A peek inside my random interests and gear hacking projects — a collection of thoughts, ideas, and whatever catches my attention. I was a top-five U.S. backpacking blogger for more than two decades, and my site was well-known for its insights on ultralight backpacking. I experimented a lot with hacking and modifying gear to make it lighter and better. I no longer write about backpacking, but I have included some of my more popular backpacking blog posts further below.