The Web site of Outside magazine has had a much-needed update that has added five separate RSS feeds. This’ll come as great news to the folks at GoBlog, who now will be able to ridicule the magazine with much greater ease and efficiency. I’m not exactly the sultan of snark, and I figure the guy I skewer today might be the one I’m asking for a job next year, so I try to avoid the urge to pile on, no matter how well deserved. But sometimes they ask for it, like this letter to the Gear Guy from a guy recovering from a ruptured disc who wonders if there’s a backpack built for people with back trouble.

Well, I don’t think anybody is making a Ruptured Disc Edition Backpack, but certainly some are going to be better than others. I worry about the weight you’ll need to carry for a long tripómore than 40 pounds, I would imagine. In my view you’d be well advised to take your pack in to see your doc, just so he/she is perfectly aware of what you propose.

This is a good start, but of course he recommends a bunch of really expensive — and heavy — packs and doesn’t even broach the idea of looking into the whole light-weight movement. Kind of a blindered view of things, which, come to think of it, is probably what gets Climb_CA so worked up all the time.

UPDATE: This post annoyed Justin a bit.