BPL Community Profile

Ken Charpie (kencharpie) - BPL Lifetime Member

My Locale Western Oregon
About Me I started lightweight backpacking in 2009. I had some backpacking "experience" in the Army National Guard (Basic and Infantry school) that was definitely far from lightweight. I had no equipment to begin with, so I was excited to be able to start from scratch on my backcountry gear list.

My most up to date 3 season gear list is online:
https://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=0Ahww8j_o0uu8dEczSUFac2lacnlvQjNEaG42MDl0WHc&hl=en&output=html
CityEugene
StateOregon
CountryUSA
My PDF Gear ListCentral Oregon Cascades and Coastal Range 2 to 3 days

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All Forum Posts by Ken Charpie

Showing 1 - 10 of 46 | Page: 1 2 3 4 5
 

Post

Forum » Thread
WOW!
Paratrekking! Wow, this thread is way cooler than I had hoped. As to those who think that those wanting a lightweight, renewable energy source to help power their hike are "...going at this...

In Make Your Own Gear » Flexible Solar Panel Project
June 02, 10:30am
Flexible Solar Panel Project
I'm going to be carrying this for a week-long trip to provide power for the use of gps on my android smartphone. The solar panel will be mounted to the outside of my pack (pics to come) and...

In Make Your Own Gear » Flexible Solar Panel Project
May 31, 4:40pm
Eskabar
I'm eyeballing this: http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&q=eskabar&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&biw=1091&bih=805&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=20221305910550099...

In GEAR » Light Fixed Blade? Any knife knuts here?
May 26, 3:15am
Driducks with Columbia Titanium Windshirt
I use driducks and still carry my Columbia Titanium windshirt into the rainy Oregon Cascades. They layer well and the windshirt provides protection during light rain so that I don't have to sto...

In GEAR » Windshirt/Rain Jacket/Redundant Clothing??
May 26, 3:13am
Powerfilm Gear Mod and Backcountry Test Coming Soon
I'm working on setting up a 7W powerfilm rollable solar panel to hang on my pack for constant charging of my Android Smartphone, which I use for geotracking purposes and taking short videos in ...

In GEAR » Solar Panels??
May 26, 3:00am
Online Trip Sharing Sites Used by BPL members?
Has anyone else tried out Everytrail.com or other trip-sharing services that they enjoy using? I've used Picasa albums, Facebook, and Google maps for sharing trips with others, but I really ...

In General Lightweight Backpacking Discussion » Online Trip Sharing Sites Used by BPL members?
May 25, 6:53am
Topo Maps without Data
There are several apps out there now that can download topo maps beforehand, eliminating the need for a data connection during the trip to access them. I like Backcountry Navigator on my Android ph...

In General Lightweight Backpacking Discussion » Why you shouldn’t use Smart Phones for Backcountry Navigation
May 25, 6:18am
On the utility of GPS
I have gps tracked my last couple overnight hikes using my smartphone and ended both trips with a decent amount of battery left over. The phone sat in airplane mode in my pack for the most part, ex...

In General Lightweight Backpacking Discussion » Why you shouldn’t use Smart Phones for Backcountry Navigation
May 25, 6:03am
Does Not Compute
So I don't understand why we shouldn't use them for GPS navigation, except for the battery life issue. Most of the quote was about how useful a cell phone is in the backcountry for SAR purp...

In General Lightweight Backpacking Discussion » Why you shouldn’t use Smart Phones for Backcountry Navigation
May 25, 5:58am
The State of Washington knows
I'm not sure that many members of this site use bleach for treating their drinking water... The state of Washington has some guidelines for emergency usage (with specific instructions and dos...

In Philosophy & Technique » How Much Bleach for Water Treatment
May 25, 5:38am

All Reader Reviews by Ken Charpie

Showing 1 - 1 of 1 | Page: 1
 

Review

Category
Driducks rainsuit
(The bulge in my jacket is the pants. This tu...

In Clothing - Raingear
November 24, 11:50am