Dirtbag's Gear Awards

“I had a chance to use a few pieces of gear this past weekend that have now earned my Dirtbag Ger Award (What an honor!). The three pieces of gear combined probably cost $3. First up…

The Water Wing Pillow- A few weeks ago Birch gave me a water wing like kids wear on their arms in the pool. I was like, “What the hell?”. It was cut so it laid flat. He said, “It’s a pillow. I got the idea from Stovestomper (?).”. So I took it with me and tried it out. WOW! This thing rocks! It gives just enough lift and the two air chambers kind of cradle your head. Beats the hell out of the lumpy stuff stack. I put the thing inside my zipped off pant leg to avoid sleeping on the rubber and it didn’t slip out too much. Stovestomper (or whoever came up with it), frickin’ KUDOES! These are the type of ideas that are the true pearls at the bottom of the septic tank. Worth it’s 2-3 oz in gold! Next up…

The Cow Patty Place Matt- Last winter Cow Patty gave me a place matt that was rubber on one side and silver on the other. She had lauded the benefits of the place matt over the rear car floor matt that I used to use. After forgetting the thing at Manistee River it finally made it back to me down here in Ohio. It’s a winner for sure. I used it as a place matt for fixing food, sat on it, used it to stand on it while showering (more on that next), and slipped it into pack to give it more support. The uses are endless and I plan on taking a picture of myself using it in all these ways to save for posterity’s sake so Cow Patty can take pride in my full blown conversion. LOL! On to the…

The ultra light shower- I filled a 2 liter Platy and replaced the hoser with a soda bottle cap with holes in it. Works great! The holes were small enough that it regulated the water very well. I was able to do my whole shower with only about a liter of water. I know a Dirtbag Shower is an oxymoron but it was great!”

“Sweet innovations!!!! I'm going to try the pillow thing next week.

Thanks Nigal!”

“An award? For me? Ah shucks.... ;)

Yep, the pillow idea is mine.
See this thread for a pix.”

“Can I post a link to your website on my new website? Here is the link to mine:
http://www.freewebs.com/karofishesandhikes/index.htm
You have so much info that would be neat to share.”

“Sure, knock yerself out!

http://www.datasync.com/~wksmith”

“BUddha, I got an extra water wing you can have. Save your 95 cents.”

“Oh, so it was Birch who gave you the pillow eh?! I want my pillow back NIgal!! >=( (just teasing, but really, I think you have a case of CRS too)”

“Crap Retention Syndrome?”

“Oopsy poopsy! Sorry about that Sass. Please transfer the credit from Birch's reuptation and apply it to your own. Go ahead and give yourself a little extra for remembering too. LOL!

I gotta do something about these blackouts!”

“Can't Remember Shinola bitpusher - the one you're thinking of is the dreaded SRS”

“Cow Patty gave me one of those water wings and I tested it out at Hoist Lakes. I was very pleased w/ it. Weighs next to nothing, too! It's a keeper!”

“i don't know if it goes against dirtbag principals? but i bought a showerpiece made by platypus for 2 bucks. it goes in the end of the tube where the mouthpiece goes and has a clamp to regulate water flow. couldn't weigh more than 2 ounces.”

“Wow! I love those ideas! I think I have some old water wings laying around in the garage. I'll make some of those pillows for the kids to take to N. Manitou Island next week. What a great lesson for young children to learn and I won't have to hear them complain about sleeping without a pillow. Double bonus!

I saw CowPatty's place mat and was admiring it.

Thanks for sharing these nifty ideas.”

“Hey Nigal, Whats up with your website?? I cant get any of the links like food ,gear or any of em to work,theres a red x in a box on each and clicking does nuthin!!! Streamweaver”

“Ducttape, two bucks and two ounces or less fits within the dirtbag credoe.

Any winners of this award will be sent a can of snuff of their choosing and a gun rack complete with level for their pick up truck.”

“Hum, not sure. It has been proven in the past to be fairly buugy. I made it using Frontpage and don't have the program or the brains to get back to freshening up the place.”

“sounds great Nigal. Now I want to figure out some great dirtbag award.

How about this for my newfound apt. life?? I don't want to buy a bed. However, I would (and did) splurge $25 for the Coleman queen-size flocked mattress which even has "coils." It's great!

And I even get to exercise doing squats to get into and out of it.

OK, so it reeks of college. Think young; live long!!! lol”

“ok, my nomination is a 3mm contractors grade trash bag that I line my pack with. It also doubles as something to sit on as well as something to put under my hammock, that way when I step out in the middle of the night, I am steping on the trash bag and not the wet ground. Also works great for not having to put my shoes on to go take a leak. I know... probably too much info but hey we're backpackers right?..well except lizs.”

“Sorry lizs, as you have pointed out the Coleman stuff is actually too nice for the trail and is more of a home furnishing. I have one of the blow up love seats on blocks on the front porch.

Binks, any type of trash bag is an automatic winner (excluding the high fulutin’ ones with the draw strings). BTW- how much water would one of those bags hold? LOL!”