Adventures is RetailLand

[Treasure]

My idea of "roughing it" is doing with out the room service (not that i've ever had room service) lol



This is also what I have to tell people when they ask me if I'm going to camp at TRF

[Midorikawa]

Slightly OT, but I'm like that with cooking stuff. For me, its worth it to spend $$$ on the good stuff, which will pretty much last forever, than buy cheap crap that you have to replace every few years. My All-Clad and LeCreuset pots and stuff will probably outlast ME!!!

This. Not with cooking gear, as my wife doesn't let me cook - (and for good reason. I can handle digiorno, or a PBJ sammich, but that's about it.) You spend good money on a higher end piece of gear, and it'll last. This is why I spent the money I did on my Mac Pro (5 years old now, and still my main machine. I'm not a PC gamer, but I'm a photographer, so that sealed the deal), or my effects box/guitar amp, or my camping gear, or my...

Point is, you invest the money initially, it'll last a long time, and will provide many years of use. I had my amp plugged in to some shoddy wiring for a show, when a surge hit, and fried the heater supply wire for the tubes. Welded the molex connector to the motherboard of the amp. Replaced that wire, and the amp runs great and still sounds amazing, if not due for it's 10 year maintenance, 18 years post manufacture date. (amp came from a pawn shop, but the filter caps look like the originals installed in the amp, although I could be wrong.) The amp isn't a really high end model, but it's high end enough that it's nigh on bullet proof for a tube amp, and needs little maintenance.

</even more OT>

[Geek King]

Large Orders = Large Headaches

First, as an Eagle Scout and former Assistant Scout Leader myself, I apologize for this jerk. I guess some people just never learned to not look a gift horse in the mouth. Also, his behavior is not within the boundries of what the scouts tried to teach kids when I was involved--that was a shocking lapse in the honesty department!

Hopefully whoever his "boss*" was will set him straight. The scouts have had enough black eyes dealt to their reputation without people going out of their way to act badly.


*There are not really bosses in the Boy Scouts. I assume the person who called in was either the actual troop leader, or maybe someone from the national council branch in that area. Council usually don't concern themselves with such issues, though.

[Jay 2K Winger]

That clueless wannabe camper gave me flashbacks to my time in the Boy Scouts.

So, this was when I was younger and more easily distracted, for a simple Friday evening to Sunday morning camping trip. In Maryland, in December. My parents were actually out of town for the week, down in Texas looking at houses in preparation for our move sometime the next year. So my grandparents were looking after me and my sister, and they were in charge of helping me pack for the camping trip.

Because they weren't really on the ball, and I wasn't paying attention, I ended up going out without gloves, a hat, or my winter jacket. And it was COLD that weekend.

So I loaded up on every stitch of clothing I had, borrowed a hat from my scoutmaster, and a pair of gloves from someone, which were about two sizes too small for me.

Fortunately, I was KP duty all day Saturday, so I at least had an excuse to be by the stove, and get some heat.

I survived the trip, and it made for a good cautionary tale, and taught me plenty about the old Boy Scout motto. ("Be prepared.")

It also toughened me up against cold temperatures, so I don't get fazed by a lot these days.

[Cat]

Another Mountain Climbing Wannabe

Ok, I had to restrain myself from logging at work to comment on this.

ARRRRGGHH!! This women sounds like the type to put her crampons on backwards and upside down.
I hope the expedition she is one keeps her at base camp.

As ya'll might know, I hike a good deal. And yes, like most hobbies, buying the expensive gear up front can save you in the long run....some of that gear lasts forever!! (not to say there isn't pricey non-quality goods out there....ya just have to shop smart)

Anyway....be good to your outfitter and they will be good to you

[Geek King]

That clueless wannabe camper gave me flashbacks to my time in the Boy Scouts.

I'm reminded of the time almost the entire council of Boy Scouts earned the Polar Bear Award (given for camping a certain amount af time in below freezing weather). The Area Council held a huge camporee on the weekend when it was forcasted to be 60+, then we got a sudden front that dropped the temp to ~28 all weekend. Everyone there qualified (200-300 scouts), and my skills at building fires made me very popular for getting absolutelty soaked wood burning.

[AccountingDrone]

I'm reminded of the time almost the entire council of Boy Scouts earned the Polar Bear Award (given for camping a certain amount af time in below freezing weather). The Area Council held a huge camporee on the weekend when it was forcasted to be 60+, then we got a sudden front that dropped the temp to ~28 all weekend. Everyone there qualified (200-300 scouts), and my skills at building fires made me very popular for getting absolutelty soaked wood burning.

Remember the mid 80s jamboree where it rained so hugely? My dad was there helping out - they had entire camps that got washed out, and running busloads of sleeping bags and clothing to a laundromat to run through the driers.

[skeptic53]

Another Mountain Climbing Wannabe

I bet her subconcious plan was to have other, better-prepared climbers bail her out with loaned or shared gear if the weather was too cold for her cheapo stuff. I'm further betting she was cute and used to getting help by batting her eyelashes or looking/being "helpless".

I really hope the expedition company has already dealt with this variety of EW, learned their lesson, and has refused to let her go on the climb.

[Chainsmith]

CruiseShipGirl...I love you, I work at an American store just like yours with TNF being the low end of product in our store. I know each and everyone of those people you have just described...or at least their close relatives. I am so glad (well not for you) that i am not alone in the idiocy of the unprepared. Our best was someone bought a pair of mountaineering boots for a month long trip in alaska...brought them back after the trip complained that they were uncomfortable and called corporate to get them returned...because he would never use them again.

[Geek King]

Remember the mid 80s jamboree where it rained so hugely? My dad was there helping out - they had entire camps that got washed out, and running busloads of sleeping bags and clothing to a laundromat to run through the driers.

Heh, I'm in Ohio, so I doubt it was the same one. I was at one Camporee where we got just doused one night, to the point of serious standing water in the morning. We came out to see one tent half submerged in water! It was feared that the scout inside might have drowned in his sleep, but when his tent was opened, he came floating out on an inflatable air matteress, still asleep.

[Exaspera]

Question: If someone who has signed up for an expedition, like that so-called mountain-climbing woman, and doesn't buy what they were told to buy, can they then deny her going on the trip?

[ArcticChicken]

Question: If someone who has signed up for an expedition, like that so-called mountain-climbing woman, and doesn't buy what they were told to buy, can they then deny her going on the trip?

Of course they can, no one can be forced to take on that kind of liability. I just hope they don't have to refund her money.

[Zeddmore]

Of course they can, no one can be forced to take on that kind of liability. I just hope they don't have to refund her money.

Even if they do, I doubt CruiseShipGirl's store needs to refund her boneheaded purchase, as there is nothing wrong with the products.

[Chainsmith]

Remember the mid 80s jamboree where it rained so hugely? My dad was there helping out - they had entire camps that got washed out, and running busloads of sleeping bags and clothing to a laundromat to run through the driers.

heh you don't even need to go back to the 80's I was at the 97, 2001, and 2005. the first two our campsites flooded...we were the lucky ones on top of the hill (I am sadly being serious about that), as well as the wind actually lifting the tarps out of the campsite that were staked down by a good dozen stakes each for an 8x10. And the third one of the kids in the troop came home from europe the day before and gave everyone in the troop a stomach virus which got us quarantined for the first 4 days of jamboree.

After those days were over and before the rains of the first two they were amazingly fun. I mean after the first I still went back for more...that doesn't make me a masochist...or and idiot...does it?