Gear In Gear Out Gear Fav

so its been a while since I've posted here. I've used my gear a lot since then primarily in south korea and utah. I tried to stop buying gear, but somehow the drive to buy never diminishes. I'm truly well setup now, I can't think of anything else I'm going to need for any trips hear on in. Definitely gotta put some old stuff on ebay and recoup some capital =)

So what have I bought recently. Hopefully I will have the diligence to document these items as I get to use them.

• Montane Quickfire Jacket
  
• Titanium Snowpeak cup + new silicone lid
• New minibulldesign voodoo stove
• Motorcross body armor for injury protection
• Canon IXUS 70 + stick pic
  
• Slack line
  

In lieu of all this travelling I've really taken a liking to certain bits of gear

• black diamond headlamp - so excellent, bright and compact. So many times it has made itself so convienent. Mainly when I hike out and stay for the sunset and stupidly have to walk out in pitch black
• mountain hardware ultralamina 15F sleeping bag - my love of skiing and the cold leaves me in cold places sometimes. Despite not being able to use it as much as I like in outdoor situations, this sleeping bag has only let me down in the sense that it was too warm. Otherwise its always a sound night of sleep. I do wish it weighed less.. =P
  
• leukotape, duct tape, bic lighter - never travel without it. NEVER.
  
• my super old kathmandu backpack - this is a revival. Its the most boring pack but its small which makes me pack small. I took the metal supports out and its light and compressible so it comes with me on most trips. My bigger bag got a big of use in south korea, but i still love this one.
  
• my replaced titanium cup - now reaccessoried and redressed, hopefully never to be lost again. I made a nice silicone lid for it which doubles as a cup and a strainer at the same time. Also a bit of rubber to stop me from burning my mouth. Its quite the perfect size, currently I enjoy making huge cups of green tea and honey in it and drinking it at work.
• etymotic er6i - replaced many times but still my favourite headphones for travelling. If only it was more durable but couldnt imagine a flight without it, or my ipod.
  
• Nalgene bottle - no reason, its just super bomber.
  

stick pic

So i saw the Stickpic and thought instantly it was such a great idea for taking photos especially when i'm always travelling by myself. But unfortunately it's so expensive and limited. You can only point it along the stick, so much potential for so much more. So i got thinking, wouldn't it be kewl to make something that's a stickpic and a monopod combined.

To do this, my idea is to combine the head off a cheap tripod I had bought a long time ago with the rubber feet you get for the walking sticks. The fricion fit should be enough to easily hold a camera on, and the gimbal head will let me convert it from a stick to a variable height monopod. Such an elegant solution!!!

So now, to make it! I found the single screw thru the flexible rubber feet was way too flexible and was not gonna stop a camera from popping off the end with at least 30 degrees of flex. So struggling with some super glue and duct tape I got a nice and tight solution, taped off to resist bending.

Still there was an approximatley 10 degree flex in it, when i popped on my fz7 camera (not a light camera by any measure). I needed something to support the weight. A pen clip! lightweight and just the right length. I installed it on one side bent and tensioned with good old duct tape.

Problem solved! now I have an excellent little gadget that will make photography even more interesting. Combined with my el cheapo hacked canon digicam, the next ski trip should be interesting =)