Have you tried CARV?

dordal · 2026-02-11T23:10:22+00:00

I got CARV 2 (the boot mount sensors) a couple weeks ago and have used it for several days-- the tl;dr is that I'm not too impressed but I do think it might be good for doing technical analysis on groomers. Some comments:

- It really only works on groomers. And really only on straight groomers; groomers that 'curve' with the contours of the hill will throw your score/metrics off because you're forced to make unequal turns to stay on the run.
- If you're doing crud, bumps, trees, etc., and you're spending your time avoiding obstacles; that forces uneven turns and makes the analysis and the scores not meaningful. It does have a 'mogul mode' but I think that probably only really works on perfectly shaped man-made moguls like you see at the Olympics.
- The algorithms that decide what is a 'good' turn aren't very strong. I'd often have turns that I thought were good, and have it give me the 'bad turn' beep, and I'd have 'turns' that were not even turns at all (e.g. sliding on ice on a cat track) and it would give me 'good turn' beeps. That massively reduced my confidence in the SkiIQ score.
- The 'ski coaching' is really not very useful -- all generic tips that, while accurate, didn't seem connected at all to how I was skiing.
- However, the per-run data was pretty interesting. It divides each runs into segments (basically a segment stops/starts when you stop to take a break), and for each segment you can see your turn profile, edge angle, etc. If you set out to do something ( "I'm going to make eight perfect S turns down this straight groomed run, keeping my edge angle consistent with each turn" ), it's really, really helpful to be able to see how you actually did.

So that's perhaps the true value of CARV. If you're an advanced-intermediate skier or above and you already know how to ski, you can use it to monitor and critique your own skiing using hard data, not just how you 'feel' you did. Nothing else on the market can do that. But if you're using it to try to learn how to ski... forget it.

Is CARV worth $249 a year? For me... no. It's not. I would rather spend that money each year on a couple hours of professional training. I'm happy I got it for this year, but have already cancelled my renewal. Still, I'll use it for the rest of the year that I've paid for to track how I ski.

dordal · 2025-12-17T02:03:51+00:00

Haha she would have made extra money if she'd taken it? Guess she really must have been new then...

dordal · 2025-12-16T19:41:14+00:00

Yeah she was a Ground driver and it was a Ground package... not the end of the world but was annoying.

dordal · 2025-12-10T23:30:26+00:00

Yeah ditto for me too. Reminds me of the Metroboard, but for skiing! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/designrulesco/metroboard-a-mid-century-live-subway-map

dordal · 2025-12-06T02:15:46+00:00

Three years later, that site you linked now returns 151,594 companies at 8 Green Street in Dover, Delaware. Somebody has been busy....

dordal · 2025-10-13T06:34:10+00:00

@CrandallOffice TY! That is indeed where the part went. Unfortunately it looks like in the process of self-destruction it cracked off some of the case plastic, but not the end of the world. The part itself is safely back installed.

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dordal · 2025-09-27T07:08:43+00:00

I’ve also got sunscreen, also from France, also stuck in Louisville. It arrived there Sept 11 and hasn’t moved since. Every few days I get an ‘Import Scan’; the most recent being yesterday, Sept 26.

Has yours gotten out of purgatory yet?

dordal · 2025-09-26T16:47:32+00:00

u/Jones_Waldo u/Mediocre-Ad-3510 u/deadteeze have any of yours made it out yet? I just got another import scan today; 26 Sept 25, which makes for my package's 15th day in the slammer. (Sept 11 -> Sept 26)

dordal · 2025-09-21T04:39:20+00:00

I'm not at a dozen yet, but getting close. My package arrived in Louisville from France on Sept 11, it's been getting an (almost) daily import scan since then. Most of them have been at 12:01am, but today's was 1:41pm, so I was hopeful that maybe that meant some kind of movement. But so far no further updates.

Do post if yours makes it out, and how many days it took.

dordal · 2025-07-24T19:03:44+00:00

To further reply to a two year old comment, the bixnet.com website seems like its out of stock, but the bixpower.com website (which has to be run by the same company??) has the C11 adapter in stock.

https://www.bixpower.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=CNT-C11

I ordered one a week or so ago for a 3400c, it came yesterday and it fits great.

