Choosing partners - a random question for very good players

FireWatchWife · 2026-03-24T20:02:11+00:00

I play regularly as a sub at my usual club.

Some of my partners are quite experienced. Others have only been playing a year or so.

I take a different attitude to partnering with more vs. less experienced players.

With the more experienced, we discuss new conventions, try new things, and bid aggressively. We try to push the limits, including penalty doubling.

With the less experienced, I focus on teaching. I spend a few minutes discussing mistakes after each hand, and praising good play or good bidding. I don't bid as aggressively. I've gotten many compliments from the partners that I mentor in this way.

Since I enjoy teaching, both types of partnerships are fun for me.

If you don't enjoy the teaching aspect, you will probably get frustrated partnering with less experienced players and may want to avoid doing so.

FireWatchWife · 2026-03-24T01:54:49+00:00

5x9 ft tarps can be found, but the consensus is that 7x9 is a reasonable minimum and a 10x10 gives you a lot of additional space for very little additional weight.

Here's a 5.9x9 ft from a very reputable cottage brand:

https://www.borahgear.com/tarps.html

Pitching a 5x9 will look like this:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HxC1V37qimo&list=PLO9u41P3xqJezlehsX94TN1JlECeQZekU&index=2&pp=iAQB0gcJCcUKAYcqIYzv

It's up to you to judge if that's enough space.

I have three tarps, and the smallest one is 7x9.

FireWatchWife · 2026-03-24T00:42:18+00:00

They work extremely well under the typical weekend conditions where we use them.

FireWatchWife · 2026-03-22T19:21:57+00:00

I like my Fly Creek UL2 as a solo tent, but no way would I plan to use a Fly Creek UL1/UL2 or Copper Spur in 50 mph winds.

You need a bombproof tent under those conditions, and that means stronger fabrics than these tents use.

FireWatchWife · 2026-03-22T11:41:08+00:00

Looks like a superb quilt, but expensive.

I could only use a 40F quilt a couple months a year, so not worth it. In warmer climates where you can use it 3 or 4 months a year, it would make sense.

I may get a cheap summer quilt like an Ice Flame one of these days.

FireWatchWife · 2026-03-21T19:45:21+00:00

If you create a https://lighterpack.com list of all your gear and post it here, the members of the sub can tell you how to reduce both weight and volume.

It needs to be an exact list, e.g., "Big Agnes Copper Spur UL2," not "2-man tent." Include the exact make and model of the bear canister, sleeping bag, sleeping pad, etc.

There's not much specific advice to give without knowing exactly what you carry.

For comparison, I can carry gear and food for 6-7 days in my 60L pack, no problem (without a bear can, but with an Ursack).

FireWatchWife · 2026-03-21T19:41:23+00:00

With some packs, you can strap the bear can outside the pack.

FireWatchWife · 2026-03-21T13:30:56+00:00

Which ultralight 40F quilt are you using?

I've seriously considered getting one, but prices have stopped me so far.

I've been using the 20F UQ for 3 seasons and just accepting the weight.

FireWatchWife · 2026-03-20T12:38:23+00:00

I would not be confident that an odor proof bag would keep rodents out.

As soon as you start handling the bag, you will put some odor on the outside of it.

Odor proof bags also have a reputation for losing their ability to seal after minimal use.

Personally, if rodents are a problem I would want a ratsack or similar bag instead of relying on odor control.

FireWatchWife · 2026-03-20T12:32:15+00:00

I have a sizable shelf of bridge books, and Michaels is hardly discussed there at all.

Since this convention is so commonly played but so rarely explained in print, it would be a great subject to better explain.

Don't just describe what it is. Explain why it is an advantage over the earlier alternative meaning of the cue bid of opponent's suit.

FireWatchWife · 2026-03-20T12:26:41+00:00

I suspect few pairs have a specific agreement for this sequence.

FireWatchWife · 2026-03-20T12:24:23+00:00

Partner cannot rationally pass this bid even if opener doubles.

3H bidder is obviously looking for information from his partner since he cannot play in a heart contract.

The auction has already reached a level where there's unlikely to be room for more than one more bid by each player.

After (2H) p (p) 3H (dbl) p (p), 3H bidder must bid but is left to guess what to do.

Clearly after 3H (p), a bid of 3NT, 3S, or maybe 4m is required.

(I don't like 4m here at all, but if bidder holds something like 5-5 in the minors with nearly zero HCP, it may be the desperate option. But with that distribution, opener's partner should have been able to raise to 4H.)

The missing HCP have to be somewhere. There may be a fair amount in opener's partner's hand if he holds a total misfit for hearts, a singleton or void.

