Gear fails of 2025

[BSLugnut]

Ridiculous. I bet they were embarrassed to give you that answer.

Unfortunately, not.
They were sounded surprised that I didn't know that...

 

[freezerfull]

Dark Energy battery pack - I wanted to support these guys and followed Aron's suggestion some years back. USB cable failed pretty quickly, as did the replacement. Pack seems to not like charging iPhones for some reason. It's now relegated to a power outage emergency box.

One thing regarding the DE battery packs and iPhones that messes with quite a few folks is the need to turn off the optimized battery charging on the phone. Otherwise the phone will stop drawing power to improve battery life and the DE power bank will not resume charging when the phone tries to charge at a later time. This has got me a few times if I don’t remember.

This year I’ve thrown out more BD headlamps than ever before. Not sure why so many decided to give up. Age range from 6 months to 8 years, just random.

 

[BCDJR]

NL14x

I found just as many, maybe more, animals with NL8x, and still used the spotter to look at antlers with both.

Great view though.

Great comment. I was looking to add another power level to my arsenal to help folks who spot for me. After seeing a video on FOV comparing ELs I went with the 8 powers vs 10 or 12. Sure enough the 8 power user found more animals. So I concur.

 

[Grassymike]

Water filters freezing when it is below freezing is a failure to understand they need protection from cold. I use a katadyn B free and keep it in my bag at night or an inside pocket of a jacket in dayliht hours when near freezing or below. My failure last year was my Pocket Rocket deluze. pulled it out and the burner head insides fell out. There are three screens behind the head that go in a specific order. I found all the pieces but reassembled in the wrong order. Limped through my last 3 days on about half power. When I got home I looked up MSR warrranty and did not bother sending it in. Went to youtube and figured out what went where. Then reasembled in proper order and slightly bent edge of burner /slash windscreen in four equal spaces to make sure it would not happen again. The burner head is press fit originally with four very small indents, if you grab it and push down you can hear the "click" when it goes into place. I think mine just was'nt pushed home from new.