johndavidjr

Heidegger observed the "end of philosophy" and said (in 1950s) it is replaced by what he called "cybernetics." He then had ( 1976) full-on Catholic funeral, but he was old-school (Nazi in fact). People do think he was on to something.

Youtube vid very amusing. So for all your 50-degree calm and clear summer alpine nights in Cascades, go buy a $500 "ultralight" custom-made mini dipsh*t tent with bug-net, made by poorly paid employees of some wannabee yuppie, or Chinese peasant corporate slaves. Whadueyecare? The Wall Street boys finance and profit from the manufacturing gear, whether in Shang Dong or Tacoma. MIT boys (mostly Asian) designed it. You can get your hard-on with your equipment based on price you paid given your own, possibly overpaid, "professional" work. Sellers won't care how or where you got the cash. In most cases, the thing is, how it affects your own self esteem. In this regard, shopping at Wal-Mart will make you believe you are inferior-- a "poor person," or something even worse.

I just think "consumerism" breeds various illusions and stupidity, even among those who think they know better, or perhaps especially so. Something about outdoor equipment really lends itself to this sort of thing.

Recently listened to "Brief History of Time" on tape. I gather it's all only explicable in equations rather than words. Can't do math. Hawkings seems to think there is a very slight chance God exists, but he may be merely polite or formal or theoretical on this question for those times when the Vatican calls him. Or maybe I wasn't paying attention. Personally I doubt the question matters beyond sociology, but then astro-physics doesn't seem too important to me personally, either.

It's absolutely true that many climbers, at all levels, in Gunks are economically, and/or often intellectually elite. Especially those like myself (modest and poor climber) in middle age and older. Some of the very best climbers I've encountered in Washington State have been relatively poor, and weirdly humble, backwoodsmen. "Best climbers" aren't my subject. Creepy sleeping and hiking advise for boy scout-types in mild conditions is my concern. Saying that a $20 tent (basically for one person) that can be modified to weigh 2-3 pounds is laughable gives me the creeps. I've heard lots of this kind of response from "backpackers" that are highly impressed with their ability to walk and sleep, and hyper-BS concerned about "warning" people against taking a hike without "survival training" and God-knows what nonesense. The other issue is self-identification with high-price brands and consumer goods. Like, I'd NEVER buy a $4.00 bottle of wine and Budweiser is bad for morality and your resume...

I assume climbers doing exclusively or even mostly high-altitude routes in arctic or sub-arctic conditions are tiny minority on this board. Maybe this is wrong. Typical summer Cascades/Sierra alpine camp is in benign weather at moderate altitude, with only real menance being mosquitos. Rock climbers have somewhat healthy tendency to shop for equipment by brand. I have moderate experience and tend to favor Black Diamond. Many climbers I meet have essentially unlimited funds and are mid-career doctors. engineers, and lawyers, and transfer this tendency to other areas: Clothing, cars, booze, restaurants........ Many non-climbers I meet have similar tendencies........ "Backpackers" per se, are idiots, pure and simple. There is absolutely nothing I can think of worse, more lame, than an "expert" backpacker giving advise to a "novice." Typically, they emphasize supposed complexity and dangers of sleeping, and the need for vast experience and expensive equipment to accomplish this. Gets creepy.

A pack designed for carrying 50 pounds while technical climbing? Not something I understand. Good for those that actually manage this feat. Basically a dufflebag with straps works good for up to about 20 pounds. After that, I'm screwed.

Don't cheap on boot insoles. Cheaping on other stuff can work.

I near froze my ass off once due to sleeping in down in Wal-Mart tent in blizzard and getting drenched with condensation collected on waterproof floor. For some years following I swore off down. My winter bag was NF minus-twenty job. In fear I took it on a few autumn trips and wrecked its loft by stuffing it over a couple of weeks. Back to mainly using 30-yr-old REI down sleeping bag (now always with light bivy sack). Not extremely warm, but not a pain in ass to pack, and can be supplemented with various clothes. Have mainly sworn off the tent floors.

I don't like Osprey packs, due to minimal experience with a companion. She was using a mid-sized osprey pack that was needlessly fiddly and complex and there was some annoying difficulty, which I took to be due to its aimless complexity. My only experience with expedition sized pack is my 1990ish Frostfire/Smith pack which I find to be lousy, but functional. On the other hand, idea of "comfort" with truly heavy pack seems chimerical. Big sack is big. A source of unhappiness. Is going to be misery. A small pack is small. Bag with straps.

As an ectomorph, was never able to carry much weight without greatest horror and misery. But one nice thing, somethimes, about a big pack is, you don't need to fuss so much with packing. Of course for climbing, they're basically useless. But one can stuff a couple of foam pads and sub-zero synthetic sleeping bag in there for skiiing without getting too fancy. Or one can take girlfriend's kit, her water filter, vitamin pills, cosmetics, dog food, etc..........without being too fussy about things.

