My two-year-old grandson just spent the week with me. We, of course, read kids stories. That got me thinking.

Do gear manufacturers think about proportions when designing gear? For example, thinking I was so cleaver, I sewed him fleece pants using 200 wt. fleece. Great material, poor choice. The size of pants for a little one who is under 3 feet tall and 8-inch legs, makes the thicker material very cumbersome and uncomfortable.

Shoes are another example. As a small person, I find the soles on Teva sandles way too thick and stiff. When I bought kids sandles, they fit much better.

Tents and packs are big pet peeves of mine. How about tents sized for short, average and tall? JimShaw- I would die for a x-small sized Kelty Cloud! I am tolerating my TarpTent Moment, but what the heck am I going to do with all that length? My WM "short" sleeping bag fits me in length, but it appears thay just took off the bottom foot section of the bag and did not proportionately slim the bag. And my trekking poles - why do I need them to hold 250 pounds?

And do not get me going on womens trail pants. Yes, here lighter material was considered, but fashion overides function. Hiking capris? now what do I do about mosquitoes on me ankles? Drop waist - just in the location to be highly uncomfortable with a pack on. Itsy bitsy pockets - a map does not fit inside. Generously sized sleeves - forget it.

I know you big guys have similar problems. Although I think big guys are finally being heard because I think there are more of you backpacking than small people. If "volume speaks", then Hey - all you little people - get out there and backpack!

Daisy
can you cut the rear half off your tent? I took an old TNF blue kazoo out of its bag and measured for my dog. I could make a perfect bag for her with the top 2 feet and make myself a foot sack from the bottom. Surely you can shorten a sleeping bag? I have sewed 1/8" diameter round elastic cord inside my winter bag to hold it against me, cutting drafts and making it much warmer. Think about elastic in the bottom of your bag.

Proportion???? I think that's the buyers job. And have you thought about making your own pack? The less it weighs the more forgiving the design is.
Jim

Daisy. My wife often complains about ladies pants. They generally are not made of as heavy a material as the men’s, and so in the winter she is cold. The pockets are so small they are useless, whereas my pockets are nice and deep. Most ladies pants are of the below the waste variety. Not very comfortable or practical. Also, women pay more for their cloths than us guys. There definitely is an uneven playing field out there.

Howie

Isn't this a good example of how popular opinion and marketing cause pressures for manufacturers to make, and I hate to use the word, but "inferior" products, perhaps I should say, less than optimally useful or comfortable products because of popular demand? But Dasiy isn't cute and sexy more important than fitting comfortably or keeping you warm?
Jim

Jim- I called Henry Shires about shortening the tent and, if I understood correctly, he said the length had to do with the the ability to set it up tautly. He said the length was determined by the size of the main arc pole. TarpTents are well designed so I hesitate to modify them. Maybe after I have used it for some time I can figure out how to modify the length without altering the pitch. I am not concerned about the weight - it is light, but more about the long footprint that may restrict where I can set it up.

I remember when clothing was actually sized in small increments. Now much is small, medium, large. Great if you are a perfect small, medium or large!

You could always get a dog to take up the extra length! Not too big a dog, though. I did some masking tape and string "structures" in my living room to simulate a Moment and decided that it's not quite big enough for both me and Hysson. Maybe a 40 lb. dog! They do help to keep their owner warm on cold nights!

I could maybe fit a chihuahua in my tent. But this idea gets me wondering: how much does a dog add to their human's pack weight? Can dogs typically be trained to carry all of their own extra gear (and food) weight? Or even more than their share?

My dog who is a short, 55lb lab, adds zero additional weight to my pack. She carries her own bowl, food, 20ft tie-out, hair comb and tweezers for ticks and other things, poopie bags, snacks, fleece jacket in colder weather and a cut-down piece of CCF padding for her to sleep on. I may also put a 1L platy in her pack to depending on location. As her food decreases and the trip progresses she ends up carrying the trash.

She just loves getting her pack on, probably because she feels like she has a job to do just like the rest of her "pack"-- or maybe I am humanizing my dog

My dog carries his own weight too. Yes, I do carry his first-aid kit (everything except the buffered aspirin is dual-use) and his sleeping pad (to pad the back of my pack), but he carries equivalent weight of mine to make up for the latter (3.5 oz.). After he's eaten a couple days' worth of his food, he gets to carry the garbage, too. The only thing I carry for him is his 1/3 of our tent!

His Ruffwear Palisades pack contains water bladders, too. If we camp a long ways from the water source, I can load the bladders up (they will hold 1 gal. each side but I usually limit to 3/4 gallon each side) so that only one trip to the water source is required. (Of course the rest of his stuff is removed from his pack and the food hung before we do this!)

I tried that with our Pomeranian and he did all right. Carried his little bottle of Pierre, dry food, wet food, and small plastic glad container. The problem is he only likes to walk about 2 miles and then he has had enough! Sits down and waits to be picked up. Its a hoot!!!!!