"Ray, Thank you so much for designing the Small backpack and promptly including it in the order page. I'm sure many petite women like me and younger people will appreciate it! I just ordered a pack and tarp, and really looking forward to my summer sewing project. I have no experience with sewing (this will be my first!) -- so am saving the quilt kit for later, maybe order it with your next book! And just a note to thank you also for the great recipes in the News section. I tried them all, modifying some ingredients to what we had in the kitchen at the time and found them to be so easy to make, tasty and energizing! I follow a natural hygiene diet but also cook traditional Japanese, spicy Indian (both minus animal protein) and macrobiotic dishes for my non-veg husband. Thank you, and have a nice day!" - Rie W., Japan

Update for August 6, 2008: I have finished the writing. With Jenny's help I am now polishing the manuscript with some editing. I plan to spend another 2-weeks on the photos, and a week on lay-ups. So we hope to have the book to the printer in another 4 or 6 weeks. This will be the book's 12th printing, taken as a whole; and as we have done a few times in the past, we are changing the title because this will be a major revision. The book will be for sale initially only at this website.

I'm working on the subsequent version of Beyond Backpacking, under a different title of course. The further I proceed into the project, the more excited I become. I am clarifying the text greatly, I feel, and also expanding it a great deal. I am including hundreds of color photos taken during our many thousands miles of hiking. Most photos will be surrounded by text that explains the subject at hand. And I am changing the overall perspective, from "What I recommend" to "We are no longer recommending anything; this book is about what we, personally, have learned on the trail, and please everyone feel free to think for yourself." In other words, this book will no longer be a how-to, but a simple and splendid legacy, we hope.

The work is speeding slowly along, as I'm re-writing almost everything. So we are still at least a few months away from publication.

In memory: Gene White, 1934 - 2008.
I can't think of anyone who has affected my life more than Gene did, 35 years ago. He was a powerful but gentle man, and his heart was like a mirror. In that mirror I saw myself, not as I was back then, but as I wanted to be. That refection became my guiding light throughout life. To Betsy, John, and Mark, and all those who knew this lovely man, Jenny and I share your sorrows.

Domestic cantaloupe are back in season! When juiced with a Champion, we have what I call Ambrosia. (Classical mythology; the food and drink of the gods; mortals who ate it became immortal.)

Mythology aside, we use the machine with its standard screen, and put the pulp back in the hopper a few times. Of course, to begin we remove the seeds, slice the skin off the cantaloupe, and slice the fruit into strips. We add the skin to our compost pile. We plant the seeds or most often throw them to the birds. Problem is, the birds are so fond of them they also dig the planted ones back up.

A day in the life of Ray and Jenny.

At least the lunch. :)

Raw Vegetable Sushi

Cut into thin strips: Carrot, Cucumber, Green onion, Beet, Avocado, Beet greens, Ginger, Red bell pepper, Yellow bell pepper, Jicama.

Place ingredients on a sheet of Sushi Nori. Roll the sushi tightly, and dampen the far ½" end of the Nori so the roll will stick together. Shape the roll, and slice into bite-size pieces.

More gratuitous philosophy from Ray :)

Visitor count for the last few days:
Mon 5,143; Tue 4,918, Wed 5,289
Thank you everyone for your interest in our site.

Strawberry Ice Cream

Tastes really good!

Quick and easy, and it's non-fattening.

2 frozen bananas (use well-ripened, remove peels before freezing)

6 fresh strawberries (wash and remove stems)

Use the Champion juicer to puree the fruit. Serve right away, or freeze for later.

Raw Chili Rellenos

This is another one of our perennial favorites:

3 large bell peppers (one each red, orange, yellow)
1-1/2 cups sunflower seeds, soaked several hours or overnight
2 medium carrots
3 stalks celery
6 medium mushrooms
1/4 cup cilantro
1/4 small onion
1 clove garlic
1 small jalapeno pepper, de-seeded
1 tsp lime or lemon juice
1/4 tsp cumin.

Cut the bell peppers in quarters lengthwise and remove the seeds and stem; set aside. Use a food processor or Champion juicer with the solid plate to puree the sunflower seeds, carrots, celery, mushrooms, cilantro, onion, garlic and jalapeno. Add lime juice and cumin and mix thoroughly. Stuff the peppers with the pate. Garnish with slices of avocado and cherry tomatoes. This recipe adapted from Nomi Shannon's The Raw Gourmet.

Hearty and delicious

Raw Creamy Carrot and Avocado Soup

8 carrots, juiced
1 cucumber, juiced
8 celery stalks, juiced
1 large avocado, pitted and peeled
1 fresh corn, kerneled

Place juices, two-thirds of the avocado, and two-thirds of the corn kernels in blender. Blend until smooth. Pour into individual soup mugs. Cut the remaining portion of avocado into small pieces, mix with the remaining corn kernels and mix with the soup.

Serve cold, warm, or very warm.

I want to recommend an excellent video called "The 11th hour." A must see.

Meanwhile, my printing of another set of Backpacking Kit Sewing Videos inspired this photo. This is Jenny's at-hand inventory.

We have eliminated the old Standard Quilt Kit from our Order Form. Of course we are still selling our Deluxe Quilt Kit, which comes with the optional Gorget, Draft-Stopper, and for the 2P the Split-Zip.

"Dear Ray, Nicholas here from [], we were in touch a while ago (perhaps a year or more), I had written in part to say hello and to say thanks for your Friends invention, in part to find out whether you might be interested in doing an interview with me and []. If you are interested then please do let me know and I'll send you the questions right away. As always, kind regards from Italy" Nicholas H.

Nicholas: Thanks for the offer anyway. Wishing you all the best.