Harvard Boy David Roberts is among best. Fred Beckey is surprisingly good, though he writes very little. Boardman-Tasker are very good. Gawd I hate climbing literature. Twight uses cheap gimicks. Gwen Moffatt's 60's memoir is very good but available only in libraries. Far worse are most journalists that specialize in climbing. Could definitely mention somebody y'all'd know from Seattle, but won't Maybe I'll look at House, if available in library. Amer Alpine Club Journal is good, as is NWMJ.

is a bit more, or a lot more, f*cked up than other "religions."

I never thought I'd by anything but North Face or Mountain Hardware packs either.

You need these Oakley glasses. Or go blind. Don't worry about the $350 price. All the real climbers wear them. By wearing them, people will realize you're serious and well-experienced. http://www.mountaingear.com/pages/product/product.asp/imanf/Oakley/idesc/Enduring+Edge+Sunglasses/Store/MG/item/113873/N/0

Wild Things Inc. back in mid-1980s advertised their wind shirt as a "Convection Barrier Liner" or CBL, and suggested wearing it underneath one's outer layer. I wore it as such quite a lot. Worked good and I continue to use similar, $105, wildly over-priced wind shirt from Wild Things in same manner. Wasn't waterproof nor functioning as a VBL I don't imagine, maybe, dunno, except when I got overheated. Definitely added good warmth but not at all sure this wasn't due merely to wind-breaker function. Nice how other layers slipped on the nylon. VBLs on feet are definitely great. I've used them a fair bit to extend 3-season-type footwear to very limited subarctic type use in some remarkably cold conditions. Never owned serious winter boots. I use neoprene socks with sandals for fishing, but after using them once in boots, I never really figured out the right system with regard to other socks given my summer-sized boots. Perhaps Wal-Mart offers plastic bags or something else relevant, or not. http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=11015263&findingMethod=rr#ProductDetail

Everything that happened is well understood. I saw the whole thing from a mile away, including Building 7. Not pretty. Talking sh*t is really dumb.

Redesigned a few years ago. Am suprised framesheet now non-removable. Bizarre & foolish. My framesheet is currently 900 miles from my pack. It's extraordinarily narrow sack; almost impractically so.

MEC Brio 40+ is cheaper at US $86, probably lighter, and an excellent design for climbing. Arc Du Tuxuedo and etc. cost 3X more. http://www.mec.ca/Products/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524442418945&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302700149&bmUID=1255476322876

I'm assuming people know enough about using gear to fairly judge exactly what they need and when they need it. But the false judgment is sometimes made that high-end gear is always required. People think I'm lying or fantasizing, but I used a coated K-mart puptent for 9 or so months of various camping trips back in the 1980s and it worked just fine in the right conditions. I met at least a couple of other very hardcore users. Mftg tech has improved since then. Today I do have a few bits of super-high-end softgoods made by elves that I want to preserve for specialized circumstances and normally leave at home, taking instead old wrags that I can continue to wear out and perhaps be buried in when the time comes. The practical differences between the $15 Wal-Mart Jacket (do you think it's stuffed with grass?) and $200 brands is almost certainly much less than is often imagined. In "Cascade Voices, Jim Nelson is quoted as scorning his guide clientel for wearing expensive Gore-tex jackets. He preferred (at the time) cheap coated nylon. Assume he's changed his mind. But nearly everybody knows the general point here.

If you add a sweater and whatever, this garment would work pretty good for most Cascades winter conditions. http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=11084332&findingMethod=rr It's $15 new, vs hundreds$$$ for what you're currently considering, and it weighs well under a pound. No doubt you'll be a laughingstock among the ultra brand-conscious, but at the same time perfectly warm, well-batted and yet unencumbered -- and that much more wealthy than your friends. I flunked economics 101, but this has to do with marginal utility (or something marginal anyway) and how one perceives value of a dollar, and other values that are mostly cultural rather than practical. Consider the shock-value of recognizing "emperor has no clothes" and whatever jokes can in this context be wrung from that.

A currently nearby post resurrects old, highly intersting thread about Olympus winter ascent. :Apparently it's been done at least several times, which reflects somewhat poorly on guidebook editors. Various "faces" in Olympics don't have recorded routes. If that's the standard, there are nearly endless first ascents available. Perhaps in early season, many of these would be reasonable, though minor and utterly inaccessible. That there are at least a few minor points in Olympics that haven't been reached by any route, does seem quite possible. They are probably too "minor" for records & perhaps that is just as well.

Durned Eastern'er......must'a been some sorta creep...

Great deals from Dunham "excellent" Gooding!

Wanna look at my Arc'teryx tattoo?