"Publishing" gear lists--where?

Does anyone have suggestions for a site where I can "publish" my gear list? I can convert it (currently Excel) to almost any format, but if I try to put it in a forum post, it's extremely difficult to read (spacing from a Word file goes away when I copy/paste). Obviously, I'd prefer something that is free.

I could do it on BPL, but I'd just as soon not cope with being flamed by the under-5-pound, anti-TP contingent over there. I guess I'm a little too thin-skinned for that. My pack is lightweight, not ultra-light, and I have no plans to go to the latter category. On the other hand, suggestions for saving another pound or two are always welcome.

BTW, should you want to convert Excel to .pdf, the converter is on, of all places, the Print menu. Conversion to other file types is on the "Save As" menu. Don't ask me why!

try converting it to a plain .txt file. The way it looks in notepad should be how it looks on a post.

to convert to/from doc types:
http://www.youconvertit.com/
http://www.cometdocs.com/

as far as other "publishing" sites to share it online for free:
docs.google.com
http://www.mediafire.com/

Yeah, you better have some thick skin to post your gear list on BPL. I think that it is understood that if you post your list, you WANT people to be VERY critical and slam everything. In other words, if you are comfortable with your stuff, don't ask others to critique it at BPL.

Actually, you can publish your gear list on BPL as a PDF attached to your profile or you can post it as a thread on their forum. The lists that are posted on the forum tend to get pretty thoroughly keelhauled. There is criticism for a person taking a SAK Classic rather than a single-edge razor blade for Pete's sake!

However, I did post one of my older gear lists with my profile on BPL and it has been roundly ignored. I think that I am glad. I am quite happy with my present 13+ pound base weight. I wouldn't mind shedding a pound or two but not at the cost of sleeping standing in my clothes, tied to a tree and under a 3' x 3' spinnaker tarp.

That's why I don't want to publish on BPL. I'd rather not have to wade through a lengthy diatribe insisting that I use pine cones instead of TP on my hemorrhoids!

“However, I did post one of my older gear lists with my profile on BPL and it has been roundly ignored.”

I don’t think it has been ignored. I love it when people post their gear lists with their profile. It tells me a lot of their background and then I understand their posts better.

I ended up posting my partial gear list; the things I take the most often. Otherwise there are so many things that change every single trip:
Socks, PJ’s, hats, First Aid, bandana, toiletries, etc.

-Barry

Just trim your list down to a 4"x10" Cuben tarp and a balloon in a ziplock bag and you will do quite well over at BPL.

Yeah, I have read a few of those debates myself; a lot of heat but very little light. Sometimes the discussions on BPL puts me in mind of the bumpff on White Blaze. Someone inquiring about a tent is told to "get a hammock dips--t".

I have never found ignorance to be a barrier to opinion. Things tend to look different to someone in their twenties than they do to someone in their "golden years".

Trail Runner, that tarp is way too big! 4' x 8' is better. Maybe even 3' x 6'! And why the balloon? A 1/8" thick torso pad is plenty enough!

Actually, I've found quite a few good ideas at BPL and to me it was worth the $25 to read the backlog of articles from prior years, although I won't renew when the time comes. The only article published this year that I found useful was the review of single-wall tents. Even the results of that one were repeated in the forum in the comments on the article, so it wasn't necessary to read the article itself. I'd rather pay the $25 here!

That's 4x10 inches. The balloon is to sleep on.

On a serious note, have you considered Practical Backpacking? It's not a bad site if you don't mind the stifiling moderator.

I'm already on that one, thanks. Known as grannyhiker over there. I keep thinking I'm going to quit that one, but every once in a big while something useful pops up or there's something that interests (or aggravates) me enough to post.

4x10 inches sounds about right! But they're all for teeny tiny closed cell pads (torso length at most) over there.

Soooo true. Or that we can all survive in a 32 or 45 degree bag in the Cascades in July. Brrrrr.......

Ok, here is a far-out idea. Can you take a picture or your printed list and post the picture on photo bucket along with you other pic's.
Not sure how it would work, but I used to make slides this way.
(that tells you how long ago it was!!!)

Tango

Hmm, having just suggested over there that a 32-degree bag works for me in some parts of the Cascades in July ...

Not meaning to defend (or attack) BPL here, but I haven't sensed a general attack-dog mentality there. I think it's about expectations. I'm not an ultralight backpacker, and while I haven't ever posted a list over there, I don't suspect it would be too beaten up by most folks so long as I made clear what I was aiming for. Certainly there would be posts suggesting how I could go lighter in ways that I wouldn't want to go, but it's always possible to get an insight from such feedback.

At any rate, I think it's possible to get ideas about lightening up by reading a lot of existing gear list threads, without any risk of feeling personally attacked. There, here, on whiteblaze, probably other places as well.

Okay, since I'm talking here maybe I should add to the actual thread content ...

One approach to posting a gear list (or anything) is to check with your ISP (internet service provider) to see if they offer any space to their users for web content. It's not major rocket science to learn how to use an FTP tool to upload an html web page to anywhere you can get permission to post such content to. And both MS Word and Excel allow you to add links in your content and save the result as an html page that can be so-uploaded.

If this sounds a little too geeky for you, perhaps you're related to or acquainted with a local geek who could walk you through the steps. Just avoid them talking you into some more complicated-yet-elegant scheme that represents how *they* would do it, and stick with a simple approach. I've built a web content process for a non-profit using strictly MS Word as the creation tool, and while indeed the underlying html is ugly stuff, a casual user doesn't need to know or care.

Darn, hilarious and so true...

If you have a place to put the gear list, It's easy enough
to put a link in your signature here for the posts. (and of course if you look at the bottom of mine you know why I'm suggesting it). I find leaving it there is relatively worthwhile because people know where I'm coming from when I post.

OTOH this does require you to have some sort of other personal
web site to put it on - i.e. go get yourself a google page or some other free website and put a text file of your gear list on it somewhere.

Brian...my catty comment was more aimed at that if you dare say "I need my TP, my warm bag and by golly, an extra pair of socks to stay warm at night" you run the risk of being lambasted. I do well with keeping a low pack weight - but like OM, there are things that are not negotiable

I should post my gear list these days! Been a long time

Okay Sarbar, if you post yours, I'll post mine and we can slam each other!

Hmm, but that gets back to "where to put it". I think I still remember how to ftp stuff to my ISP site ...

I think you need to agree on a "safe" word.

Okay, I wasn't going there ...

Putting my gear-list where my electronic mouth is (how's that for mixing metaphors with a big spoon?), my list is here.

This is a sort of generic 3 season, or at least "2+" for backpacking in the Northwest, with of course various modifications depending on the specific trip. I sometimes add a 7 oz full length blue foam pad, bring a larger tent if my wife is on the trip, drop the tent (poncho-tarp) if rain seems unlikely, etc etc.

LOL!

I really need to update mine! I weighed everything again this week on my digital scale....got a better idea of everything - nice to do every couple years!