So the BearVault 500 is too big for backpacking. It’s just a beast. The smaller sibling popped up on sale during Covid, so I snapped it up. For just two people, it works great, but for car camping, I bring the 500.
Category: Activities
BearVault 500
I keep getting told if I want to go backcountry camping in Yosemite, I need a bear canister, so I bought one. It stops bears from getting to your food, but it also slows you down. If it’s cold out, you can really bust your fingers trying to open it. There has to be a better way.
Big Agnes 2019 Copper Spur HV UL
This is my first ultra-light tent. Before this, I’ve always gotten something from Alps Mountaineering or similar. About 3x the price, 1/3 the weight, packs small, and totally worth it if you can comfortably swing the price. The tent weighs nothing. Lifting it felt like how lifting a carbon fiber bike felt the first time. I was shocked they could make something this light. So far I’ve only used it on dry nights, so I have no idea how it handles in the rain, but California is in the worst drought in 1200 years, so that’s not so important.
Gregory Zulu 65
I did my Colombia trek with the Zulu 40 and it worked perfectly. The pack is made to stay off your back so sweat doesn’t stick to you, which is great in the jungle. I noticed however that the upper compartment on an airplane can easily fit a 65L pack, and not even long-ways, so why go for smaller? Yes, smaller looks neater, but it’s easy enough to tighten the straps and you have the extra room when you have to carry things for other people… so I upgraded. It’s not my go-to summer pack, but I haven’t used it much yet because I broke my leg and well, Covid.
PR-5000 v2 Power Rack
Due to Covid, working from home, etc, I need to get in shape at home. My solution was to get a power rack and bumper plates to do almost everything I need. So far, it’s amazing. Mine is black, but they don’t have the picture up because it’s currently sold out.
Godox Ving V860IIIS
Needed a flash, but didn’t want to spend $600 on one as I don’t use it very often. This seems to work out fine.
RE320 Dynamic Cardioid Microphone
This is what I use daily now. Might be overkill for meetings, but it’s pretty good at not picking up all the background sound.
Audio-Technica ATR2100x-USB Cardioid Dynamic Microphone
This was the first “real mic” I got. It didn’t work out so well because I was using it as a USB mic and it was also in the video. It’s probably pretty good, I’m going to try it out again now that I have a few audio interfaces.
Audio-Technica AT897 Line/Gradient Shotgun Condenser Microphone
So I needed a microphone that was out of the video. This appears to work well with the Motu M2. I also plan on using this with the Zoom F6 for videos taken with the a7R IV.
Motu M2 Audio Interface
So this is a fantastic audio interface if you’re doing Zoom meetings all day, vocals, an instrument, etc. Quite nice, no complaints.
Project Hemingway 