Revolution Race Hike & Dive Shorts

June 27, 2023 averageguy Home, Lifestyle Leave a comment

Hike & Dive Shorts from RevolutionRace

If you’re looking for a pair of shorts that can handle both hiking and swimming, you might want to check out the Hike & Dive Shorts from RevolutionRace. These are hybrid shorts made from a fast-drying stretch material, ideal for a cool swim after a warm summer hike. I got to test them out on a recent trip to the river and here are my thoughts. (I wasn’t in the water very long because our rivers are REALLY COLD right now. I took these pics after a load of laundry. There is a stain on the left short leg, and that is my own fault. I’ve been wearing these almost daily and at some point I got something oily on them while doing work on the trailer.

Features and Fit

The Hike & Dive Shorts have some classic hiking features, such as an adjustable waist, enhanced belt loops, and several smart pockets. They also have a zippered thigh pocket and a back pocket with velcro for extra security. The shorts have a regular fit and come in six different colors: black, autumn, dark blue, aloe, charcoal, and black/lava. I chose the black/lava color, which has a nice contrast between the charcoal shorts and the red zippers and drawstrings.

The shorts are made from 77% recycled polyester, 15% cotton, and 8% elastane, which gives them a nice stretch and breathability. The fabric feels soft and comfortable on the skin and doesn’t chafe or irritate. The shorts I got are almost a little bit big for me but if I got the size smaller, they’d be a little bit too small. I’m 6’2″ and this morning was 218lbs, and I got a size XL. The tag says 35-36 and they’re slightly loose. But this has been an issue with practically everything I try on.. I’m always in-between sizes.

The drawstring has been sturdy. It seems almost unnecessary, but it really does help keep the shorts on you when you jump into the water.

My only complaint is that the button hole is a bit too loose, and the button has come out a couple times. The belt I wear may be part of the reason.

Performance and Comfort

The Hike & Dive Shorts performed well on both land and water. They were easy to move in and didn’t restrict my range of motion. They were also quick to dry after getting wet, which was great for avoiding chills or discomfort. The shorts didn’t sag or lose their shape when wet, either. They stayed snug on my waist and didn’t ride up or down, and I pared them with a belt by Arcade.

The shorts were also comfortable to wear for long periods of time. They didn’t cause any friction or rubbing, even when I was sweating or swimming. They also kept me cool and ventilated in the hot weather. The pockets were handy for storing my keys and phone and the zippers were smooth and sturdy. I didn’t take my phone in the water, though. 🙂

Conclusion

Overall, I was very impressed with the Hike & Dive Shorts from RevolutionRace. They are versatile, durable, and stylish shorts that can handle both hiking and swimming with ease. They are also made from recycled materials, which is a plus for sustainability. I would recommend them to anyone looking for a pair of shorts that can do it all. I would probably not use them while scuba diving, but they’re great for stand up paddle boarding days.

You can buy the Hike & Dive Shorts from RevolutionRace’s website¹ for $69. (This is not an ad, and I did not get any free product or anything from RevolutionRace.) They offer free shipping and 30-day free returns. Mine came from an address in Sweden and arrived within a week. You can also check out their other products, such as their RVRC GP Shorts², their Nordwand Shorts³, or their Trail Pro Shorts⁴.

¹: Hike & Dive Shorts Men Black | RevolutionRace

²: Men’s Outdoor & Hiking Shorts | RevolutionRace

³: Nordwand Shorts Khaki Men | RevolutionRace

⁴: Trail Pro Shorts Peacemaker Blue Men | RevolutionRace

Note: I did get lazy and let Bing AI write some of this for me, and I edited for accuracy.

I tried a Vejo unit.

February 8, 2023 averageguy Food, Home Leave a comment

We got a Vejo for Christmas and it’s been sitting in the box until a few days ago. I finally decided to unbox it and try it out. I have no unboxing pics or video, unfortunately, as it was recycle night and I almost forgot to take the can out as it is.

The unit looks like a thermos with a thick cover on it and it’s about the same weight. The cups look like the disposable k-cups we all love to hate, but apparently these cups are made out of a compostable material. I tried to check the website for more information but for some unknown reason, it decided to feed me information in German. Oops.

vejo website in German

Another blogger has way better photos than I do of the unboxing and mentions that the cups are made of corn. Either way, they are compostable.

You put water in the Vejo, put the cup in, screw down the lid, and press a button. It’s that simple. To my surprise, the product tasted WAY better than I thought it was going to. They’re about $2.50 a cup still which isn’t the cheapest thing around, but at this time it’s cheaper than some of the other options.

