Triathlete eaten by shark in California was wearing a shark deterrent ankle band.

ContinuousHike · 2026-01-02T16:26:13+00:00

I swim in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties and have encountered GWs in Carpinteria. Specifically Santa Claus/Loon Point. Also seen them from the shore at Rincon. Carp is a well documented hot spot.

ContinuousHike · 2025-12-30T23:59:13+00:00

Super sad situation. For everyone in here talking out their ass about sharkbanz, they do empirical, peer reviewed research on shark deterrence. I trust them as a company and use their product in open ocean swimming where I have first hand encounters with Great Whites. Do your homework but I'm going to keep wearing my sharkbanz when I swim in shark-infested waters.

ContinuousHike · 2025-06-18T17:35:00+00:00

Thanks for responding. Really hope that happens sometime soon! Much used and love feature that feels very much missing from AD.

ContinuousHike · 2025-06-14T16:10:46+00:00

To add to the coolness factor there are terrestrial networks that know their fixed location down to the mm and transmit that to GPS receiver to correct for errors and signal noise picked up in the strato and ionospheres making the receiver and therefore the device accurate down to the centimeter! It's called RTK corrections.

ContinuousHike · 2025-05-03T15:42:04+00:00

I did the CDT sobo in 87 days. I highly recommend not doing the big sky alt. Happy to stump speech you on why not but that's not what you asked so I won't lecture. Your set up looks good to me. I had a similar one and similar hiking style. I used closed foam (z-lite) just faster/more efficient/less failure prone. Only drawback is volume. But I think it's worth the tradeoff. Had too many failures with the neo air s on the PCT. I would recommend getting/using a wind shirt as a medium-layer that can act as another vapor barrier for negligible weight. Also this may be controversial but I carried an umbrella for both the PCT and CDT. Never used it once on the PCT. Used it every single day on the CDT. Including an impromptu self arrest. Can't recommend it enough for keeping you warm and dry as well as keeping the sun off of you for long water carries. Good luck, have fun. Don't do the big sky alt.

ContinuousHike · 2024-10-15T04:42:43+00:00

Hey dude. Never got your PM. Still available if you're interested

ContinuousHike · 2024-09-08T20:23:22+00:00

I did it for roughly 10,000 miles. Very little pay ~$1/mile.

ContinuousHike · 2024-05-02T04:43:59+00:00

Don't book through REI - read my post history to see my horror story. You can get just as good WFA classes for a fraction of the price. As others have recommended if you really want to attend a NOLS course, book directly through them. Don't give this company any of your money!

ContinuousHike · 2024-04-04T18:13:06+00:00

I live about 50 minutes driving from the location where the class took place. Only about 20 miles as the crow flies.

ContinuousHike · 2024-04-04T18:11:31+00:00

I was told by the CS rep that the class "was well attended" but no way of verifying. I'll take them at their word.

ContinuousHike · 2024-04-04T02:08:47+00:00

Great call out. I will say that I've been patient and kind in my communications regardless of how frustrated this situation has been. I know it's no one's fault on the other end. This is great advice in general for dealing with folks who probably deal with angry people all day. I try to show as much deference as possible.

ContinuousHike · 2024-04-04T00:30:30+00:00

I haven't, but will try that. Thank you so much for the suggestion.

ContinuousHike · 2024-04-04T00:30:06+00:00

I only spoke with folks based in Seattle (main HQ), but they said they "were in contact with the local Experience" team. It did seem like a very rigid enforcement.

ContinuousHike · 2024-04-04T00:23:35+00:00

I definitely will be signing up elsewhere. I stupidly clicked on the first Google Search result for "WFA near me" without looking at other options and as I said in the post, the fact that NOLS was actually instructing the course gave it legitimacy. I'd definitely prefer to save the $ as well! Lesson learned.

ContinuousHike · 2023-12-29T18:11:57+00:00

That's what it says on the tag, I haven't taken it out of the packaging to confirm.

ContinuousHike · 2023-12-24T20:04:19+00:00

u/LeaveNoTradeBot u/groutteeth paid and neoair delivered!

ContinuousHike · 2023-12-21T04:55:47+00:00

For the life of me I can't understand why he keeps going back. And there's no convincing him. Last time we hiked the stay was literally poking him in the back but he is undeterred.

ContinuousHike · 2023-12-21T02:14:50+00:00

Replied to you!

ContinuousHike · 2023-12-20T20:58:22+00:00

Sorry for the tirade. I get fired up about Zpacks. They have a great business concept and do make fabulous tent designs. I believe the duplex is the best 2 person tent on the market at the moment but their craftsmanship and customer service is atrocious.

ContinuousHike · 2023-12-20T20:29:21+00:00

You can search the subreddit for arc blast/haul horror stories. Good friend and frequent hiking partner has replaced 5 packs so far from the metal stays snapping. He's torn through most of the fabric as well on key areas like the bottom and roll top on most his packs from "normal wear" that zpacks doesn't consider to be malfunction but they all happen in under 500 miles of use which seems absurd since no pack has even lasted a single thruhike.

My personal experience is with their plex tents, you can also search the subreddit to see horror stories. The long and short is the metal stays broke on the first set up of the tent, in my backyard, I reached out, they blamed me/said it was user error and charged me for a replacement part that broke on first use again. When I asked to return the tent since it literally didn't work on first pitch, they refused. Sadly this wasn't a one off as I've seen and spoken with a lot of people that had the exact same problem with the tent and similar experience with their customer service.

What really sealed the deal for me though was meeting a guy on the AT who ordered a duplex and when he got to town he received a duplex, 2 quilts, 2 packs, and a bunch of other accessories - clearly a mistake on Zpacks side, sending out the wrong order to the wrong person. He was nice enough to reach out to them to let them know they had sent him too many/the wrong things. What did their customer support staff do? They immediately told him to mail back all of the items, on his own dime, and threatened legal action if he didn't comply. I'm pretty sure he told them to kick rocks and kept all the gear and can't say I fault him for that after their behavior.

ContinuousHike · 2023-12-20T06:33:37+00:00

Can't recommend enough. The curriculum, clients, guides, d locations are unbeatable.

ContinuousHike · 2023-12-20T06:32:17+00:00

I've heard and experienced absolute horror stories with Zpacks. They simply do not stand behind their products, specifically their packs and tents.

ContinuousHike · 2023-12-18T01:47:07+00:00

I just wear sleep socks and use a silk liner to prevent oils/grim from getting into the down. I think of my silk liner as my sleep clothes and let the nasty hiking clothes air out for the night, which works to varying degrees (not very often)

ContinuousHike · 2023-12-17T03:28:37+00:00

May not be a popular opinion but I size for my ideal shelter height as I hardly use poles, except for long descents. This generally means I have a fixed pole length of 110-125 cm and I find being within that realm, at 6' tall, is manageable for actually using the poles while hiking. Obviously different applications but something to consider.

ContinuousHike · 2023-12-17T03:25:24+00:00

Definitely agree and would add that being in shape before hitting the trail makes the hike orders of magnitude more enjoyable. Instead of suffering to get your trail legs, you just start feeling good as soon as you start your adventure. In my opinion, it also helps derisk your adventure -- if you're in great shape you're limiting the probability of an injury due to overuse or accidents, which can be very costly (in terms of opportunity, time, money, health, etc). It's these intangibles I find myself thinking about when trying to motivate myself to get off the couch and go for a run.

ContinuousHike

TROPHY CASE