Best products from r/sandiego

I wrote this up for a friend a while ago with similar questions:


Cheap small backpack for day hikes. I have a big 75L pack but it's not really worth having unless you're doing multi-day trips, and you don't want to use it for day hikes. I have the older version of this one that I use most of the time: https://www.rei.com/product/892074/rei-flash-18-pack


Water bladder:


You can just use a water bottle if you want but I found I didn't drink enough when I was using one. Bladder is better imo. I use this one: https://www.amazon.com/Platypus-Big-Zip-Reservoir-3-Liter/dp/B00F5IADN6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1466102350&sr=8-1&keywords=platypus+water+bladder


I would do the following hikes in order:


Palomar Mountain - go to the state park side (left at the top of the mountain) and hike around all the trails there. Not a ton of elevation gain but it's pretty and the drive up is nice as well.


Iron Mountain - more elevation gain but pretty easy, also very popular. This will be crowded if you go on the weekend.


Mt Woodson - decent amount of elevation gain if you go from the lake poway side which is the only side I've done. This is the hike with the potato chip rock thing and it is crazy crowded. Do not go on the weekend.


El Cajon Mountain NOTE - THIS IS A LARGE JUMP IN DIFFICULTY FROM WOODSON - this will be a good test to make sure you're ready for the rest of the stuff. Bring lots of water (more than 3L). The summit is not the coolest part, when you get towards the top there is a split with the summit to the left and a cooler cliff if you go straight. Should probably check out both since you're up there, though.


Mt Baldy - Awesome hike, this is the first one that will feel alpine and will get you above the treeline. This is in LA but I've driven up and down same day more than once, worth the drive IMO. I recommend going up the baldy bowl ski hut trail and then down the devils backbone trail. There is a long boring part where you're walking on a dirt road at the end.


San Jacinto - Another awesome mountain hike. Best view in all of the world according to John Muir. It was cloudy when I was at the summit so I don't know. Hike up was very nice though. There will be snow all the way til May but should be clear atm. My favorite hike I've done in SoCal.


San Gorgonio - Haven't done this one yet but it's the highest point in SoCal. Doing this one this weekend. Supposed to be pretty tough to day hike - better to overnight it.


Mt Whitney - Highest point in the US. I really like the area up here as well and there are plenty places to hike around there. The permitting system is a bit of a pain for this but if you can get one it's an awesome trip.


You should research all of these and anywhere else you go by googling. Best resources I've found are:

http://www.modernhiker.com/
https://socalhiker.net/


For your other questions:


Where do I park/what sort of permits/payments are necessary to access the areas? These kind of go hand-in-hand and the answer is that you need to research on the internet. This is one of the more annoying parts of hiking/learning to hike. The websites I linked up above are helpful for this. There's also a socal hiking reddit at /r/socalhiking

What is the local hiking etiquette? People are generally friendly on trail and will say hi when passing, but that's generally about it. Nothing is expected so feel free to say hi, give them a nod, or just walk on by. Generally it's best to let others pass you if they're right behind you (they're there because they caught up with you due to walking faster, after all). Headphones are fine, but speakers are frowned upon. No one cares about your water bottle of course. Public transport will not get you to most hiking spots, so that's basically not an option.


Any other questions let me know! The west coast in general has some spectacular hiking and you won't regret spending some time getting into it.

As someone who lives in south mission beach, and plays frequently, Ill break it down for you. If you're all the way south at the jetty, those are "challenge courts" and they have rules posted on the posts. Weekday daytime shouldnt be an issue at all, but once 5 oclock hits those courts will generally be mobbed with people trying to play. Challenge court means that even if you're there first, someone can call "next" and youd have to honor it, and most likely, if you're beginner level and in a group, youd have to plays 2s, probably lose the game, and the court as its now the winners court. The more northern row of the jetty courts tends to be friendlier to groups while the row of courts nearest the lot tends to be the big boys. You're also probably less likely to get kicked off a womens net as those seem to lend themselves to womens games and coed group games. On the weekend, those courts can be used for closed games (no challenges allowed) until 10am, but then revert to challenge courts again at 10. If you move slightly north to Cohasset and Dover courts, those arent technically challenge courts, but there will be some advanced players on the Cohasset red courts tuesday, wednesday, thursday evening and weekends at 8 that will claim rights. The purple, green, yellow and blue courts on Dover are very coed/group friendly, non challenge courts that can be found open more than the red cohasset courts on the weekdays, and weekends theyll generally be taken by 8 or 9, and open back up by 1 depending on the crowds. Anything north of that are usually just posts and youd need your own net and lines to set up (same with the Pit across from Belmont park). If youre really trying to get into volleyball, and foresee many games with your friends and dont want to deal with the hassle of challenge courts, and avoid the dread of going to play only to find there are no courts open and dont want to assert yourself on challenge courts, you and the gang can always get your own net to set up for fairly cheap and never have to worry about public courts and getting the boot! I know thats a lot to take in, but it can be a little confusing and intimidating out there, and just wanna set you up for success and awesome volleyball!

