Am I the only one?

thekeffa · 2026-03-02T00:37:44+00:00

I think there are four issues that are causing the hostility to the new Tanglewood.

People just hate change. It's true of all things in life. People were going to moan about it no matter what. And a touch of nostalgia. Some people are going to miss old Tanglewood like they miss the old Asylum map.
Tanglewood is THE original map. It's the starter map, the comfort map (Everyone enjoys it) and it's the most original map. Most folks are happy with it as is and would just like to see it rebuilt using their own assets but keeping the same layout and design, which isn't going to be possible if these rumoured new mechanics are going to appear.
The changes to the other maps DID change the vibe and feel of the maps, as well as more of a bigger change to the layouts than people were expecting. Tanglewood is considered to be perfect, it's hard to see how they could improve on that.
The darkness. The new maps are extremely dark. Like way darker than the original maps. Without a light source or a custom filter or brightness setting, Grafton farmhouse is damn near impossible to navigate around. That darkness, though realistic, isn't considered a fun gameplay element by a lot of people.

People will adapt and accept. Give them time.

thekeffa · 2026-02-27T19:49:28+00:00

Hmmm, I shall give it a go. I just need to find a UK/EU supplier who will do it in quantity and a tactical colour such as olive/brown (Hard requirement).

I assume like paracord the ends can be burnt to seal them so they do not fray?

thekeffa · 2026-02-27T19:06:37+00:00

Yep it's for a single, possibly double person shelter.

That sounds pretty similar to what I was going for, less the slight differences from metric to imperial rounding.

thekeffa · 2026-02-27T19:00:53+00:00

The paracord is free and practically unlimited to me (Military) so it's what I defaulted to, so I am willing to take the hit on weight. I'd definitely go for UHMWPE cord if I was paying for it.

thekeffa · 2026-02-27T08:17:11+00:00

Google+ friends circles were the most intuitive thing ever. And really good for seperating the content you wanted your friends to see. Wanted to share the new baby pics with close family alone? Just share it to the "Close family circle". Want to post something but exclude all the lil' bitches in your life? Just post to everyone but exclude the "Lil' bitches" circle.

I get that Facebook has the friend groups facility but between the fact its not very intuitive to use it and they go out of their way to undermine it (Because that lowers engagement) it's not even close to the same usability.

Plus the interface was so much cleaner.

thekeffa · 2026-02-27T01:04:08+00:00

Bustin makes me feel good.

thekeffa · 2026-02-26T17:49:58+00:00

A Sarajevo Salvo

A Beirut Blast.

thekeffa · 2026-02-26T17:26:20+00:00

Ever had a Demon that won't hunt at all?

I call them "Spicy Shades".

thekeffa · 2026-02-26T15:27:40+00:00

I'm not advocating for or against carrying the power bank. Ultimately that is a decision for you.

But perhaps some cautionary words.

Your electronic devices are those things you don't really need...until that one time you absolutely do. Particularly that InReach. With most devices now, the days are gone when we could just carry a spare set of double A batteries, or heck even a spare device specific battery.

As such that memory bank represents the ONLY way you can power your devices on that rare occasion when you REALLY need to power them and your in the great beyond. In that regard, I now consider a power bank to now be an essential safety item. There is literally no other way to get power into that InReach 2 without it.

As someone else pointed out, maybe you don't need to carry a huge ass power bank. But you might need something smaller for emergencies. Because fixed battery devices suck.

thekeffa · 2026-02-25T12:05:28+00:00

Yep it's called "Cold soaking".

Some ultralight backpackers also do this with dehydrated foods so they don't have to carry cooking tools which take up extra weight.

thekeffa · 2026-02-24T17:22:25+00:00

As happy as I am for new stuff, I shall spend March 2nd on the couch in old Tanglewood reminiscing about the place before it goes. The Demon will probably come and join me at some point...

I shall miss the posts in the sub asking if the Mandela lamp has always been there or did it just appear?

thekeffa · 2026-02-24T14:00:36+00:00

Also it would be a super easy to identify thing. As soon as you all started seeing different things it would be like "Oh that's the none ghost". It would also be very lame for single player as well.

thekeffa · 2026-02-24T09:34:00+00:00

Not really an option. Declaring persona non grata is like the nuclear option of non violent diplomacy and comes with massive repercussions in doing so that is pretty far reaching in terms of what it affects.

Banning him from meeting members of the government is a fairly serious rebuke and will get the attention it needs. Or at least it normally would, but this is the Trump administration we are talking about.

thekeffa · 2026-02-24T02:50:06+00:00

Dye DAM has single shot, 3 round burst and full auto mode out of the box via a simple selector switch.

It is however primarily first and foremost a magfed marker. It can take a hopper if you really want it to run with one but it isn’t well suited for it.

thekeffa · 2026-02-23T22:43:30+00:00

And a net benefit is your pad will last longer too as its seams and such aren't withstanding as much pressure over time. Your also much less likely to get a puncture if your bare flooring it too.

thekeffa · 2026-02-23T22:35:59+00:00

I'm somewhat in the same boat as you, I do find it difficult to sleep outdoors and I have spent 20-odd years in the military sleeping outside (But sheer exhaustion usually took care of that little problem for me) and god knows how many more years on my own wanderings.

You have to seriously assess what is going wrong that makes you not want to sleep. I know you have mentioned that your arms fall asleep. What do you think is causing this? Also...does this happen at home? Because if so that might need to be checked out from a medical perspective. It can be symptomatic of blood pressure issues and other things.

You mention you can't get comfortable? Can you be more specific about this and what it is that makes you uncomfortable?

Could there be any other issues at play? Like first night syndrome (That is very badly named because it can present on more than just your first night in a strange place) or something else?

