It may as well be a brick

Bruce Lewis at LightBackpacking.com suggests that an iPhone makes a great backpacking accessory.

The new iPhone is the ultimate backpacking tool. It weigh just six ounces and includes a phone, digital camera, music player, DVD player, Palm pilot, photo library with a web browser, email program and Google maps. How long before it adds GPS? You can buy a 1/2 ounce, 1.5 inches square iPod shuffle if you just want music. But during storms when your confined to your tent for a dozen hours or more, it’s a great companion.

Just one problem. You can’t get dozens of hours of use out of it if you try to use it for more than just music.

From Apple’s tech specs:

• Talk time: Up to 8 hours
• Standby time: Up to 250 hours
• Internet use: Up to 6 hours
• Video playback: Up to 7 hours
• Audio playback: Up to 24 hours

I’m as much of a geek as the next guy and I must admit I’ve entertained the idea of buying an iPhone. And maybe it does weigh less than 5 ounces. But once the battery dies it’s worthless.

Besides, there’s no way I’m taking a $400 gadget in the backcountry.

I wish I had thought of that

Over the weekend I joined some Boy Scouts and a couple other leaders on an easy and relaxing backpacking trip in Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area.

At dinner time I was confronted by a problem I’ve faced many times: Trying to estimate the amount of water needed for my dinner.

The obvious way to do that is to use a measuring cup. Ah, but that requires carrying a measuring cup.

My double-walled titanium mug doesn’t have measuring marks, but I’m not about to give up that. And I don’t want to add the weight of a second cup just for the purpose of measuring water.

So what’s a gram weenie to do?

Jason Klass came up with a great idea. He says, make a measuring stick.

It’s nothing more than a strip of paper with measurements for different volumes of water in my pot. To make it waterproof, I simply sandwiched it between 2 pieces of packing tape but if you want to get fancy, you can laminate it.

Brilliant! You just stand the stick up in your mug and pour water to the correct mark.

But then I had a better idea. I’ll etch those markings on the handle of my spork. Then, I won’t have to carry (and lose) the measuring stick. And the sporkto hot water.

That’s not only one of those why-didn’t-I think-of-that-before ideas, it’s a why-didn’t some-backpacking-gear-company-come-up-with-that idea.

UPDATE: Chris at A reader named Chris pointed out to me that purebound.com demonstrates the idea here.

Light on the wallet

I think it’s neat when someone finds a new use for a common product, especially when it involves lightweight backpacking gear.

For example, someone discovered a long time ago that a cheap grease pot sold at Wal-Mart for about $5.00 makes a pretty good backpacking cook pot.

Some ideas are better in theory than in practice. Some are just silly.

Jason Klass came up with an idea that I need to try: Using mason’s string for a lightweight, multipurpose rope for guylines, quick repairs, and such.

I wouldn’t expect it work for hanging a bear bag, but there are a lot of uses for which it could work.

Hot deal on a cool product

Several months ago I wrote about a unique backpacking stove: The Littlebug. I thought it was neat then and I still do, though I have to admit I never bought one.

Today I received an email from its inventor, Kent Hering.

I ask for your help to spread this invitation within and beyond your circle of friends. In return, I offer a 25% discount to you and those you share this with, on all products purchased at The Littlbug Store. To receive this discount, enter Cutter when asked for your discount code. This offer ends July 31, 2007.

If you’re a reader of my blog I guess that makes you within or beyond my circle of friends, right? So I’m passing along this message to you.

I should note that Kent didn’t offer me special consideration for mentioning his offer and I wouldn’t accept it if he did. As I’ve written before, I don’t blog to get deals and freebies.

I’m just relaying the information because I think it’s a neat product and I like how they are made by people with disabilities and other employment barriers.

If you buy one let me know how you like it.

I smell a rat

Social networking and user-generated content are some of the hot buzzwords of the Internet these days. New sites pop up every day trying to duplicate the popularity of MySpace and Digg, the success stories of today’s Internet.

So it’s no wonder that consumer product companies want a piece of that action. The latest of these companies is Outdoor Research, which makes a variety of niche gear and apparel.

A couple months ago I wrote about OR’s Lab Rat program, an admirable Web effort to listen to customers. Too bad the same effort put in that site wasn’t put into the company’s new community Web site, HumanPoweredAdventure.com.

The intent of the new site is to let outdoor enthusiasts share in discussion forums, trip reports and gear reviews. But sadly, OR left out some key ingredients in a successful community-driven site, like allowing members to comment on posts and ways to express their identity.

In the publicity OR sent to Lab Rat members they said it is still in beta, so I guess I shouldn’t judge it too harshly. I’ve released sites in beta before and know that’s the time when you need to test them and collect feedback.

But phew, this one reeks.

The problem isn’t that it’s light on content, which it is, or that it has some navigation that doesn’t work right, which it does.

The site is dull and uninspiring. And that’s pretty much the opposite of what you want in a community site for outdoor enthusiasts. Dull and uninspiring tends to deflate the community and dampen the enthusiasm.

OR needs to set a trap for this rat and start over.

Commando tracking

It shouldn’t be a surprise that bloggers crave an audience for their words. We all want to know that someone is interested in what we say.

I’m sure I’m no different than every other blogger in the world when I admit I often check the stats of my blog to see how many people visit. I also check a feature offered by WordPress.com that shows the keywords people type in a search engine that provides results leading them here.

Scanning the list can be informative. It can also be baffling.

