New Valley Hills

MYOG is traditionally the acronym for Make Your Own Gear. I’ve expanded it to include modifying and mending.

My first modification was removing an unneeded fabric divider in my bumbag.

A better way to push tent stakes in.
I picked up a tip that using a pop bottle screw-on top was a useful way to save your palm from damage when pushing in stakes. While on the Thames Path some of the ground felt rock hard after being baked in summer sun. I borrowed a stake hammer a couple of times from friendly campers but realised this option wouldn’t always be available, and I certainly wasn’t going to carry a hammer with me when hike camping.
A couple of times I used the Superfeet insole as a press pad as that had a very hard plastic layer. But again I realised I might not always have those insoles to hand (or feet? 🙂 ).
I went back to the pop bottle top. This worked quite well but it was getting deformed pushing stakes into the hard earth.

Eureka! A British 1 penny coin pushed into the top made it more durable. Weight before 1p coin 1g, weight with 1 coin 5g. Or with a slightly bigger top and a 2p coin, without 2g, with 10g.

Pet peeve – why do Osprey backpacks use zips on their belt pockets which cannot be closed by one hand?
Durston Gear do on their Kakwa backbacks. I’m sure others do.
I find it difficult to reach across my torso to add the opposite hand to closing the zip. Makes grabbing a snack a chore. Could I replace the zip with a smoother running one? Or maybe replace the zip with velcro? Something to ponder for another day.

Making hat not flap in the wind. This hat is fantastic. After an Aussie commented on skin damage to my face at a BBQ last summer I took away I needed to protect my skin better from sunlight. You have to listen to an Aussie for skin cancer risk reduction advice! A baseball cap wasn’t enough. This has UPF50 protection and keeps my entire face and neck in shadow.

One downside – the neck cape flaps in high wind. I thought to add a cord through it around my neck to stop that.