I bought my first one right out of high school. It served me well for many years of campfire sitting, camping, or just hanging out on the tailgate eating lunch. It is always stored in the rig for emergencies. Such a simple design and the company is still based in Red Lodge Montana.

My second was replaced out of the Crazy Creek reps van. He came in to show new product and mentioned the lifetime warranty. One of my straps had started to separate so he said to go grab the old one and he’d give me a new one. That one saw its fair share of similar adventures but a few new twists thrown in, diaper changes, emergency sleeping pad, a kneeler for working in the garden.

Enter Crazy Creek #3. The metal stays had started to come loose on #2 when I saw the newest version, the Hexlite 2.0. Sure I could have sent my second chair in for replacement under the lifetime warranty but with such a small price I’ve gotten a lot in return from this product. So now, my newest Crazy Creek will hopefully get me through ten more years of campfires and quality times spent outdoors in high meadows and under the stars.

MSI is a villager owned and operated eco-tourism/guide organization located within the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve, considered one of the last great wilderness areas within the Himalaya. Owned and operated by 44 local youths certified through the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, the organization is at the forefront of the Nanda Devi Campaign which is dedicated to the cultural survival and sustainable livelihoods of the Bhotia villagers.

The N_LI is a 501 (c) (3) not-for-profit international study abroad organization accredited through the University of Montana’s College of Forestry and Conservation. N-LI has offered the 6-credit course within the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve since 2005 and during that time has built a special bond with the MSI organization. As a sustainable academic adventure tourism organization N-LI believes in the possible advantages of helping MSI by donating used alpine travel gear. Once the gear is collected by N-LI it will be distributed to the study abroad students who will then hand-deliver the gear to the MSI organization.

Gear of most critical need

• 3 and 4 season tents
• Sleeping bags (30 degree or less)
• Sleeping pads
• Backpacks
• Technical shells and pants
• Trekking/hiking boots
• Duffel bags
• Trekking/hiking socks
• Performance layers
• Climbing gear
• Cold weather hats and gloves
• First aid packs
• Headlamps
• Stuff sacks
• Camp chairs

We are doing the payment the same with one twist. If you want cash you get 80% or 110% in store credit. The twist is you can decide which store you want to spend the store credit! You can clear out the garage and make some money, you can upgrade your boat or bike with that 110% store credit. Or you can switch gears (pun intended) by selling a bike and buying a boat or vice versa.

Come by The Trail Head this Saturday, we’ll be having the sale behind the store and our experienced staff can help you set a fair price. we’ll see you here.

It is the casual shoplifter who has me scratching my head, some research suggests that most can easily pay for items but the shoplifter likes the rush, “described as being as addictive as drugs”.  The average shoplifter gets away 48 times before they get caught.

These are people who the statistics say “you least expect them to steal”.

That’s what I have going on now.  The staff has suspected a team of 2 for a number of years.  Cute, related to each other and not what I’d call Sketchy in the classic sense.  I was skeptical as I wanted to believe they would not steal from us, they are good customers.  Well I now am convinced of it, they tend to work as a team, buy some put some on hold and steal some too.  Distract and divide the staff and create the opportunity.  We have found a couple of tags in pockets or tucked behind something in the store, and it correlates to when this twosome is in the store.

We had the discussion about if could we just ban them from coming in?  I said no, not until we catch them, and I would like the satisfaction of catching them.  So we stay vigilant and continue to work harder at better customer service.   Mostly because I want customers to feel like we are attentive to their needs and offer better service than any of our competitors, but also to help alleviate the opportunity to steal from me.

So we do pay attention, and sooner or later we will catch them, the entire staff know who they are maybe the next visit will be the 48th.  It will be uncomfortable for sure, way more uncomfortable for them than me.  Shoplifting SUCKS!

Our first printer crapped out when 2 years old because “it was left on too much” and that dried the ink out and killed the print heads.  I bought a unit for about 300 bucks that was supposed to do everything but the laundry and with in a year we had to upgrade again so we would print wirelessly from the fancy new lap top, I brought it to work and used it at the mall store and it was mercifully killed by using after market ink.

Of course if anyone has ever tried to have a printer serviced we all know that 10 minutes of tech time and you may as well buy a new one.  So I got an HP do it all unit for about 400 that printed wirelessly until you shut it off then I would have to re-install the software and reload it.  Generally it never did work consistently but when it did it worked well.  The ink cartridges were however made for people who only print about once every ten years as they held enough ink for what seemed like 10-12 pages.

Fast forward to last night…..

DAD, I can’t get the printer to work, can you help!!! I HAVE to turn this in tomorrow.  After a bit of work I resorted to asking Google what the deal was.  Hundreds of comments about the same thing, working fine then just quit printing red (hard when doing a science paper on visible light).  The word on the web was by not turning the printer on often enough it had somehow dried out and puked on the ability to print the 2 magenta colors.

Anyone want to see if the printer will stay together from the top of the Trail Head building?

First I killed one by leaving it on too much, second one by not buying the totally overpriced HP ink and Now I killed this one by not turning it on enough.  Please someone build a printer that will last for 8 years, have ink cartridges that last more than a few pages and don’t cost 60 bucks every time.  I know I am done with all HP products and would happily pay double if I thought I had a prayer keeping it working the 10-15 times a year I really need to print something out.

Isn’t  Technology Great…..

Take advantage of this great opportunity to stop by either of our locations and have our expert staff fit you for a sports bra.  There is no obligation to buy, but we guarantee that once you try on a well fit, Moving Comfort bra that you will take one home with you.  It’s an investment worth making.

Our Fit Fest is taking place March 14th-18th and you can swing by at anytime during our normal business hours.

Please feel free to contact the stores for details – Trail Head downtown – 543-6966 or Trail Head, T9 – 541-6978

The second part of the project involves kayaking from Port Townsend, Wash., to Skagway, Alaska. It is scheduled for this summer. Josephine White was a reporter and typesetter who married Elmer John “The Stroller” White. Driven by the economic collapse of the 1890s and drawn by the promise of adventure, EJ and Josie followed the course of the gold rush. EJ landed in Skagway early in 1898 to work as associate editor of the Skaguay News. By the end of the same year, he and Josie and their toddler daughter had followed the miners down the Yukon River and landed a job at the Klondike Nugget. White’s presentation will be at The Trail Head at 7 p.m. on March 14.

• All remaining ski inventory is on sale
• All Patagonia Cap 4 long underwear 50% off
• Winter outerwear from Patagonia, Mammut, and Arc’teryx at lowest season pricing
• Still lots of socks, hats, and gloves deeply discounted

We may be close to spring but the backcountry season will keep going long after the lifts have closed. Stock up now!