i was woundering if anyone has checked out the new user tip from gossamergear.com it says to punch a series of holes into the pad. this increases the comfort (and lowers a wee bit o' weight) but before i start the 240 punching process, just woundering if anyone else has done this yet?
thanks!
mike!

http://tinyurl.com/plhuq (url for the mod)

Watch out, folks. That's a blind link to a PDF: http://www.gossamergear.com/gossamergear/images/Holey_Nightlight.pdf

It's a bit odd that he punched all those holes, but didn't bother to round the corners of the pad. I can understand not tapering the pad to fit your torso (if you plan to use it as a frame), but that is another, quicker option. I think it would be a bit easier to save 0.1oz by rounding and tapering. Hole-punching [for me] would be a huge waste.

-Mark

Edited by mlarson on 09/20/2006 20:40:24 MDT.

Sorry mark, im going to pull the ignorance card here, whats a blind link? i always thought tinyurl was proper 'netiquette' anyway, i think this mod was more for the comfort,(i geuss because the dimples collapse into the holes a little?) the weight was just a second advantage.
any one try it yet?
mike!

Edited by mikey on 09/21/2006 01:52:34 MDT.

What Mark means is that the link is to a file that may download to your computer or, in my case, will tie up the computer until it fully downloads. The link is not to a webpage. In this case the file is small, but I have inadvertently clicked on pdf files that are huge and my computer won't function until the file downloads. For pdf file links it might be best to say that is what it is. This would be true for files like .pdf, .doc, etc.

Edited by jshann on 09/21/2006 07:34:41 MDT.

This is off-subject of thread, but PDF file links need not "tie up" your computer. The Firefox browser (far superior to IE in all respects) with a file manager extension like "Download Manager Tweak" allows full control over downloads of many types, including the ability to immediately stop them.

Hey. I can stop a download to the hard drive with mac and safari, but I cannot stop an in-browser (to be seen with plug in) download.

Sorry John, can't help you with the Mac. I opened link (http://tinyurl.com/plhuq) and had full control in download manager. Now, back to the thread subject...

I just like to give folks a heads up when dealing with online files that aren't HTML. No big deal, no dramatic inconvenience done on my end [thank you, Firefox]--I just wanted others to know.

Yes, you are right that the holes were mostly motivated by comfort. That was pretty clearly stated, and I should have seen that. Whoops. I can see how it could help add a little more cushion and 'give' to the ripples on the pad.

Maybe you could try punching a whole in 1 bump and see how you like the change? If that one doesn't work out, at least you'll have a place to tie the pad on your lanyard :)

-Mark

re: PDF's (or any "download")... it's good practice to let the user know what to expect before they click a link... any link... to anything... esp. if it's a BIG file. I tried to see if Safari would cancelling PDF's transfers... but it loaded up in half a second... so I don't know. No biggie... unless you're on 28.8K dialup I guess... but it's still a pretty tiny file. Still... it is always good to know what to expect from any link. That's why tinyurl is actually often considered BAD netittique... because you haven't the slightest idea what a tinyurl points to.

Anyhoo!!!! :)

My only question about the pad is... aren't all those holes going to severely impact it's insulating ability?

I didn't see any mention of what he used to punch the holes. Any of you experienced foam-hole-punchers out there have a good idea?

No idea... but I imagine it would have to have been some kind of sharp, hollow hammer punch.

I use a Leather Punch I bought at Michaels. They have 50% off coupons every week or so and I bought a set with one of them.

Look at the set with the largest size punches. The largest size in my set is 5/16".