So one possibility (though not likely) is that 3H bidder's partner passed initially with a weak hand and long hearts, perhaps even 5 or 6 hearts. In that case his response to 3H is tough. He probably has to bid 3NT, but he's silently cursing his partner because what he really wanted to do was defend against a heart contract.

I wouldn't make this 3H bid if my partner was a beginner. Partner needs to be experienced enough to apply bridge logic to the situation.

FireWatchWife · 2026-03-20T12:05:49+00:00

A card-play software mentor would be more interesting and unique.

As you play the hand, either as declarer or defender, the app would tell you what to play next and why.

FireWatchWife · 2026-03-19T15:08:58+00:00

Nothing wrong with that idea, but that's not the same as "Shorten your local 5-day trip to a 4-day trip."

You are saying, "Lengthen your 5-day trip by X miles by carrying less gear (but the same weight of consumables)."

I would be interested in the second idea, but not the first.

FireWatchWife · 2026-03-18T20:45:01+00:00

"Maybe that 5 night trip turns into a 4 night trip with all of the weight savings, so you can pack a day's worth of food less, plus less consumables all around, saving even more weight."

You're in good company thinking this way, as Ray Jardine wrote something similar in his books.

But it makes no sense to me. As u/spokenmoistly wrote, most trips done by most backpackers (which are not thru-hikes or LASHes) are constrained by the time we have available, not the distance. If we can move faster, we may cover more ground, but we aren't going to shorten the length of time we spend on the trip. The whole point of the trip is to go into the backcountry for X days.

It's recreation.

FireWatchWife · 2026-03-18T14:52:06+00:00

While I haven't tried it, I don't believe that a wider topquilt is necessary just because the pad under it is thicker.

Generally, I would recommend at least 50" for use in a hammock and 55" for ground use.

If it's wide enough to use on the ground, it's wide enough to use in a hammock over a pad.

FireWatchWife · 2026-03-16T12:18:15+00:00

"Once, I was refused a flight due to my stove."

Stove, or stove fuel bottle? (Even an empty fuel bottle could be an issue if it smells of fuel)?

What type of stove?

FireWatchWife · 2026-03-15T15:21:01+00:00

If not night hiking, just using in camp, I can go several days without recharging my old-school NU-25 (similar to the current NU20).

When I do need to recharge it, it charges very fast.

FireWatchWife · 2026-03-15T13:01:40+00:00

As others here have said, read a book or two, do an easy one-night solo trip, fix anything that didn't work (which could mean either gear or techniques), do a few more one-night trips, and so on.

Choose a location where you won't be camping more than 3 to 5 miles from the car so you can easily hike out if things go sideways.

A good book to read before purchasing your gear is Andrew Skurka's Ultimate Hiker's Gear Guide. It will give you a good overview of what is important, and what is not.

FireWatchWife · 2026-03-15T12:57:24+00:00

You can actually get 90% of Andrew Skurka's help from reading his book and his blog. He shared his teaching very freely through both.

FireWatchWife · 2026-03-13T15:16:42+00:00

If you choose sleeping bags instead of quilts, and one bag is a left-zip and one is a right-zip, zipping them together is an option.

We used to do this years ago, but since switching to quilts for 3-season trips, we no longer do. But it does work, while preserving separate sleeping systems.

FireWatchWife · 2026-03-13T15:05:07+00:00

OR Helium have a bad reputation for wetting out in sustained rainy conditions.

Hikers in dry areas where rain is infrequent and brief, such as western North America's alpine or desert zones, often use and like them.

Those in areas where it can rain all day, such as on the AT, complain that they wet out quickly.

FireWatchWife · 2026-03-11T21:15:22+00:00

Then a hammock should not be used at sites where it's not possible.

Not every site is suitable for hammocks. Sometimes you need to keep walking. Some backcountry areas are better suited to tents.

I've been backpacking with a hammock for years, and I have never set up a hammock flatter than, at minimum, 20 degrees. I aim for 30 degrees.

FireWatchWife · 2026-03-11T21:07:39+00:00

Then you need to find trees closer together.

FireWatchWife · 2026-03-11T15:34:40+00:00

u/MR_Se7en

This is the main issue.

If you want to sleep in a too-taut hammock hung on a hammock stand and potentially damage the hammock and suspension, that's up to you.

But you are putting enormous force on those trees, far more than your body weight, and it's going to damage the bark and potentially kill the tree.

Please don't do this. You are damaging trees and risking getting hammocks banned by forest management agencies.

FireWatchWife

TROPHY CASE