I’m still trying to figure out this one: a seach for “no underwear” hiking.

Let’s think about that a minute.

Okay, think about it if you can without too graphic a mental picture.

Is there a reason why someone wants to know more about hiking without underwear? Do they really need to read up about it?

Perhaps a better question would be, what did I write that would lead a person wanting to hike without underwear to my site? To answer that, I did my own Google search.

Turns out, my site was the third item in the search results, thanks to a comment made in a post I wrote on preparing a packing list for last summer’s trip to Colorado. For whatever reason that person was searching for “no underwear” hiking, I’m sure that result was a disappointment.

But if someone wants to go commando on a hike, I’m not offended by that. I can turn the other cheek.

Uh, never mind.

Maybe it’s best I stop checking the search keywords list. It might be better to not know too much about my readers.

That ultralight backpacking stuff is over-rated

When weight is no object, here’s the ultimate item for your kit: A 22-lb. sleeping bag.

Buy it now for just $429.00!

The forklift you’ll need to carry it is not included.

(Thanks to Doug Matthews via AT-L for the link.)

Happy feet

When I buy backpacking gear, I frequently spend months comparing features and looking for the best prices. I hunt down reviews and sift through specifications until I’m confident I’m making a wise buying decision.

But I don’t do that when I buy shoes.

I know that doesn’t make much sense, considering that most people think what you put on your feet is your most important gear. But I don’t do that because I got smart and let someone else do the work for me.

I go to a store that has employees who know hiking/backpacking footwear and spend a lot of effort to make sure their customers get fitted properly. I drive a couple hours to get there and sometimes spend a couple hours being measured and fitted for shoes.

At the risk of making this post a free commercial for Diamond Brand Outdoors, I feel I need to single out this store because, in my mind, it is noteworthy.

A few other stores claim to use the Phil Oren FitSystem method of fitting footwear, but Diamond Brand is the only one I’ve found that practices it like a religion.

Though I seem to be gushing about this store, what I really want to extol is the new pair of hiking boots I bought yesterday, a pair of Zamberlan Java XCR mid-cut boots. I wore them all day today because I figured I should make an attempt to break them in before a backpacking trip I’m making this weekend.

There’s no such thing as boots that don’t need breaking in, but it’s almost as if I needn’t bother with these. They were comfortable all day long.

Okay, so sitting at my desk most of the day doesn’t exact duplicate the pounding my feet get on the trail, but I’ve never worn boots all day and not have them feel sore eventually, hiking or not.

The real proof will come this weekend. The hike will be from Carver’s Gap to Big Hump Mountain, a mere seven miles in distance on the Appalachian Trail, but brutal for the elevation changes. And the forecast is for sloppy weather, which should give a good test of the Gore-Tex lining.

One more point to make about these boots: I paid for them, unlike Tom “The Corporate Slut” Mangan, who got his Zamberlans for free.

(Sorry, Tom, I couldn’t resist that.)

Service with a smile

It’s been my observation that outdoor equipment companies flat-out stand behind their products better than any other manufacturer.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining!

Despite the fact that their products are subject to a lot of wear and tear, most outdoor gear companies take a liberal view of their warranties. At least that’s what I’ve seen so far.
I’ll give you a couple examples.

A few years ago I was backpacking in Big South Fork when my MSR Dragonfly stove broke. (This was in my pre-ultralight days. The Dragonfly is a heavy stove.) When I returned home I called MSR’s product service department. The conversation with the guy on the other end went something like this:

Me: “My Dragonfly broke on my backpacking trip.”

MSR: “Really? Oh gee, I’m really sorry! When do you need to use it again.”

Me: “In about a month.”

MSR: “Hmmm. That’s not enough time to make an exchange. I’ll tell you what, I’ll call (name of local retailer) and tell them when you come in they need to give you a new one.”

And just like that, a few days later I had a brand new Dragonfly.

Recently, I had a similar experience with Outdoor Research. I was checking out their Web site when I came across their Lab Rat program, which is a way to give feedback on their products.

I figured I’d give it a try, but didn’t have expectations that anything would come of it. I posted a review of their Rocky Mountain Low Gaiters. I have had reasonable but not spectacular satisfaction with them and I tried to give an honest assessment.

In my review I mentioned that the Velcro was coming apart from the binding. A couple days later I received an email from a customer representative, telling me that if I wanted to return them, all I needed to do was call for a return authorization.

The gaiters are sitting next to me now and soon I’ll send them off to see what happens. From what I’ve seen so far I’m pretty sure they’ll be fixed up just fine.

These companies are smart. That’s effective marketing. The other day, when I saw a pair of OR’s Meteor Mitts on sale, with that Lab Rat experience fresh in my mind, I didn’t hesitate to buy them.

Now I have another test for an outdoor company and it will be interesting to see if it plays out in the same positive manner.

Today I sent my Black Diamond Terra CF trekking poles back to Utah. One of the poles snapped at the lower, binary locking mechanism on my last hike.

According to Black Diamond’s Web site, I didn’t need a return authorization; just send them in. I thought that was a bit odd. But they have a one-year warranty and I can prove I bought them less than a year ago. In fact, I bought them at the company store in Salt Lake City on the cross-country trek Mrs. Cutter and I made in March.

I’ll report back when I find out what happens.

Innovation at work

Gardenville at Ultra-Lite Skunk Works has a fascinating step-by-step look at how he created an ultralight backpack with a pocket for a pair of snow shoes.

Cool!