Loren Pechtel‭

Many, many companies offer 3 liter bladders. Only the dromedary units go above that and the reviews say they're hard to clean and in general are negative about using them as hydration bladders rat...

2 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Loren Pechtel‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

The first thing that comes to mind to me is Kilimanjaro. It's almost 6,000m and my evaluation of it would be class 2 (I haven't seen any proper rating of it) and that only on the final ascent, get...

posted 6y ago by Loren Pechtel‭  ·  last activity 6y ago by System‭

Locally Search and Rescue doesn't charge but what happens if you're in an area where they do? They obviously have your name and address but it doesn't seem fair to bill the person who was prepared...

1 answer  ·  posted 6y ago by Loren Pechtel‭  ·  last activity 6y ago by System‭

We were out on a night hike. A helicopter showed up, by behavior it was search and rescue, looking not too far away from our group. It might have simply been doing training, but if it was a real ...

3 answers  ·  posted 6y ago by Loren Pechtel‭  ·  last activity 6y ago by System‭

My color vision isn't perfect so I'm not completely sure what you're talking about on that map. I see two things on there that you might be talking about: 1) I see several paths with names that ...

posted 5y ago by Loren Pechtel‭

I have had multiple encounters with wild horses in an environment where they are used to the presence of hikers. There was an obvious pattern where approaching within a certain distance (which isn...

posted 5y ago by Loren Pechtel‭

You're almost certainly going at this the wrong way. For something like this you want a Garmin inReach unit--the costs are a lot lower. They only give you text messaging, no voice communications....

posted 5y ago by Loren Pechtel‭

Some more factors here: 1) Even if the air in the air mattress was the same temperature as the outside air it has much less thermal capacity and thus will take your heat away slower. 2) An air ...

posted 5y ago by Loren Pechtel‭

Pelican makes small cases for electronics. There is likely something of a size to do what you want.

posted 5y ago by Loren Pechtel‭

It looks like a typical hat but also has fabric hanging down around the sides/back of your head for sun protection. I saw one on the trail that was labeled North Face but I can't find anything lik...

1 answer  ·  posted 5y ago by Loren Pechtel‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

I have never taken mine into the temperatures you are talking about but for hiking in general I clip it to my shoulder strap with a Peak Design Capture Clip. This is the best solution I have yet t...

posted 5y ago by Loren Pechtel‭

I have a very practical example of the value of paper maps: I found a waterproof, tear resistant map of my usual mountain hiking grounds that lives in my pack. When I put it there I figured it wo...

posted 5y ago by Loren Pechtel‭

(Use case: A hike to heated waters--hiking with only swimwear for lower attire is not an option.) I find most swimwear is not exactly suitable for wearing under clothing, speedos would work but I...

3 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Loren Pechtel‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Much of the damage could be averted by placing the stuff in airtight containers with a desiccant of sufficient size in there. Silica gel in suitable containers can be regenerated, there are other ...

posted 5y ago by Loren Pechtel‭

I'm not sure if it covers Canada or not but have you checked out the GaiaGPS app? It's phone rather than desktop but it can serve up topos at a variable scale, I just don't know how much of the wo...

posted 5y ago by Loren Pechtel‭