Spectrum Classic Volleyball Net - Amazon

Wasn't there, but as a dashcam owner, I must suggest what you do for the future. I recently had a super easy time with an accident, in part because I think the at-fault driver noticed my front and rear dashcams. Or he was just honest and cool.

Anyway, I have two of these, Aukey DR02 dashcams. And besides the image clarity and ease of use, I also suggest these because they are using capacitors instead of lithium ion. The perk to using lithium ion is that the camera will stay on for a minute or two after the engine is cut. The downside is that in hot california weather, lithium ion batteries will expand and even explode. I lost three lithium ion based dashcams to heat before I discovered that ones with capacitors would solve this issue.

I purchased even longer cables than they provide, and routed them in all sorts of nooks and crannies, under the rubber on the trim, under parts of the trim, so that you can't see or trip on the cables anywhere.

They are powered via the cigarette lighter plug. There are options out there with multiple usb ports, including crazy ones like this one

Since it has flat sides, you can adhere it somewhere out of the way with double sided adhesive tape. If you have a compartment in your center console, for example.

I would also suggest you use something like these sandisk microSD cards but the important part is that they be high endurance, as the dashcams are constantly writing data to them. This is a lot more than most MicroSD cards are expected to endure in a camera or on a phone, and it doesn't cost that much more. I think the peace of mind is entirely worth it.

Pretty awesome guide for hiking spots, extremely in depth.

North Park (Tiger! Tiger! or Crazee Burger), South Park (Alexander's or Lefty's), and Hillcrest (Snooze Crest Cafe) have the best food IMO. Snooze in particular blows my mind, call ahead to put your name on the list as there is always a long wait.

Balboa Park is always a good bet for things to do. Besides the beautiful hikes and scenery, there is also music, arts, and other entertainment pretty much every weekend. It's a hub of entertainment.

There's weekly threads here for things to do on the weekends, and also many great groups on Meetup.com

I use something called f500l, which is no longer available. A quick search of dashcam turned up hundreds of hits. This one looks promising, but I can't guarantee how good it is:

http://www.amazon.com/AUTO-VOX-Battery-Install-Dashboard-Dashcam/dp/B00KHKUBLQ/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1413959359&sr=8-9&keywords=dash+cam

Here's some basic info I found when I did my initial search a few years ago, and from what I've learned over the course of using a 1080p dashcam for three years. I hope this helps a little.

1. Recirculation. This is a software feature that stops and saves a recording after a pre-set number of minutes, then automatically starts another one. Typically this is 5, 10, or 15 minutes. Any longer, at 720 or 1080 resolution, and the files are too big to copy and edit, etc. Mine is at 1080p, and at 5 min the files are about 220mb, which is fine for a current PC to handle. Without circulation, a 32GB SD card yields a single file of almost 20GB, which is way too big to mess with. Auto recirculation avoids these huge files, and this is the reason I didn't buy a GoPro. If they added that simple feature, I'd be a customer.
   
   
2. Find something with a video review so you can see clips shot during the day AND NIGHT. Some cheaper cams shoot great in daylight, but are too grainy at night -- not good enough to read license plates. If there are no Amazon video reviews, check YouTube with the exact make/model. I bought the f500l because it's the most popular one in Russia, the heavyweight champ of dashcam videos, and it shoots high quality vids. Again, this one is long gone, so you can't get it now. I believe the CCD size and probably ISO rating determines quality of night shooting, but these details are almost never listed in the description, so you have to go out and watch the vids to see how good they record at night.
   
   
3. Get a Class 10 SD card. This refers to speed. Anything less than 10 leaves large gaps between vids -- when it's saving and starting a new recording. Mine is Class 10, and the gap is only about 1 second. My 32GB card lasts more than 10 hours at 1080p. It would really suck to get into a crash while the cam is saving a file and hasn't started a new one!
   
   
4. You may want to try a used Galaxy III. Some people on the web, lifehacker.com I think, suggested using that for dashcams. You can side load from your computer, or use wifi, to download a blackbox app -- you're not going to get phone service on this phone, obviously. In other words, you'll be using it as a handheld computer with video cam, not a phone. This gives you a decent quality HD camera for around $30. If my cam breaks, I'll probably go this route.
   
