2002.07.13 : All About the Gear
"But mad dogs and Englishmen
Go out in the midday sun."
- Noel Coward
Go out in the midday sun."
- Noel Coward
Saturday, and it's REI run time. Yeah, boeeyyy . . . Picked up:
- Microfiber Pack Towel: 25"x54" – but folds up to the size of a small paperback and weighs in at 8oz. Ultra-absorbant, and mega-fast drying. Not sure how I got by without one of these before.
- Personal Water Purification (not "filtration") system. Looks like a water bottle, but three filters stop 99.9% of waterborne protozoa, 99.99% of viruses, and 99.9999% of bacteria. I dropped $50 on this, but I figured, Hey – what's nearly two months in Africa without Giardia worth? A lot, that's what.
- Clip-on belt pouch for above.
- THE HAT. Aside from the fact that I've lately gotten keen on keeping that killer star of ours off of my face – and thus avoiding looking like Robert Redford at age, oh, hell, whatever age he is – moreover, what's the point of trekking in darkest Africa if you can't sport an Intrepid Jungle Explorer hat? It's always all about looking cool.
Another thing about the MP3 player. These songs will come on that you've never heard on the radio – or, for that matter, outside of your own home. And they're immediately, perfectly familiar – but so far out of context you can't name them, by title or artist, for like 30 seconds. And if that's not an odd enough sensation, there's all the out-of-left-field associations and emotional resonances. The expression "like having the soundtrack to your life set on shuffle play" could be just a stunning figurative flourish, if it weren't ruined, in this case, by being literally true. 8^(
