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Brian Lewis (brianle) - BPL Forum Member
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All Forum Posts by Brian Lewis
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~Continuous use "I know a guy that has two through hikes on his original Neo Air. That may not be "normal" but that is a pretty good testament to me." My guess is that it's better than n... |
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Gatewood Cape perhaps If it's a trip where I expect just lots and lots of rain, I probably wouldn't go this route, but for one where it's lighter, on/off rain or just "possible" rain I'd consid... |
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"Feet are weirdly personal." "Feet are weirdly personal." Amen to that. I think that starting with a pair of shoes 1 size larger than normal is a good idea, *if* the person has done some training walks at home i... |
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Ah, the CDT "I'm hiking the CDT, so I liked the Core for the 'Storm Alarm', the digital compass and altimeter." I presume this isn't your first dance then. The issue then becomes ... |
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"start later" --- yes, but not too late I can't give any personal insights here as I haven't had to particularly scrimp. But the overall thru-hiker culture is pretty frugal (if not sometimes beyond frugal), and that sort of rubs... |
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prefer cheap watch now I've owned three altimeter watches, and at this point I feel a bit of fool to have done so. The first required that I mail it back to have a new battery put in every 18 months or so, an expens... |
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Agree with Piper "I think you recover mentally much faster if you have something to go back home to. So having a job waiting for you will be mentally easier to deal with." Ditto. I've done three s... |
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Varies by use (and user) I used to use GG Mariposa Plus packs, and from a couple of experiences I think you get about one thru-hike out of one of those. Of course it matters (a lot) how careful you are, how fortunate you ... |
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Where ... "Brian, I'm curious, which crossing did ya'll have trouble with: going up to Elizabeth Lake, or the open right below the lake itself?" Going up to Elizabeth lake. We started in... |
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We always want to simplify things I've helped teach a beginning backpacking class, and the more experience I gain at various aspects of backpacking, the more I realize how simplistic are the various rules of thumb that some wel... |
All Reader Reviews by Brian Lewis
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Ursack Minor The "Ursack Minor" is quite distinct from the traditional Ursack, in that it's not meant to be bear proof (or "resistant" or whatever). Instead, Ursack says it's "for... |
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Golite Force I use Golite shoes because the toe-box is shaped a lot more like the front of an actual human foot. More specifically, most trail runners or other shoes give me problems due to bunionettes (little to... |
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Montbell Thermawrap jacket For 3-season backpacking, my thermawrap jacket is my sole insulation layer, coupled in some limited cases with a thermawrap vest. It's just a fantastic piece of clothing in terms of both weight ... |
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Montbell Thermawrap Vest I have a size medium Thermawrap jacket and a size large Thermawrap vest; I probably should have reversed those to be able to layer the vest under the jacket rather than over, but it actually works fin... |
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Thermarest Neo-Air Like Dylan Carlson, I also used a Neo-Air (size regular for me) on a thru-hike. My thru-hike was of the Appalachian Trail, starting in late February (2010), so a lot of snow and cold weather in the f... |
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REI REI Peak UL Compact Hiking Poles I too had something over 3000 miles on my pair --- the majority of that thru-hiking the PCT in 2008 plus a variety of much shorter trips. I started my AT thru-hike with them (early in 2010), but just... |
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Memory-Map Navigator This is actually a comparison of two product alternatives for putting topographic software on a Windows Mobile platform smartphone with a true GPS. The 4/5 rating is for one of those, Memory-Map Navi... |
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Golite Versa Force Let me start by saying that my rating of '4' is tentative until I've done more miles in these. But as I found nothing useful in searching for reviews of currently-available Golite footwe... |
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ULA Axis Crampon I'm hoping to thru-hike the PCT next year, and one of many equipment issues for me was the question of whether to use crampons or not in the Sierras. I also do day hikes in "shoulder" s... |
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Western Mountaineering SummerLite I agree --- the summerlite is excellent. I frankly don't trust any individual evaluation of a sleeping bag temperature rating (32F in this case); so many things affect this, including not only th... |
