Zach Matthews
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Grant –
Sixty-five pages is a lot of information, but reading the intro is not making me regret my article one bit.
“A draft [of the FRAC Act] that surfaced mandates disclosure of fracing chemicals under the SDWA. Industry stalwarts strongly oppose this, warning EPA could stick its nose further in the tent and exert control on drilling. This rift could get ugly.”
I understand that the EPA is a bogeyman to much of the heavy extraction industry, but in many cases that’s simply because it’s doing its job: preventing expensive environmental disasters (aka Superfund sites) by asking industry to clean and protect as it goes. See “Anaconda Mine” etc. This is why we have the EPA.
This is what it boils down to: “If Congress does mandate EPA oversight of fracing, the industry predicts further costs of $125,000 to $250,000 per well. We think costs could be less than that, given changes companies are making voluntarily.” This is compared against costs which already run “$2.5 to 10 million” per well. They don’t print profitability figures but I can do the math for you: that’s only 2.5% to 5% more per well to ensure a BP-style disaster doesn’t happen.
I am all for the companies acting on their own to make regulation unnecessary. This report makes crystal clear that this is just a bottom line decision; it’s not “Are we going to be able to turn a profit mining shale deposits this way,” but instead it’s “How much of a profit are we going to make?”
Graham,
Absolutely gorgeous images! I fished the Golden Trout Wilderness last year and got some nice images but nothing that compares to those. Are you using an underwater housing or bag? Thanks for sharing these, very inspiring.
Not quite Tim.
The most I have been able to get away with (and I did this last time I flew, to Baton Rouge in March) was a wheeled “MLC” type carry-on, which I gate checked, along with a large Patagonia waterproof bag (the green one), and also my rod tube. I walked through security and onto the plane with all of these things and gate-checked the wheeled bag.
I have heard some airlines are cracking down on this by charging planeside for the gate checked bag but the bottom line is you lose nothing by trying. I do advise being up to date on security procedure at your local airport – have all liquids in small enough containers to be carried on and don’t have any sharp objects of any kind (except fishing hooks, which have been deemed okay).
One trick we use when we pack for Yellowstone is to purchase heavy-duty zipped (with an actual zipper) freezer bags.
Checking rods is a bad idea in my opinion. You’re going to run the risk of getting them appropriated by the TSA or baggage handlers (this happens a lot more than they will admit). They also treat those bags like they’re sacks of feed and it is not hard to break a fly rod.
I would recommend spending the $50 or so to buy a large multi-rod carrier; it will last your lifetime and you’ll never be confronted with this question again:
The 4″ one can accept most non-large arbor reels under 3.25″ (i.e. trout reels) as well; just put them in one end after the rods; you should have space.
The airlines treat those carry cases as a “personal item” like an umbrella or jacket; they are not counted against your total for bags.
The best way to travel these days is to try to get everything in a single roller bag that you can gate-check. Most airlines still don’t charge a fee for that service. If you can’t get everything in the gate-check bag, then send your clothes and sundries through checked baggage and carry on a Maximum Legal Carry-on bag with your reels, sensitive personal items like medicine and contacts, and any electronics like laptops or cameras.
I toasted a flash in checked baggage on the way to Brazil. It didn’t like the altitude or temperature. Since then, everything I can get comes on with me.
Zach
PS One of these days if I can ever find a saddlemaker to take on the project, I have a design for a multi-rod carrier covered in leather, 5″, with clamshell-style reel cases on each end. That would maximize my ability to take all the essentials on the plane with me and not be charged for it. I’ll attach my sketch of what I am describing (I made it for a product designer but they didn’t bite).
Bad ass, Steve.
That last shot has me puzzled; I could make the blur go to the right with a rear-curtain flash sync setting, but I can’t figure out how you made it blur to the left as well.
Tim –
This thread wasn’t started by me, first of all.
Secondly, there is a place for politics and activism in fly fishing. Generally speaking I do not believe that place should include this board – politics naturally become divisive over time. However I felt it would be hypocritical of me to write a national magazine article about an arguably political issue and then deny this board’s community the chance to comment about what I said. So, this particular thread gets a pass. I would not have started it myself, but as it was created by a user, I’m leaving it.
I do my best to weigh these things and come up with a rational decision for how to run the site. But, ultimately, there may be some inconsistencies from time to time which arise from me doing my best to be fair.
Regan –
Redington’s ties to Sage aside, in all seriousness I think you will find that most Chinese-made rods ARE based to a large degree on the XP right now.
FlyMom –
He sounds like a nice person, but generally I appreciate it if people check with me before posting press releases.