Death of a GPS
Well I misplaced my Magellan Explorist 200 GPS a few days ago and I'd been searching high and low for the thing as I'd really have liked to use it on my upcoming Rubicon trip.
Alas, it didn't turn up until I was emptying a load of laundry from my washing machine, where I found it in its dead state under my clothes. I guess I left it in a pocket and just tossed it in there, man... My last GPS lasted about 12 years, this one < 6 months.
I guess its not washing machine proof. 
Labels: gear, outdoor, travel
PermaLink / Posted by: Tony
Camera happenings
So my awesome little Canon SD600 finally bit the dust, reaching its eventual demise after a careless misstep on my part, concluding a downward spiral that started for the poor beast last December. I'm a big fan of Canon cameras, both my film SLR's are Canons as is my digital SLR (a Canon D60) and my last 2 point and shoots, an SD200 and an SD600 which both gave me great service throughout my ownership. The SD200 was alas liberated from my possession by an unscrupulous auto repair shop and the SD600 suffered some damage while on an off road motorcycle trip last December, crippling the LCD when in picture taking mode, although it still functioned for movie and review modes; that is, until I inadvertently left it on the floor near my backpack and took a backwards step onto it crushing the LCD. And while the camera still functions, it is a sad shadow of its former self in need of retiring.
Thankfully my brother had an Olympus 720SW that he no longer found a need for, which has now taken a place among my collection. While the 720SW pictures are nowhere near the quality of the Canon cameras, I have been an Olympus fan ever since I had purchased my C3000Z way back when. Though the picture quality is not at the same level as the Canon, they are hardly bad pictures and in the end, the shock and waterproof features of the camera make up for this giving me a durable camera that is overall not bad and at the end of the day, the one that survives will still be there to take the shot that the one that failed would not. Unfortunately the data cable was lost and until the one I ordered arrives, my point and shoot duties have been relegated to using the camera feature of my little VuPoint digital video recorder, a device which excel at video, but leaves much to be desired with regard to its photo capabilities.
Now that the weather is warming up and more waterbound kayak trips are in store, it will be good to have a point and shoot camera that can not only survive a bit of water, but a little knocking around from time to time.
Labels: gear, photography
PermaLink / Posted by: Tony
Etymotic Research ER6i headphones update
Well I've been using my Etymotic Research ER6i Isolator In-Ear Earphones for a few weeks now and I can report back with some longer term opinions. First off, as far as sound suppression goes, they work just as well as earplugs at keeping the wind and road noise out and as long as you don't have the music cranked, you'll hear what's going on around you just fine.
Now with regard to sound quality, it is absolutely top notch. Because outside sounds are essentially eliminated, you get clean, clear audio with crisp highs and nice deep lows. The earphones themselves fit comfortably into the ear canal and the rubber baffle piece slips off with ease for cleaning under warm water. And while inserting them into the ear is as easy and straightforward as inserting earplugs, a fairly obvious design flaw however, is that no provision is made for getting them back out, with specific warning to not remove them by pulling on the cord. Once inserted into the ear, they go in deep enough that you cannot realistically grab the body of the headphones to pull them out. I have discovered a little trick however, by using the end of my fingernail I grab the edge of the rubber plug and I'm able to extract the headphone with some downward motion. I did however read one user's solution, which was to make a loop from some fishing line to hook over the body of the plug, so they can be removed by simply pulling on the line, something which I will employ soon.
Otherwise they are relatively comfortable as long as they are not inadvertently inserted too deeply and they provide excellent sound. While somewhat expensive for headphones at $75, they prove their worth on the first ride.
Labels: fzr600, gear, opinion, xt225
PermaLink / Posted by: Tony
Etymotic Research ER6i Isolator In-Ear Earphones
Wow I love these things. For years I had been putting off getting a set because I just couldn't bring myself to spend $130+ on headphones. Of course, for riding, regular ear buds sortof work, but between the road noise and the increased volume levels you are quickly headed for deafness if you do it for very long. Earplugs are fine for normal riding when you've got some scenery to deal with, but the long commute I'm doing down I5 was getting to me. I mean, after 3hrs a day of nothing but road noise, you start talking singing and to yourself in your helmet... well, at least I was. Anyway, when I recently priced these out again it turned out they'd come down in price to the somewhat reasonable amount of $75 which coming from Amazon also yielded free shipping.
