FangFour

I'm going to Glacier National Park 2nd and/or 3rd Week in September and am looking for a female hiking partner. I've been to the park several times before and have hiked many of the trails. I do mostly day hiking and spend the nights in Many Glacier campground in a medium sized cabin tent, kind of my base of operations for hikes and drives throughout the park. If you are a: Female, aged 35-47, un attached, non-smoker, social drinker, loves the outdoors, animals, taking pictures and are in shape to handle up to 15 mile day hikes with various elevation gain then send me an email. I prefer the down to earth, simple life style type (I hate the rat race) . September is the best time of year in Glacier. I'm sending this now to allow time to get to know someone before the hike. A bit about me: I've been divorced three years, no kids and am looking for friendship first. Glacier is too beautiful to enjoy alone. If you never been there then it will be a added plus (if you have then you are welcome too). My profile is a bit out of date as far as my stats but my pictures speak for themselves.

My Geocaching buddy is named ChucChi. She is a Malemute mix and is now pushing 11 years old. She has no formal training but she has some natural talents that lend themselves well for the outdoors. One of those is Trail Lead. She likes to be out front in the backcounty trails I prefer in North Idaho and Western Montana (or for that matter wherever we happen to go). When she see's something ( and she see's a lot) she'll stop and stare. I just have to look where she's looking and I'll see a moose, deer etc. At that point she's the most perfect dog in the world. But, after she stares for a moment she lets out a subdued "Ruff" and then like a racing horse out of the gate she's off after what she spotted. She doesn't go far and she seems to be hearing impared when I yell "NO" (we're still working on that. Did I say she's 11 years old?). But she'll come back soon and we'll continue our hike. Another is Rescue Swimmer. We like to frequent a lake in North Idaho called Priest Lake. They have a nice campground there called Lion's Head with a little section that you can take your dog swimming. We bought ChucChi a bright orange doggie life vest so she don't have to work so hard swiming when we dive in. Whenever my wife or I go into the water, ChucChi gets a very serious look on her face and swims out after us. Her doggie vest has a grab handle on the top. She'll swim up to us and when we grab the handle she'll turn around and swim back to shore. We never taught her to do this. She just seems to think we should not be out swimming. We were having fun jumping off the dock and taking turns having her 'rescue' us. All this time a small crowd began to form on the beach. We kept looking beyond us thinking that there was something going on that we did not see. As we all swam back to the beach a woman said " Is she a rescue dog?". And then it dawned on us that with her bright orange life preserver and our taking turns having her play resuce that the crowd was for us. P.S. Sorry, I'm still trying to learn how to post a picture. If someone would be so kind as to give me a brief overview I'd appreciate it. Until then, you can look at my profile to see ChucChi (the Schooch for short).

Sure, count me in. By the way, is there a cliff near by?

True, but for the same amount he can get a Magellan Merididan Yellow, which has a map screen and takes SD cards for expandable memory. Definately the best bang for the buck.

Came to this thread a little late but do you still have any left?

DC 3202 Purchased at Costco in Spokane about a year ago. Noticed cracks when the orginal thread about this came out. One crack each side at middle screw.

Hi Shuey, Have had my BFM for about a month now and I well pleased. I like to do the day hike caches and this thing is very comfortable. I especially like the firm lumbar pad...really takes the load off my lower back. I did a cache that was about 9 miles with a 3800ft evelation gain in 90 degree heat. Finshed off the 100oz bladder no problem. Glad it can hold TWO bladders in the same compartment and allow me to hold all my gear. Anyway well pleased with the product. And your service was great!! You even sent me TWO BFM's for the price of one !! I knew it was too good to be true as both packages had the same invoice number. I contacted Chris and I sent the other one back after I contacted him regarding the error. He was suprised and glad that I made him aware of it. Hope he got it as I have not heard from him. Email me if you need the orignal invoice and UPS shipping number. Thanks for a great pack!!

Hey TS, I just purchased a BFM (still waiting for a tracking number) and was wondering: What does BFM stand for?

I have two different Camelbaks, the Trans Alp,which has about 1800 cubic inches of storage space and the BFM, which holds up to 2800 ci's. Each pack has it's own seperate easy access compartment for the bladder. I've never had any condensation or leakage or any type of dampness to the main compartment. Both of my units hold 100 oz of liquid. The BFM model is actually used by the military and is very heavy duty. On sale now at Lightfigher.com for 159.00. The Trans Alps goes for around 120.00.

Utedude, Quote: "show me where on the net it says the performance of the 310 is up to **** or outdated and furthermore I WORK 12 HOURS A DAYand up till now have had very little time to sleep let alone casually browse through the net to find a purchase that and also expect to be told the truth about a product, PLEASE!!!!Also I just got back from an area where a cache exists and either this planter has ventured through private property or my 310 is way off.don,t get me wrong I appreciate others oppinions but only when it is constructive and of assistance,it seems some just like to try to prove to others that they believe they are more knowledgable than others and think at the same time they are helping -initially I just required some help off those who supposedly did know but alas fooled themselves as well as me!!!" You are way off in your response to TotemLake. All of his suggestions we're helpful and right on. I can tell you are frustrated but he was not the cause of your error. Anyone familar with this site can tell you that he does not respond out of arrogance but with experience and knowlege. Lighten up [This message was edited by FangFour on July 11, 2003 at 04:12 PM.] [This message was edited by FangFour on July 11, 2003 at 04:15 PM.] [This message was edited by FangFour on July 11, 2003 at 04:31 PM.]

