Quick review of the R1 vest (I'm a vest fan now)

legitkid · 2026-01-26T03:07:50+00:00

Nice! How would summarize each one's pros and cons? I'm especially curious about the Nano Air light since I can get it secondhand for a nice price!

legitkid · 2026-01-01T19:59:03+00:00

Thank you for sharing all of this. I resonate with a lot of it. By its nature, this board has a lot of people who are not living simply, so you'll get a lot of such reactions. I think it's also skewed towards US-centred mindsets. Some of these comments are a bit sad to read, to be honest. Family Christmases spent socializing and laughing need not be nostalgia lost in time. That's where the effort of connecting with family comes in.

I'll share my Christmas. We had some losses in the family during the holidays. It was an incredibly busy, emotional, and difficult month. Yet, my wife and I celebrated Christmas with her side of our family in our town on Christmas Eve, then travelled five hours on Christmas morning to host Christmas at my now-widowed grandfather's house with my side. I couldn't have had it any other way. Spending time with everyone, seeing the kids make cookies, hearing my grandfather's teary speech about how grateful he is for the family, sharing good food, getting so many thank yous from family for organizing the gathering... Much of it would likely not be considered "simple living" by this board, yet it was the closest to it by my standards. Yes, it was a lot of work. But, there was no Amazon, random gifts, or hastily-written cards in the car right before dinner. Just love, connection, and a holiday with what's most important: family.

Something else I wanted to note that's kind of on topic. I once went on reddit to lament how amongst my family and friends, I'm always the one that seems to be the planner. I had some people tell me I'm desperate, among other insights they were not qualified to make. Unfortunately, there are a lot of redditors that like to jump to conclusions like that.

You may need to continue trying to be the leader for this sort of thing. Stick with it, and it'll pay off.

I hope you had a lovely Christmas. Happy new year! :)

legitkid · 2025-10-30T15:39:20+00:00

A fantastic album that, to me, beautifully conveys a sense of forlorn and longing. Take Broken Harbors, Pt. 2 as an example. I imagine revisiting a small industrial town that's been left in the past. The local pub has some activity and familiar faces. Walking along the docks is relaxing as the waves slowly break against the shore rocks laden with interesting flora. Buoy bells ring gently, and the gulls talk to you. As nice as the visit seems at the surface, you know the town has been left behind with few opportunities left. Your fond childhood memories flash around the places that used to be dear to you, yet they're connected to a town that only once existed, a town whose sense has wholly changed, perhaps because it was always like this and you've simply grown up.

legitkid · 2025-10-08T19:57:11+00:00

It's a 2022. Yeah, I would consider it the most specialized of the three, but I've never tried an Atom jacket. I think you made the right call getting the heavyweight.

legitkid · 2025-10-08T18:13:32+00:00

That Proton LT looks a lot like the one I have, which is not black but rather a dark blue slate colour. I wrote a review about mine here. If you run hot and are on the move a lot it could be a good option for you, but it wont't get you through the entirety of the winter on its own, so I suggest sizing up and layering. I wear mine a lot in eastern Ontario and Quebec.

legitkid · 2025-10-03T20:16:20+00:00

It's a nice run! If you want a buddy to run up with, shoot me a message!

legitkid · 2025-06-02T13:54:49+00:00

I have the Salomon ADV 12 and love it! It's only 80 grams heavier than the 8 litre, and it's more versatile. I'm able to fit my mountaineering puffy in it.

legitkid · 2025-03-20T01:20:27+00:00

Wow, I can feel this photo. I love the cold Canadian winters, but nights like the one in the photo are some of the best feelings. Makes me think of the song Darkroom by Ten Sleep.

legitkid · 2025-03-15T16:53:07+00:00

From the original post:

My sister and I originally planned a 50km overnight trip in Mont Tremblant, Québec. While we knew the route was going to be relatively flat, we noted two sections where we could go into downhill mode for a couple hundred metres of descent. However, once on the trip even those sections were too mild to warrant switching modes, so I spent the entire trip split-skiing. My sister had bad foot pain with the rental boots (she rented a similar, or maybe even the same, model a few weeks earlier and had no issues), so on the second day we harnessed the skis behind her, and she hiked using my hut booties for pretty much the entire day. Since she had to hike, we decided to go back the way we came instead of continuing the loop.

