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Bear Grylls show and product line is so funny in a scary funny kind of way.

Its just a matter of time before people die or get seriously injured using his techniques and product lines. Im sure there are some related events already that I haven't heard of.

"Bear Grylls survival knife, your perfect companion when you need to ax down a tree and pole vault yourself to survial"

Man I missed the fun :(

I thought that was spam at first, too.

Chris Morgan… I'm laughing to what you might have said…

"pole vault yourself to survial"

ROFL. I'm guessing (hoping) you made that up.

This post has been withdrawn.

hah, I feel kind of bad, but at the same time I don't. Mike Moore's post nailed it for me.

That said, I don't think there's anything wrong with REI. They definitely still carry things of interest to the UL'er. Hell, I plan on picking up a 7oz camp corsa ice axe next weekend. Between the 20% coupon and my dividend, it's looking mighty sweet. I can even grab a 6 oz snowclaw while im at it.

"pole vault yourself to survival"

seriously, he pole vaults. but only when the situation calls for it

I've been using it for a few years and really like it. Works well for making snow caves.
Sorry, back to the main topic………………

Ahren,

If you've not already faded off into the Internet Either and are still lingering around to read the response to your interesting post, here are some thoughts you may wish to consider.

First, credibility is established by the long process of give and take. Stick around and listen to questions asked. And asked they are, frequently on an hourly basis. Feel free to offer your advice. This forum is a democracy and the best responses will rise to the top. If you've got lots of good stuff to offer, you'll get lots of cred.

Second, if you still work for REI you'll do both yourself and your employer a favor by sticking around. Here you'll find a ton of chaff by people who probably ought to be fired by spending too much time here and not working. Still you'll find a wealth of information. More information you'll probably want or need. But if you plan to make the outdoor gear your long term profession, there's a wealth of knowledge floating around here.

People here push the state of the art in backpacking. Granted you'll probably see lots of stuff that will never appear on the shelves of REI, but it will definitely be reflected in gear at REI in the years to come. My gear is not in REI but a copy of one my tents is.

Ron

Listen to this man. He knows what he's talking about. Check out Six Moons Designs. His shelters are my favorites.

Ahren,

I think you just stepped into a hornet's nest. Probably would have been best for you to hang around a few months to capture the breadth and width of the expertise here. Unless you are trolling.

Let me tell you about some of the members here (and I apologize for anyone I missed)…

Packs? Dan McHale has probably and fitted more packs than anyone on the planet. And people pay up to $2,000 for his biggest and best. Ever see these brands in Backpacker Magazine… Golite, MLD, Gossamer Gear? The owners post here.

Tents? Henry Shires (TarpTents), Ron Moak (Six Moons Designs), and Ron Bell (MLD) post here a lot. You can read reviews of their products in Backpacker.

Sleeping Systems? The most advanced quilts in the world are built by members here.

Books? You probably sold some of the ones written by members here. Ever hear of Chris Townsend?

Epic Trips? Our Andy Skurka just completed a 5,000 mile circle of Alaska this winter – solo and ultralight. Read about him in National Geographic. We have people who climb Denali with ultralight gear.

Stoves? Rand over at Trail Designs is world known.

Scientists? Richard Nicely and Roger Caffin are experts in their fields and do real world long term testing.

Oh… I forgot the publisher of this site… Dr. Ryan Jordan. You can purchase many of his books on Amazon. You should read about his adventures; such as the self-supported 1,000 mile hike across the Arctic.

And God forbid you post a gear list and Mike Clelland doesn't like it :)

I, like many members have been backpacking for 40+ years and are often humbled by the expertise here. We have other members who have worked at REI longer than you… they usually quit and go hike the PCT, ACT, or CDT (if not all 3).

So chill… I have never seen so many pages in one thread as have been generated today.

Oh, and welcome to BPL.. and I am sincere about that. The people here are really nice, but you may feel a little overwhelmed (or underwhelmed) by their reception.

Ahren,

A sincere welcome to backpacking light! You may think they some of the folks are poking fun at you but you need to understand the recent events in this community. These events have made us all even more nuts than we normally are. We are just trying to be funny and unwind. I guarantee you that it means no disrespect to you. The following will explain how things got to this point:

There is still too much snow in the mountains for a lot of us to leave our beautiful homes and beautiful families, go walk 25 miles every day, and sleep in the dirt with only a really skinny 5 oz. dead goose over us for warmth.

I think our community shrink said we had “Cuben Fervor”. One of the young guys who can hear the best said that the shrink said “Cabin Fever” but the rest of us don’t think so. Couldn’t possibly be what he meant… heck this is Backpacking Light and we don’t need no stinking cabins, we are in such good shape we never get a fever… heck we don’t even need any stinking toilet paper… well at least Mike C. keeps telling us that.

