My wenzel starlight tent

If you've followed my blog from the beginning, then you know I've been searching for the right tent for my pct adventures this summer. I didn't mention it before but I've also considered using my wenzel starlight " hiker/biker" tent which I purchased several years ago for backpacking but have never gotten around to using. For the last ten years or so I've been packing with my two sons, so we've used a larger tent that fit all three of us, however this year I'm packing with a friend and want more privacy so the new tent... Anyway I was waiting for some nicer weather to set up the wenzel to see if it was a contender for this summer. We finally had a few nice days and I was able to set it up. Holy smoke! There's no way! First of all there is no ventilation, theres a screen in the front for the door and that's it. No cross ventilation at all, so even on a cool day it was like a sauna in there. Secondly it's designed poorly so it's not possible to tighten it up enough that there would be no puddling on it in a rainstorm. Thirdly it's just to small for a person my size, it was very hard to enter, especially with the tent pole in the way. It's too bad, it is very light and I already own it. So far I really like the idea of the eureka backcountry free standing tent. It's not too expensive and the free standing part would be nice, but it is heavier than the other options at 4 lbs. I think I'll go look at the eureka solotaire at the sportsman warehouse since they have it on display. If I thought it would be big enough it would have to be my first choice since its cheaper and lighter at 2.5 lb.

vintage step vans

luggage choices, decisions decisions!

wolfman

happy trails

pelican

givi

givi trekker

Make joseph Kony famous!

Maybe this is the answer. This is how humans stop war and oppression! Through communication. By joining Tri and making Joseph Kony famous. The first step towards a more evolved society!

Pardon my incoherent rant

I recently read a book about the sex lives of the Roman emperors. It detailed thier perversions, which i realy dont have a problem with haha, but it also talked a lot about thier violent and sadistic behavior. I of course realize those were different times, but what a bunch of sociopaths! . These guys were monsters!
This seems to be a common theme in history, those in power having no regard for the lives of others. Is Oppression just part of the human condition. If we are so smart (not that u could tell from my writing skills) why have we been unable to prevent the rise of megalo maniacs to power. when sociopaths Come to power why aren't we able as race to get rid of them when we see who they are? Why are we so willing to follow crazy people?
One crazy person by himself can only do so much, he has to have followers to do real damage, but that doesn't seem to be too large an obstacle, there always seems to be plenty of people happy to follow along. I would like to edit this and say more but I'm running out of Internet .(traveling) more later...

Dry spells

Being a merchant seaman I often can't post anything for days at a time while I'm between ports. Please be patient and keep checking back and I'll post when I can.

Obi wan says" this not the tent your looking for"

Men's magazines

Why is it that mainstream men's magazines are full of adverts for things to do with "shemales"?
The advertisers must know what thier doing, right? So shemales appeal to the regular readers of men's mags?

the main tents I'm considering

Tonight I'd like to talk about tents. Currently I own two, a 7 by 7 dome that me and my kids take packing, we share the weight and all sleep in the same tent. And a wenzel hike and bike solo tent that we've never used before. I'm afraid neither tent is really adequate for the pct hike I've got planned, so ive been researching new ultra lights. It's a really important decision. It's one of the heaviest pieces of equipment I'll be carrying, and if inadequate it could make parts of my trip very uncomfortable. While I'll be packing in August or September u never know what might happen. My kids would enjoy telling u all about the time I decided to leave the rain fly at home because we were expecting good weather for the whole trip and instead we were rained out. The tent for the pct trip also needs to be durable enough to make it through a solid month of nightly use. These four tents below are the main ones I'm considering.

light heart solo: 1.75lb $245

The most expensive but nice and tall and pretty darn light, tho not the lightest.

tarptent contrail: 1.5lb $200

I love that this only weighs 1.5lb. That's awesome, but at $200 a little spendy.

eureka solotaire: 2.5lb $80

The cheapest choice, not too big, not free standing but only 2.5lb, pretty light for the price.

eureka backcountry: 4lb $130

The heaviest choice but free standing and not too expensive.

my new jetboil stove for my pct trip :)

some of my old busses

a nice campmobile

a couple of cool type II's

Hi. My name is Brian, welcome to my blog!
I would like to use this forum to share my thoughts about life and stuff. Also about my upcoming thru hike of the Oregon section of the PCT and the planning/equipping stage which is going on now. This is my first blog and will probably grow with me as I learn more about it and practice sharing. I really hope you enjoy it.

about my PCT plans:
I'm overweight, out of shape and forty eight! So I'm not doing the whole pct, and I don't feel bad about it. I'm doing good just doing the or. Section. The or. Section is about 450 miles and since I'm only planning on doing 15 miles a day, it should take about a month. I have been backpacking since my early twenties so I have plenty of experience, but I've never done a trip like this, so long and with resupply points.
I'm currently doing several things to prepare: I'm doing long hikes with lots of grade and am going to increase the distance and frequency as I go along. I'm also improving my gear with an eye towards lowering my pack weight. Thirdly I'm studying the trail and guides to learn more about it.
In my next post maybe I'll talk about some of the gear I'll be using.

a few things i like

just posting pics of a few things that i like, this is my Suzuki Vstrom.

this is my dog, hiking.

my kids, backpacking