The Amazing Rich B

“He finally got the pants made ...matching outfit now ...complete with hood. The guy is amazing!

[url]http://community.webshots.com/photo/263796764/263797230UtWsXV[url]”

“does rich b stand for rich bastard?

;-)”

“Well I guess that didn't work .... try this one...

Grrr!”

“it will be interesting when RichB and Sacco meet at the Black Forest Trail. They both are great at making gear.

ccol stuff rich!”

“Third time's the charm:
Rich's new creation

Wow, great stuff, Rich. You never cease to amaze me.”

“are those homemade snowshoes?”

“Thanks guys. I had some scrap material from last year when I made the Primaloft jacket so I had just enough to make a pair of pants.

The snowshoes are Sherpa Snowclaws 9X34" and are over 20 years old.”

“Rich, will you be in the Glen next weekend? I'll be there Friday and Saturday. Saturday we're doing the Glen loop. I'd like to do a dayhike Friday too, but it looks likeI might be the only one there during the afternoon. Pennsy is talking about coming up for Friday and if he does I'll do the loop Friday too.”

“I'd like to make it on one day of the weekend. I'm not sure if I can make it Friday, but Sat. is looking OK at this point. I tried out my instep crampons on an icy road around here just to see how they might be. They aren't the greatest, but I think they might work.”

“Rich,

I probably will not be able to make it this weekend to Ricketts Glenn. Wish I could. So if you want to borrow my ten-point crampons, just lemme know.”

“Pennsy,

Thanks for the charm there, buddy.”

“OK, Thanks, I think I'll be OK with the 4 points though. The road I walked down was a sheet of ice and I didn't slip as long as I made an effort to keep all the points planted with each step.”

“Sweet! I love it!!!”

“great job!”

“Nice! I wish I could sew half as good as Rich. The flies he ties are absolutely beautiful as well.

Rich, you should provide a link to your homemade gear album - I can't believe the gear you make!”

“WOW, that is neat!! i wish i could make my own clothes. i know exactly what i want sometimes, but can't find it anywhere...like, this weekend i went to the mall and couldn't find ONE THING i wanted to buy! LOL”

“I know whatchya mean lyra - Rich inspired me to get my very old sewing machine out, but it seized up right away. I haven't found the time to take it to the shop yet. Which makes me feel very stupid, cause my mom made all of our clothes up until a few years ago, and can tear her machine apart and fix it, no problem.

malls suck anyway, LOL...”

“The nice thing about making your own is getting the fit you want. That's really why I made my own jacket. It seems I can never get the right fit and the arms are too short, but the torso is just right in a medium. In a large, the arms are just right, but the torso is too big. I don't remember that as being a problem years ago, but maybe when clothing started to be sewn overseas something changed with the patterns. I just never seem to fit into some things I like just right.

Twig, your machine might just need to be cleaned and oiled. My old machine that was given to me sat for years and did the same thing. Once it was cleaned up and oiled it still runs great. Sometimes the motor needs fresh grease.”

“I really want to try to make some of those pants. I was going to buy a pair from Patagonia but for a 36 inch waist the inseam was 35 inches that is about 5 inches too long. What about us short round people?”

“One thing you can do with some things is buy off the shelf and modify the fit. Sometimes this makes sense rather than make it from scratch. The cost of materials can sometimes exceed what you can buy something for on sale.”

“RichB...great job. The pants will look great with your primaloft jacket. Nice goin'.
What's the next project?”

“I'm thinking about making a Primaloft sleeping bag in the next few months. Maybe a 20 degree bag or 40 degree. Maybe a pair of Epic fabric gaiters and pants.”

“awesome rich

i'm making a polarguard 3d vest.

i had a tough time choosing between primaloft and polarguard.

in the end i decided to go with polarquard b/c as a continuous fiber, it seems to be much easier to deal with for a novice sewer like me.

what made you go with PL ?”

“rich, where are you getting the epic material?”

“I like Primaloft better for a few different reasons. I only worked with Polarguard 3D on 2 other projects and I really didn't like working with it too much. I found Primaloft easier to work with for my machine and what I was doing with it. I like Primaloft's drape and softness better since that gives it the instant warmth that down has. It's also more dense and looks to me like it traps air movement better, less radiant heat loss and seems warmer than Polarguard. Polarguard needs more quilting and Primaloft only needs to be quilted on 2X2 foot increments, so less cold spots to cover and less work to do. My feeling is Primaloft being made with finer denier fibers would be warmer than Polarguard as both lose some loft with use. Thinsulate uses fine fibers and remains warm even though it has little loft, so I would think that may apply at least to some degree with Primaloft. Priamaloft also seems more uniform to me. Polarguard can have gaps in spots that Primaloft doesn't. Some say Primaloft won't last as long as Polarguard. I don't know about that, but the trick is don't handle them roughly when stuffing or folding or compress either one too much and you'll get a reasonable lifespan out of synthetics. I use a bigger pack to handle the extra bulk of synthetic so it's not a big deal to me. In the end it may not matter which one you use, just which one you feel comfortable working with and using in the field.”

“Outdoor Wilderness Fabric has Epic listed on their website. I haven't called them to see if it's still in stock, but if it is I'd like to try some out.”

“RichB has amazed me many times, and I've never met the man. I struggle to put together a barely workable gear sled and he's always making all kinds of things.”

“thanks!”

“my hiking GURU!”

“richb is a genius, the things he makes are incredible.”

“Happy 50th Birthday, Rich!
:)”

“Thanks, Sweetie, you're the best! :)”

“Happy Birthday, RichB!”

“Happy happy Day, Rich! Hope it's great and the upcoming year is full of great fishing and getting out. :D”

“You can't possibly be 50. I refuse to believe it. :p”

“Happy Birthday!

”

“Happy Birthday Rich, and many more!!!”

“Thanks,
Ms. Doolittle you are so kind. :) Cute emoticon Spindlette. I don't know what 50 is supposed to feel like, but I feel good and I'm hoping for lots more birthdays.”

“Happy Birthday, Rich. I enjoyed reading the thread about your talent and creations. Sadly, I seem unable to create much except trouble, lol.”

“Happy Happy Joy Joy, and I pray you have many many more.
You are an inspiration!”

“happy Bday Rich! I'll toast you with Scotch in about a half hour!”

“Happy Birthday, Rich!

I was just thinking about you the other day as I lamented the demise of my old Sierra Designs Tarptent from 1976.

The poor thing is beyond waterproof anymore.

I was wondering if you could make a copy of it in Sil Nylon.”

“Woo Hoo - Go Rich!”

“Happy birthday and keep 'em coming!”

“Cheers!”

“Happy Birthday Rich!”

“Happy Birthday!!!! 50??? WOW 1/2 a century!!!! HEHEHE!!! I hope this is the best one yet!!!”

“Thanks everyone,
Crazygurl, you know that crossed my mind this morning about being a half century old, but I'm fine with even that thought. This is the best birthday yet for sure.
Marko, I'm old enough to remember gear from 1976 and still have some gear that old, but I never knew Sierra Designs made a tarp tent.”

“Happy Birthday.”

“Happy Birthday Rich, and many more!”