It's with fond sadness that we bid farewell to Will Rietveld as the Senior Editor for Gear and Apparel. Though he'll still have a presence around Backpacking Light, he's decided to take his retirement more seriously. Please wish him and Janet well in their new endeavors of actually relaxing!

Will, it's been a delight and a pleasure working with you these past years. You and Janet have maintained a high standard of writing and testing that's made my editor's heart beat faster for the sheer quality. I will miss your steady help and stewardship, but I pray blessings on you and Janet - may these next years prove better than ever!

With love,
Addie

Will - you were one of the main reasons I was a member of BPL for 5 years.

Have fun in your retirement. No doubt much of it will be spent in the mountains.

You're contributions will certainly be missed, Will. You have given us many a good writeup, much objective information. It will be difficult for BPL to replace you and Janet. Thanks for what you've done.

Will, thanks for all you've done for the BPL community. Your articles will be missed.

Enjoy retirement!

Will,
Good Luck and Happy Trails! Your work in retirement surpassed most people in their careers.
Thank You for giving us the information we needed to make intelligent gear decisions, and at the very least, the information we needed to justify adding new gear to the closet!

NO! Say it isn't so. WilliWabbit and Janet are hopping away. What a terrible loss. Your in-depth reviews will be sorely missed.

Best wishes on your new ventures down the bunny trail.

Edited by wandering_bob on 10/04/2011 19:05:51 MDT.

Will,

Thank you so much for all you've done in making BPL a great resource for UL gear info. I've enjoyed reading your articles and test results immensely. Your insight has been invaluable to me as someone who came to BPL and ultralight backpacking relatively recently (about 4 years ago). I wish you all the best in this next chapter in your life.

Kendall

Edited by socalpacker on 10/06/2011 08:50:27 MDT.

Thanks for your detailed reviews of some great gear. I learned so much from you!!!!!

Enjoy the fun days ahead of you.

Will & Janet, I want to thank you for the conscientious work you have put into testing piles of UL gear. I've enjoyed reading your reviews over the 5+ years I've been a member. Half of what's in my gear closet is there due to your recommendations!

Enjoy your well deserved retirement butknow that you will be missed!

What a shock! I'm going to miss your wonderful reviews, Will. Perhaps some of the best gear reviews I've ever read anywhere. Your articles were part of the reason I kept coming back, and I still go back to your articles again and again to relearn something or refine how I think about certain gear or techniques. You will be sorely missed.

You have both been an inspiration to me--older folks who get out and far away a lot and are crazy knowledgeable gearheads. Have fun.

What a loss for us, but a gain for you two. Your gear reviews will be missed.

Happy trails.

Best to you Will and Janet - your words will continue to inform and inspire us as we venture back outdoors as well.

Will and Janet, you'll be missed!

Here's wishing you a happy and active retirement! Enjoy!

"We don't stop hiking because we get old; we get old because we stop hiking." (Finis Mitchell)

"What a shock! I'm going to miss your wonderful reviews, Will. Perhaps some of the best gear reviews I've ever read anywhere. Your articles were part of the reason I kept coming back, and I still go back to your articles again and again to relearn something or refine how I think about certain gear or techniques. You will be sorely missed."

Exactly what I wanted to say, only much beter expressed. +100

This is a real body blow to BPL.

I wish you and Janet many, many years of happy hiking.

Fare thee well Will and Janet. May your future trails be numerous and happy (or at least interesting).

I stumbled upon your Southwest Ultralight Backpacking web site very early in the search for info about lightening my pack and your mention of Bozeman Mountain Works Air Core line led me to BPL where, at that time, the forum formerly known as G-Spot was limping along at the anemic rate of a couple dozen postings per week.

I've found almost all of your articles useful and interesting, even when dealing with something I was not interested in ... have gained many tidbits of info that helped my in other areas. The ultra light winter footwear series revolutionized my winter hiking and snow shoeing.

Say it isn't so!

Good luck and bon voyage.

HJ

Best wishes and thank you for all of your work with BPL.

Please know that you will be missed here. I always read your reviews, absolutely the best on the site.

Will!
It's been a pleasure working with you. The time and effort you put into every single review (or mini review!) was unmatched. I hope you'll enjoy your actual retirement, and put in some good trail miles (without the extra weight 9 pieces of the same type of gear to review!)