"Dear Ray, I am writing to you because I'm in development on a feature length documentary on the history of American rock climbing... I believe you know and climbed with my father - Mark Moore. He's told me many stories about your times together, about some first ascents you did and your outrageous hang gliding off the top of El Cap to name a few...(He has a photograph of himself wearing a rack with your Friends prototype, and he always chuckles at the memory of how unhappy you were that the photo was taken...rightfully so, as time would tell!) Please consider, as I really hope you will become a part of the project." O. M.

Dear O. M.: No thanks, but I wish you best of luck with your film. But about your father, he is indeed a very good friend of mine, despite that picture :) This was back in the days of secrecy, 1976, when only a handful of people had even seen the Friends, namely my regular climbing partners, so no pictures allowed. My fondest memories of that time were when Mark cranked up his stereo in his red Volvo on our way to and from the climbs, and we belted out the songs with abandon.

Among other routes, Mark and I did the first free ascent of Chockstone Chimney, which was previously rated IV 5.8 A3, I think it was. Imagine our surprise when it went all free at 5.8. We were expecting at least 5.10 or more, but we found an easier way around the giant chockstone. The approach was an hours hike, and nobody else would hike that far except Mark. So we had the whole place to ourselves. Incidentally, the wall is visible from road, and at that time it had a host of very long first ascents yet to be done.

Home from the grocery store and nothing to cook.

We are now selling quilt fabric and insulation by the foot. Please see our Order Form.

Ray & Jenny, This round makes our second tarp/net and quilt. I Love the first so much I decided to do it again, this time a tad bigger so we can all squeeze under the tarp. Your gear patterns assisted us in our first ever 175 mile summer with a 1 year old. That was the most fun ever!!!!! Going for bigger this year at 2." Jim D.

For our ski to the South Pole trip, Jenny named our sleds "Spirit" and "Opportunity." Great names, I thought. But at Antarctica base camp, no one knew what those names meant. That blew me away!! Although I soon got over it :) Nevertheless, there's a great movie about this awe-inspiring journey to Mars, called Roving Mars.

"Hi Ray and Jenny! I hope you don't mind, but I had a question about my sheath for the rayway knife I purchased. On a side note, the knife, sheath, and sharpening kit instructions were beyond excellent. I had no problems what so ever in putting together any of your kits. Anyone, and I mean ANYONE can put toghether your kits if they really listen and follow your instructions. I remember at the first Connection Camp you guys had your own knife and sheath and thought it was the coolest thing! I'm so glad you made the kits available. OI... anyways, my question... I was interested in maybe tanning the leather sheath but I already put leather conditioner on it. Can I still tan the leather or will the conditioner prevent the tanner from soaking into the leather? Thanks for all your time in putting these kits together! They are priceless to me! Hope everyone is respecting your ideas and paradime change in business practices.
PS: Loved the pictures and journal from your IUA hike and hang gliding photos too!
PPS: Kite skiing looks like a blast...WAHOOOO! I've become an avid kitesurfer...he he!
Take care!!!" James G.

James signed his email "foreveramped." I like it, and that sounds about like us too. Kitesurfing - right on! Our advice to anyone who does not burst out of bed each morning is: Get ramped :) Now, the leather in our sheath kits has already been tanned. But if you want to apply more conditioner, then by all means. There are many types of conditioners, and you could try some of them on scraps.

"Hello, When will you reprint some more of your Backpacking books? Those of us who are new to your name and concepts can not learn from you. Thank you. Mitchell R.

"It really is brilliant news to hear that the greatest ever backpacking book is about to be revamped." Mike G

I am working on the next edition of Beyond Backpacking, with a target date of 4 - 5 months hence, that is if I mange to continue working on this project for that long :) (Cross your fingers but don't hold your breath :) The book will have a new title, as I am re-writing the book with a whole new slant. I am changing the info in large part, to accommodate what we have learned in these past 9 years. And I'm switching the presentation by 180 degrees throughout. Also I will be including about 400 color photos taken during our many long-distance hikes. I am enjoying the writing, but most of all we are having a lot of fun working with the photos. In short, we want the book to be more like a legacy of what we have learned on the trail.

Jenny is working hard at ray-way products, building kits and shipping them out. Also with a little help from me, she has been remodeling our kitchen. We designed our home with no range, with the idea of maximizing counter and cupboard space. After all, we don't cook much, when at home, so certainly had no use for a stove or oven. But now that we are thinking of selling the house, it must have a range, dishwasher, and while we are at it, a big, over-the-stove microwave.

The home market is not too good, so we might not be moving for a while. But in either case we plan to keep our business running.

We started the business with our Tarp and Net-Tent Kits, and our Tarp Book. Then as time rolled on, we added a few new items. But we did so with great caution, because we were not sure the market was ready for a business like ours. As I wrote in the integrity paradigm:

"One obstacle in designing our kits here at Ray-Way Products is the moral issue. The patterns and instructions are worth far more than the materials, so we are taking a chance that customers might share the patterns and instructions with others, and even go so far as to use them for commercial enterprise. Will our customers exercise integrity in themselves and respect for our work and our products? This kind of integrity is not terribly common in society, and it is not learned much in schools, churches, and certainly not on tv, in movies, and on the internet.

"But neither is sewing one's own outdoor gear common in society, and Jenny and I like to think we are helping to shift the paradigm somewhat in that regard.

"These kits do require a shift in morals. Too many customers showing disrespect of our designs would only discourage us from designing new types of kits, and in that regard everyone would lose."

Jenny and I appreciate all the customers who have bought our kits. We value your business, and the opportunity to make these kits available to you. Thanks also for putting your trust in us.

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