W.T.F.

W.T.F. is with the F-tards that leave their garbage at our trail heads, on our trails and in the forest?
Walking the dog the other morning I came across three beer cans stuck on branches of a tree? I wasn't on a trail I was out just wandering through the forest. Now I deeply understand the desire to consume a tasty malted beverage in the wilds. But Bud is not a tasty beverage and that cylindrical metal container is not appropriate decoration in the forest.
Why the love hate thing with old Mother Nature? Mother Nature is not always the bitch some claim her to be, after all if she was so nasty the wild places of this world would have no draw on our souls!
Perhaps you truly like the look of faded Bud logos hanging on trees, if so I am sure your home is easy to spot. The Bud, Silver Bullets, and all the other piss water you drink must supply ample decoration. If your financial position is not advantageous to your beer can fetish please send me your address. Mind you, most beer I drink comes from a bottle and has a name containing more than one word, but sometimes I drink from a can and I can drop them at your trailer!

Then not ten minutes later I came across a bag of dog shit in a tree!

W.T.F. F-tard you pick up your dog crap just to throw it into the forest? You are probably also the kink of person that dumps their yard waste, after all it's organic.
Hey, F-tard, ever notice all the invasive plants that should not be here? Like Morning Glory, no I am not talking about that thing you wake up stroking in the morning! This stuff grows from a small bit of the plant and is virtually impossible to get rid of. You must quite like the invasive plants though, you carry your dog shit into the forest to fertilize them, just next time take the bag home, you can use it to decorate!

                                               Six feet up in a tree? W.T.F.?

Longwood

Last week I was the the lucky recipient of a growler of Longwood Brew pub IPA. Thank you Sue! As you can see in the photo a growler is a large bottle, at 64oz it is essentially two liters. A bit more than I can drink in one sitting! This IPA is very good, hoppy without being over bearing as many IPA's have become. You may notice this beer is not crystal clear, this is because they choose not to filter the beers at Longwood. You can read about their brewing process here. This may be a tie for the best IPA I have had to date, the other a home brew by D F who makes his beers from scratch malting the grains etc. If you are traveling through Nanaimo you really should do yourself a favor and stop by Longwood to pick yourself up a growler or two!

Osprey Talon 22

Well this is my first product review, don't expect anything to technical just my thoughts on the use of this pack over the last year. First off I have to say over all I am very happy with the pack, I use it mostly for my commute to work by bike and a couple day hikes and a couple epic bike rides. Typical contents are gloves, sunglasses, laptop & cords, camera bag, a t-shirt and underwear, a rain jacket, a headlamp and assorted other small bits, oh one other item a flask of Bourbon! All that and room to spare!

                                         Usually this amount of stuff in there!

The features:

One main compartment accessed by a two way zipper inside the main compartment is a small wallet sized pouch with a Velcro secured flap, one mesh pocket of approx. 2L with a one way zipper. There is a slot between the back panel and the gear areas for a hydration bladder, at the top of this slot is another wallet sized pouch with a Velcro flap. There are two small one way zippered pouches, one on each side of the hip belt and two small cell phone/gel packet sized pockets on the shoulder straps. On the outside of the main compartment is a large stretch pocket.On each side of the main bag is a stretch pocket sized just right for a water bottle.

The bad:

There are only a couple small things that I find annoying about this pack one is that it did not come with a rain cover, pretty minor really, I bought one for $15. Still it would be nice if one was attached. Second is that I find the waist belt difficult to buckle and adjust with heavy gloves on again very minor but a possible area of improvement. The third and final thing is the mesh pocket hangs into the main compartment and when removing large items (like my laptop) they tend to catch a bit on it, again not realy a big deal but a possible area for improvement.

The Good:
The back "airscape" panel really does vent quite well, the shoulder and waist straps are very comfortable also venting very well. During this year of use I have not babied this pack and it has no visible signs of wear. I like that when accessing the main compartment I can see into the mesh bag to locate items. The small pouch in the hydration sleeve is a great place for your wallet and a flask!

Overall:
I love this pack! It is my go to bag for so many things from epic MTB rides and day hikes, to commuting and just kicking around. I would recommend it to my brother!