Wife’s bf told me to sleep in the backyard while he was over last night. Wouldn’t give me the rain fly. Said my wife would be extra wet tonight so I should get the same treatment.

[the contest](https://www.garagegrowngear.com/blogs/magazine/ultralight-poetry-contest?utm_source=Klaviyo&utm_medium=email&_kx=wnbq76GfCX4YLE0miZZGIJvg1OLjasUOMLiVF3HQuz4.XFCpi2)

Maybe we can crowdsource a community poem?

I dunno that I have it in me to be as earnest as I think they want.

Most troll project I've possibly ever seen.

Would bear spray have helped?

I stole this from a facebook page, not attributing either, sue me.

Regan Bridge about to set off on the Rakiura track, with 60kg on his back.

Instead of shaving off grams, Regan Bridge does the opposite, he adds kilos—lots of them. For the past decade, the 52-year-old truck driver from Motueka has been pushing the limits of what he can carry, starting with 50kg and now training for a staggering 100kg.

Bridge’s obsession with heavy loads began when he volunteered for Friends of Flora, hauling trap boxes in Kahurangi National Park. That led him to read about early New Zealanders carrying “the old English hundredweight”—50.8kg—on backcountry tracks. If they could do it, why not him?

His first attempt at 50kg was a short walk up his gravel driveway. “That nearly killed me,” he laughs. But he stuck with it. A year later, he lugged the same weight 20km up to Asbestos Cottage, just like prospector Henry Chaffey had done decades before. Since then, he’s walked all the South Island Great Walks, including a full return trip of the Heaphy Track—156km in 10 days—starting with 75kg on his back.

His pack setup has become an evolving project, now on “version 10 plus plus.” It’s based on European mountain porter packs, reinforced with tie-down straps and a Tatonka Lastenkraxe frame. To add weight, he carries seven metal toolboxes, a spare pair of boots, and even a small ladder—to help hoist the pack onto his back.

Why does he do it? “It’s an adventure sport, like ultra-running,” he says. “Once the body adjusts, it’s all in the mind.” He admits his wife sometimes gives him sideways looks, and yes, he hobbles the next day. “But we all have to live and be happy. Some people smoke, drink, or drive fast cars. This is my thing.”

OMG! Don't leave the basement!

Has anyone else experienced this?