Size Matters – Modern Anachronist

A game of inches

With the Excursion, the barn doors opened above the trailer crank handle. I’ve been worried about getting into the bed of the Ridgeline with the trailer hitched.

Dreaming of an eight foot bed

The Ridgeline has a 63” bed.

84” with the gate down.

But common building materials are 96” long.

Both my F-150 and Excursion, and even my wife’s minivan can carry 8 foot long materials with the rear closed up.

Today, walking out of Home Depot, the reason for the short bed was painfully obvious.

Answer after the jump…..

Be prepared

As an Eagle Scout, I still try to prepare for any contingency. One of the common roadside emergencies is a flat tire.

For the past 35 years of driving, I’ve carried a traditional four way tire wrench to remove & install tires – but the Ridgeline doesn’t have a good place to store it!🤬

The good folks at The Ridgeline Owners Club have given me some sound advice.

Ridgeline storage

One of my favorite features of the Ridgeline is amount of storage that was designed into it.

You can store a body in the trunk. Shovels and lime won’t raise any suspicions in the bed of a pickup.

The Death of Fessick

A sad day indeed, but one that I’ve known was coming for a long time. Today, I said goodbye to Fessick.

When the running board broke under my weight. Removing the running boards made it painfully obvious that the rocker panels were totally rusted out.

When the Neutral Safety Switch started getting wonky. To start the car, I need to switch between Park & Neutral until the switch completes the starter circuit.

When the parking pawls stopped engaging reliably. If I’m parking on a grade I have to go in and out of Park until the transmission manages to hold the car in place. Now the parking pawls seem to have failed completely, I’m parked against a pair of wheel chocks.

When the front hubs started whining. Actually, I’m not sure if it’s the hubs or the brakes, but there’s a definite whine from the front end.

Realistically, I could have fixed any of these issues, but when you stack them all together, it just doesn’t make sense.

The Excursion really doesn’t fit into my lifestyle. I live between NYC and Philly, this truck isn’t a good city vehicle.

I don’t do any heavy towing. I don’t cart around seven passengers.

In the six years I’ve owned this truck, only once have I used a feature of this truck that is unique to it. When I built the tiny shed, Fessick lived in the backyard with all my tools and materials.

And now the search begins… {note – the search actually began several months ago.}

A New Car!

Can you hear Bob Barker in your head, or is that just me?

Well, the new truck has been added to the family. As much as I love Fessick, the needed repairs were getting to the point where they didn’t make sense. After several months of shopping I purchased a 2024 Honda Ridgeline RTL in Sonic Gray.

The Son of Fessick

So now I need a vehicle to replace the Excursion.

I need something smaller to navigate city streets.

I need something big enough to fit the family. My kids are about to be teenagers, so I need a reasonable back seat. My brother’s boys are older than my kids, and they don’t really fit in the back of his Nissan Titan.

I need something that will tow my utility trailer. It has a weight rating of 3,500 pounds, so I don’t really need a tow monster.

The Ford Maverick actually does most of what I need, but the back seat isn’t big enough for the kids. I actually recommended that my brother buy a Maverick for his boys to share, the oldest just got his license.

I cycled through the midsized trucks and really none of them had a backseat that was useable.

I started looking at the full sized trucks, and the prices for new trucks are just stupid.

But then I stumbled across a dark horse – the Honda Ridgeline.

It’s mocked as NART (Not A Real Truck), but the capabilities of the Ridgeline meet my needs.

Test drive is scheduled.

MSR Mini Groundhogs

The basic stakes included with most tents are terrible. One that came with the tarp bent the first time I put it in the ground.

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The MSR mini groundhogs are a joy to use, though they are quite painful if you try to push them in by hand. No worries on that though, they are short enough that they are easy to push in with your boots.

Poler two man tent – First impressions

Not a review, as I haven’t actually slept in it yet. These are my initial thoughts after unpacking and setting it up in the backyard.

Stuff sack has compression straps. The straps are sewn on for most of the circumference.

First off, I got this tent on clearance at $75. List price is $250. I’m going to give a seventy-five dollar tent a lot more slack than one costing more than two hundred dollars. I bought this tent for the kids. They are both getting into scouting and I wanted a tent that they could carry and set up.

First off, it’s heavy. It weighs eight pounds. This is not suitable for a through hike of the AT. That being said, it’s perfect for car camping especially if you have a small car, or trips where you have to walk in from a distant parking lot (music festivals).

Measure twice, check orientation, then cut.

While building kitchen Mk.2 I made a cutting error that cost me time and money to fix.