[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: Cock feather? #41801

Just a random guess – could it have something to do with differences in shelf cut?

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: To sleep, perchance to … sleep? #41591

David Petersen wrote: Thanks, Hammer. It was a big NO on inflatable, given my experiences with my paleo-era Therm-a-rests (though factory service for finding and patching leaks is laudable, maybe even good :lol:).

Tell me more about “closed-cell foam,” please. To me that means “Insolite,” which I’ve never seen thicker than about 3/8″. Even doubled it was never as good as even a thin Therm-a-rest. Except it never leaks.

Dave –

If you definitely don’t want an inflatable, then you are looking at some sort of closed-cell foam, such as ensolite. I’m not aware of any other alternatives to an inflatable besides foam.

But I agree with you – closed-cell foam pads are pretty minimal comfort, they tend to compress with use over time and also don’t offer much insulation (“R” value) when it’s cold. Which is why I stick with an inflatable pad. They’re less bulky, offer more insulation and as long as you’re careful with them, I don’t find that holes/leaks are common.

Sinawalli also mentioned the Exped pads, which are really nice. They up the “R” value even more by adding down into the mix. But, they are not cheap. No good quality pad is, in my experience. Comfort, durability and lightweight generally come at a cost.

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: Spring fever #41483

eidsvolling wrote: The turkey season here in NH opens on May 3rd. I have long held an ambition to use skis to hunt them. Came close a few years back – this year is looking pretty good with a morning low of -6, three feet of snow in the woods and a possible big storm next week.

I’m inspired by one of the hunters depicted here:

Böksta Runestone

Thanks for the link and my morning history nugget. Leave it to the Norse to have one god for archery, hunting and skiing! And good luck in your quest to hunt turkeys on skis – keep us posted!

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: To sleep, perchance to … sleep? #40732

I’ve had the same Therma-rest for over a decade, and it only has one patch on it (courtesy of loaning it out…). But I’m very careful about where I put it down, and I usually carry an ultralight piece of nylon to use as a ground sheet between the pad and the ground. I think that has gone a long way toward preventing punctures, especially when using it without tent floors, as I often do.

But for the past year or so I’ve been using a Klymit ‘Static-V’ which is relatively inexpensive ($60-ish). It’s completely inflatable – no core material like most pads have. As a result, it packs down to less than the size of a Nalgene bottle. But it also has less “R” value than beefier pads. With care, it has so far proven to be pretty durable – it even survived several of my wife’s expeditions :wink:. Everything is a trade-off.

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: To sleep, perchance to … sleep? #40721

So, let’s see….you want:

1) Full-length

2) Thick enough to be comfy

3) Able to roll up to take backpacking

4) Inflatable? Couldn’t tell if that was a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’ on that one

and

4) Not expensive?

That kind of reminds of some friends of mine who had a contracting company. The motto they had on their t-shirts was, “You can have fast, you can have cheap, you can have quality. Pick two.” 😆

Seriously, though. It’s hard to find a good quality, full-length pad that is light/collapsible enough to take backpacking for less than $80-$100 minimum, in my experience. If you don’t want to pay at least that much, I would stick with closed-cell foam. If you do want to spend that much, then there are a number of solid brands – Therm-a-rest, Klymit, Big Agnes, etc.

I’d also recommend checking Sierra Trading Post and backcountryoutlet.com for seasonal closeouts. Sometimes there are some really good deals on those sites.

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: Twisted one up #40494

Impressive, Tailfeather. A ‘build along’ series, if you have the time and energy, would be great!

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: Practice of the Wild #40338

colmike wrote:

Bruce–Your response was not well taken by the house actual

(you understand Jim)–so I showed her the site and she loves it:D So HAMMER your off the hook for a bit:shock:

Ha!

colmike wrote:

Problem here is that she see’s Clay’s stuff and say’s –well why don’t you just go out and build it like he does:evil:

Well yeah, Mike, why dontcha? Linda sounds like a sharp one. 😉

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: Practice of the Wild #40331

Meh. I’m willing to bet that Snyder would be the first one to say that the whole “love of gear” vs. “Zen puritanical proselytizing” is just a false dichotomy and a distracting argument. 😉

To be honest, I find the whole “Zen” thing pretty tiresome in its modern manifestation, but the one thing I always liked about Snyder is that he never seemed to use it as an excuse to be self-righteous, unlike so many more recent Zen-hippy adherents.

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: SHEDS! #40318

Nice find! We’re still buried in snow and will be for some time, but I’m looking forward to getting out and look for sheds in another month or two.

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: Signs of Spring? #38350

I had a “sign of Spring” this week – I drove from snowy Teton Valley to Southern California. It was 75F here today. It feels real good right now. But it’s going to make going home in a few days real hard…

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: Practice of the Wild #38343

colmike wrote: Just to add to Steve and Duncan—Linda has added the e-mail notes from this site from Clay and the Hammer to the shopping file:D—more books and movies and why do you need a canteen cup stove:evil: Thanks 😀

Mike

“Why do you NEED a canteen cup stove?!? Uh…because it’s a STOVE that fits your canteen cup perfectly? It’s like having a bow, and no string. I can’t believe this is even a question.

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: The Trad Knife Thread #35599

Here you go:

Very handy, easy to carry little knife!

Lon also makes a slightly larger version called a “Muley.”

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: Fire Kit #35413

R2 –

Here’s where I found mine (and they have lots of other useful stuff):

http://www.canteenshop.com/cooking.html

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: Practice of the Wild #35241

Thanks for that link, Clay – I’ll have to check out the full-length film.

No idea where to find the quote you’re looking for, but I do have a funny side story:

I had one of Gary’s step-daughters on a wilderness course in Alaska a long time ago. I figured out who her Dad was from the pre-course paperwork, but never said anything about it. One day, she came to me with her backpacking stove that wasn’t working properly.

I figured it was the perfect time to pull a Snyder quote out of my back pocket, so as she handed me the stove to help her fix it, I said, “In a mechanized universe, even machines have the Buddha nature.”

She looked up at me and made a funny face – “Who said that?”

“Gary Snyder,” I replied.

She rolled her eyes and said, “Yeah, that sounds like something he would say.”

She then made it clear to me that her tent mates were hungry, and that I better put the Zen BS away and help her get the stove working again….

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: The Trad Knife Thread #34342

Brennan –

I really like the way it feels in the hand (I have med/large hands). It’s a small knife, really nice for EDC and more detailed work.

1084 is a simple carbon tool steel, quite easy to touch up and pretty good edge retention (it’s almost always a trade off between these two things). Lon hardens it to 57-58 HRC, which is a nice sweet spot for a field knife, imo.

I’ll post a pic soon of it in hand so you can get a sense of size.

[Author]

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