Ryan's Wisdumb

  I'm back!  I hadn't intended to let my blog go this long without any posts, but life got busy.  Work picked up so I have been back doing my day job nearly full time.  I still don't have the guts to just retire and try to live off of investment income. [sigh]  Last September, I got recruited for the position of Scoutmaster for my son's Boy Scout troop which further added to my workload.  I had a lot of concerns before accepting the position about how much time Scoutmastering [if it's not already a verb, I am making it one] would require.  I was worried it was going to be a huge time sink to do the job the way it needs to be done.  If I accepted, I was going to give it my all and not cut corners, shirk my duties, or put in minimal effort.  It turns out, my fears about how much time and effort the role requires were justified.  But... I am enjoying almost every minute of it!  You, my dear readers, are the ones who are paying the price, as all of my wisdumb is now flo

I guess I need to modify my definition of "old car" to be more inclusive so I can blog about life with my 2018 Nissan Pathfinder and avoiding ridiculous dealer charges when something goes wrong.  To me, a 6-year-old car doesn't seem very old, so henceforth "old car" shall refer to any vehicle I own that is out of warranty.  That ought to cover it. You may recall from my car shopping posts that Android Auto was a feature I really wanted in my next car, primarily for using google maps on road trips and being able to run it from the infotainment screen rather than have to mount my phone somewhere and operate it off of the small phone screen.  Nissan did not include Android Auto in the 2018 Pathfinder.  Maybe this was for the best, as most Android Auto systems deployed in that timeframe used wired connectivity only and did not support wireless, and I really wanted wireless Android Auto support so I wouldn't even have to take my phone out of my pocket when I got

My quest to find a comfortable sleep system for restless side sleepers who want to go camping in the cold continues.  How's that for a hyper-specific target audience?  I am publishing this post for the dozens (probably?) of others out there like me who are not served by the mass-market reviews of gear because we have unique needs that our sleeping bags must meet that are usually overlooked.  We flop around like a fish out of water.  We spread our arms like outriggers on a Polynesian canoe.  We spread our legs like, um, never mind, that one.  My point is, bags that are critically acclaimed in reviews and ratings, don't work for me. Quilts have been my salvation for most trips.  See my review of the Enlightened Equipment Revelation and Zenbivy Light Bed for details.  However, the comfort of these solutions starts to become problematic as the mercury drops below freezing.  My latest attempt to solve this problem is to get an inexpensive, lightweight rectangular sleeping bag to u

The quest to find my perfect back-country sleep system continues.  I think this is officially part 3 of the series.  The Enlightened Equipment Revelation quilt remains my primary "bag" but I need a supplement for sub-freezing weather.   After striking out with the Zenbivy Light Bed , I went in the opposite direction and got something relatively inexpensive, the Omnicore Designs Multi-down Mummy -10F sleeping bag .  While this bag is a mummy bag, the shape looked roomier than the typical backpacking mummy bag. My Expectations Based on the specs, I had high hopes for this bag.  We'll start with the price.  At $130 it is slotted in between the cheap car-camping bags that weigh 6+ lbs and the expensive name-brand bags.  It achieves some of the cost savings by using a combination of down and synthetic insulation.  The result is a bag with a -10F rating that weighs a little over 4lbs.  While that isn't super light, it is acceptable for a cold weather bag.  I take the -10F

This is part 2 of my series on cold weather backpacking sleeping gear.  Part 1 reviewed the Enlightened Equipment Revelation quilt that I have been using for the past six years that I have been happy with but struggles to keep me warm when temperatures drop below freezing.  This week I am relating my impressions of the Zenbivy Light Bed 10 degree sleep system that I recently tried out.   There are plenty of reviews on this Zenbivy bed out there, and I read a bunch of them, but none of them had any info about the performance as it would relate to me as a side sleeper who tosses who rolls over many times a night.  I'm going to rectify that here and now! I have Facebook algorithms to thank for introducing me to ZenBivy.  Ads for their sleep system started showing up in my feed.  Relentlessly.  I checked them out initially and quickly dismissed them due to price.  As I started searching for a better sub-freezing option this Fall, I revisited them.  I really liked some of their design

  In an effort to lean into my strengths, I'm starting a short series covering my experiences with assorted backcountry sleeping gear.  I've been putting readers to sleep for more than a year with this blog, so I consider myself well qualified to weigh in on the subject 😜.   For years I struggled to get a good night's sleep when out camping or backpacking.  I can't really pinpoint exactly when it started, but at some point I became a side sleeper and that ruined everything.  Side sleeping is now fully entrenched and I cannot go to sleep on my back no matter how hard I try.  This is a real pain for camping as most sleeping bags are mummy style and designed for sleeping on your back with your legs together and arms at your sides.  There is no room for rolling over or stretching out, both of which I need to sleep well. About 6 years ago as my kids were getting old enough to go camping and backpacking and all of us were ramping up our involvement in scouting, I decided to

  If you recall my August post on starting a car search, I presented a list of requirements that I wanted my new car to meet.  If you don't recall, go ahead and reread it.  I'll wait.  I had to do that to remember what I wrote as I can't remember what happened yesterday, much less four months ago! As expected, I had to compromise on some of my requirements.  After test driving most of the cars on my list of options, I ended up buying a 2018 Nissan Pathfinder Platinum, shown here after hauling a bunch of scouts up to Vermont for a backpacking trip just hours after I drove it off the lot.   Incidentally, this photo has an easter egg for a future backpacking product review. Now that I have had the car for a month or so, let's check out the score card and see how I did: Good Highway Gas Mileage (7 out of 10) Reliability (7 out of 10) Good towing capacity (10 out of 10) Cargo Capacity  >40 preferred. (10 out of 10) Wireless Android Auto (3 out of 10) Heated and Ventilate