I just bought a... (non clothing item)

It was a great price, so I am now the proud owner of a totally ridiculous 100L duffel bag


Which I can only assume was discontinued because of its excessive size...largest they sell now is 80L

Arc'teryx is downsizing everything. They discontinued the Altra 85 pack I have. Their current lineup maxes out at 63L. I emailed them asking about larger packs and they said with the lightweight trend sweeping the industry, they don't plan on making larger packs anytime soon. It's not so much the weight of the pack itself (my 85L doesn't weigh much more than the 63L), rather people are carrying less stuff and therefore require smaller packs.

Oh, I forgot about that--I also recently bought an Altra 75 for a steal (STP got a bunch of arcteryx samples or something in)...something like $150

Nice pack--I too was lamenting the fact that they are maxing out at 63L in the current line so the second I saw it up for sale, I pounced.

I just can't do it that small, at least not in places with cold and/or rain. My bag was relatively full last weekend for 3 nights of camping...and that was without food or water. Bulkier cold weather bag, non-tiny pad, and a 2-person tent take up a lot of space (and I'd prefer not to start strapping stuff to the outside). Throw in a few other things and you can fill up 75L pretty quick. Can save some space if I'm sharing a tent, and could save more space if I went out and bought some even smaller gear...

Majority of my camping is in easily accessible sites near climbing areas (thankfully my climbing gear lives in its own 45L pack), so I'd rather carry in things like ultralight chair, stuff for cooking "real" food, etc.

Up until last week, I've been rocking this Jansport Adirondack that I have owned since I was a boyscout:

Thing has always felt massive at 80L+ (can't find an exact number), but it has served me well. Love those big side pockets, but I think it was time...and the Arcteryx seems to do a much better job being under-loaded. The Jansport really preferred to be full.

Speaking of chairs, I've taken a Helinox Camp Chair and a Therm-a-Rest Ultralite Cot on the last two trips. If the trip is flat/short, the Camp Chair is worth it, but I'll probably get something lighter for longer/steeper trips. Sleeping on that cot was the most comfortable I've been in a tent.

I've got a random chinese knockoff of a helinox-style design, and other than the skinny legs digging into wet ground (I need to try the practice-golf-ball hack), it is really nice to have. I used to never be willing to deal with big folding camp chairs, but this thing is small enough that it is completely worth it. Sure, not if you are doing a through-hike, but if there is going to be a bunch of time spent hanging around post-climbing, sitting around a fire, etc, it is great.

For sleep, I have two of the prior version of this pad (unfortunately for me, it looks like the new version has fixed the problem of it making a lot of noise on the tent floor). They snap together, so when the lady and I are together, it can form a continuous sleep surface. Gets relatively small, but obviously weights 3x as much as something like a thermarest xlite. Seems comfortable for side sleeping as well.

Cot might be worth looking into...I'd also like to try hammock camping at some point (although I tend to be out when it is cold or buggy, and I don't really want to invest in netting and an underquilt). I have a hammock that I sometimes bring for lounging, but have yet to sleep in it. I did stay at a house in the Yucatan once that had hammock hooks indoors...once I got the hammock angle down, I loved it. Slept in the hammock every night and was unbelievably comfortable.

Just bought a Gigaset c530 IP Phone and paid $6 to some company to set up a real SIP gateway to my Google Voice account.

Now I have a "land line" with no recurring charges. Dials out with my GV number, and I can set it up to ring both my mobile and the land line.

Mostly got it so I could have my doorman use that number...if my GF orders food or has a friend come over, she either has to go down and let them in, or I have to be able to answer my mobile. Now, both the house phone and my mobile will ring so I can still get doorman calls when I am not home, but anyone who is home can answer it.

Only downside to the setup is no 911 service. I can subscribe to some e911 services for like $1.50 a month, although given nobody else my age even has a land line, the odds of there being an emergency and someone trying to find my handset, rather than just pulling out their own cellphone, are pretty low.

I need to buy a good couch but I can't decide? Any options/suggetions? Thanks!!

This thread is due for a revival.

I just bought a carbon-handle/fiberglass-blade 3-piece SUP paddle


Bent my aluminum paddle last time I was out on my cheap chinese SUP. Store in portland had some pretty good deals on their house-brand paddles.

I haven't really bought any 'real' clothes since the pandemic started. I've gotten t shirts, casual pants etc but nothing 'dress' or for work. I did get a pair of Lobbs on sale and then rapidly 'lost' them (somewhere at home) when I was going to give them to a friend for patination/ colouring LOL

My non clothing purchases have been to furnish the condo I purchased late 2020: wool rugs (3), patio set, bed, mattress, dining table and chairs. Furniture is freaking expensive!

Next on my list are a sideboard, pendant light to go above the dining table, dresser, fireplace mantle, and side tables/night stands. Hopefully I can get to the sideboard by the end of year but otherwise they're all likely 2023 project purchases. Oh also I need art for my walls. Stay tuned.

Went a bit Apple fanboi recently with a new 13 pro max, airpods pro and a macbook pro.

Overkill. But now I can pretend to do work in Starbucks.

Upgraded my camera body to an OM-D E-M5 mkIII. Still enjoying the M4/3 form factor, but wanted a newer body. Maybe I should have just splurged on the EM-1 (or OM-1) but I was scared off by the larger size/weight...perhaps I will change my mind on that.

But then I also felt the need to buy the Olympus 12-100 f4 Pro lens in advance of a trip to Switzerland next week.


I've been really happy with my 12-40 f2.8 Pro (on left), but I mostly only bring my camera into Glacier National Park (or similar locations). There I'm shooting daylight and generally want depth of field so the f4 isn't a big con. But I also often want more reach for when wildlife shows up. I have the little 40-150 consumer tele lens, but switching back and forth is just super annoying (and can cause you to miss shots).

Now I can hit to 100mm (200mm full frame equivalent) without losing any width. Optically the lens should be very good so I can also crop in and still get results that are as good as the long end of the cheapo 40-150mm.

Only played with it for a second, but the dual Sync IS (lens IS combined with the body's 5-axis IS) is pretty incredible which should also help those long shots.

It isn't THAT much bigger than the 12-40, but the additional weight and heft is noticeable (but still way smaller than anything equivalent on a full frame system). Hopefully that's not a problem...if I end up needing a grip, I should have just bought an E-M1.

Oh and then my next camera buy is an even longer tele to pair with it. Probably either the consumer Olympus 75-300 or Panasonic 100-300.

I could splurge on the Olympus 100-400, but it starts to get pretty big and is only a prosumer-level lens which means that despite having IS, it isn't compatible with sync IS. And 800mm equivalent focal length is a TON....the consumer ones are plenty long for catching some wildlife and are much easier to carry.

And I don't think any of the Pro lenses really fit my uses case. The 40-150 is too short when paired with the 12-100. The 300 prime could work, but the prime nature is pretty limiting.
The Pro 150-400 is huge and costs $7500 so I'm gonna skip it.

A pro-level 100-300 with Sync IS and a non-constant aperture would be sweet but I don't think they will let themselves make it...I think constant aperture is table stakes for the Pro series and to get the size (and non-overlap with other lenses) right they'd probably need something like F4-5.6

Nordic hyperextension