barefootwalk

I continued the camper design and improvement. Last week's design was a half failure. The stove jack I got from Lowes, it was rated for 180 F, but it melted in contact with the pipe. I guess the shorter pipe gets hotter than 180 F. So I spent this week with a new more robust redesign. The picture is for the old failed design. I will test the new design this week and if it works, I will post updates. My 2nd design. Three is the charm! Note that although it looks like the pipe is touching the tarp, there is good 8 inch separation between the two. The black jack is holding the pipe tight, but no more, it melted about 1/4 inch around the pipe.  

Just more DIY projects. Probably most interesting are a new insulated jacket and a wool hat. The merino wool fabric is white(ish). It is wonderful color but unfortunately it shows dirt easily, so I dyed it.

A couple years ago I upgraded my down sleeping bag. I removed most of the older 850 fill duck down and replaced with premium 950 fill goose down. Major upgrade and I love it. But the main problem is, sleeping bags are not as versatile as quilts and down requires more attention. Synthetic on the other hand is cheaper and very easy to work with. It also performs better than down in wet condition. Nevertheless it is really heavier and bulkier but this is not a problem for camping. So I decided to make one and I am very satisfied with the results. We will see how it performs in real condition but so far it looks fine. Final product: And a few pictures of the process.

 A couple of recent projects: a 100% wool base layer pant and a single layer rectangular quilt for camping. I improved my sleeping bag last year by replacing 4 years old duck down with premium goos down (and turned the extracted duck down to a warm quilt for Twyla), now my sleeping bag is too warm for regular camping so this quilt is a great addition to the sleeping kit.

 It will take a while until I settle in the new environment. I am hoping this is more sustainable and stable, nevertheless there so many unknowns, as usual. I started working on new projects and it seems they can easily keep me busy for a long time. I already finished the truck bed extension over summer and recently I finished a new %100 wool pants. I also have new wood stove, all tested and work great. I should post more info as soon as I have their field test results but I am already feeling confident about their performance.

 Yes, I finally had a chance to replace the upper ball joint. I didn't have the specific ball joint press so I had to use some ideas and use the general purpose press I had. I took a little long but finally I managed to do it nice and clean. I can definitely add this to my resume!

 I had a difficult decision to make. Power is the most important problem in my trips and I was under impression that solar is the best option but I couldn't wrap my head around all the space I need for a decent setup. I don't think anything less than 200w is practical, considering cloudy days or shorter winter days. If you camp for a long time, solar is the best power option but I move and drive a lot. After a lot of research and up and down, I decided to go with a DC to DC charger. I know I can easily use a simple relay and don't spend a lot but I know for experience that any addition to car's electrical system should be taken more seriously. Saving extra $50 doesn't worth screwing around your car's electric system. You can easily put a lot of work load on the alternator and fry it in time. Out of many car problems, the alternator is the only one I don't hesitate to fix. Renege had a big sale so everything was a perfect match and I got my DC to DC charger. ...

 Back in June I notice a tear in ball joint boots. Toyota doesn't put refillable ball joint and basically you replace them but they last a long time, I heard double other brands. I decided to get a press and replace the boots. Meanwhile I can check if the ball joint itself needs a replacement. In my surprise the more torn joint was OK and I just replaced the cover but the other less worn was loose. I may need to replace it in future but everything seems OK now. Easy job and I saved myself time and money going to mechanic.

Twyla needed a new bed. So I made a new bed for her. This one turned great and she appears to love it! This is how I made it: Everything is either from other projects or from thrift store. I got a bundle of fabrics for $1 and I made a lot of stuff with them! One of the best purchases of my life. The floor will be the orange coated ripstop nylon, it's waterproof. Top is a comfortable flowery fabric. 

 1- When I was an undergraduate student, I started taking electronic courses for my elective coursework. It was supposed to be a more science course and not much of engineering but they made a mistake and sent us an engineer instructor. So instead of learning about semi-conductors, he started teaching us about designing circuits, logical circuits and wi-fi transmitters! It appeared to I made a wrong judgment. 2- Couple years back, when the pandemic lockdown started, I decided to use a Raspberry Pi for remote access. One of best decisions of my life! The following decision however wasn't very smart; I purchased a UPS hat just to make sure a full time access while I can't go on campus. Well the hat was designed for version 3 and din't support my version 4 and it didn't worth returning, so it was laying around and reminding me of a wrong decision. 3- Last week I was frustrated by unstable solar panel charger and in a moment of enlightenment I found a perfect solution for i...

 This is my new DIY project. I have been making tents for last 5 years and I've tried different types. When I started backpacking I purchased a double wall, fully enclosed tent  (so called ultralight tent; market crap).  Most people don't really need these tents and they are not ultralight at all. I switched to a tarp when I started thru-hiking and I fell in love with it's simplicity. Tarp is fantastic. I tried copying zpacks solo tents then. It is a great design.   This time I was looking for a larger tent that can fit my dog as well and it's not as miserable looking as a tarp (people think you are broken!). I always resisted the idea of using a pyramid tent but after a lot of thoughts I settled down with a pyramid tent and I must confess this design offers fantastic features. Here how I did it.   Materials: I ordered all materials from:  https://ripstopbytheroll.com/   but I have used https://www.questoutfitters.com/ in the past and I enjoyed doing ...