I'm trying out this device to see what exactly it does. There were some distractions and I left out a description of how it works on the video.

The indicator consists of a green wax which is enclosed within a tube (on a wire) which you place in water that is being heated for pasteurization. At 150 degrees f (65 c) the wax begins to melt and after 10 minutes your water should be "safe to drink". According to the manufacturer.

The indicator does NOT pasteurize the water, it simply indicates that the desired temperature (150 f) has been reached. It is reusable. Just slide the tube to the other end of the wire for next time.

I coupled the WAPI with a thermometer to see exactly what happens temperature-wise when using it.

The manufacturer claims it takes the wax 10 minutes to melt AT 150f. What I found, is that once the water reaches 150 f, it only takes a couple of minutes more for the wax to melt, during which time the water continues to get hotter. When the wax had melted completely, the water had achieved a maximum temperature of about 174 f or so. I then removed it from the heat source.

In this case, the water while being heated and then cooling was at or above 150 f for ten minutes. So the desired effect should have been achieved.

Boiling water is universally accepted as a reliable method of killing pathogens in drinking water. Fuel savings is one of the claimed benefits of the WAPI if you don't have to bring the water to a boil to make it drinkable. Which is pretty much the point of having and using this device or a thermometer. I should add that I have no means to test for pathogens, so can't give any results on that.

Honestly, I think just bringing along a meat thermometer would do just as good of a job while giving you a little more precise information.

https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/WHO-FWC-WSH-15.02

https://sswm.info/sites/default/files/reference_attachments/ANDREATTA%202007%20A%20Summary%20of%20Water%20Pasteurization%20Techniques.pdf
"...it is not necessary to boil water to make it safe to drink. Heating
water to 65° C (149° F) for 6 minutes, or to a higher temperature for a shorter time, will kill all germs, viruses, and parasites. This process is called pasteurization. "

I re-edited this a little because some of the original footage wasn't showing the colors well. This is a bit better. It's difficult, no matter the light source, to get colors that depict genuinely on video.

If you've ever thought about changing the appearance of your FILBE pack, have no fear, it can be done.

I found these ice cleats for $5. I thought I would get them to keep in the car, just in case the need arises. I haven't tried them yet but they look like they should do the basic job.
These look like such a simple item to make yourself, but you don't really think about it until you hold a set in your hands. You could save some money and construct a pair with items you may already have.

This is something I threw together last summer. I wasn't going to post it as it's more inspirational than informative but what the heck, why not? Maybe someone will feel inspired to get out and give it a try.

Trying to develop my 'camp in any environment' skills.

To be honest, here I am next to a swamp, not actually in it. I think camping/hammocking in a swamp is very doable with some thought and preparation. You'll probably have lots of solitude.

Getting yourself and your gear out of the water is vital however, (as is dealing with the insects). You'd likely need cordage or a sling-type arrangement to hang everything up and dry it.

Let me know how you do it.

Why carry the whole waist belt repair kit with you when a single component can do the job and still give you confidence that you're covered if you need a repair in the field?

Hiking around with a water jug inside both the FILBE and MOLLE II packs to see which is more comfortable. No body armor, no tactical stuff, just a review for the hiker, backpacker or conditioning enthusiast. 30 lbs inside the pack plus the weight of the pack and pouches and other incidentals that I brought along. A 1.4 mile distance (according to gaiagps.com) traveled for each pack. Sure, not a monumental load or distance but I'm old. :)

Availability, condition and price: The Army, Reserves and National Guard are huge compared to the Marine Corps and Reserve. That goes a long way in explaining why the MOLLE packs/gear are generally less expensive and in better condition than the FILBE. Add in the phase-out of the ACU camo and you have a lot of this gear now on the market, new in the packaging.

The FILBE is available in new or near-new condition but you can pay as much as $600 for a pack. Used FILBEs are often stuff that has been disposed of by the Marines and is close to being unserviceable, or uneconomical (for them) to repair. If you look around you can find deals and being handy with a sewing kit won't hurt either. With a "budget pack", be prepared to replace or repair broken and damaged buckles, zippers, torn material, missing straps, etc.

To be honest, a FILBE has to be pretty much taken apart to really be useless.

One of the benefits of the FILBE is that it MAY appear to be less military, at least from a distance. Something to consider if you are concerned about being profiled during a SHTF situation, civil emergency, etc. The appearance may become even less military in the future if the Marines go back to traditional Green or camouflage gear.

I think it's safe to say, the MOLLE or FILBE are both more comfortable than the ALICE.

A quick set up and hang of this hammock. I have a feeling I'll be doing some experimentation on this to make it fit a tall guy such as myself, more comfortably.

The bug net doesn't get much play in this video. It didn't come with instructions and it isn't obvious to me how it goes on the hammock.