   
5. Anybody should go to youtube and type "why you need a dashcam". I know the odds of truly needing the video evidence is small, especially in the USA, but it still happens here. A cam is a really cheap insurance policy.
   
   
6. Side benefit: after three straight years, I have only recorded one accident, and I wasn't involved. I now have, however, a gigantic file on my home PC labeled Idiot File where I save clips of ridiculous driving from others. It's entertaining. For $30-$50, or $100-$150 for a high quality cam, there's no good reason to put off getting a dash cam.
   
   
7. I paid a guy to change my cig lighter socket to be always on, even with the ignition off and key out. Unless I'm at home sleeping, I'm always recording. My thinking is this: if I'm shopping or at a movie, or at work, somebody could hit my parked car and take off. A dashcam can't guarantee you'll see a plate, given the angles and such, but there's a really good chance you will get that info, even if you're nowhere near the car. The power usage is small enough that my car battery never drains.
   
   
8. Reality check: dashcams aren't popular enough in America to be 100% sure of a cam before purchase. Detailed, professional reviews are rare. I'd say to try something in the $50 range after verifying there are video samples in the reviews. That way, if it's a dud, you can buy another brand and start over. Or, try the used smartphone approach. That seems like a good idea. Smartphones aren't really phones anyway. They're handheld computers, and telephony is just another app. Put on a blackbox app and forget about the phone idea.

I think you will be totally fine, most of the route has dedicated bike path, I would recommend a great tail light at all times day or night, this one in particular, (on the 2nd setting) it will make you very easy to spot in the day time as well as from a great distance. Cygolite Hotshot Pro 150 USB Rechargeable Bike Tail Light People see me from far away and give me a lot of room. I actually run 2 rear facing at all times, they are rechargeable and last for hours and hours. I always err on the side of safety. I've ridden much longer distances in a lot more traffic and felt safe. And actually in rush hour it's sometimes safer when all the cars are moving at a snails pace while you fly right by.

My recommendation looks like this:

1. Buy your own gear. Once you go, you're going to want to return, especially once it's free. Check craigslist and local dive shops that sell used gear if you want to save a little money. Don't buy junk. Companies that don't make junk: Riffe, ScubaPro, Mares, Cressi. Go for black silicone as it ages much, much better than clear, which yellows. Don't mess about with dry snorkels (the ones that close with a float when you go underwater), they just get in the way and cost more money. You'll need fins (full heel if you don't want to buy booties), mask, snorkel.
   
   
2. Start off at Marine Room (parking is easier), go out a couple dozen yards and start swimming north. You'll see some sharks!
   
   
3. Head on over to the cove, the scenery is lots prettier, there's a larger variety of fish but there's fewer sharks and rays.
   
   This is my set-up: Snorkel, mask, fins. But I like overkill. You'd do fine with this: Mask + Snorkel, fins. I'd also recommend some socks to prevent chafing.
   
   Once you're in, you're in so expect to be buying weight belts, wetsuits and spearguns in the near future. Have fun and see you out there!

If you live here in SD do yourself a big favor and buy Jerry Schad's Afoot and Afield in San Diego https://www.amazon.com/Afoot-Afield-County-Comprehensive-Hiking/dp/0899974287/ref=la_B001ITWV9A_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1495149676&sr=1-2

You can get a used copy of the 2007 version for about ten bucks and a 1998 (which I still use) for less than five. If you go on two hikes you will be way ahead of the game. Jerry Schad was a unique person with a great soul as well as being a champion hiker and a polymath naturalist. The writing is terrific. Best money you'll ever spend!

So you didn't mention if you've tried any steps yet, so ignore this comment if you have.

My friend did the same thing, and it can sometimes be an easy fix.

A couple of quick things to check. This should take like 30 seconds, is not messy, and saves you from the "oh, I feel so stupid" moment. If it doesn't work, then you know you've tried the basics, and it's time to call professionals!

1. Make sure the blades can spin freely. On the bottom of the garbage disposal in the center there is a little opening with a hex shape. There will usually be a matching wrench somewhere nearby (maybe under the sink, maybe in that junk drawer in the kitchen that has all the manuals and stuff you never know what to do with). It would look like this:
   
   https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B000BQ7WE0/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_eIwxDbFYFCVX7
   
   It should be able to freely turn (or you may still hear glass crunching or preventing it from spinning. Sometimes manually spinning the blades can clear them.
   
   
2. Is the disposal not making any noise at all when you turn it on? The fuse may be blown. There is a reset button on the bottom of the disposal that can be reset when the disposal has been overloaded by accident. You can press it to make sure that it is set and the disposal tries to turn on.
   
