Creature Comforts
I have picked up some new astronomy equipment this season but it isn't the kind of stuff that you look through. These things are items that make hours behind the eyepiece more endurable.I probably bought this last season but I was down at EMS one day with Peter when they were having one of their big sales and picked up a Byer Trilite Folding Stool (XL I think). My hip and knee don't appreciate it when I stand for long periods of time and I had been thinking about getting a camp stool for observing. Peter has one that I occasionally borrowed when I got really sore and was thinking about getting something similar because I didn't know of anything else out there that would be appropriate. But his is a tripod where the legs cross in the middle and I have always found it a bit tippy. The stool I got has the base lower down where it is a little bit more stable but there are a pair of bars that extend upward from it to hold a hammock-like seat. The bars add in some instability so it is probably about the same as Peter's stool. The bars that hold the seat out are nylon or plastic and I worry about them snapping under load or even when I am setting it up or breaking it down. It has a weight limitation that is not advertised and because of that and the instability I don't let the public use it. When I get tired I back it up to the fence and lean back onto the fence for a back rest. My Dobsonian mount was supposed to have been made to get the zenith eyepiece height at eye level when I am seated on that stool but the eyepiece is too high to observe seated well before zenith.
I was browsing the L. L. Bean catalog and came across the GCI Outdoor Quick E-Seat (it is available for $10 less from REI and you get a rebate on the purchase if you are an REI member) which looked to be more stable than my Trilite stool and has a back rest. This is a great chair. It is comfortable and stable. The seat is a little lower than that of the Trilite so it isn't much good for observing with the Dobsonian but it is great for observing breaks. I can use it with the Mini Mak if I put the tripod off to the side of the chair. The only downsides are that it doesn't fold down as compactly as the Trilite and it is a bit heavier.
When I was ordering the camp chair from them I came across the Pathfinder Self-Inflating Multisport Inflatable Seat and picked it up to use as a kneeling pad. The only time I used it was out at Custer Institute on a cold night in a grassy field. I am not sure how well it will work on a sidewalk though. I don't know if it will keep my knees from pushing through to the pavement. Out at Custer it looked like I might have a leaky valve as it appeared to have deflated but I think the problem was that I filled it with air at ~98.6° from my lungs and when that air cooled to freezing and below it didn't occupy as mush volume. So in cold weather the pad will probably have to be topped off several times as the air inside it cools and contracts.
Over the past several years I have noticed that I don't tolerate the cold as well as I used to. This may be due in part to my hypo thyroidism but it is probably also do to just getting old. I can wear all the close I have and still not be comfortable. One time I returned from observing or birdwatching and was so bulked up with sweaters and jackets that the man at the front desk of my building didn't recognize me as a resident. I was looking through a Duluth Trading Company catalog and saw that they sold Zippo handwarmers. My father had one that I tried using in my scouting days but could never get it to light. I viewed some UTube video reviews (why are they always by high school students) that said they work so decided to give them a try and Peter had me get one for him as well. Getting fuel for it isn't easy around here. You pretty much have to go to a "head" shop. Once I got that and got it filled it lit fine from the butane lighter I had for lighting my butane soldering iron. I suspect that the problems I was having with my father's warmer were because I was trying to light it with farmer matches. I fill it up with six hours of fuel (it is supposed to hold fuel for 12 hours but I find that it starts regurgitating fuel right about the time I get 6 hours worth into it) a bit before I head out and let it sit near the steam riser to get the fuel evaporating up through the burner then hold the lighter beneath it for about 10 seconds on each side. After 10 seconds on the first side I can usually see a red glow in there indicating that it is lit but give it the second 10 seconds to be sure. I put the lit warmer in a ruler pocket in my fleece-lined jeans or a backpack pocket and leave it there until I start to get chilled. These days I am wearing a heavy fleece jacket under my down parka when I observe. When I start to get cold I move the warmer to the zippered chest pocket of the fleece jacket. That goes a long way to keeping me comfortable although we haven't been out in sub-zero temperatures this year. The heater gives off a sweet smell when it is burning that isn't objectionable but can be very strong when I move and air gets expelled from the neck opening of my parka and is directed up towards my nose. Since it is a catalytic reaction combustion should be complete but I don't know if there is anything in the exhaust that would be a health concern when the warmer is used in this manner.
I got a catalog from Orvis a while ago and found that they were advertising the Ansai Mobile Warming Softshell Vest which has a battery-operated heater built into it. I researched it on the net and found that the manufacturer sells it for $150 while Orvis sells it for $159, not that that surprises me with Orvis. It is supposed to reach 135° on full power and have a run time of 2.5 hours. At 25% power the run time is up to 10 hours but they say that for indoor temperatures of 50°-60° you will probably want to run it at the 50% power setting. I cogitated about this purchase for a couple of weeks since I don't like spending that much money on anything but eventually ordered one. I found it for $140 from a biker shop. I knew in the back of my head somewhere that bikers plug everything into their bike but never thought about the new battery technologies making it possible to have unteathered heated garments. There was a video talking about it on the site and a favorable review by a biker. It got here yesterday and had 75% charge on the battery so I plugged it on and set it to 25% power to see how hot it got and how long the battery would last. I wore it for a while in my room but got too hot so took it off. When I measured the temperature with my IR thermometer the area over the heating panels was around 115°. I left it laying on my bed turned on until I put it on to go out to Brooklyn for hacking. When I picked up my keys which happened to have been under it they were too hot to touch. I got out to Brooklyn and was at dinner when I realized there was no longer any heat being produced. That was less than three hours after I had turned it on at 25% power with a 75% battery charge. So right now it doesn't look like the battery life is as listed but they list it as Up To so I guess it it turns on at all it meets their claim. But since I am not planning on this as being my primary warmth three hours should be OK. It still needs to be tested with a full battery charge under observing conditions. The heating panels appear to be smaller than the illustration lead me to believe they would be and are mounted higher up than I expected. I would think they would put them on the sides since the hypothermia researchers tell us that there and the groin are the areas of greatest heat loss, or in the kidney area since I often feel cold there before feeling it between my shoulder blades.