This message is for Woodbutcher68: I worked in Retail Loss Prevention for 13 years and I can tell you that what you have related is not new. Yeah, people may pull this type of theft off but they're only hurting themselves and other honest consumers in the end. Do they really think this kind of loss for retailers won't show up as higher prices for all of us? But then again, I gather by your "friend" that he's the type that just doesn't care. Hope he enjoys his ill gotten gains...for now. [This message was edited by FangFour on June 30, 2003 at 07:12 PM.]

Good dog. We take ours out to the lake every summer where she justs loves to swim out in the water with us. To help prolong her swim we bought her a doggie vest at the pet store. It's bright orange and has a nice grab handle on it. Works well if you need help or for the dog if it needs help.

Newher pu yur tung on teh datha cabul wen u pluge it en to yur pc

Judi, Both a very good units. I have the Pro and the Meridian Yellow. The Yellow does everything the Pro does ...the Yellow having the SD (secure digital) card but only 2mb base map vs the Pro's built in 8mb base map. I believe the Platinum you're looking at has the 8mb base map PLUS SD card expandability. In other words, you can buy a memory card that can hold up to 512mb of data vs the Pro's built in total memory of 32mb. Frankly, I prefer my Meridian over the Pro for the large screen and the screen seems sharper. Though the Meridian is larger, it has a nice rubber grip around it which feels more secure in my hand, but, it does not come with a laynard like the Pro. Gee, now I don't know which one I want. Good Luck.

Don't forget to purchase a SD (Secure Digital) card to get the most out of your Yellow. They come in various memory capacity from 16mb up to 256mb. I believe the 128mb is the best value. These cards allow you to download maps such as Mapsend Streets/Topo. Another nice add on is a card reader. It allows you to upload/download maps much faster than the data cable that will come with your Yellow.

I have the Dazzle 8 in 1 USB 2.0. It's alittle more expensive at about 50.00 but if you have alot of different gagets with various cards than this is the one for you. Can be found at Comp USA.

Which screen is best depends on what you're using the GPS for. For highway trips or travel I prefer the map screen. For finding caches I prefer the "compass" screen with the arrow pointer. Some of the screens I disable for caching as I feel they are somewhat redundant: the Large Data screen (but good choice for driving or marine use),the Road Screen, Data screen, Speed screen (again, good for driving). So for Geocaching I only use the map screen, compass screen, position screen and sat screen.

Embra, You're right about the SD cards...bought a PNY 64mb for slightly more than a 32. Also got a Dazzle 8in1 read/writer for about 50.00. Much nicer to dll maps to the card than using the data cable that came with the unit.

Wow..we must be twins. Like you I have the SporTrack Pro but when I saw Outpost had the Yellow for 99.99 I had to get it. My comparisons of the two units is right on with yours. However, there are a couple of others I'd like to share: 1. The Meridain locks on to satellites much quicker, even inside my house. 2. I'm not quite sure of how well the Meridian is waterproofed as I can see light through the crack between to access door and the body. 3. When using the units side by side with good reception, they are dead on with each other. Under tree cover, around mountians or in a canyon they can be off by several feet. I uploded the Meridian to firmware 4.02 and have 4.03 on the SporTrak. Have noticed the satellite screen with 4.02 go blank for no reason after getting a good lock. Have heard of the issue with other users too. But all in all I'm very plesased with the Yellow. For the price I think it's the best buy out there. Going to buy a 32mb SD card for it today.

Camelbak Trans Alp. Hold 100oz liquid, easy access to the bladder by means of of zip door, ventilated back pad so your back don't get as sweaty, and lots of storage space and straps, with a built in pack cover in case it rains. Put it on and it stays in place and it's very comfortable.

Now this is a practical resourceful tip! Like the pic with your GPS added in for scale. PS...Does Gatoraid make you sweat funny colors like in the commericals..and if so..does it stain your clothes?

I highy recommend if you have purchased anything from this company using a credit card and have not received your product, that you write your credit card co and request a 'chargeback' on your purchase. This place sounds like it's about to go out of business. I used to be a chargeback investigator for a major bank and we saw alot of mail order companys like this. It's best to write (after you have made your dispute by phone) your credit card provider and send a detail letter stating that you have not received your purchase. Provide any documentation, names, phn number's, etc. It would'nt hurt to provide a copy of the BBB report found on the link in the above post. They will then recredit your account and go after the Aquiring bank.

Thanks for the response. That sounds reasonable to me. I'll leave them in.

Will the batteries drain in a SporTrack if you leave them in while using the automotive power cord? I usually remove them before I put the uniit in the cradle and attach to power cord but it's kind of a hassle.

I was downloading a map to my SporTrak Pro and picked the unit up. When I touched the laynard on the bottom I felt a spark of static electricity. The screen went blank and I could not power up the unit...it was toast. If you have alot of static discharge in your area I strongly suggest touching something else first. Anyone else encounter this?