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.
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.
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
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".
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.
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.
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.
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)
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!
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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