Error: I'd always thought the woodland camo med. ALICE packs were slightly different radio packs. Apparently not. Okay, cool. It's a full fledged ALICE then.

Additional stuff about the Brickfielder hammock, bugnet and the Onewind underquilt that wasn't included in the previous video.

The stock ALICE pack does not come with load lifters. When you decide to upgrade to the MOLLE II suspension (and ye shall), you may decide to hook up the lifters that come with it. It's quick, easy and mostly reversible doing only minor damage to the straps. Or you could just cut off the lifters (they are permanently attached ) and risk the ire, vexation and fury of future surplus collectors. The risk is yours, choose wisely.

If I had the correct sized triglides, they would have worked here. I didn't, so I reused the existing buckles.

A quick look at a lightweight minimalist cook set you can throw together for solo treks, day hikes or anytime you're not going to do much more than heat beverages and maybe oatmeal. Total weight is under 8 ounces as I have equipped it. You can drop that a bit with a cup made from different material.

Using the cookset as I have it set up, you could heat 8 or so ounces of water to rehydrate a meal, then fill the cup with up to 16 ounces and heat that for coffee or other hot beverages.

A few years back I had this set up so that my youtube videos would upload automatically to Bitchute....that stopped working for quite a while but appears to have resumed recently, thus the presence of two of the same videos from time to time.

A quick look at the similarities and differences between the USMC FILBE sustainment pouch, the hydration pouch and the MOLLE sustainment pouch.

Just some video of the colors showing right now.

I'm not sure how 2 copies of this got uploaded. I deleted the other. Hopefully, no one left a comment that I missed.

Some of my initial impressions of this pack were wrong. I had intended to get back to this last year, but hammocks and life events got in the way.

My opinion hasn't changed much, this is a heavy pack, good for carrying heavy loads but probably not your first choice for a backpacking trip. Unless you will be humping 100+ lbs of gear. I want to play around with it more to see how adjusting compression, lifter straps and the waist belt can make it more comfortable. This is definitely a pack that you have to set-up for you.

An abundance of features complicates the learning curve yet allows versatility and personalization. These variations will affect your comfort but can take time to figure out and get dialed in. I've seen several videos by the Marine Corps and others, that explain in more detail, the set-up of this pack, how to put it on, and variations for torso length, height, load lifter alternatives etc. I'll try to incorporate some of this information into future videos. Search youtube and you'll find them.

I'd say this is a good conditioning pack to help you stay fit for your outdoor adventures. Or save it for when your grandkids are re-enacting Afghanistan in 30 or 40 years.

Some quick tips about lying on your side and sitting up in a bridge hammock. While standing up in a bridge hammock may be possible, it is not to be recommended.

Now don't get stupid with this, it is possible to get unbalanced and fall from a hammock, if you lean too far, rock or don't use common sense etc., so please don't do that.

Lightweight, comfortable and fairly inexpensive, the ENO Skylite offers an easy way to get started with bridge hammocks. You could make this a back up sleep system or your main summer hang on a hike or backpacking trip.
Now, if ENO would do something about the hinky bugnet zipper, I'd have no complaints nor hesitation to bring one along. If you're handy with repairs, you can probably figure out a way to eliminate the problem or circumvent it. No, reason to leave a good piece of kit behind over a single flaw.

For us big guys, I found the Skylite to be stronger, stable and more comfortable than I had assumed it would be.

A quick overview of these three interesting hammocks.

I set up my Ridgerunner for the way I will be using it and the Helsdon on its own is a pretty similar configuration out of the box. I've done a bit of a one on one comparison of the two. The ENO is newest of the bunch, I just took it along to try out.

Weight wise, the Helsdon is the biggest and heaviest. About 6.5 lbs but add more if you decide to use a rainfly with it.
The Ridgerunner with Spindrift sock come in at about 3 lbs. My rainfly, ridgelines and other stuff added to make it serve my needs adds about 2 lbs to that. It feels lighter than 5 lbs though.

The Eno Skylite with Helios straps comes in lightest of all at 2.2 lbs. If I use my diamond shaped rainfly with it, the weight would be close to 4 lbs.

I'll get more of the ENO Skylite in the future. If you look at that last shot across the reservoir, the mist you see is actually the smoke from Canadian forest fires 1,000 miles away. The odor and volatile gases was a bit overwhelming and I started feeling poorly so had to cut it short. I didn't get all the shots I wanted or the quality. Besides, at this point its still new to me and because its a lighter single layer hammock and I haven't had the chance to match it up with accessories, its not quite in the same category as the other two.

Helsdon Outdoors claims you can set this hammock up in 2 minutes. I believe them. It actually took me a bit longer here, but I'm getting better at it.