I've been using them for about a week now and I can definitely say they are worth every penny. They keep the road noise out just as well as flanged earplugs and they let you listen to music or audio books at a respectable volume. So why waste all that commute time listening to road noise, listen to music or buy some audio books and learn another language. At the rate I'm going, I've got 15hrs a week of time I can use for learning something.
Labels: gear, motorcycles
PermaLink / Posted by: Tony
Alpinestars Tech 7 boots
Well for the SBR dirt day I figured I needed to get some sort of good dirt boots. I'd only ridden twice off road before, the first time in hiking boots, which realistically have 0 ankle support and the second time wearing my street boots, which also have 0 ankle support compared to off road boots.
When I first put them on they were unbelievably stiff, I wore them all around the house and everywhere I went the night before the ride, though Sat am while a bit softer, they were still quite stiff. Thankfully, after riding around they seemed to have mostly broken in within the first hour and I was so busy riding I didn't even notice the transition. Since riding with dirt boots was an entirely new experience for me, I really had to get used to it. Shifting and braking were completely different and while I'm hardly 100% comfortable, it didn't take terribly long before I was feeling not too bad about them. (Though the rear brake does seem to be either on or off now) 
The protection these boots offer is supreme and I'm glad I had them on. At one point I washed out in the mud and the weight of my bike near the rear axle was on my ankle, it was mildly painful through the boot which is super thick and very tough. I can't imagine what would have happened had I been wearing hiking boots. Not to mention the super stiff shinguard protection they have. All in all it was money well spent, it is hard to go wrong splurging on safety gear and in the end I'm really glad I did. These have now become my street boots as well, they are super stout. 
Labels: gear, motorcycles, rm125, xt225
PermaLink / Posted by: Tony
Wet weather riding attire
I thought I'd throw my wet weather riding setup out there in case anyone else is looking for a reasonable way to stay dry without shelling out a grand for a custom suit. I know the preferred and really the ideal setup is an Aerostitch, but at about $750 for the one piece suit and about $800 for the two piece, it is a tad excessive for me as when the weather is good I just wear a leather and "riding" jeans so it would see limited duty.
My current setup is a 2-piece arrangement with a total cost of just over $100. To keep my legs dry, I wear a black Carhartt rain bib and because it is pretty heavy .5mil PVC over a polyester fabric, it does a fairly good job of cutting down/out windchill in addition to keeping me dry. The Carhartt rain bib goes for about $40 pretty much anywhere and has pockets in the knees which you can use to insert knee protection and it comes in yellow, orange or black, I happen to have the black ones.
For the top, I have the matching PVC rain coat which has a double storm flap arrangement where it buttons up and does a good job of keeping you dry. If I want to ride with protection, I can wear that over my textile or even leather jacket if I wanted, although it has no reflective tape so I'm not afforded any extra visibility. You can also get it in yellow, orange or black.
When I don't want to double layer the raincoat and or am not concerned about adding crash protection, yeah say what you will, I think we've all done triple digits in a t-shirt a few times... I wear a LaCrosse Industrial Mountain Pass jacket which offers pretty good warmth, neck protection from the wind and rain and extreme visibility. I wear this when I'm concerned with being seen, but not so much about high speed crash protection as I'm generally under 60mph on the DS.
The LaCrosse Industrial Mountain Pass jacket goes for about $75.
LaCrosse Industrial also offers a non-insulated jacket that is more like the Carhartt PVC styled one that has the same ANSI approved bright yellow with super reflective tape if you wanted to put something bright over your textile or leather and they generally go for about $50
The items above can be found almost anywhere and a quick Google search will yield several online vendors. Anyway, I just thought I'd throw out an alternative to the high priced 'stitch in case anyone out there is riding wet because they either don't have one or plan to get one. And while a $10 plastic rainsuit from Wal-Mart will likely keep you dry, I wouldn't expect to get much use out of it.
Labels: fzr600, gear, motorcycles, outdoor, xt225
PermaLink / Posted by: Tony
Logitech Playgear PSP case
If you have a PSP, you really should have some sort of case to protect it with. I mean, the whole idea is that you're toting the thing around and potentially subjecting it to being knocked around. In stock form, the little sock they give you with it to put the PSP in really doesn't offer much protection and I'd be a bit too nervous to toss it in a backpack with books, or anywhere else for that matter. Logitech knocked out a PSP case pretty quick that fits the PSP like a glove and offers superior protection.