   Here's a video of the whole clearing process: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0OByRuoYM0

Anza Borrego is under a 2 hour drive away and you can camp for free anywhere within the park, which is quite large. Right now is the time to get out there as it's not 100+ degrees.

There are some good hikes along the Sunrise Highway in the Laguna Mountains if you want hikes that aren't crowded with people like Cowles is. Sunset Trail is a good one. You'll need an Adventure Pass to park at some of the trails.

If you want a good book with a lot of trails in San Diego that won't be crowded with people I'd suggest Afoot and afield.

This is the best book on hiking in San Diego County: http://www.amazon.com/Afoot-Afield-County-Comprehensive-Hiking/dp/0899974287

Comprehensive, easy to read, good directions, accurate advice.

I just got a front dash cam, this one has worked great, quality is amazing. Pretty stealthy too.

https://www.amazon.com/AUKEY-Wide-Angle-Dashboard-Recorder-Recording/dp/B072FGL63X/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1518221235&sr=8-4&keywords=aukey+dash+cam

Bought my dash-cam a month ago, $25 on Amazon, a great purchase I recommend. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07M66PJJY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Sorry this is happening to you, man that has to be frustrating. I'm curious if certain models of cars are more sought after to break into. I've even seen people who park in sketchy parts of Mira Mesa put a note on the window that says "Nothing of Value inside car" or of similar nature. I think anything to show they are not welcome would help your chances, like adding a fake security system light from amazon. You would be amazed at how the slightest sign of security would make someone think "okay different target".

https://www.amazon.com/SA110-Vehicle-Anti-Theft-Alert-Signal/dp/B00CJ9O9AC

Was it this one?

https://www.amazon.com/Photography-7th-Barbara-London/dp/0130282715/ref=asc_df_0130282715/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312038987516&hvpos=1o2&hvnetw=g&hvrand=2601261348208426453&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9031351&hvtargid=pla-572380100052&psc=1

​

My library friend covered mine for free. It's a softcover but a rigid clear plastic was used to cover and make it more sturdy.

I like the book Afoot and Afield San Diego County as it will cover access, etc and even where to park. Often trail heads are pretty well defined with parking lots.

https://www.amazon.com/Afoot-Afield-Spectacular-Foothills-Mountains/dp/0899978010

As for etiquette. I'm only ever annoyed by people playing music without headphones. I tend to say hello to people as we pass them. Just normal human etiquette will work.

>That is $55 + $5.50 shipping is for used headphones vs. $44.99 for a new pair, not really a good deal.
>
>However it does look like you can get refurbished ones for around $30-$35 including shipping - that's a better deal. https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B01BY7ZMXC/ref=olp_f_refurbished?ie=UTF8&f_refurbished=true

Yeah, it's $10-15 more to buy new instead of refurbished.

That is $55 + $5.50 shipping is for used headphones vs. $44.99 for a new pair, not really a good deal.

However it does look like you can get refurbished ones for around $30-$35 including shipping - that's a better deal. https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B01BY7ZMXC/ref=olp_f_refurbished?ie=UTF8&f_refurbished=true

http://www.amazon.com/Afoot-Afield-County-Comprehensive-Hiking/dp/0899974287/

you can find this in your local library - excellent resource

Just want to take this opportunity to say anyone who lives here and is at all interested in hiking should own this book

If you are into hiking, I recommend buying these guides to San Diego hiking:

Afoot and Afield: San Diego County

Coast to Cactus: The Canyoneer Trail Guide to San Diego Outdoors

The San Diego Reader usually has a section highlighting a particular hike. http://www.sandiegoreader.com

Just go ahead and buy Afoot and Afield: San Diego County: A Comprehensive Hiking Guide

This book is worth picking up. http://www.amazon.com/Afoot-Afield-County-Comprehensive-Hiking/dp/0899974287/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1405290658&sr=1-1&keywords=afoot+and+afield+in+san+diego

Essential for anything hiking in San Diego.

Afoot and Afield: San Diego County

It's a book and you can find it in most bookstores around here or on Amazon.

These Sony Extra Bass Bluetooth headphones for 44.99. Not impressed.

https://www.amazon.com/Sony-MDRXB650BT-Extra-Bluetooth-Headphones/dp/B01BY7ZMXC

When I google Sony Extra Bass Bluetooth headphones, I get these, which, in black, are going for $10 more than the "deal" above.edit: used headphones

https://www.amazon.com/Sony-MDRXB950BT-Extra-Bluetooth-Headphones/dp/B00MCHE38O