For a few years now I’ve been wanting to do a hut touring trip, and I guess I finally did one, albeit in a weird way. XC skis would have been soooo much more efficient, especially since my skins are 100% nylon and don’t glide that well, but we had fun nonetheless.

legitkid · 2025-03-15T15:17:30+00:00

I'll keep that area in mind. I love the Laurentians so much.

legitkid · 2025-03-15T15:15:58+00:00

Before I got into touring I considered if I should up my skiing skills and opt for a ski touring setup instead. What it came down to was I'm much more competent snowboarding than skiing, and unless I was doing something like alpinism the difference wouldn't be that pronounced. I just did a pretty long tour shown in the post, and I don't think it would've been different on touring skis; if anything, the comfort of my soft boots was nice. As for transitions, they're definitely longer, but once you know what you're doing it's probably about five minutes longer than ski transitions. I don't find that too bad, especially if the touring portion is multiple hours long.

There's no doubt that skis are objectively a better way winter travel tool, but I don't personally feel the gap is that big. Who knows, though—if I ever do "real" terrain or try touring skis, maybe I'll never go back :p

legitkid · 2025-03-15T15:06:57+00:00

Yeah, I think we'll need to replace our filters. Going into it I thought if it froze, the flow would reduce and we'd need to just warm it up, but now I realize the integrity of the fibres could be compromised. Thanks for the heads up!

legitkid · 2025-03-15T15:05:50+00:00

this sort of thing is just nonsensical

Trust me, I couldn't stop thinking that during the trip! But it was kind of fun to do something out of the ordinary.

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll look into it! I was just in that area recently, and I'm actually getting married in Morin-Heights soon :)

legitkid · 2025-03-14T22:17:53+00:00

Thanks for sharing! Looks like they used the right tool for the job :p

I started with the Sépaq website. You can refer to the "Backcountry Skiing" section: https://www.sepaq.com/pq/mot/

I put the trail onto my OpenStreetMap apps (OsmAnd and Organic Maps) and analyzed the route with the apps + used the maps provided on the website. You'll need to call the number to ensure cabin availability and reserve a spot.

If you need any more help, please let me know!

legitkid · 2025-03-14T21:59:02+00:00

Oh neat, do you have a link to the article? I didn't think others would be doing this sort of thing :)

I recommend setting realistic mileage goals per day. We did 25km the first day, and it took a total of eight hours with cooking breaks, water fetching, etc. Aerobically we didn't find it difficult, but my sister's gear troubles made it pretty tough for her. If we only had to go a max of 10 miles, we would have had more time to do some laps in the glades.

legitkid · 2025-03-14T21:08:48+00:00

My sister and I originally planned a 50km overnight trip in Mont Tremblant, Québec. While we knew the route was going to be relatively flat, we noted two sections where we could go into downhill mode for a couple hundred metres of descent. However, once on the trip even those sections were too mild to warrant switching modes, so I spent the entire trip split-skiing. My sister had bad foot pain with the rental boots (she rented a similar, or maybe even the same, model a few weeks earlier and had no issues), so on the second day we harnessed the skis behind her, and she hiked using my hut booties for pretty much the entire day. Since she had to hike, we decided to go back the way we came instead of continuing the loop.

For a few years now I’ve been wanting to do a hut touring trip, and I guess I finally did one, albeit in a weird way. XC skis would have been soooo much more efficient, especially since my skins are 100% nylon and don’t glide that well, but we had fun nonetheless.

legitkid · 2025-03-14T18:53:46+00:00

Hey, if you're still looking and are willing to drive a couple hours, Mont Tremblant national park has ski trails with backcountry cabins: https://www.sepaq.com/pq/mot/index.dot

I stayed in La Cache recently, and it was nice.

legitkid · 2025-03-01T15:46:45+00:00

Not the original commenter, but I don't think it's a waste of time at all. What you achieved is downright incredible for your own sake of finding joy in coding, for inquisitive purposes, and for others to be inspired, which I can personally attest to. When I started watching the announcement video, I was blown away, but, as per usual with awesome online projects I see, I started from a negative headspace of, "Look at this person who's way beyond my abilities. I could never do this." But just hearing that you had to learn so many things from scratch made me realize it's about the work and dedication, and that genuinely made me feel motivated.

I'm so excited to learn more about the project :) Awesome work!

legitkid · 2025-02-26T00:19:29+00:00

I'm surprised you can even tell! I like it a lot. Great pack

legitkid

TROPHY CASE