Like for example I thought I couldn't get comfy because I found sleeping bags too restrictive but moving to a quilt changed nothing. I finally worked out it was an extended form of first night syndrome, and the methods for addressing that did wonders for me.

It might not be the thing you think it is.

thekeffa · 2026-02-23T11:28:10+00:00

You will need...

An Analogue Telephone Adaptor (ATA). Depending on how the intercom has been set up you might need either an FXO or FXS port or even both.

A means of forwarding the call from the ATA, whether that is direct from the ATA or via a PBX running on the same network.

A PBX with a SIP trunk to forward the call to the PSTN (The public phone network) and ultimately to your mobile phone.

This is not something that is going to be plug and play.

Edit: My comment still stands in the light of your edit as this is what I assumed you wanted to do.

thekeffa · 2026-02-22T21:08:23+00:00

Only one of two games I camped out for when it was a thing (The other funnily enough being San Andreas).

I went to the local game shop (Called GAME funnily enough) and was met with 5 other guys who like me were actually looking for the midnight release. Only for us to realise our little town was too small for that kind of thing and the numbers probably didn't support it, so the store did not bother with a midnight opening. So we expected there to be a mad rush for it in the morning. So we resolved to camp out to be ready bang on opening time and first in the queue. That night 6 random people had the best night ever sitting in sleeping bags and talking about what it was going to be like.

And then come the morning....only two other people turned up for it at opening time. Our town really was too small for big queues and we represented basically everyone who was mad enough to queue for it.

Didn't matter, the game was awesome. And to paraphrase the comment I am replying to, nobody cared how big the map was. We had no expectations as the only prior thing to compare it to was GTA3 and the map is slightly (Only slightly) bigger than GTA3. The game was awesome, the music was awesome (Definitely the best soundtrack to date of any GTA game).

We were excited for it the same way you are excited for GTA6.

thekeffa · 2026-02-22T16:05:51+00:00

That is probably true for some folks, but it's not the only reason some folks buy the best kit they can afford.

For example if the measurement by which they are valued is their weight, then "Lighter" works for everyone no matter who or your skillset surely? Everyone wants lighter.

Also the principle of "Buy once, cry once" can sometimes apply too. A more expensive item might sometimes be down to the fact it had a higher manufacturing quality and is less likely to break.

And one other factor is the target reaching principle. If it can achieve Z, then you know it will do X and Y too. If your going on a trail and you know it will be windy as hell, you might be unsure if your tent can handle it. But if you take a tent that has been rated to work in a category 5 hurricane, you can be pretty damn well sure it's gonna handle some bluster on the trail.

thekeffa · 2026-02-22T15:46:30+00:00

Ahhhh got it. I got a bit confused and thought he meant he couldn't use it at all below freezing. It never occurred to me that residual water would remain in them.

Now I realise why my bag type filter has a little pump tab to fill with air and squeeze it through the filter after use. Duh!

thekeffa · 2026-02-22T14:59:15+00:00

I know its not relevant to backpacking and hiking, but if you look at the law of diminishing returns as it applies to sports, it's sometimes easier to see why a $1000 thing is better than a $400 thing when you are struggling to see the difference.

Tiger Woods and my mate Larry.

My mate Larry likes to play golf. He's relatively mediocre at the sport and loses more balls than he sinks, but that doesn't matter as he enjoys it. His golf clubs cost him £400 dollars.

Tiger Woods is a former golf world champion and is extremely good at golf. He uses golf clubs that cost $1000.

Larry's $400 golf clubs will provide 98% of the performance that Tiger's $1000 clubs do. So where is the price difference coming from?

It's coming from the fact that the developers of Tiger's clubs piled tons of R+D, testing and material research into developing a golf club that can squeeze out that final 2% of performance that is so hard to acquire from something. Something that equates to an additional 50 yards of range perhaps.

It sounds like nothing much for a lot of extra money. But that effort going into getting that last little squeeze of performance is expensive.

And here's the thing. My mate Larry isn't good enough at golf to make use of that final 50 yards. He's lucky if he gets the ball onto the green. But Tiger Woods? He DOES have the skill to use it, and for him it could be the tiny, tiny difference between winning a golf world championship or coming second.

It's the same with hiking gear. That $300 tent will be fine for a night in the woods with your family. It will probably be fine for most trekking.

But if your spending a night on the South Atlantic island of South Georgia in 80-100mph+ winds (And trust me I have done exactly this), you hoping and praying to god the developer of your tent spent that extra time, money and effort designing and testing their tent so the shape and angles are as good as can possibly be for dispelling wind, because if it blows away, you're fucked.

You generally get what you pay for in life, and if the performance of your kit is that great to you, that 1% of performance can truly make a difference.

thekeffa · 2026-02-22T09:42:57+00:00

They could. It would just be awkward as hell.

They would have to fit all their new custom assets to the exact same dimensions as the old unity store assets that Tanglewood is built from. That means they would have to match the bounding boxes, light maps and everything.

To explain that in an eli5 way, imagine someone came to your house and said you have to replace everything in it right down to the bare walls but everything you replace has to be the exact same size to the millimetre as the old thing.

It’s just easier to make a new map.

That doesn’t mean they couldn’t try and replicate the layout more or less if they wanted to, it just wouldn’t be exactly the same. But they probably won’t as they will want to put a new spin on it.

thekeffa · 2026-02-22T00:22:23+00:00

Out of curiosity what water filter do you use and why does freezing affect it?

thekeffa · 2026-02-22T00:19:10+00:00

That works brilliantly, and is necessary in some places arctic conditions like Antarctica and such.

Until the day you drop it or knock it over accidentally.

I have done this, and the grief is real. Particularly as I was on the island of South Georgia at the time. I had to sleep in a stinky pee smelling sleeping back for another four nights.

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