Another 'classic & crazy James journey' is how most of my trips end up! Here's a collection of adventures caught on camera & everything that's important to me: Community (Hapū), Authenticity, pursuit of our best self (Mauri Ora), and care for our planet (kaitiakitanga) SALTY GRINS is all about Human Connection, and so sharing my journey and that of some others along the way, I hope to help create wholesome, meaningful connection and a greater sense of community. Here's to getting sweaty and salty, grinning through it all - good and bad - and throwing heaps of shakas. Stay Salty, Grin Lots, Throw Shakas Aroha Nui!
Thanks for sharing so much of your journey. Smiles tears and laughter this end. Miss you so much. This journey of yours is incredible even when there are lows - just take a wee peek back at what and how you’ve accomplished each step. Phenomenal 👏
Hey Henry! Yeah man, done a lot in 20c plus. I personally haven’t had trouble with them, and I wear NZ Merino socks for their sweat wicking and climate control 🤙🏽
If the French government have heard D Urville, New Zealand would have been French! One of my ancestors was with Jules Dumont d Urville during the 1826-1829 exploration.
Heya! There can be quite a bit to fitting an Aarn pack well, but spot on that you have all your measurements! I've got here a link to the Aarn Pack size guide: www.aarnpacks.com/pages/how-to-select-your-pack It's pretty crucial that the measurements are taken from the correct landmarks, other wise you'll end up missing out on the magic of these packs if they don't fit and probably end up feeling dissatisfied. Ultimately the team at Aarn are awesome and happy to help! Use this link to their website: www.avantlink.com/click.php?tt=cl&merchant_id=f82b013e-d0a7-4a0c-bac5-c0e3675554e6&website_id=5f81a13d-c2b1-4a87-bbc1-e7237b588fa5&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.aarnpacks.com and you'll be helping support my page and more content! Thanks for watching! super stoked!
Seems like he has **finally** found a solution for the hip belt on his lighter packs! The belt on my old Mountain Magic is a bit of a fail. Prototyping my own DIY version of the body-pack, I've realised the problem. You need the stay of the balance pocket to slot into the belt near to the centre. But with a conventional belt, this is where you'd have the tightening straps. Dividing each side of the belt into 2 pads, he's able to slot the stay into a pad near the central buckle. And he can have a second pad extending from the pack to take the main load. And then there's space between them for a double adjustment strap on the side, where you don't need padding in any case. Simple once you figure it out, but I didn't spot it and it's taken Aarn decades to come up with it. Now this is solved, I can finalise my own design! But I'm a bit baffled by his decision to supply the pack with such wimpy balance pockets by default. The whole benefit of the body pack is to shift half of the weight to the front, along with giving easy access to the stuff you need on the trail. These tiny pockets don't have nearly enough volume for all that. Your camera pockets are much more on point. Anyway, thanks for the review! It's surprising how most backpackers simply aren't open minded enough to even try one. The number of times I've been told that I won't be able to see my feet or that my chest will get hot or that it's too difficult to put on or....
Hey Man! Epic you've made your own! I rate that. Thanks for watching and your time in commenting! I agree that these packs and any body pack are a game changer! I haven't tried the earlier versions so hadn't run into that problem, but happy to be the beneficiary of this updated version that honestly works so well!
Such a helpful and honest review! I love my poles (Leki Legacy's). I'm so glad I got them. For my day hiking makes a massive difference for my back and ive used them crossing some pretty rough rivers/streams during fly fishing too! I love watching gear reviews so excited to see what else you can give us some insights into! Keep them coming 😍
Yeah, Black Diamond need to rethink that system! Its great in theory, and it’s simple, but just doesn’t not work practically if you wanted to change environments! Easier to have two sets of poles Id say
