Go to a small local jeweler. They can often make you something custom for much less than the price of a chain store. They'll also be able to walk you through all the options and advantages of each. If you're having trouble finding that little mom and pop spot, Google jewelry repair. 9 out of 10 of those businesses will be more than happy to take on your project.

The 30 - 40 years part is key. You need to support them for a generation. You need to let the remnants of the old power structure get old and die. The country has to be full of people that were raised with the benefits of the new government.

You can look at Japan for a great example of this type of success.

Dark Knight, Fury Road, and... Hellboy 2019.

I feel like Hellboy is a hot take. It bombed and even other Hellboy fans seem to hate it.

This is my favorite movie. I own it in almost every format. I have the NES game complete in box, and I don't even own an NES.

I'm a little heartbroken, but I'm also curious if there is a way to get part of the tree.

I forgot to mention what's next. I've got a weekend loop at Mt Rogers in VA planned for next month. I'm also trying to take down another MST section, but I might have to settle for biking or skating a road heavy section due to time constraints.

I really like the Yama tarp. I'm pretty sure I bought the last one they had because it switched to "out of stock" after I placed my order last year. I had been considering Borah Gear for a long time, but when push came to shove the lead time was too long.

I haven't had any heavy rain with the Yama, but I did use it in some bad ass winds last fall. It required 12 stakes and tying the ridgeline to trees instead of my poles, but it held up. I've had similar winds flatten tents so I was worried about a tear. I've also used it as a sun shade on the beach and it stood up to strong winds there as well.

The sleeping pad is fine. It was very cheap and has no insulation. Not a good pick for cold weather. My body doesn't handle foam pads as well as it used to so I wanted to try an inflatable. I'll use this until it breaks or I plan a trip in the cold. I cut it short and sealed it with an iron to save weight. It is similar to the cheap uninsulated Klymit pads. I've got somewhere between 10 and 15 nights on it and I'm officially sold on inflatables over foam.

Last year I started section hiking the MST. I did section 9 and 10. Section 9 includes about 45 miles of road hiking, and I used a skateboard for as much of that as I could. Section 10 is all on trail so I ditched the board and used the larger pack so I could carry more food.

On that trip I used everything on the list except for the sunscreen. I could carry less pocket knife but I like the stubby little morakniv. I use their larger knives in my normal life and they can really take a beating. I also didn't use most of the first aid kit, but there's nothing in there I would leave at home.

Using the little 20 liter pack has me GASing for something ultralight and about 30L in size. That would give me all the space I need with enough room to swap to different rain gear and sleeping bags as weather requires.

hmmmm. I should probably get some decent tweezers and scissors. I also need to replace my benadryl. It got wet and I never refilled it.

Thank you for posting this list. I'm comforted to know that I was already doing most of what was listed here, but worried that I left out a few essentials.

I still owe you a lighterpack and I've been slow about getting around to it. I pulled out all my stuff in preparation for an upcoming trip and weighed it.

It's not down to ultralight weights, but it's not far off if you drop the luxury items and some extra clothes. I'm debating switching to a smaller pack. I've carried all this same kit in a Cotopaxi 20L climbing pack that weighs about 10 oz less. The gorilla is more comfortable though, especially if it's dry and I have to carry more water.

Here's the WIP on the current pack. https://lighterpack.com/r/7okvil

Edit: Here's a version without the unnecessary extras. It comes in at just over 9lbs base weight. Depending on the weather I would need to switch back to a real rain jacket. This is what I carried on a 3 day skateboard trip last year. https://lighterpack.com/r/j7iwjy

Yes, I would say it generally costs more. But it doesn't have to.

For example, ultralight tents are expensive, so I embraced tarp life. My tarp and bivy are lighter than most UL tents and cost hundreds of dollars less.

My individual pieces of clothing cost more, but adopting an ultralight approach means I don't carry needless extras, so I don't buy as many clothes in the first place.

UL stoves can cost a lot, but the BRS stove or an alcohol stove are cheap and weigh less. Eating cold food is even lighter.

You get the idea. It costs exactly what you spend on it. It can be done affordabley if you are strict about what you are carrying and strategic with purchases. Leaving unneeded items at home will have a bigger impact on your base weight than any $700 tent.

This is awesome! I might have to dive back in.

You're right that most utility markets are regulated, but it is typically handled at a state level, not local. In most of the US, municipal governments are not the provider of electric and gas utilities, although there are certainly many exceptions. Additionally, when those small local utilities are given a service territory they are often just reselling energy purchased from a large utility.

I've worked for a large utility for the last decade. We're a business just like McDonalds. We take in raw materials and convert them to a product that our customers want to buy. We try to attract new customers through advertising and good service. We lobby the politicians that regulate our market. We do all those business things, and we do it in the name of profit.

There are a lot of small co-op utilities that don't work quite the same way. If large utilities were banks, those little co-ops would be credit unions. That type of utility is awesome because they are able to be more customer focused. Unfortunately most of them lose out on economies of scale, so their customers may not actually see any savings in comparison to the big guys.

If you still don't believe utilities are big business, look at NextEra Energy. They're worth about $150 billion, give or take a couple billion. That means they have a higher valuation than the combined worth of Darden Restaurants (Olive Garden, Longhorn, etc), Dominos, Wendy's, Papa John's, Chipotle, Burger King, and the Yum Brands (KFC, Pizza Hut, etc).

These large utilities aren't just bigger business than most restaurants. They're an order of magnitude larger.

No big business utilities? PG&E is worth $35 billion. Duke Energy is close to $70 billion. The list goes on. These are fortune 500 companies that employ small towns worth of people.

Utilities are damn near as big as it gets.