The BC Wrecking Crew met up today in North Van BC for a quick hike. Switchblade, Munky88, 6Shooter and myself all somehow managed to persuede ourselves to go hiking in 3 deg celcuis temps, with over 100PLUS mm of rain falling. 
We headed out down the trail, torrential ran falling and soaking us. Creeks were overflowing, the trail was soaked, everything was soaked. Something as simple as brushing a branch aside resulted in a liter of water soaking you.
we found a spot to set up for a photo shoot and 6Shooter + Switchblade set up a tarp. What a difference a simple tarpmakes when its pissing out.
It was cold! my extremities were getting numb (normal for me, no body fat), even with woolies on i had limited finger mobility. Pack contents were soaked right thru, a river dunk would been drier.......lol. Thank god for Pelican cases and sealed Aloksaks for my gear.
Broke out the nato brew kit and set it up for a hot tea. I use a Pelican 1010 case for the esbit tabs. Even though my pack was soaked thru my essential gear way protected and dry. Hunched over as i lit them they were getting wet from water running (not dripping, running) of my hat. Tossed in a few extra so i could warm my hands. Brewed a cuppa of "iced" tea mix. Hot, Sugary, sweeeeeeet and HOT! God that was the best cup of tea i've had ever.
We did a knife pass around, Switchblade has some VERY nice customs from Eastern europe. Took photos and then we played around with fatwood shavings and firesteels. We did get a teeny fire going , despite the rain.
Things i did wrong:
- no wool sweater, i wore fleece under my smock, despite that fact that it has never worked for me in BC's wet weather. Normally i will wear a wool sweater, next to my skin and i heat up like a nuclear reactor, even in pissing rain. Nope, today i wore fleece......... bad fleece.....fleece is bad ...BOOOO!!!!!!!!!!
- no rain pants. There they were, sitting by the door before i left. There they are still, OOPS!
- light breakfast.........i only had a breakfast wrap before i headed out. Normally i'll eat good ol rib sticking food with lots of fat in it before a hike. Then during the hike i have internal energy and heat. OOPS!
- no wool toque. Instead i had my city beanie hat, NOT warm enough when wet like my itchy wool hat is. OOPS!
all in all GREAT DAY despite the horrendous rain and cold temps and sleet. Got to meet a new member (Switchblade! great to meet you Sir!). Got to hike witht he BC Crew, and got to see some knife loot! the only thing DRY on me when i got home was my feet. My wool socks and army boots were bone dry inside, despite the rain and slosing thru deep puddles. Yay Obenuafs boot treatment!
the rest of the BC crew will chime in here.
We headed out down the trail, torrential ran falling and soaking us. Creeks were overflowing, the trail was soaked, everything was soaked. Something as simple as brushing a branch aside resulted in a liter of water soaking you.
we found a spot to set up for a photo shoot and 6Shooter + Switchblade set up a tarp. What a difference a simple tarpmakes when its pissing out.
It was cold! my extremities were getting numb (normal for me, no body fat), even with woolies on i had limited finger mobility. Pack contents were soaked right thru, a river dunk would been drier.......lol. Thank god for Pelican cases and sealed Aloksaks for my gear.
Broke out the nato brew kit and set it up for a hot tea. I use a Pelican 1010 case for the esbit tabs. Even though my pack was soaked thru my essential gear way protected and dry. Hunched over as i lit them they were getting wet from water running (not dripping, running) of my hat. Tossed in a few extra so i could warm my hands. Brewed a cuppa of "iced" tea mix. Hot, Sugary, sweeeeeeet and HOT! God that was the best cup of tea i've had ever.
We did a knife pass around, Switchblade has some VERY nice customs from Eastern europe. Took photos and then we played around with fatwood shavings and firesteels. We did get a teeny fire going , despite the rain.
Things i did wrong:
- no wool sweater, i wore fleece under my smock, despite that fact that it has never worked for me in BC's wet weather. Normally i will wear a wool sweater, next to my skin and i heat up like a nuclear reactor, even in pissing rain. Nope, today i wore fleece......... bad fleece.....fleece is bad ...BOOOO!!!!!!!!!!
- no rain pants. There they were, sitting by the door before i left. There they are still, OOPS!
- light breakfast.........i only had a breakfast wrap before i headed out. Normally i'll eat good ol rib sticking food with lots of fat in it before a hike. Then during the hike i have internal energy and heat. OOPS!
- no wool toque. Instead i had my city beanie hat, NOT warm enough when wet like my itchy wool hat is. OOPS!
all in all GREAT DAY despite the horrendous rain and cold temps and sleet. Got to meet a new member (Switchblade! great to meet you Sir!). Got to hike witht he BC Crew, and got to see some knife loot! the only thing DRY on me when i got home was my feet. My wool socks and army boots were bone dry inside, despite the rain and slosing thru deep puddles. Yay Obenuafs boot treatment!
the rest of the BC crew will chime in here.
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. I think we're building up a pretty decent sized crew around here, I like it
