Registered: 06/25/11
Posts: 131
Loc: Texas...for now
"Hopefully without the three-year-old, unless he's part of your pack load!"
Actually she is quite the trooper. She hikes all the way to the camp sites, which are generally ~2 miles in. No extreme terrain, but hilly, and she's been carrying her clothes and a stuffed animal in a kid's backpack that's a little big for her (getting her the REI Sprig 12 - she is big for her age, closer to a 5 yr old in height). The child carrier has been retired for the most part.
She just walks a little slow and needs to investigate everything! But that's great, except when we're late and it's getting dark too fast!
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Bob
"Were I to leave where else would I go? Your words of life and of truth You hold." - Third Day
Registered: 02/07/07
Posts: 3917
Loc: Ozark Mountains in SW Missouri
That's great!
I used to take my daughter on day hikes all the time. When she got to be around 5 she started complaining that she didn't want to go, but she complained about most anything at that age so I completely ignored her and two minutes into our hikes she was loving it. Of course, she'd complain when we had to leave too
She's 27 now, and she borrowed my sleeping bag and pad for a backpack/climbing trip she took over the weekend. I'll call her just a little bit to complain that she was supposed to return them last night
Yup, one-time membership fee. I'm not saying how much I paid for mine, but it was long enough ago that it probably wouldn't cover a double-cappuccino today.
Cheers,
Originally Posted By finallyME
Unless REI has changed policy, the membership fee is for life. I bought a membership fee in 2000 and haven't paid since. In fact, I don't even remember paying a fee. I am still a member and receive the yearly dividend.
Registered: 02/23/07
Posts: 1735
Loc: California (southern)
Time for some unabashed bragging. I paid $2.00 for my REI membership. I have a five digit membership number. If I had joined when I first heard of REI, it would be four digits....
Yeah, I'll brag a bit too. I paid two bucks for mine in about 1951. My number is four digits starting with five. When I joined, the entire operation was in a room about the size of a two car garage upstairs from the Green Apple Pie restaurant on Pike Street. The headquarters of the Seattle Mountaineers was just across the hall from what was then called "The Co-op". The first time I heard of REI I didn't know what the person was talking about. One guy I used to do a lot of climbing with when I lived in the PNW had a number about 2100 and another was around 3500. Both of them are still alive but not active in climbing or backpacking any more. A low number used to give it's holder the presumed right to make comments such as "Kid, I've worn out more boots than you have socks" and similar professed claims to great experience.
Registered: 06/25/11
Posts: 131
Loc: Texas...for now
I have not heard of Golite packs. Only their tents. Obviously worth looking into... Do they make a large capacity (65+ liters) with a sleeping bag compartment? Do they sell them through REI?
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Bob
"Were I to leave where else would I go? Your words of life and of truth You hold." - Third Day
No, I don't think they sell through REI. Check their site - www.golite.com. They do have great customer service and a lifetime warranty. They do have a 65L and a 80L. I have the 65L and like I said I don't have a lot of use out of it yet, but it's been great so far. I don't think they have a separate sleeping bag compartment, mine doesn't anyway. AND the price is hard to beat. My 65L was 100.00!! And FYI I just got some goretex rain pants from them for 60.00! Anyway check them out.
Registered: 02/05/03
Posts: 3293
Loc: Portland, OR
the only thing a low Co-op number means is that you are old!
crikey! i'm in the low six digits. but my local REI store had some sort of contest to see which customer had the lowest number and I wasn't anywhere close. whew!
Registered: 10/26/12
Posts: 32
Loc: Saint Charles, MO
Not that I'm that old, but I can remember having an email address on this site long ago. I think it was ken@backpackinglite.net or ken@litebackpacking.net. Something like that. I think it was in about 1998.
I have not heard of Golite packs. Only their tents. Obviously worth looking into... Do they make a large capacity (65+ liters) with a sleeping bag compartment? Do they sell them through REI?
Golite packs have no frame. Therefore, if you have 70 liters of stuff and it weighs 25 lbs or less, or, you are really extremely good at packing so that the pack balances properly on the hip belt so you're comfortable wearing it while hiking, go for it.
Good luck with that. :p
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"In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities. In the expert's mind there are few." Shunryu Suzuki
My GoLite Quest has both a frame sheet and stays. It weighs just under 3 pounds and has a capacity of about 4000 cubic inches (66 liters). It also has an excellent suspension system and is comfortable with loads up to about 45 pounds. I use this pack more than any other I have and will be sad when it wears out.
While my Quest was purchased in 2007, I believe that GoLite still makes this pack although I think the current incarnation is a bit heavier. My Quest has over 1000 miles of fairly hard use behind it and is still in good, though scuffed, condition.
Frame sheet and stays isn't the same, as my friend found out loading nearly 30 lbs in one... she was miserable. I don't think her pack (bought this year) had stays. Not sure but I believe it was the Pinnacle. She got it because she thought it would be like her older Golite pack, and it wasn't.
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"In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities. In the expert's mind there are few." Shunryu Suzuki
Some Golites are frameless, some have framesheets, some have stays, some have both framesheets and stays. I have an older LiteSpeed which has both a framesheet and stays.
I have a Pinnacle as well which is frameless except for the foam, which doesn't do much. Golite doesn't make the Pinnacle anymore (nor do they make the Peak)... sort of. Instead they placed them into the Jam line. So now the Jam (another frameless) has 3 different volumes. The frameless golites as other frameless packs require the packing to be just right, and as the weight increases, they do not carry well. fortunately they use a sleeve for the foam pad, and one can also use that sleeve to place a framesheet and/or stays. I use my stays from my Mariposa when needed.
My parents were not members nor were they particularly interested in mountaineering. Both loved fishing and when they were younger would backpack in order to get to good fishing. This was my introduction to backpacking, starting in 1947.
I lived in southern California until I was about 13 and learned basic rock climbing from a scoutmaster who had served with the 10th Mountain Division during WW-II. I loved it! When we moved to Seattle, I got started with the Mountaineers and their climbing course. This was the start of my nearly lifelong love of the mountains. It was through the Seattle Mountaineers that I was introduced to the Co-op (now REI). The Co-op was one of the few places one could purchase climbing gear.
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