Thanks for everything!

You'll be missed. The in depth SOTM reports and gear reviews were my favorites. Even if you weren't reveiwing the exact peice of gear I was using or considering your scientific approach and well organized articles still gave me useful information that I could apply in othe areas (The in depth review of frameless packs was one of the best and helped me improve my MYOG packs in a big way).
I wish you two well in your actual retirement but it will leave a big hole here.

Hi Will and Janet-

Thank you for all the work you've both put into BPL over the years. Your body of work is unmatched and you two can never be replaced here. I'm gonna miss you sorely, but I hope we can still get together for our Winter hikes. The snow is on its way... :-)

Will,
A heartfelt thanks for all the great work you have done on our collective behalf. As others have noted, your insightful articles and comments on BPL have kept me coming back here.
Best wishes to you and Janet.
-Mark

Will and Janet, have always appreciated your very intelligent, well-organized, helpful reviews. Have definitely learned a lot from you. I hope your retirement is rewarding and rich; also hope that you will continue to participate here in some form, as you are an extremely valuable part of the community. Best wishes for all future trips and projects.

Edited by swimjay on 10/05/2011 10:38:23 MDT.

Will,

Does this mean you can now finally tell us where all the really great hiking spots are in the Weminuche?

Have fun in retirement!

I will really miss your articles, which have been my favorite feature writing on BPL - well written and full of good information and wise insight. Thank you for all the fine work, and enjoy many many years of hoofing it down the trail unencumbered by the need to review the gear you're using!

Debbie

Yeah he' s gonna go sit in the Weminuche and we'll have to go on a quest to find him to get sage UL parables.

"Oh, Great Wabbit, what are the secrets of the wp/b cuben?"

We'll miss y'all!!

Your reviews have always been incomparable @BPL, my best to you both

Wow....with all the changes at BPL, quite honestly with most degrading what once was a pretty great product, this may very well be the most impactful.

Thanks for all your effort and very professional approach to this industry. Best wishes for your retirement.

Will,

Thanks for all the great articals and reviews! And most of all for you great advise and council!!

(verbatim from an anonymous donor's PM to me)
*****
I've been trying to think of a way to say "thanks" to Will and Janet, and this is what I've come up with:

In honor of Will's and Janet's wonderful reviews over the years, BPL is offering 5 non-members a one-year membership to BPL so they can read Will's insightful reviews and words of wisdom. Five more people who will get a chance to appreciate all that Will has meant to UL backpackers at large and, especially, to the BPL community itself.

The memberships will be funded by the Will Rietveld and Janet Reichl Scholarlyship (since it ain't actually a scholarship....) Fund, a one-time fund for these 5 memberships, to be administered by BPL (meaning, I guess, you, Addie!).
*****

So here it is: the first five folks who PM me get a one-year subscription to Backpacking Light. Only rule is that you gotta be a newbie. And know that I'm leaving my computer for an hour or so, so I hope they are all snapped up by the time I get back!

Thanks all, special thanks to anonymous donor.
Addie

**** Update ****
The subscriptions have all been claimed. Thanks folks!

Edited by addiebedford on 10/18/2011 09:29:01 MDT.

Best wishes Will and Janet and thanks for all your excellent gear reviews. You set a high standard! Enjoy your days in the wilds.

Will, I hope we can do another igloo trip together!

Oh, man. I'd been skipping reading this thread, because I thought it was the one about baseball.

Will, whenever I saw a new article on BPL that was written by you, I knew I was in for a treat. As others have said, I have learned a lot from your insight, and I have appreciated the high quality of work you and Janet have done. Thank you and best wishes!

Will has done a lot of good work and helped sort out gear myth from reality. I hope he can give us a little reality check once in a while if we get too far off track :) I can't imagine giving up all those TOYS to play with!

Clever touch securing the roll top of the main bag to the rear/center pocket. I'm diggin that idea. I may have to see if I can incorporate that idea in my roll top Zero.

Thanks for everything Will. Your articles rocked.

Will, you Will be missed! Best reviews on the web!

