Appreciation post: My buddy told me to skip the fancy sleeping pad and just use a closed-cell foam one

He said the inflatable one I wanted would just get a leak and leave me cold. I didn't listen and bought a $120 inflatable pad for a trip to the Sawtooths. Sure enough, it got a tiny puncture on night two and I spent the rest of the trip on the hard ground. I mean, it was so cold. I switched to a basic $40 foam pad after that and it's been solid for over a year now. Has anyone else had a piece of gear fail that made you go back to something simpler?

3 comments

3 Comments

kim.stella1mo agoTop Commenter

Learned my lesson with a fancy stove that died, now I just eat cold beans like a sad, cold raccoon.

lee_ward541mo ago

Sad, cold raccoon" is about the funniest and most accurate description of backpacking food I've ever heard. I laughed out loud at that. But it also gets at a real truth - when the fancy stuff breaks, you end up feeling pretty foolish and miserable. I can't believe your water filter just gave up on day one like that. That must have been a long, slow trip back to boiling everything. I've always been a bit nervous about those pump filters breaking down in the backcountry, and stories like yours confirm that feeling. Sometimes the old ways, like boiling water or eating cold food, are the most reliable.

ivan_schmidt1mo ago

That "spent the rest of the trip on the hard ground" line hit me right in the soul. I did the same thing with a fancy water filter that clogged solid on day one. Went back to boiling water like a caveman and never looked back.

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