There are a few other benefits too.
* It’s portable. I can charge it, toss it in my bag, and take it to work with me. My big ol’ Ninja blender is way less portable.
* It’s USB-C chargeable. This means that it’s a lot easier to take camping with us and we can easily recharge it from our solar generator.

When we acquire something, the thought of “Can I use this in the trailer?” is always in the back of my mind. These little cups are a great healthy drink in 30 seconds with minimal cleanup.

We got ours free (again, as a gift – this is not a paid/sponsored post, and I have no relationship with the Vejo company) but current price is $130. Of course, they will sell you a subscription for the flavor pods. I tried the Tropical and Immunity Fuel ones so far and have been pleased.

My only complaint is that the USB-C slot is rather exposed and I worry about water getting in there while cleaning it. Otherwise, it’s a decent little device so far. I like it.

Speaking of that other blogger, I’m going to have to give this recipe a try. Those look good.

Honda e2000i generator sputtering and quits

November 3, 2022 averageguy Home Leave a comment

Thank you to the ham radio guys with a post from 2008 about this.

Check the gas cap. There’s a dial labeled “on” and “off” that you can turn. It can (and will) let you be halfway in between the two as well, which will let you get some fuel but not enough to keep it going. Turn it all the way to ON. I found this out the hard way and had dismantled and cleaned half the generator already. Oops.

honda e2000i fuel cap

Apple Watch Ultra

September 23, 2022 averageguy Tech Leave a comment

It’s not really a whole lot bigger than my 44mm Series 6 watch and it doesn’t feel heavier. At least not to me. I can use all of my old watch bands. I am not having any trouble with the Alpine Loop either. In fact, it feels like I can get my watch just a little bit tighter but not too tight. I’m always in between clothing sizes, so some adjustability in things is nice to have.

It’s fast. It’s responsive. It is easy to see in bright sunlight, and I really like the new dark mode too. We’ll be testing out the L1+L5 GPS on a hike this weekend.

So far it’s a win. It’s definitely not for everybody, and we’re not extreme athletes at all, so we’re barely in the target market. We do go snorkeling and paddle boarding and I do want to get dive certified, though. I am very much looking forward to using the Ultra. It may very well be the thing that inspires me to take more backpacking trips.

old 44mm s6 and the new Ultra together.

What are we towing with?

July 28, 2022 averageguy Travel Leave a comment

To start off, we were using the 6cyl, 4×4 double cab 2021 Toyota Tacoma. Has a 6400lb towing capacity, and it can definitely tow the Micro Minnie FLX, but on some of the coastal mountain range hills we felt like the Tacoma was struggling. I worry about long term issues. Thanks to trade-in values, we opted to go for a Toyota Tundra as a tow vehicle instead. The Tacoma is already off to its new forever home. Better fuel economy as well, which was surprising. We also needed to make sure that we had enough cargo capacity.

First trip with the Micro Minnie FLX

July 28, 2022 averageguy Travel Leave a comment

We were able to get the Micro Minnie FLX out for a weekend trip and so far, we love it. Only a couple things that we noted…

  • AC & Microwave on at same time (while on battery) tripped main breaker which I did not expect.
  • Inverter showed E01 (low battery) and kept cycling.
  • Starlink router is reset to factory settings by rapid power cycling. The inverter cycling tripped the Starlink router into its reset mode. Oops! At least it was an easy fix.
  • Xantrex app does not show battery level accurately at all, but now that I’m aware of that, I know to check the Lithionics app. Xantrex makes LiFoP4 batteries too so I am not sure why Winnebago did not go with their batteries for better integration. I actually wonder if they DO integrate. Who knows.
  • Winnebago panel shows fresh/grey/black levels correctly, but not battery. This is to be expected, but I guess I wish the FLX got its own control panel that didn’t have a battery button on it. Had I not known this before, I might have been confused and thinking my battery was dead.
  • GoPower app works ok. Seen charge Current of 13.71A, Solar Power 205 W at 1300. This was with the solar panels on the roof, which are 2 x 190watt panels. My Renogy 200w suitcase panel did not arrive in time. More on that later.
  • Lithionics app works ok. Shows a lot of data, and makes it easy to monitor levels.
  • Switched to battery only around 10am, down to 70% with AC on and some microwave usage. At that rate, battery has about 4 hours of usage.
  • AC set to about 77 was quite comfortable. AC (obviously) does better when door is closed.
  • Plugged back in around 2pm when battery was around 48%

Good Things:

  • Starlink worked out quite well
  • Fridge did well but was affected by ambient temperature, which is kind of expected.
  • Shower did great. Showermiser was awesome.
  • Still have 3/4+ tank of fresh water even after almost 4 days. We took washcloth showers, which helped.
  • Nectar mattress is VERY comfortable. Might need to reinforce foot end of bed.

