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The best piece of gear I've bought this year

Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2014 9:39 pm
by maiathebee
Tantalizing title, I know, but it's the truth. The best piece of gear I've bought this year is...

...a yellow bandana!

I cut in half and tie it to the outside of my pack. And I use it to wipe when I pee. As a woman on long trips, there is always the problem of using adequate toilet paper (and packing it out), or air drying (and smelling like pee), or not hydrating enough.

It's not rocket science, but it has improved my backcountry experience so much that I had to share!

(Sorry if this is a little bit of a taboo subject.)

I wrote a bit more about it here if you care to look: http://plutoniclove.com/2014/07/09/esse ... e-bandana/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Re: The best piece of gear I've bought this year

Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2014 7:35 am
by robow8
I'll have to share this post with my wife! :o

Re: The best piece of gear I've bought this year

Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2014 10:04 am
by FeetFirst
I'm getting a brown bandana. :lol: Sorry, I couldn't help myself.

Re: The best piece of gear I've bought this year

Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2014 10:57 am
by maiathebee
FeetFirst wrote:I'm getting a brown bandana. :lol: Sorry, I couldn't help myself.
:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

Seriously though, the yellow one doesn't get stinky at all in the dry climate we have in the Sierra. I made my partner smell mine at the end of a 3 day trip (I'm so nice!) and he couldn't detect any scent on it at all.

Posted: Thu Jul 24, 2014 5:33 pm
by sheperd80
Thanks... now I'll never look at my innocent yellow bandana the same... ;-)

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk

Re: The best piece of gear I've bought this year

Posted: Tue Aug 05, 2014 9:25 am
by Mradford
FeetFirst wrote: I made my partner smell mine at the end of a 3 day trip (I'm so nice!) and he couldn't detect any scent on it at all.

Bahahaha! :lol: :lol: Awesome

Re: The best piece of gear I've bought this year

Posted: Tue Aug 05, 2014 11:17 am
by caddis
Image
Set of 3 stuff sacks from WalMart. Cheaper than the price you would pay for 1 sack anywhere else

The best piece of gear I've bought this year

Posted: Tue Aug 05, 2014 11:37 am
by AlmostThere
caddis wrote:Image
Set of 3 stuff sacks from WalMart. Cheaper than the price you would pay for 1 sack anywhere else
I have a set of those - they fell apart within four years. moved on to granite gear....

Re: The best piece of gear I've bought this year

Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2014 6:45 am
by fishmonger
best gear added to the pack this summer was a 1/8" thick 3/4 length roll of closed cell foam to put under the Exped inflatable pad. It weighs almost nothing, costs almost nothing (ebay furniture supplies, rather than $$ Gossamer Gear - same product), and it added protection to the bottom of the pads. We spent more than 25 nights on all kinds of ground and for the first time ever when hiking with inflatables, I had no leak for the entire trip. It also served as a great tent pad for breakfast and other times when you didn't want to bounce around on the fragile inflatables. And in a worst case scenario, as in terminally broken inflatable pad, it would have worked ok as a minimalist ground pad. $8 on ebay, very durable, still good for many more hikes. Two of these roll up smaller than one normal ridge rest.

Total weight of foam layer and inflatable pad was clearly off the charts compared to a plain ridgerest, but we slept well, for almost a month out there. Very important. Last year, the ridgerest drove me crazy after just a few days. Wasn't going to happen again.

Re: The best piece of gear I've bought this year

Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2014 3:15 pm
by oldhikerQ
Best piece of gear for 2014 is a custom (12" tall) Bearikade. Due to be bonded this Friday and delivered early next week. Can't wait to load it up for our Matterhorn Canyon Trip.