads along the trail.

 

I just finished reading a lot more into it, apparently he approached the group of four at their camp late at night. Two fled to the north, two to the south. The couple that went south managed to get an sos on their phone out and authorities were alerted, but somehow the guy with the machete caught up and attacked them both. Woman faked dead and the man was killed, after the killer left the woman ran six miles down the trail until she found help from some other hikers. The sos went out at 3:30 am.

What a shitty thing to happen. Its statistically rare, as you said, but I've seen some sketchy folks out on the trail and was always happy it was during the day and that I wasnt staying at the shelter. I've been carrying lately when going fly fishing/backpacking, since I'm usually sleeping in more traveled areas and smell like fish, but going forward I'll likely start taking one while backpacking as well.