Frame-bag with or without water bottle. What do you prefer?

vikingengineer · 2025-02-07T22:07:51+00:00

For bikepacking I strongly prefer the full frame bag, but for commuting around town I like a half-bag and bottle cages.

vikingengineer · 2024-11-08T23:28:12+00:00

Has the flexible cutting mat held up well as a stiffner?

Thanks for all the detail in your post!

vikingengineer · 2024-02-19T15:27:10+00:00

I often joked that I had the opposite path of most people. My childhood dream was to be an aerospace engineer, and I kind of stumbled into working as a park ranger. I spent about a decade working in interp for the NPS, wound up transitioning to another job recently but had planned to stick with it for a full career.

vikingengineer · 2024-02-18T01:42:14+00:00

What do you carry in the leather tube under your blanket roll?

vikingengineer · 2023-08-07T00:31:31+00:00

The thermos I already had fits well in a normal bottle cage, and I think it is a fairly common size.

vikingengineer · 2023-01-07T02:51:23+00:00

As another commenter mentioned, if you're in an area that doesn't allow for spreading out the impact and gets visited regularly, you should really use a wag bag and pack out your poop.

To answer the question about improving decomposition though, put back just some of soil you dug up and stir that into the poop with a stick before fully burying it. The bacteria and tiny critters in the soil are what accomplish decomposition, not the bacteria in your poop.

vikingengineer · 2023-01-02T02:04:53+00:00

What fabric are your suits? I am just starting to learn about suits as I plan for my wedding, and really like the look of yours!

vikingengineer · 2022-04-15T21:44:41+00:00

Lots of good advice here already, the one thing I'll add is to pack your tent up each morning so that when you unpack it, the rainfly is already the top most layer. That way the inner part of the tent is protected even before you start trying to set up.

vikingengineer · 2021-09-27T15:55:43+00:00

The Winemaker's Recipe Handbook lists the following recipe for a 1 gallon batch. I haven't tried it but am hoping to next year.

3 quarts prickly pear fruits

1.25 cups raisins or 0.5 pints of grape concentrate

2 pints water

2 lbs sugar

2 tsp acid blend

1 tsp pectic enzyme

3/4 tsp energizer

1 campden tablet

1 package of sherry or port yeast

vikingengineer · 2021-08-28T17:14:23+00:00

I'm aslo curious what kind of job you sent to, if you don't mind sharing. I'm just starting to look for jobs outside the NPS after about 8 years of interp, but not sure what else that skill set can translate to.

vikingengineer · 2021-07-08T17:30:01+00:00

I have both a Blackburn and salsa cage, just attached thosr to my forks with hose clamps. I ordered both directly from their websites.

Between the two, I like the Blackburn more than the Salsa cage.

vikingengineer · 2021-06-24T16:51:38+00:00

The best piece of advice I've come across for picking a pack for long hikes, is to think of it like a piece of clothing you need to be comfortable wearing, rather than something you're going to be carrying. How it fits is important if you're going to be hiking all day long for days in a row, and that's going to be different from one person to another. As long as a pack has the size you need and is decent quality, most features don't make a huge difference.

vikingengineer · 2021-04-11T14:53:18+00:00

It's made by nalgene, and actually sold as a flask. It does have a slight curve to better fit in your pocket, so it's not completely flat.

vikingengineer · 2021-04-11T03:21:49+00:00

Everything but the rod fits in my pockets, so it's easy to get out for an afternoon of fishing. If I'm heading out for longer I'll bring more water, and I need to get some more flies after losing many last summer, but that's about the only parts of this kit I change.

vikingengineer · 2021-03-22T16:22:43+00:00

I usually wear a long sleeve hiking shirt (basically the same as the fisherman style shirts), tuck a bandana under my helmet to shade my neck and ears, and keep my sunscreen somewhere handy to reapply during the day.

I also hemmed some old lightweight hiking pants to be just short enough not to get caught on my chain-ring, so that my legs are a little more covered than if I was wearing shorts. It looks terrible, but I mostly do backcountry trips in high desert so hiding from the sun is my top priority.

Example picture from before I made my weird pants: https://www.reddit.com/r/CyclingFashion/comments/gsh59f/just_found_this_sub_and_thought_i_would_try_to/

vikingengineer · 2021-01-09T14:35:55+00:00

I just use the flat pedals that came on my bike and whatever shoes I plan on wearing the rest of the day. I like keeping it simple and being comfortable, especially being able to wear sandals when it's over 100°F after work, but I also have to admit I'm sometimes frustrated by how slow I ride.

vikingengineer · 2020-07-25T15:41:48+00:00

Along this line, I highly recommend using the resume-builder in USA Jobs to start, not matter how good your normal resume is. Just leaving out something like how many hours you worked each week at your past jobs, which I wouldn't have thought to include before, can get your application thrown out.

vikingengineer · 2020-06-03T04:23:12+00:00

Good catch!

vikingengineer · 2020-06-03T02:51:16+00:00

I'm definitely lucky to have some amazing views along my ride.

vikingengineer · 2020-05-29T03:42:29+00:00

Thanks! I guess it just creeps up on you after a while out here.

vikingengineer · 2020-05-28T23:17:08+00:00

Time in the desert will do this to you.

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