The case itself is made out of polycarbonate which, if you're not familiar with, is a plastic that is practically indestructible. The case also has a rubber lining on the inside so that when seated in the case, your PSP has a good shock absorber. Since your PSP doesn't actually attach to the case itself, it just sits inside it so it is easy to pull it out of the case at any time, but it also sits in the case firmly enough that it is no problem to play with the PSP as the case gives you access to the top buttons and you can still plug in headphones/etc; in fact, if you've got non-child sized hands, it makes playing your PSP much more comfortable as you've got something a little more substantial to hang onto and the case itself keeps that hot battery off your palm.
In addition to protection and easy button access for gameplay while the case is in use, the clamshell design also gives you a sun/light shield to prevent glare, and when flipped all the way back it acts as a stand so you can watch a movie or whatever without having to hold the thing up for 2hrs. One other cool little feature is that you can use your color printer to edit a template that will let you print out a graphic of any sort so you can customize your case. Check out my NIN case theme I'm currently using. (Yeah I know, I forgot about the Logitech logo when I made it, I should have moved the NIN logo to the left.) It only takes a few minutes to make one for yourself, and if you just do a quick google search you'll find hundreds of them that others have already created, just print, cut and insert.
Anyway, I've been using my PSP with this case for about a year now and I've got to say it does exactly what I wanted. It is still relatively slim, it offers good strong protection and you can get one for next to nothing. I think I saw the low price of $12 for these things, but even at full retail you're looking at a measly $20 so you don't have much excuse to not get one. Besides, now you can stick your PSP in your back pocket and not flip out if you accidentally sit on it. :)
Labels: gaming, gear
PermaLink / Posted by: Tony
Coke can stove test
I decided to do the classic 2 cup of water boil time test with that backpacking stove I made out of two coke cans. Using my swiss tool I bent a coat hanger into a little ultralight stand. Of course, if you really wanted to save weight you could just dig a small hole or use sticks or rocks to hold your pot over the stove. I'm pretty happy with the stove as it performed coming to a boil in rougly 4 minutes. :) The can of fuel was about $5 at the local Home Depot, it burns clean and fairly hot. I recorded a small 1 minute video as well after the stove had been on for about 3 minutes. The coat hanger worked fairly well, if I was going to keep it for actual use I'd sand off the paint on it, but I suspect I'll just use rocks or sticks in the field.
This particular design has paper towel folded over inside the walls acting as a wick. I also use larger weep holes in the base and it seems to do well. The amount of fuel required to boil 2 cups of water is exactly 2 tablespoons, not bad. To carry the fuel you can just get one of those little containers from the travel isle at the local drug store.
Part way into the video you'll see me stick my hand in there, showing the time at about 3min after starting the fire. All in all it averaged to almost exactly 4 minutes. I should also note that I'm probably only about 100ft above sea level.
Labels: backpacking, DIY, gear, outdoor
PermaLink / Posted by: Tony
Navigation tools
My very first GPS was one of the very early civilian models from Garmin, it had an external antenna that you could adjust. I got the "military" style model and unfortunately it was pretty much a piece of junk. The antenna was not very tough and while simply trying to rotate it the thing popped off. When attempting to put it back, some of the connecting points snapped. Thankfully, I was able to return it and purchased a Magellen unit. I liked the Magellans in that they were self contained, waterproof and had a very simple interface.
Of course this was back in the days when a GPS really only gave you data. Direction, speed, latitude, longitude and sea level elevation. On top of that, it was $300. I used that thing in combination with USGS topo maps for many years, it came with me on Jeeping adventures and backpacking trips into the unknown. Unfortunately it finally gave up the ghost a few months ago after providing me with over 10 years of service. Time for a new one and while I was at it, I figured I might as well go full bore and see what kinds of topo software was out there.
After a bit of research I settled on the Magellan eXplorist e210 United States version. Without going into detail on the specs, you can google those, the device comes preloaded with a US map containing major roads, parks, airports and waterways. For more detailed maps you can upload them into the unit via special software.
Now personally I don't really care too much about a detail map on a tiny little GPS screen. The zoomed out major roadways is fine for my purposes, any real detail requires a real map. Not to mention the fact that if your GPS dies for one reason or another, you better have a real map and compass handy or you might not be making it back to camp. Another nice feature is a dual level backlight that allows you to choose a dim or bright setting, very nice. Considering the fact that the backlight on these things can be a real power hog.