Starlink speeds

June 21, 2022 averageguy Tech Leave a comment

We all love speed tests, and I’m no different.

Speed test for Starlink showing 112Mbps down, 8Mbps up, 82ms ping.

These are better than what friends with Xfinity Cable internet around here are getting. (We have AT&T Fiber and love it.)

Looking forward to taking Starlink camping and seeing how it goes.

“Scan to Network Folder” option with samba

June 18, 2022 averageguy Tech Leave a comment

I have an HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M283cdw printer that has been working great. I also use the “Scan to Network Folder” option to scan files to a linux share with samba. The Samba project removed smb1 by default a few years ago. Soon they will remove smb1 support entirely. HP has not updated this particular printer driver yet to include smb2 or smb3, and I have no idea why. Their support chat was completely worthless and unable to provide any assistance. If it won’t be a security issue for your network, you can re-enable smb1 by adding two lines in your /etc/samba/smb.conf file:

client min protocol = NT1 

server min protocol = NT1

Some other documents I’ve seen say to add “min protocol = smb1” but this did not work. Apparently it needs to be specified as “NT1” which I did not know. Adding those two lines and restarting the smbd service allowed this feature to function once again.

Also, to keep MacOS of any version from leaving .DS_Store files…. do this.

vfs objects = fruit streams_xattr  

fruit:metadata = stream

fruit:model = MacSamba

fruit:posix_rename = yes 

fruit:veto_appledouble = no

fruit:wipe_intentionally_left_blank_rfork = yes 

fruit:delete_empty_adfiles = yes 

🙂

Starlink for RVs

June 2, 2022 averageguy Tech, Travel Leave a comment

Recently saw that Starlink has launched for RVs and we decided to go ahead and get it. One new feature (at least I think that it’s new) is that you can pause your account. You still end up paying the $135 for the full month of service but otherwise, no contracts or anything. Of course you still buy the hardware up front.

Ours took about a week to get here and mostly that was due to FedEx being a dumpster fire these days. I took it out in the backyard and set it up in about 10 minutes. We are not in a normal service area (being in the middle of a metro area) so we expect it to be a lower priority, which is fine. Everything plugged right in and it was so easy I won’t even bore you with photos.

What I did get a photo of later is exciting to me. I have a small Jackery power unit and wanted to see how the Starlink hardware would do. The solar panel is drawing in 51W, and the Starlink stuff using 45W. If I wanted to, I could sit outside all day and still have Starlink internet. Is this a likely scenario? No. Do I need to do this? Also no. Can I do it if I felt like it? Oh yes. iPhone next to a starlink router and plugged into a 200w Jackery power unit.

Speeds were about what others have posted – I got about 100mbps down and about 20mbps up. You really don’t need a ton of bandwidth for most of the internet, and things are even lighter when you block ads & garbage with ublock origin and/or pi-hole. It’s amazing how much faster things load. Yet another reason I try to keep AGT (average guy tries) as lightweight as possible. But I digress..
Starlink is a bit pricy but when we’re working at a special event and *really* need internet access, it’ll most certainly be better than the current nothing that we have. We’re often way out of effective cellular service range too, so this will be great.

2022 Winnebago Micro Minnie FLX

May 18, 2022 averageguy Travel Leave a comment

We bought a trailer! A 2022 Micro Minnie FLX 2108FBS.

21' winnebago micro Minnie flx

It’s brand new and not a lot of real world information is out there yet, but if all goes well we should be able to camp totally off the grid for up to 5 days. We know that mileage may vary depending on usage, but we’re happy about it so far. Some users on YouTube have added good information. SpeedBumpMedia and Joe’s Travels both have them and have been updating their videos as well.

The Winnebago website has more information. Basics? 2 x 190 watt solar panels, Truma heat/AC unit, 3 burner gas stove, ShowerMiser system and tankless hot water heater, 3000 Xantrex inverter, Lithionics 320 amp hour battery, Dometic 12v fridge.

We just got it recently and haven’t been able to get it out camping yet. So far the solar panels have been doing a really good job of keeping the LiFePO4 battery nice and charged. Other owners have noted that they weren’t getting the battery life they expected but I also noticed that they’re in the south/southeastern United States and I wonder if the Trim air conditioner doesn’t do as well in more humid environments. We’re in Northern California and it’s been a lot more dry & arid here. Hopefully in a couple weeks we’ll be able to at least go on a short weekend trip to some BLM land and boondock it for a couple days. We’re going to bring a backup generator just in case. I’m not too worried about water storage or usage just yet. We already camp very resource light as it is.