Any ways, now the only thing worse than having “Cuben Fervor” is to have our favorite chat forum plugged up by some idiot talking head telling us day after day that since we have “Cuben Fervor” then we were probably “all wet”. That is enough to really p.ss some people off… especially Dan the pack maker. He has been chewing this guy’s b.tt off for a week. Listening to these guys go back and forth is more than most of could take and we desperately needed a good laugh. Furthermore some felt that the idiot talking head was implying that if they went over to the dark side and purchased a real shelter, possibly from REI, we would stop being “all wet”.

Now you see, you just showed up at the most inopportune time to say REI without using “dividend” in the same sentence… To read the thread that caused you all of this trouble

Please Click Here to See What Caused You All This Trouble

Ahren,

What I'd really like to know is how come REI stores MOVE STUFF AROUND so much? I'm a member and buy stuff there often and generally like the store but I can never find anything because stuff gets MOVED AROUND so often – and I don't mean seasonally, like in the fall when ski equipment begins to start replacing backpacking stuff making MOVING STUFF AROUND necessary. If I go in during the middle of the summer and then go in a week later everything has been MOVED AROUND. I often go into an REI store during my lunch break in the middle of the week during slow periods and there will be several REI employees looking over stuff and one managerial looking individual will be holding a clipboard and talking to an apparent subordinate and saying something like "Lets move this stuff over there and move the laptop backpacks over here" or something to that effect. What is puzzling is that there does not appear to be new stuff coming in necessitating finding additional space or anything like that. It's just rearranging of stuff. Even the display cases have convenient casters so the displays can be MOVED AROUND. This constant MOVING STUFF AROUND would not be that unusual except for the extreme frequency with which it occurs. I find it quite disorienting, especially when I find something and go in the next day to buy it only to discover it's been MOVED AROUND.

Daniel, I could not agree more.

It used to be that I had only one REI store within 50 miles of me. It was so dependable that I could walk in, find everything I needed, and be at the cashier a few minutes later. If I had time to kill, I could cruise down a few favorite aisles.

Now, just as Daniel pointed out, it is a complete guessing game every time I go into an REI store. I have three REI stores within 30 miles now, but it seems like a Rubik's Cube every time. As a result, I quit going there for lots of stuff. Instead, I mostly go there for commodity items that I need in a hurry. Too many other commodity items I can find cheaper by driving across town or else online.

Ahren, this is coming from somebody whose REI membership number has only six digits and somebody who was doing ultralightweight backpacking before you were even born.

–B.G.–

I hear REI causes global warming.

Global warming doesn't exist.

Global warming is caused by Cuben manufacturing…

I just read the thread and I have to say I saw it coming when I read his post but I'm still disappointed. A simple "you might want to lurk for a bit to see what the knowledge level is here before offering advice" would have sufficed.

What I value about this site even more than the wealth of knowledge on going light, is the tolerance, patience, civility and willingness to help others which is unrivaled on any forum, backpacking or otherwise, that I have been part of. This thread seems quite uncharacteristic of BPL.

oo

I say everyone on this thread put up a $1, or so to buy Ahren a membership – that deed should suffice to complete a summary of the community here pretty well:

assaulting humor, scientific clarity, fanatical gear-tweaking, collaboration, walking the talk, and generosity.

I’ll be the first:

here is a link to a small $25 fun fund raiser for the man, if you care to participate.>

[edit: the site does not show my contribution since it is from my own balance]

"this is coming from somebody whose REI membership number has only six digits"

Maybe he can get us 6-digit people and extra discount, or even have scales installed in all the new stores :)

But lets give him some slack, I think he really just wanted to be helpful; which is a plus.

Ahren, come back and all will be okay. We even talk to those who post in the Carbon Flame War Thread.

"This thread seems quite uncharacteristic of BPL."

Right. It's displaying an uncharacteristic level of humor for BPL.

Lighten up! (pun intended)

"But lets give him some slack, I think he really just wanted to be helpful; which is a plus."

That's very true. He really wanted to be helpful. However, it was kind of an odd choice for a location. That is why lurking can be helpful. You can learn the culture before you dive into the water.

–B.G.–

"to buy Ahmet a membership"

No such name on this thread.

–B.G.–

Thanks Bob – noted and edited. Someone asked me if I was 'Ahmet' on the phone today (Patagonia, actually), so it must have stuck and gotten mixed around upstairs somehow.

"Why are manhole covers round?"

Because the men that go in them are round…