55 years ago today, May 29, 1953, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay were the first to reach the summit of Mt. Everest. Since then close to 1500 people have made their way to the summit for the ultimate view. Panorams.dk has a nice 360 degree panorama view. Gratzi Google for the reminder.

I ran across a nice article a few weeks ago on Backpacker’s site: “Top Tips From Trail Pros”. I have been trying to refine the process of my outdoor adventures so that I can be on the road in a matter of hours (striving for minutes). I’ve already added a few of these tips to my travel log and they are starting to pay off.

I had high hopes for The Firefly but the boys over at GuyotDesigns let me down. They have great products but it seems as though they hired “ghost writers” to design this product. Not to mention the fact that I could not purchase a clear Nalgene bottle so as to maximize light dissipation. However, the lack of a clear Nalgene water bottle due to the plastic scare should not affect the rating of this design, or should it? I think it does because the two products are practically married. With all that stated, lets move onto the reasons why The Firefly has no room in my pack. Don’t get me wrong, this thing would be great for car camping but we don’t rate gear for the car, we leave that up to other folks.

Reasons to leave this product on shelves:

1. Battery Replacement - No biggie right? All things electronic need some sort of power supply. But you need a screwdriver to replace the batteries. Not only do you need a screwdriver, but you need an extremely small screwdriver. Fortunately for me I had one because of my computer background. For you hikers you can stop here. For those still debating, read on.
2. Battery Operation - It takes 3 AAA batteries.
3. Light Emission - Needs to be brighter. If you do buy this make sure you use a clear water bottle.
4. Weight - Due to the fact that you need three AAA batteries and carry a screwdriver this is not light weight by any means.
5. Cheaply Made Electronics - The innards of The Firefly are not made well. When replacing the batteries you have to be careful not to pull the springs and battery contacts from the plastic bottom. I was surprised at this. I read other reviews of the firefly and most of them said it was made to last. While that is true for the outer shell, it is not true for the electronic components on the inside.

I would not purchase this for hiking adventures. The necessity of a screwdriver to replace batteries is an annoyance but cheap electronics on the inside makes it hard for me to purchase this lite for car camping. The good thing is that with a little redesign this product could be top notch. Hopefully we can get GuyotDesigns to read this post and make some changes.

First a little history. I can remember the day it all began. June 18, 2005. The three of us were on a trip to the beautiful Santa Rosa, Florida with our families. The idea was not brand new to this trip, but this was the first time that we all got together and decided to make it happen. It was then and there that we decided on creating Global Hiker, the original name of Mundo Maps. We brainstormed the name, the logo, and the website around the kitchen counter of the condo we were staying in. As we were putting our ideas together, the chair I was sitting in completely disintegrated beneath me and I was on the floor amongst the splintered wood. I like to relate that experience to Doc Brown hitting his head on the toilet seat and coming up with the flux capacitor. But I digress.  We would then go out on the kayaks and let the idea marinate while we soaked in the famous gulf coast sunshine. Roughly two years later we changed the name to Mundo Maps. We also expanded the company to include map production as well as the original idea of a community trail sharing site. About a month or so ago, with the help of Gary Milkwick Jr, our financial advisor and tax guru, we made the company legit by incorporating. We are now Mundo Maps Inc.

REI’s biggest sale of the year starts today and ends May 11th. This is their 70th Anniversary Sale. They may have to drag me out at the end of the day. An additional bonus, is the Grand Opening for the Kennesaw, GA store. There will be a continental breakfast one hour before the store opens on May 2nd, 3rd, and 4th and some free stuff for those who show up early. We will be there sporting our Mundo iron-on tees. Pretty soon everyone will be wearing one.
Remember… it’s your MUNDO. See you there.

I recently read an article in the Scouting magazine about GeoScouting and thought it was a great idea for scouting program. It is basically a combination of scouting and geocaching. Boy Scouts has been around for more than 100 years, but geocaching only got it’s start when the government turned off Selective Availability in 2000 which gave civilian GPS users 30 meters or less accuracy as opposed to 100 meters with SA on. This made it possible for geocachers to find the small treasures/caches that geocaching is all about. Geocaching now has a huge following and is the perfect activity for outdoor enthusiasts with a thing for gadgets. I am excited to see the scouting program keeping with the times and encouraging boys to use modern day gadgets like GPS units as well as the trusty ole’ compass. Now if I can just get our troop to pony up the money for some units for the boys. Don’t even think I’m letting my knuckleheaded tenderfoots touch my Garmin eTrex Vista Cx.

It’s that time again to plant a tree and feel good about your Mundo. Earth Day is a great way to keep everyone involved with the on-going movement of a cleaner, healthier environment. Kids can play a major role too. Seems that everything has gone “Green” lately. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s great. I only hope that it’s not a “hip” way of letting people know that you care about the environment in todays culture, but gone tomorrow. But even if it is, it seems to be catching on… maybe it will stick.

THINK GREEN.

I received this little beauty as an anniversary gift. I have always been impressed with the ingenuity of this lantern as I would pass it by on the shelves of REI. Fortunately for me, my wife purchased one as an anniversary gift. You can imagine my excitement when I got home. However, I was disappointed for three reasons:

1. I grabbed a returned product, so it has not worked correctly since the purchase (Will not affect the final gear review rating).
2. It takes 3 triple A batteries! Three of them, really ?(May or may not affect the final gear review rating depending on future battery life test)
3. To replace the battery you have to screw/unscrew the top using a very small Phillips head screwdriver! On top of it all, said screwdriver does not come with the purchase. Fortunately for me I am a tech nerd and had the right tool in my pack. I mean this is a little crazy if you are on the trails. (This will affect the overall gear review rating).

While this is a preliminary gear review and the final review and rating is yet to come, I am still a little bummed. Hopefully when I get a replacement my spirits will be lifted as I have read a few good reviews pertaining to this product.

Note To Self; always grab the item on the back of the shelf!

MORE TO COME…

Thanks everyone for your input on the Logo. We are going to mull over the results and have a logo out soon. We will keep you posted.

Thanks again.

We’ve gone through several iterations of logos for Mundo Maps and I think we’ve finally come up with our Fab Five. You may click on the image to make it larger. Please leave a comment and let us know which logo you like the best.