View Poll Results: Do you test equipment before heading out

Voters
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  • I never test equipment I just get out there flying by the seat of my pants.

    7 3.57%
  • I sometimes test, given the time.

    19 9.69%
  • Never use to but learned my lesson.

    6 3.06%
  • I test most things.

    82 41.84%
  • I test everything.

    85 43.37%
Multiple Choice Poll.
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Results 21 to 30 of 35
  1. #21
    Member jeepthangjim's Avatar
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    Oct 2010
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    Oxford, Ms.
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    Claytor JH
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    Man I wished I would have set my stuff up for tonight. It would have been a great test night. We got some really heavy rain. I would have loved to see how my setup did. Oh well.

  2. #22
    Senior Member Buenos's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Location
    Ellensburg, WA
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    I like testing equipment and gear, but I tend to just head out to the woods. Luckily I have enough outdoor experience to make most any circumstance or gear failure into an incredibly wonderful time stent in the outdoors.
    Jose Diaz

  3. #23
    Senior Member Newzy's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    Pittsburgh PA
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    Hammock Bliss with camo bug net
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    Claytor diamond
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    down, IX, fleece
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    dutchclips
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    Backyard testing is a must for the average D.I.Y.er. Seeing what does and doesn't work and why, then going back and making the necessary adjustments saves alot of aggravation and discomfort under real time circumstances; plus as previously stated "I just like playing with my gear".

  4. #24
    Senior Member Doctari's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Cincinnati, Oh
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    My "lesson learned": I got a new solid fuel stove, took 2X the fuel I thought I would need, ran out half way through the trip. I had not even lit the d*** stove before leaving home "I don't want to waste fuel & I know what I am doing! Besides, I have twice as much fuel as I could possibly need!" were my famous last words.

    Still have the stove, and all of the fuel I left at home. I have never lit it since! NOW I test every piece of gear till I can use it in my sleep, or at least with my eyes closed (just not with a stove ).
    When you have a backpack on, no matter where you are, you’re home.
    PAIN is INEVITABLE. MISERY is OPTIONAL.

  5. #25
    Senior Member questtrek's Avatar
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    Dec 2009
    Location
    Southeastern Michigan
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    Warbonnet Blackbird 1.1 dbl layer.
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    I test everything .. I have to see if I'm going to like it before I head out into the woods. Sometimes it doesn't work the same way out there. Like with stoves, it can depend on temp and weather conditions. Just have to test.
    Questtrek
    "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks". John Muir.

  6. #26
    Senior Member RootCause's Avatar
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    Apr 2009
    Location
    MN
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    WB Traveller or my DIY gathered-end
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    DIY 8x10
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    Whoopies+Dutchgear
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    570
    I generally don't take a piece of gear out that I haven't used/tested. I have taken chances on new (generally simple) gear that is similar or a straight replacement for another piece I broke/lost/wore out on previous trips.

    However, I read the poll question as "do you unstore, set up & test absolutely every piece of gear, then re-pack to bring to the woods". Which I don't do.

  7. #27
    Senior Member Veto 65's Avatar
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    Aug 2009
    Location
    Cohoes, New York
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    I shouldn't say "test" as much as "play with". But test is good too.
    I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority. - E. B. White (1899 - 1985)

  8. #28
    Senior Member Lonely Raven's Avatar
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    Jul 2010
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    Bolingbrook, IL
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    My "backyard" deck testing grounds



    I got some sleep during a thunderstorm last night. Seems the Warbonnet Edge is plenty big enough to keep the rain off!

  9. #29
    Senior Member L.D. Cakes's Avatar
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    May 2010
    Location
    Holston Mtn. Foothills
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    Quote Originally Posted by gRaFFiX View Post
    you call it testing, I call it running home to play like a kid after christmas morning.
    ME TOO! Testing is playing.....I can't wait to get home and try out a new piece of gear or even fix a new recipe on my alki stove on the back porch. I get strange looks from the neighbors but I just smile and wave!

  10. #30
    Senior Member timabababaluka's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Location
    Clovis, CA
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    Because it was supposed to rain, I figured I'd test my DIY hammock and cheap-as-heck camo harbor freight tarp over the weekend. Everything was bone dry, but that could be attributed to the disappointingly wimpy rain that we received (I've gotten more drenched sitting at my table watching the kids eat watermelon than spending the 20 minutes (yeah, I know--it was my first time) putting up the tarp in the middle of the "storm").

    So tarp and hammock survived spittle rain and light winds with relative ease. The relatives that truly put them to the test were the 4 nephews, one niece, and two of my more disobedient children who, unafraid of death, decided to beat the tarp down from the inside while jumping in and out of the hammock. I live in CA, so all you on the East Coast might not have heard it, but I am fairly certain members from the mid-west could hear my heart-rending cry of "NNNOOOOOooooooo!!!!!!!!" as time itself slowed down. But I'm a stoic by nature, so I simply turned in the opposite direction, went to the garage, grabbed a shovel, and started digging seven very shallow graves. I need not have bothered--turns out both hammock and tarp were fine. I left the graves open, however, you know... to send a message.
    You're gonna need a bigger hammock

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