Move to the desert, where everything air dries instantly 
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Even inside the bladder? That would be a game-changer.
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See my posts in this thread about how.
Easiest if you go long time (weeks to months) between use, toss it in the freezer. No need to dry it out, nothing will grow, easy peasy lemon squeezy. Just set it on the counter for like 5-10 min before messing with it to let it ‘thaw’ before filling again to prevent any issues with oring damage or such. Really easy to do, it takes me more time than that to have breakfast and sort kit for the day at least!
Also like…everyone knows the built - in part that holds it open, right? If it is bladder not drying out and you need it to…litterally there are little plastic things to pop it open that are built onto the main filling circle area. They pop out and keep the bladder open. Like this (was posted on a bikeing forum, just putting it here to see it easily). These plastic bits are under the rim of that filler hole area; just rotate the arm (one on each side) downward. Hand it on a clothshanger if you want it upside down like in the photo but usually i just prop on counter in the sun, i live in humid AL and it’s dry within hours.
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Sounds like a cheaply built LED light, most LED’s use pulse with modulation so they can make the most profit, and your amazon etc buys are gonna be shit. A well built modern one will NOT give you the flicker issue. I don’t even like a lot of Petzl or Black Diamond / brand name ones. They lack the good/modern LED tech, often use AAA’s which is stupid af (one AA = 4 x AAA power wise, for reference. a AAA light will NOT give you hundreds of lumens for more than a few minutes). Seriously, looking at what these brand names in REI and such charge for a crappy light makes my head hurt that people think these are good. Some of the cheapest built older tech poor pulse with modulation and…but I rant.
Anway - Any good LED tech is going to be a 4 x AA’s or an 18650 or similar type cell.
Good LED light will also be Current Regulated, not PWM (pulse with modulation - the cause of your flicker). Most name brand lights you will find in outdoor outfitter stores, in pursuit of maximum scam (cough profit), will use the cheap PWM for brightness control, and older cheap tech led emitters, but charge for their name being printed on that headlamp!
I have no issues with TG6, pentax K50 or KP dSLRs, or my old Nikon dSLR. Or any camera really, cause i don’t have crappy LED lights.
Look at Fenix and Zebralights for good brands for both flashlights and headlamps. Zebralight even makes some really nice 18650 cell 1000+ lumen high-CRI versions of theirs, meant for photography - they are correctly colour balanced for true colour rendition. Many of their models are tried and true in the harshest caving environments where we need truly consistent bright light, waterproof, etc. They’ve gotten so good that cave specific light builds are slowly not being made anymore; because these mass produced models from these two brands do so well there is no point in the high end customs.
There are in reality a gazillion brands that have neutral white, high-CRI emitters, and use current regulation, that are great for photography. A quality light that meets all this can be had for as low as $40. Not even joking.
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A lot of folks use a ring light too. These are essentially ring-shaped light arrays that are attached to the end of the lens. Some are just flashes, others can be turned on to provide constant illumination.
They’re great for macro work, but they’re special purpose and I prefer to have something a but more multi-purpose.
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Thank you for the unsolicited advice, not a single one of those products is available or solid where I live and work.
Cheers!
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do you use the light guide? Is it a worth while investment? Might have abuelo snag one for me before if we ever go stateside again
Looks like you’re based in Ecuador?
https://www.desertcart.ec/ carries some of the Fenix lights. Fenix sells pretty widely all over the world, I can even get them where I’m working in Vietnam. I don’t know if they’re like Ubuy (kind of a hassle to deal with, and often don’t accurately calculate import duties).
I don’t know what other online purchase options are available in Ecuador (when I worked there I was deep in the countryside and it was before the online purchase options became so common), but I suspect that a bit of digging will turn up more.
How reliable those are, and the delivery complications are a different story though…
I’m not sure if this is what you mean, but turning this setting off in iOS was a game changer for me:
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How did it improve your experience? I will definitely look at that, thank you.
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We tried desertcart. They didn’t like my husband’s ID, too old for that supplier, but still valid here.
Found a local supplier, product delivered, sorted.
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If you only knew… gracias a dios we brought as much gear as we could fit in our 4x4 before this trip, half the roads in the country are blocked right now…
Thank you for the advice on the lights, if the stock is actually in country I bet someone in Quito has em, I’m planning on doing paramo expeditions later in the year so I may reach out to our folks in that neck of the woods after the dust settles here… hopefully it will be sooner than later, but we’re planning on being stuck en la costa for at least another month
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It allows me to ‘save’ observations before uploading them, so I don’t have to wait for one observation to upload before going on to the next. Then, I can upload a bunch of observations at once, assuming I don’t need my phone for however many minutes it takes.
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Another big plus is battery/data savings. It lets you crop/edit observations, put in notes etc. before it tries to upload.
Related tip: observations can be made in Airplane Mode with GPS enabled for maximum battery savings.
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Ahhh, so you have the opportunity to use your camera, edit the pictures in the camera, and then upload them all at once? Well, if that’s the workflow, it would be an improvement for me. Thanks again. :)
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Hmm, Take as much drinking water as you can(one water bottle does not work). Always keep bag in front of you(it increases your chance of survival of deer or buffalo you are messing with)
Silent your phone to avoid attraction by animals(or just put bird calls as ringtone)
Wear full sleeves
And last and most important tip
Choose a partner to go with, don’t go alone. Don’t choose your partner blindly, choose wisely
Your partner must be
- Responsible (If you are not)
- Strength to carry you.
- Must know what to do in emergency situation
Drill can be done of one wants too!!
Always carry information of what animals are in your area and what animals can do harm.
Keep spare battery and all
That’s all
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With your Garmin you probably have access to their BaseCamp software, which will geotag your photos for you. That simply utilizes the time stamp in your photo metadata, so just be sure to synchronize time setting between the camera and the Garmin
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I have a fair idea, having worked in Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia in the past, and currently working in SE Asia.
Mail coming to me here, if it even gets to me takes 2-4 months, and often simply doesn’t arrive. This is currently making me getting my renewed drivers license a frustrating challenge.
I know some folks running a bear conservation project in Imbabura (assuming the folks I know in it are still there after all the covid stuff). They periodically have volunteers come in. I could put you in contact with them and see if it’s possible that some arriving volunteers bring you gear.
Where I’m currently working I sometimes have incoming film crews who come to document our work and area do that for us.
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And if you want to see actual wild animals rather than just plants, choose a partner who doesn’t feel compelled to emit constant flocking calls, if you get my drift.
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Absolutely. Please DM me, I am always interested in connecting with like minded folk, especially in that region.
Keep up your incredible work.
Cheers.