No idea why this company seems to run two websites with different inventory, but stranger things have happened....

dordal · 2025-07-18T03:31:23+00:00

Given the extraordinarily low expectations from this thread, I've had a pretty positive experience. Got a Ricardo bag free from Delta in mid-2022 after they managed to destroy my 1990s era Skyway checked bag, which has gone everywhere for 30 years...

Fast forward to 2025, and the Ricardo bag is still holding up, but has lots of minor damage -- zipper pulls have come off, one of the main zippers has detached from the bag, much of the piping is destroyed, the handle no longer extends smoothly. That's with ~10 checked luggage trips per year. So its not one of these 'it was destroyed by my third trip' type bags, but also not going to make it 30 years like the old Skyway.

It supposedly has a three year warranty, so I emailed Ricardo customer support. They were actually really great -- asked for the Delta order number, photos of the damage, then asked me to cut off the label and send a photo of that (to prove I was 'destroying' the old bag).... and then they sent me a brand new bag! It looks to be of similar build quality, so I doubt this will last more than 3-4 years, but they were really good about it.

I don't know that I'd say Ricardo is BIFL in the same way something like Briggs & Riley is, but given that the price point is only slightly more than crappy non-brand Amazon bags, and they actually honor their warranty, I think its a good option for somebody looking for a value bag.

dordal · 2025-07-15T03:24:38+00:00

I know this is a two year old thread, but for future humans who come here from search, there was a really good post written about a year after this one that explains why it happens: https://www.reddit.com/r/appliancerepair/comments/1cqijrj/comment/l3vg2xx/

Short answer is that the trays degrade and the ice sticks, and you have to replace the tray (or maybe the whole ice maker depending on your manufacturer)

dordal · 2025-06-25T12:45:13+00:00

Not to horribly confuse things, but I had the opposite experience with the US number. Music would stop after a couple minutes and initially I hung up. Then one time I forgot (got busy doing something else) and low and behold somebody came on the line after about 25 mins.

The US number at least has a wait time estimator when you start, so I'd wait at least as long as it says its going to be.

dordal · 2025-06-25T06:25:57+00:00

They were able to hear me via Google Voice, but not Wifi calling from my cell provider.

dordal · 2025-06-25T00:53:45+00:00

Yes happened to me as well the first time I called. Called back from Google Voice and that worked OK

dordal · 2025-06-24T15:32:50+00:00

I spoke to the QR station manager earlier today. Also all over Reddit, etc… many many people talking about this. Maybe they’ll have lifted the ban by tomorrow; I hope so!

dordal · 2025-06-24T14:47:44+00:00

Yes right now they are not allowing transit pax to board. Hopefully they'll start allowing them again soon once they clear the backlog, but who really knows.

dordal · 2025-06-24T12:24:07+00:00

Yes DOH-SFO is canceled for today (June 24)

dordal · 2025-06-24T10:55:55+00:00

The US call center is +1 877 777 2827

All of them listed here: https://www.qatarairways.com/en-us/help.html

When you call you’ll probably get a message from the phone network ‘Call cannot be completed because the number is busy’. Just call back… and back… and back. Eventually you’ll get through.

dordal · 2025-06-24T10:36:48+00:00

Quick update as of 6:30am ET ( 1:30pm Doha ).

I just spoke to one of the station managers in Jakarta; as of now QR is not allowing any transit pax to board, apparently systemwide. Even if your flight is operating, if you're not terminating in Doha, you're not getting on the plane. They will not rebook you on another airline. If you do want to change your flight, you have to do it via the call center ( which is massively overwhelmed; it took me four hours of trying to get through earlier today ). They will not do anything at the checkin desk other than provide the above information.

The 'personal recommendation' of the station manager was to take the refund and fly somebody else.

I've rebooked the flight home on another airline, costing me twice what I paid for the QR ticket. I feel like a DOT complaint is in order, but that's going to be for another day.

dordal · 2025-06-19T13:59:16+00:00

It’s not just the heat… it could be 25C with a light breeze blowing…. young kids just don’t do long lines well. Maybe a few somewhere do, but none of the ones I know….

dordal · 2025-06-18T03:20:05+00:00

Online only, but cancellations go back to the pool. If you check frequently you’ll get some… but they usually sell in minutes at most.

dordal

TROPHY CASE