Robby
It was nice meeting you. I was working the SeekOutside booth while the podcast was being recorded. This was a great show that I’d suggest anyone who’s into awesome gear and giant mounts go to.
When I modified my BD Ergo Cork poles I just sliced off the existing cork with a razor blade then hit them with some sandpaper to remove anything left over. Then took some of the wife's hair spray and sprayed the ends so that the new grips could slide over. When it dries it acts like a glue. I...
Grab a set of these and be done with it. They are more comfortable than the originals anyway.
https://www.gossamergear.com/products/cork-trekking-pole-grips
Been wearing my dry on the fly for three years elk hunting and multiple backpacking trips. Last year I picked up a pair of insulated ones for winter backpacking trips. They wear like iron and can’t see any reason to spend big bucks on the latest trend setters. I like them so much that I picked...
My wife is a nurse and has come home pretty funky after handling god knows what. She's always used Oxyclean on all her uniforms and they came out smelling like absolutely nothing. So I started doing the same thing with my hunting gear from bloody packs to stinky socks. Sparkly clean and no odor.
Very doable as a primary shelter. I used one for a week on the Colorado Trail and it worked fine. I had lots of rain and some hail on that trip. I used the diamond pitch most often.
If going in with horses id consider a 6 man tipi with a couple light cots. You could run any decent pad and she'd be all smiles in the morning. If bugs are an issue add a nest, but if not make a ground tarp so she can lay out all her stuff and run a stove. Not much more romantic than popping...
I have the sil version so no hands on with the DCF. Its a super simple shelter to put up once you've done it a couple times. Pitches good and tight with very little sag and I understand that the DCF version is even tighter. I haven't used it with the inner nest yet as I usually run an ultralight...
DST is a good one. Used mine as a primary shelter on a 9 day backpacking trip last year. I now have a Warbonnet Minifly that is an emergency shelter. 13oz for a 7.5’x11’.
The problem with a pack that is to large for the trip is that most people will fill it up with extra unneeded stuff just to fill the void. Packs are like shelters, there isn't one that's perfect for every occasion.