Why quality gear matters!

3-Wayは自撮り、三脚、POVショット

When it comes to ensuring the safety of yourself and others around you, quality gear matters!

This relates to body armor, scuba gear, guns, climbing ropes, boots, knives, and even mountain bikes.

The following video portrays a professional downhill mountain biker that buys a cheap but good looking mountain bike from walmart. He stresses the bike through a rigid downhill mountain course but before starting the test, the first gut feeling he gets is doubt. He survives the ordeal but what makes the video very powerful and interesting to me is his personal responses through the problems encountered. Despite the loss of brakes, broken/loose bike handles, and more  he still had the determination to finish the bike “experiment”. The moral of the story is, if you want an average bike for simple point A to B travel, buy an average bike. However, if you want to go mountain biking, don’t risk it with a cheap bike. It’s not worth it. Spend a few more bucks to ensure your safety.

Remember this man definitely is a professional with a variety of skills obtained through experience. So to the kids watching this… please don’t do this at home.

 

Keep Your Camelbak Safe

the camelbak bite valve

Dehydration ain’t fun!

Going on a photo shoot without adeqaute water supply will mess up your shoot! This is why I use and recommend the CamelBak Unbottle Hydration Pack  for my hydration needs.

Why? The only time I had a problem with my hydration pack was when it was in the ice. What happened was that the water in my flow tube froze and I couldn’t drink out of it anymore. To prevent that from happening again, I bought a thermal kit which is just a neoprene sleeve that covers a tube and it worked to a certain degree but it’s not fail proof.

Top 10 Gear for Climbing Photography

9000 feet photograph

As a climber and a photographer, one of the more important questions I get is what kind gear I bring to assure a successful and safe photo shoot while up on any mountain.

This blog will focus on my top 10 gear that I take whenever I go up a 2000 meter~ 3000 meter (6000 feet to 10,000 feet) mountain to take photographs during all seasons except winter. (The type of camera, lens, and tripod will be posted on another blog because you can’t just climb a mountain with only your camera!)

Note: I have over a hundred climbs and all of them have always been learning experiences on what to bring and not to bring so I hope this article aids any photographer interested in climbing up a mountain or going in the wild to take beautiful photographs.