Will, your reviews were top notch and a great help. You gave all the information that a discerning, perhaps obsessive, person would need to make a well-informed gear choice. Wishing you all the best. -- Eliot

Wow, I just discovered this thread, two days after it was posted. I'm overwhelmed, because frankly I didn't realize I was that appreciated. Thanks so much for all the accolades and good wishes!

But you are not going to get rid of me that easily. I don't like the term "retirement" because it seems to imply that I am going to disappear to the world of assisted living. Quite the opposite. I still have a few articles in the BPL pipeline that will be published soon, and I plan to write an article on SUL mountain backpacking next spring. I am just ending my tenure as BPL's Senior Editor for gear and apparel; I will continue on as a contributing editor, writing occasional reviews of UL gear.

I am reducing my BPL workload to gain more time for backpacking and other pursuits. The Finis Mitchell quote is very inspiring to me: "We don't stop hiking because we get old; we get old because we stop hiking." Thanks for mentioning it, I want that to be my mantra.

Thanks again for all your compliments and good wishes. My 7.5 years at BPL have been very rewarding and a second career for me (and Janet), one that combines several things that we love to do. And through my BPL association I have met, worked with, and hiked with, some really outstanding people in the outdoor community that I deeply admire. But don't write me off, I will still be around, but not cranking out as many articles as we have in the past.

Best wishes, Will and Janet (WilliWabbit and BOS, which stands for Buns Of Steel).

We are remarkably blessed to have had the privilege to work with Will and Janet.

Their work quality, professionalism, enthusiasm, knowledge, and willingness to sacrifice personal time to help BPL become what it is today is humbling to me, and I'm so grateful for it.

Will and Janet: you'll be missed. Thank you so much for your years of service, it's been a real honor.

Best Regards,
Ryan and Stephanie Jordan

Well I'm glad you clarified that, Will. I was quite disappointed when I read the news this am. I remember my delight when I first discovered some of your posts a few years ago. I knew it had to be the same Will Rietveld I'd worked with "ages ago" in one of your former permutations as a forestry researcher (PhD in Plant Physiology, I believe.)

Whenever I read one of your reviews or click on a video link, it's like a vicarious visit with an old friend. I'm glad you're not bidding us farewell. Best regards, Maxine

The Finis Mitchell quote: "We don't stop hiking because we get old; we get old because we stop hiking" reminded me of a trip, about 20 years ago, where I had quite a large group of people walking in front of me. When I finally could get hold of them (almost at the top of the mountain we all climbed), they turned out to a “Veteran’s group” (ALL over 65 years old – at least one was over 80, if I recall right). When I congratulated them with their pace & rhythm (I thought they were pretty quick), one of them told me there was no secret at all, only “Never stop doing this”. Before going down, we spent about an hour talking on top of the mountain and I learned a lot more things from these “Veterans”. I never forgot these 4 words and now I’ve almost reached sixty myself, I know they were right. I never stopped hiking and feel like I’ll be able to do this for another 30 or 40 years more.

Will & Janet. Never stop hiking (I know you won’t) and enjoy your life in the outdoors -- you deserve it. I’ll miss your input at BPL, although your last announcement “don't write me off, I will still be around” has put my mind at ease.

Many, many thanks.

I just wanted to say thanks to Addie and to the anonymous donor for doing this. I am looking forward to reading Will and Janet's reviews

I really enjoyed all of your articals and reviews. Who know tent stakes could be so interesting.

Retire? How can you do that? Ya'll don't look nearly that old! Plus, you're among the very best "benefits" of BPL!!!

It's great that you'll keep sharing your experiences and knowledge, though.

Your articles and reviews are great; they've taught me a lot over the years.

Many happy trails with your new "free" time -- you'll probably wonder how you ever had the time to write all that stuff!

Thanks again, and very best wishes.

Richard

Edited by JRScruggs on 12/04/2011 21:16:16 MST.

Dang... I thought there was going to be the mother of all used gear sale!!



























(Kidding!!! You go traveling and then realize you've missed all the important stuff... and it's taking weeks to catch up. Happy Trails, Will!!!)

Yes, it certainly is an end of an era. Not to worry, retirement is FUN...cept whan you can't get out.
Good luck!

Thanks Will for the gift of that first introductory BPL membership. Appreciate all of your reviews.