Page 18 - Pierce County Lawyer Novemer December 2024

aggressive skier. But, even though I am a Baby Boomer (one
of the last to turn 60), I still have a strong need to be hanging
with the fun hip happenin’ Gen X crowd, like my friend Darin
(who, ironically was one of the first Gen Xers to turn 60 in
January of 2025). But, if I am going to be skiing in the back
country, I really do need a reliable, but small and light, walkie-
talkie. After looking at several products, the Motorola T380
is the ticket. It hits all the check boxes for me. It is small and
light-weight, has a range of 25 miles, it has 22 channels and
121 privacy codes (to make your conversations private), IP54
Waterproof (not waterproof, but water resistant). The sound
is very clear, and the size of the unit is perfect. It might look
like a toy, but it is very sturdy. This can be purchased at REI in
Tacoma, or REI.com for $100.
7. Shine Well Leg Compression Massager.
A friend of mine’s
son plays professional
basketball (Canada,
still professional) and
swears by this device.
When a pro basketball
player (again Canada)
personally endorses the
product, I am going to
consider this. To be fair,
I have not tried this,
yet. When Canadian
professional basketball
players say to try this,
then I am going to try
it. Honestly, I do have
a horrible problem
with cramping in my
calves after I play tennis
and this looks like a
great solution. I mean,
I am probably at the
same athletic level of
a Canadian Basketball
player, right? The idea
is that there are two airbags inside the unit that massage your
calves while you watch TV or listen to music. With the solid
endorsement of Canada, I fully recommend the Shine Well Leg
Compression Massager. Last, it also advertises that it is great
for the elderly. Elderly Canadian Basketball players, I presume.
Shine Well can be purchased on Amazon.com for $44.79.
8. Zero Pump from Flextail.
This is for blowing up your sleeping pad while you are
camping. And I know that sleeping on a blow-up mattress may
seem a little like we are not really backpacking or camping,
but using a blow-up mattress is not “glamping”. The newest
sleeping pad products are super light and do not take up
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much room in your
backpack, but you do
have to blow them
up. And I can tell you
from experience, that
after a long day of
hiking up to Sheep
Lake from Walupt
Lake and Nannie
Ridge, I do not really
want to blow up a
mattress. Nope. Not
gonna do it. Also,
apparently when you
use your breath to blow up the mattress, eventually mold will
form inside the mattress leaving it useless and a bio-hazard at
some point in the future. Well this device resolves those very
important camping issues. It is small and light (2.95 inches and
1.2 oz) and can be used for many types of sleeping pads. (It has
6 multi-purpose nozzles,) and also doubles as a Firestarter (like
a piezo device on your BBQ). This can be purchased at Flextail.
com for $105.98.
9. BeFree 1.0 L Water Filter Bottle.
First, I want
to point out
that one liter of
water weighs
2.2 pounds
and if you
bring six liters
of water on a
backpacking
hike, it weighs,
yes, about 13
pounds. I’m
not saying that I carried 13 pounds of water on my hiking trip
with my daughter. . . OK, I brought 13 pounds of water on
our camping trip. But it was my first foray into backpacking
after 20 years and I really didn’t understand the weight issue.
So, the second time I went out I bought the BeFree bottle, and
boy, what a difference! I mean, I was definitely free of a bunch
of weight! There was one point in the first hike with the 13
pounds of water when I thought I probably needed to re-do
my will and medical directive. So, I invested in this great water
filter product. The way it works is you fill the bottle with any
kind of water (muddy nasty water, if you please) and it squirts
out clean as a whistle. I really didn’t believe it until I tried it. It
works great! There are other products that do water filtering,
but after reviewing them, I found this to be the simplest and
easiest of these products. Also, you’re going to thank me when
the Zombie Apocalypse arrives. You can buy this at REI in
Tacoma or REI.com for $44.95.