lightweight gear

this is supposed to be a family friendly forum, when you write anything directed at a specific person here, would you want that directed at your kids, even if you think the comment is correct??? would you want it directed at anyone in your family or your friends? forums are places where you will come across differing opinions that you will not agree with... get used to it,, its me today you disagree iwth but there will be someone else in the future, are you going to spend the rest of your lives getting iritated and emotional becuase of the fact someone dares to disagree with you? even though they are doing it in a polite way? does that justify the impoliteness? i posted statement and neglected to mention it was by someone else, but because they were posted by me they were ridiculed, because people want to ridicule me, fault find me and have a go at me. if i put who originally wrote them being someone well known as an expert in the ultralight community would you still have rubbished the comments, the issue is you have written one person off because you dont like what they say because you are easily irritated and take it out on that person its just words, they arent attacking you, they are disagreeing with what you think, thats all, i'm no threat to anyone , but you act like i am and ridicule someone over reaction is the problem here. the inability to put up with a different view, people have the right to disagree as much as they want on a forum.... some people accept that but some take it personally and get emotional about it and launch into attacks.. i havent burgled your house or sworn at you or accused you of anything nasty.. i've done nothing to you really, but you have allowed yourself to get irritated to focus attacks on me no one is even making you read what i write, you've chosen to read it and chosen to react the way you have look up cognitive dissonance, because it describes whats proven science about whats going on here, is there a hatred towards educated people here as well? its a tramping forum, people have a right to express their opinions peacfully whether you like it or not, even andrew skurka is wary of ultralight gear and he's a a well respected guru of ultgralight gear. will you go on his forum and rubbish him? i'm not the only person with my opinion. https://andrewskurka.com/stupid-light-not-always-right-or-better/ you write people off so easily here... and once they are written off then thats the way they stay permanently written off. I respect your right to disagree with me, that doesnt give the right to people to abuse them because they disagree with you... who's making ultralight gear in NZ? ultralight gear is mainly from overseas... no ones making anything in cuben fibre here, theres no company in nz that specialises in ultralight gear, there might be a small part of their range that heads into that category... i know a lot of american hikers and they are the ones that tell me the summer weather is a lot more stable where they come from, yeah they have bad storms but on average , the weather is more stable , so ultralight gear is a better choice there, here you are more likely to have to be careful where you pitch it because bad weather is more likely to be closer to happening. i've read so many blogs and am amazed how much good weather they get there. its not really just my opinion at all, but it seems you have to go to great lengths here to justify what you say or you get attacked for being an idiot.. despite what you think i don't just sit here disconnected from the world making things up, you have no idea how much time i have spent in the outdoors,. yet you judge me. look at the PCT ... look at the weather https://roamingwildrosie.com/category/adventures/pacific-crest-trail-4200-km/ yeah i know meanwhile on the AT it could be crap as well but if you know america you know large parts of it are dry for a large part of the year, its not free of storms but by and large you can easily cowboy camp the weather is so stable... where is the windiest city in the world? wellington... i grew up tramping around central NZ being unable to stand upright on the mountains a lot of the time... spending a great deal of time wet and cold, grateful for any fine weather. but other people here think they are the only ones who know what they are talking about, i've been tramping since the 1970's but apparently i still don't know what i'm talking about.. i've pictched a tent in nz that stood up to 100km hour winds, i didnt have much choice of shelter at the time and the tent stoof up to it, would you do that with an ultralight tent? theres certainly a lot that wont stand up to that much wind

no i dont attack and belittle people, give me an example? i state my point of view about subjects, I may disagree with what someone says, but that is not belittling someone, i play the ball not the man... its just a debate of a subject.. i dont think lesser of anyone, you're entitled to your opinions, peple are entitled to debate them, i respect that you have your standpoint, i may debate it but that doesnt mean i'm attacking people at all. i see it as a friendly difference of opinion... i dont see myself getting aggressive with people... i acept people disagreeing with me, i dont see myself getting aggressive over that, some subjects arent straight forward and what is true for one person may not be the case for everyone else. the world isnt black and white

one problem with internet discussions is you are missing peoples body language, you fill in the blanks going by the words and interpret them anyway you want happens a lot people perceive someone is being hostile , but you know what its like when you're with friends, they may insult you but their body language says they are having a joke, and its not even that i jokingly denigrate anyone here people are reading too much into any disagreement with what they say or believe people who know me know i dont belittle them.. happens all the time on the internet... in discussions, someone reads someone else incorrectly , without the body language they are missing a lot of context, i'm not the one getting angry and i dont see whree i have been perceived as supposedly belittling people, someone disagreeing with someone else doesnt mean they are belittling them...