Once again I'm having software issues with my video editor. I can only save videos with straight cuts, add any transitions or effects and nothing. I don't know why. I put this together and saved it successfully the day before intending it to be part of a Helsdon vs Ridgerunner comparison video. Since I can no longer include this in that video, I might as well post it here for now. At least it will shorten up the final product a bit. :)

UPDATE: It appears that the issue was corrupted files. New footage seems to work ok, so I'll be reshooting some of the old stuff and editting them togther in smaller chunks. Two or three short videos to compare the Helsdon and the Ridgerunner hammocks, instead of one long one. As time permits.

It arrived and I took it out of the box. That's about it, no big dramatic moments, no exotic Canadian insects crawling out to wreak havoc on the ecosphere...well we hope. Forget China, Canadian world domination is a real and growing threat. Even now, as American power wanes, they may be preparing a crushing blow from the north that would take out Washington...Ok, that doesn't sound too bad but should they succeed, we might all have to learn to speak English AND French. Therein lies the real nightmare. I can barely speak English.
Best to buy your Helsdon before that happens and get on their good side.

I bought this Prospector Trekker Solo bivy some years ago and never used it. I'm currently planning a trip with friends and we can't use our hammocks there. It occurred to me this might be a good alternative. So I dug it out of the closet and did a short video on it. It'll need some mods, better ground sheet and rain protection, maybe some added guy lines. I wasn't able to find one for sale online, so if you ever do, it'll probably be a garage sale type of thing. If I get out in it this year, I'll let you know how it goes.

A simple and fast way to improve the bottle holding abilities of small, loose or worn out mesh backpack pockets. You can use elastic cord as I have here or other elastic materials.

If you saw the original video on the diverter, this is the same one with some added footage. If you missed that blockbuster, then you are in for a treat here. :)

Just a quick overview and quick trial of a DIY breath diverter for the Warbonnet ridgerunner bridge hammock with the spindrift sock. The intent (as the name implies) is to divert your warm moist breath out the vents and reduce condensation. The conditions weren't favorable for producing condensation the day I was out, but I was able to confirm the basic dimensions seem to work. I think this has a real chance of being successful. More details added if I'm able to get out in colder weather....spring is just here and winter often doesn't relinquish her cruel grip until well into May or June.

A disappointing and potentially dangerous product. To be honest, I'd rather keep the mug than return it, if it was just an issue with the color, but I don't feel safe using it.

I'm rather surprised this has happened too, Japanese stuff is usually pretty good.

It can be difficult, even impossible to find accurate information about camping on state land, even on the websites of the government entities responsible for those lands. Fines for violations can be as high as $500 despite your good intentions and honest efforts to comply with laws and regulations.
Therefore, why not just assume that you will inadvertantly camp illegally and strive to avoid detection. That's what I'm doing.
To the best of my ability to determine, camping in this park is legal but...I'm not taking any chances. If the rangers can't find me, they can't fine me. Today, I'm checking out a promising location found on the map, for future use.
My criteria are that the site be away from other camp sites, screened by terrain and vegetation and not visible from trails, that in as much as possible, incidental light and noise (civvy friends don't observe noise and light discipline) will not give the site away, that it be acceptable for hammocking or ground camping. Ideally it will be in the col between higher pieces of ground and camouflage will not be required...yeah, my civvy friends don't do camo or even earth neutral colors. What can I do? Just try and find a spot where the circus will go unnoticed, I guess. I'll add that access to water is also a consideration, though this area has an abundance.
Hiking - especially in winter - provides a good opportunity to have a look see.

Adding to my personal database, a quick test of the aforementioned gear. It worked pretty well but you have to be proactive and get ahead of the game to prevent condensation inside the sock. Dutchware makes a thing called the breathalizer for some of their hammocks. The purpose is to divert exhaled breath out the vents. I think I'll look into making one myself and seeing how it performs.
I probably should have set up a rainfly for added protection and to cut the wind....next time.
At this point, I'm working on bringing down the weight and bulk of the insulating layers without sacrificing comfort. I think a couple thin layers may work as well as a heavy winter bag and save a pound or so.

I may have finally found my ultimate hammocking combination. At least until the next greatest thing comes along.
This is the ridgerunner two layer hammock with sleeping pad zipper. I don't remember now if the bugnet was an option, I got one with it. Adding a windsock, in this case the water and wind resistant spindrift, creates a miniature little world of dryth (I know not a real word but apropos) and warmth in a cold cruel world.
The sleep pad could and should eliminate the need for an underquilt in all but the coldest circumstances. You can still use a top quilt with it, I have had good luck with sleeping bags. Although my onewind underquilt is more roomy and comfortable than a sleeping bag, its not as warm for winter use. I have yet to try it out with the spindrift though.
Needless to say I am enthusiastic about the Ridgerunner/Spindrift combination and the warm, comfortable camping trips they promise.

Erratum: Its called a Marlinspike hitch!