>>1321197I grew up hunting and fishing and the like, but very sporadically. After my first job, I was looking for something better for working while in school, and worked in a big-box outdoor retail store. Had enough experience to sound like I knew what I was talking about, but got into the camping stuff in a big way, which none of my family or friends did much, except to car camp to get drunk. I put together a backpack of stuff off the shelf, and it sat in my closet for 3 years. Gf went out of town for a week, and I said fuck it, researched until I found a decent trail to try it out, and bailed out the door. Fucked up putting my pack on right, barely crashed into camp in 97° heat, and was nauseous for a couple hours, and didn't know how I would make it back the next day. Got shitty sleep, could barely walk, and crawled back to my car. Looking back on it, I saw what I did wrong, and I took pride in not quitting, and was proud to see my perseverance through the whole ordeal.
I was pumped to try again, and I actually joined some networks and started visiting here to learn more info, and you guys are actually fun to listen to, even if the info isn't always up to snuff.