Here's the dim setting, note that I'm not tracking any satellites yet as I just turned the GPS on and I'm inside an office building with it pointing away from the windows. However, if you'll notice in the next picture, it started the tracking process anyway and locked a satellite. From everything I'd read and now experienced, this GPS handles satellite aquisition and lock extremely well. I don't yet have a handlebar mount, so to tracklog I just fire it up and toss it in my bag and it works just fine.
Another one of the nice features with this device is being able to set something called a track log, which more or less just records a ton of waypoints automatically as you move along. The nice thing about this is that you can wander off wherever the hell you want, then basically just tell it to do a return trip and it will guide you back the way you came.
The other nice thing about that is that not only can you use it to record locations with a route to get there as well as how to get back to say... camp with virtual breadcrumbs, but you can import this data into good topo software, like the TOPO! maps software from National Geographic. Now that is super cool, with that little feature when you return from a trip you can download the data off your GPS into your PC and see where you went on your map. Of course one of the primary reasons for getting the GPS is that you can also plot charts on your map and upload them to your GPS as a route that you can follow.
Combined with the very awesome National Geographic TOPO! map software, this little guy will be seeing a lot of use.
Now that I can print my own 100k and 7.5' topo maps I can feel free to abuse them and mark all over them and with the routes I create on it uploaded to my GPS, I can feel confident that not only will it lead me where I want to go, it will get me back home as well.
Labels: backpacking, gear, jeep, outdoor, travel, xt225
PermaLink / Posted by: Tony
Ultraflate2 "hack"
So I picked up one of those co2 charged refill solutions, I'd never really needed one for my mountain bike cause well... not much volume and I didn't race XC but I'd rather not have to pump up one of the tires on my new XT or on the RM by hand.
Anyway, the Ultraflate2 uses a proprietary co2 cart to lock you in with consumables, of course they also WAY overcharge for them at $4 a pop. Considering the fact that a 12gram co2 from Crossman goes for about 50 cents, I'd much rather use those. Ultraflate took that into consideration, so they made their proprietary cans longer than the standard ones you can find anywhere.
So what do you do? Drop a dime on them, so to speak.
So measuring their tank in the device we see that it sticks out just a bit and measures a total of 3.53" If you drop a standard 12gram in there it will not stick out past the top, preventing it from functioning in the device.
Take a dime
Drop it in there and put in a normal 12gram co2 and crank it down, not overtight, but you'll need to put a slight dent in the dime, so a bit of force.
Once complete, back it off and drop in a fresh co2 and look, it measures out at 3.54"
How much does this save you? Well, 25 of the 12gram carts will run you $12.50 and 25 of the proprietary ones will set you back $100.
Labels: gear, mtb, xt225
PermaLink / Posted by: Tony
Ultralight backpacking stove
So I'd seen plans for years about little backpacking stoves you can make requiring merely a couple of coke cans a swiss army knife and a few minutes of time, but I'd never really gotten around to making one. I had been using nesbit tablets, which function, but I'm really not a big fan of them. Anyway, someone had posted a video on metacafe showing his own modified and simplified design and I figured I might as well give making one of these a shot.
Now, he simply states that you need to prime it first, then he is shown holding a lighter under it for a few seconds before lighting the jets. Of course, anyone that knows how primed stoves work realize that is total BS because you really need a priming pan, which defeated the whole point of his "modified" stove as it was supposed to be a completely simplified version of the different styles out there.
Anyway, I don't like the priming pan idea, it's just one more thing to carry around and lose. I'd prefer for the entire unit to be self contained. A great website, zenstoves.net goes into detail on the design and theory behind many different styles of these little stoves. Personally, I prefer the open top style, though slightly less efficient it lights instantly and the jets come on when ready.
I am somewhat happy with the performance I'm getting, though I do want to change the design a little and make the top hole smaller, I don't think it needs to be quite so large. Anyway, here's a shot of the flame you get for 5 minutes from a couple tablespoons worth of denatured alcohol.
Labels: backpacking, DIY, gear, outdoor
PermaLink / Posted by: Tony
Well I misplaced my Magellan Explorist 200 GPS a few days ago and I'd been searching high and low for the thing as I'd really have liked to use it on my upcoming Rubicon trip. 