I can't say I'm comfortable with the tone of this thread. It seems like a bunch of pent up stuff has bubbled to the surface. Wayno certainly has a knack of rubbing me up the wrong way - and indeed has been an inhibitor to my contributions to this forum - but; I would also like to acknowledge the he does generously contribute to the forum, and he does have a lot of very valid points. His bedside manner may not be the best, but he does know a bunch and have a lot of experience. @Wayno - perhaps moderate your inputs with an awareness that your opinions are not necessarily facts. Do please take a look at these criticisms, and at least challenge yourself that we might collectively have a point.

thanks for your feedback paul. i will take that onboard if i stay which i doubt i will. its not my intention to make people uncomfortable. i'm genuinely sorry for any uncomfotableness or insult caused. at times i'm writing in a hurry, we dont all have the luxury of time to consider our posts. like i said without body language its hard to read intent...

I can see both perspectives here. I've been around this forum a few years now and one thing I'm certain of, wayno is definitely sincere and absolutely not a troll. Having said that some of my initial reactions to his extensive contribution here was very similar to what I'm reading others saying. It took me a while to start reading him more sympathetically as wayno has a much more 'disagreeable' aspect to his personality than I do. (I use this word 'disagreeable' in a technical Big Five personality trait sense, not a prerogative manner at all.) This means he's capable of dealing with hard situations, making tough decisions, is probably a very good leader and would be focused on getting to good outcomes. But he's not going to be too concerned about how many toes get stepped on along the way. It's a trait that not always fun to be around, but in a collective social perspective it's highly valuable in real life. At least that's my amateur psychologising on the matter. It's my view that we are all different for a reason; it means that we all have different strengths and weaknesses and as a 'collective' we can choose to play to one or the other. Over time I've learned to appreciate wayno's sometimes blunt and direct approach and my initial negative reactions have long passed. I'd happily go on a tramp with him any day. As Matt's moderation note emphasises the critical value here is respect, along with courtesy and taking responsibility for our ourselves rather than projecting our own reactions onto others. In that light I invite everyone on this thread to stick with this; step up, speak honestly and listen fairly. You are all good people and I personally know we can come through this discussion stronger rather than weaker. Cheers

i take safety seriously and make no bones about it i've done search and rescue and it wasn't always pretty. subjects like ultralight are contentious, its easy for someone seeing a post promoting ultralight gear that only shows one side and havent seen the back story on it ultralighting works best with experience and no doubt there are people here who know what they are doing and ultralighting will work for them, they now how much they can push the envelope in the conditions they use it in, but , the limitations must be mentioned, if you just join this forum and see someone juste saying how great ultralighting is and dont have the back story you arent getting the full story, ok i can be repetitive but those who've read it before can skip it, those who havent read it and discount it if you want... i've done plenty of dumb dangerous things in the mountains and seen plenty of other things do dumb things in the mountains think things out and gather experience. to experienced people i'm talking the same old and preaching to the converted, or talking about something that doesnt apply to them. to the inexperienced, its different for them, they are still considering their options safer to be cautious to start with then push the envelope once you have the experience..

I would recommend people disregard 90% of the comments posted by certain people, but be aware that a broken clock is right twice a day.

Kia ora koutou, My preferred approach to moderation is to redirect a thread rather than wholesale deletion of messages. Deleting a post does not repair the original harm but does impair the ability to reflect back. In this case I have deleted the messages that are directed at a specific person. Matthew

Andrew Skurka: "Ultimate Hiking Gear & Skills Clinic" | Talks at Google Extremely experienced long distance tramper in the US https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGQTcQhL08A """Ultimate Hiking Gear & Skills Clinic"" A backpacking trip consists of two distinct activities: hiking and camping. In this informative clinic, renowned long-distance backpacker Andrew Skurka will discuss the gear, supplies and skills necessary to make hiking fun, not an arduous chore. Skurka was named ""Adventurer of the Year"" by Outside and was described as ""a Superman among trekkers,"" by National Geographic; he is the author of The Ultimate Hiker's Gear Guide. You will learn: (1) How to predict the environmental and route conditions you will encounter on a trip; (2) the best uses and limitations of lightweight equipment; (3) skills that will help keep you safe and comfortable with a minimum of possessions; and, (4) exactly what Skurka takes for a summer backpacking trip in the Sierra Nevada, and why."