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Article: Designs From The Field

Designs From The Field

Our Road Trip has taken a turn into the past. It's a wandering road, revealing nuggets of events that inform the present. We've had a glimpse at the Roots of a life-long passion for wild places, a passion that became a career. We've observed some adventures, some dangerous encounters. One of those dangerous episodes opened a discussion of equipment designed by your humble correspondent--the Lumbar Pack. I've been thinking about those creations lately. They've earned my living for nigh-on four decades after all. They've earned a pile of patents. There must be hundreds of designs that have passed from my mind to reality. Of them all, which stand out as my personal favorites? Sounds like a worthy subject to mull over, eh? Well, I've done the mulling, and here are my all-time SIX FAVORITE DESIGNS: 1) MAN CARRYABLE WOOD STOVE HEATED SHELTERS 2) DUPLEX PACK SUSPENSION SYSTEM 3) OMNI PACK SUSPENSION SYSTEM 4) GUNBEARER SYSTEM 5) DELTA SUSPENSION SYSTEM  6) RHINO SKIN OUTERWEAR The gear I've created using these "platform" designs have served me, personally, the most consistently in all my ramblings.  I'm writing this from Maui. Mine and Sarah's favorite island. She enjoys the beaches and I enjoy hiking all the remote niches. I'm trying to type via my iPhone via a cranky portable keyboard. And the heights of Mount Haleakala beckon. So let's make this post a Preview of coming posts. Posts that will outline the inventions cited above. Until I can get back to my mainland computer. Give me a bit a time; I head for British Columbia as soon as we get home--only a one day layover there to gear up and head out.  Oh, and I'll be posting an Update on my current Possibles Pouch contents soon too. Thanks, guys, for reminding me of the need for that.  Stay tuned....

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Patrick Smith

Most Significant Improvements To Backpacking In The Last Sixty Years

I looked at my Favorite Designs List, above, and had to admit that Lists are fun! So let's make some more!  In over sixty years of backcountry rambling I've used an ever-evolving array of equipment...

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Avalanche!

May, 1981. Colorado High Country. Paul Ramer and I are course-finding for the proposed Colorado Haut (High) Route for backcountry skiers along the Continental Divide; we are skiing a section west ...

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