u/Coffee81379

I inherited an old house in rural Greece. Unfortunately it sat empty for quite a while before I took it over, and at some point it was broken into. Most of my tools disappeared, a few things were damaged, and bringing the place back to life has been a much bigger project than expected.

The silver lining has been my neighbors. They've been absolutely fantastic. They've lent me tools, replaced a broken window, driven into town to help me get things I needed, and generally helped solve a thousand little problems that would have been very difficult for me as a foreigner who doesn't speak much Greek.

I'd love to get them a practical gift. I've already invited them over for dinner and things like that, but I'd also like to give them something useful that they'll hopefully use for years.

The other evening I saw my neighbor walking around the property with his phone flashlight while showing me something in the dark, and it made me think that a really good flashlight might be perfect.
What I'm looking for:
Pocketable

- Very simple to use
- USB-C rechargeable
- Battery can be replaced when it eventually wears out
- Reliable enough to last for years
- Useful around a rural property and olive grove

Ideally with a serious "wow, that's bright" factor the first time he turns it on

For context, this subreddit previously recommended the Sofirn HS21 headlamp to me, and I absolutely love it, so I figured I'd ask the experts again.

What would you recommend?
Thanks!

I put together a pretty rough pair of snowshoes using just branches, paracord and zip ties. Definitley not pretty, but surprisingly functional.

This wasn’t really a survival situation - more like I really wanted to make it up onto a plateau with deep snow.

Without them it honestly wouldnt have been possible. The snow was wet and heavy and I kept sinking in, moving forward was just way too exhausting.

At the spot where I set up camp it was around 2-3 meters (6-9 ft) deep, just to give an idea of the conditions.

What surprised me most is how well they actually worked. Not perfect obviously, but enough to move around way more efficiently.

Kind of reassuring to know that this isn’t some super complex thing - feels like something you could realistically put together if you ever ended up stuck in deep snow without proper gear.

If anyones interested, happy to share more details on how I built them

Hike and cleanup with the family

Waren letztes Wochenende mit den Kindern im Bayerischen Wald zelten.

Nachts tatsächlich nochmal unter 0°C, morgens alles gefroren - aber tagsüber richtig schönes Wetter. Feuer gemacht, draußen gekocht, bisschen wandern… genau das, was man sich erhofft.

Der Platz war ziemlich ruhig und abgelegen, viel Wald drumrum. Gehört zu einem Bauernhof. Hat richtig gut getan.

About a year ago I posted here about bringing thermal / night vision on backpacking trips. Not to actually hike with it, but more for camp -just to see what’s going on around me without disturbing wildlife.

A lot of people found it interesting back then… and also (fairly) pointed out how ridiculously bougie that is. And yeah, a $2500 thermal monocular isn’t exactly casual gear.

I always meant to compare it to the first device I ever had – a cheap ~$100 IR night vision unit. Only took me a year to stop procrastinating.

So here’s a quick comparison:
- Thermal : amazing at distance, and obviously great at picking up animals since they just pop (no animal in the pic)
- Cheap IR (Infrared) night vision: works, but struggles with contrast – anything bright in the foreground kind of blinds it.
- Same device + external IR flashlight: this is the interesting part.

The main limitation of cheap night vision isn’t even the sensor– it’s the weak built-in IR light (and the pretty mediocre display).

If you add a cheap ~$20 IR flashlight, especially with a focused beam, you can actually push the usable range and detail quite a bit.

Still nowhere near thermal, obviously - but way more usable than you’d think.

Anyway, thought this might be interesting for some of you. Tried to pick frames where the differences are somewhat visible.

And if anyone wants a better feel for it, I also put it into a short video here: https://youtu.be/tLRQJZFL0jM

I spent some time around Lake Prespa earlier this year and honestly can’t stop thinking about it. The landscape, the mountains, and especially how welcoming people were really stayed with me.

I’ll likely be back in the region in about a month and had this idea for a small film project. My videos are usually about nature, conservation, and just figuring things out outdoors.

I came across these traditional shepherd cloaks (second image) - I think they might be called “gunë” or something similar, but I’m not entirely sure. I mean the long wool / sheepskin ones with the fleece on the outside.

I’ve become pretty fascinated with traditional functional clothing. It’s honestly surprising how well things that have been developed and used over centuries can perform - and in some situations they seem to even work better than modern gear for the conditions they were made for.

At the same time I’m not even sure if these are still a thing today or if what I’m seeing is mostly historical / folklore, so I figured it’s better to ask first.

I was wondering if it would be appropriate to buy one locally and actually use it in the mountains for a night or two, just to get a better sense of what it’s like to rely on something like that out there.

I don’t want it to come across as disrespectful or like I’m using something that has cultural meaning, so I’d really appreciate some honest opinions on that.

And if they are still around - where would you even find something like this? Are they still made or used anywhere?

Thanks in advance!

I was in the mountains in Montenegro and ended up with way more snow than I had planned for.

Still wanted to go through with the trip, so I hacked together a pair of snowshoes from branches, zip ties and paracord with what I had on me.

Without them I wouldn’t have made it very far. Managed to get a bit deeper into the mountains and camped for the night -absolutely beautiful.

Definitely need to work on my knot skills though.

Curious what you guys would’ve done differently.

Not a proper trailcam -just a security camera I set up at an old property in rural Greece.

I knew golden jackals live in the area, but you usually only hear them at night. Seeing them this close to the house was pretty amazing.

I’ve spotted them from far away before (with a spotting scope and once through a thermal), but never this close.