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Outdoor Gear Gripes |
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RifleDude
MODERATOR EVIL OPPRESSOR Joined: October/13/2006 Location: Texas Status: Offline Points: 16337 |
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Posted: November/21/2017 at 12:41 |
I’m sure we all have things we find really annoying about some outdoors gear that makes us wonder if the folks who design the stuff ever actually use the stuff they sell. I’ll start this discussion with a BIG pet peeve of mine. Let’s hear yours.
I’m presently out hunting on a new piece of property I lease this week, and I’m tent camping. Why the $&@! is it that so many camping products like tents, sleeping bags, etc BARELY fit back into the fabric bags they came in without executing some very specific Rubik’s Cube-esque folding/rolling technique? Then, it can be equally difficult removing the stuff from said bags without ripping the bags! My most annoying example of this is my cot. Unless you position the legs, braces, fabric and included air mattress “just so,” I defy someone to get it back into the 5” interior dia carry bag it came in. That bag is on the verge of tearing apart due to the repeated strain of forcing the cot components inside, then having to step on one end of the bag to hold it stationary while I forcefully extract the contents when I need to use it. The same goes for 2 of my sleeping bags and an air mattress. You damn near need a vacuum pump to suck the air out of them to roll them tight enough to fit back into their storage bags! My tent is nearly as bad. These gear manufacturers supply carry bags that are just large enough to — theoretically — contain the product and not a millimeter larger. They can’t use 75 cents worth of additional fabric to make the storage bag just a tiny bit larger so the average consumer who doesn’t know the secret folding technique doesn’t have to perform gymnastics to get the product in and out of its bag? |
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Ted
Money can't buy happiness... but it's much more comfortable to cry in a Porsche than on a bicycle. |
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supertool73
Optics God Superstool Joined: January/03/2008 Status: Offline Points: 11814 |
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Its Walmarts fault. They created the BS that they would only sell a vendors wares if they fit on shelf space spec'ed out by Walmart. So now all retailers do it. I learned about that in college, IIRC it was actually in a textbook we were studying.
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Lifetime warranty and excellent customer service don't mean a thing when your gun fails during a zombie attack.
"A Liberal is a person who will give away everything they don't own." |
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RifleDude
MODERATOR EVIL OPPRESSOR Joined: October/13/2006 Location: Texas Status: Offline Points: 16337 |
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Interesting. So Walmart is to blame?
Anybody else? Come on, let’s hear your gripes! |
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Ted
Money can't buy happiness... but it's much more comfortable to cry in a Porsche than on a bicycle. |
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budperm
Optics Retard show me your sheep!! Joined: January/01/2009 Location: Pennsylvania Status: Offline Points: 31710 |
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Gee and here I was thinking it was all Ted's hot air that was at issue....
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"Peace is that brief glorious moment in history when everybody stands around reloading".
--Thomas Jefferson |
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supertool73
Optics God Superstool Joined: January/03/2008 Status: Offline Points: 11814 |
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They definitely play a massive role in the size of packaging that vendors have to use if they want to sell in Walmart. They want to maximize the use of their shelf space. |
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Lifetime warranty and excellent customer service don't mean a thing when your gun fails during a zombie attack.
"A Liberal is a person who will give away everything they don't own." |
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RifleDude
MODERATOR EVIL OPPRESSOR Joined: October/13/2006 Location: Texas Status: Offline Points: 16337 |
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Prolly plays a role, Bud. |
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Ted
Money can't buy happiness... but it's much more comfortable to cry in a Porsche than on a bicycle. |
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SVT_Tactical
MODERATOR Chief Sackscratch Joined: December/17/2009 Location: NorthCackalacky Status: Offline Points: 31233 |
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I can't stand all the politically correct safety crap on gear.... the labels, warnings, latches, etc..... I say remove safety and warning labels and let natural selection take out the ignorant. |
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"Most folks are about as happy as they make their minds up to be" - Abraham Lincoln
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BeltFed
Optics Retard Joined: February/12/2008 Location: Ky Status: Offline Points: 22287 |
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Friend of mine is a deputy sheriff and sat in on part of a civil trial about the failure of a 2 person ladder stand that failed. Both were injured, and I believe one was paralyzed. If I remember, he said their clam was that there was no weight limit posted on the stand. Both parties were rather heavy I think. Don't know the outcome; he was moved to a different courtroom before the case ended.
Crap like this could ruin a small company. Funny though, when I bought my tree climber stand; the second thing I looked at was the maximum weight it would hold and made sure it would hold me and at least 50lb.s of clothes and gear. |
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Life's concerns should be about the 120lb pack your trying to get to the top of the mountain, and not the rock in your boot.
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jonoMT
Optics Master Extraordinaire Joined: November/13/2008 Location: Montana Status: Offline Points: 4853 |
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Seems like outdoor gear has been that way forever. Until more recently, I always had to replace sleeping bag stuff sacks with compression versions...then remember, of course, to take them out and store the bags loose. Camp tables, etc are all a pain in the butt to repack. Covers are torn from sharp edges.
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Reaction time is a factor...
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bugsNbows
Optics God bowsNbugs Joined: March/10/2008 Location: North Georgia Status: Offline Points: 11201 |
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I purchased two sleeping mats (air beds) for use this fall at our hunting cabin. Exped megamats. They were awesome, comfortable and come with an oversized, horizontal storage sack. Easy peasy lemon squeezee!!
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If we're not suppose to eat animals...how come they're made of meat?
Anomymous |
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