My buddy's old Kelty got absolutely shredded on a summit camp in the Presidentials. A microburst rolled through and bent two of his aluminum poles into pretzels. He ended up sleeping under a rock overhang wrapped in his ground cloth. He replaced it with a Mountain Hardwear tent that uses thicker DAC poles, and that thing hasn't flinched since.

Yeah my cousin had that happen with his lawn care thing, total waste of time and cash.

Flat rate's part of it, but the manual is pretty clear. A visual check just doesn't cut it for grounds.

Freaks and Geeks only got 18 episodes, which is a real shame. That show had so much more story to tell.

Totally get what you mean about the groomed park path feeling. My buddy did a section of the AT and said it was like that. Then he tried a route in the Sierra off the JMT. He spent an hour just picking his way down one boulder field, said his brain was fried from looking for cairns and not twisting an ankle. He came back saying he finally understood real route finding.