My cordless clipper battery died in the middle of a full fade on a Saturday afternoon.

My water filter gave out halfway up the Teton Crest Trail last month

It was a Sawyer Squeeze that had been totally fine for maybe 200 miles, but the flow just stopped dead near Marion Lake. I had to boil everything for two days, which was a huge pain and used way more fuel. What's a good backup filter method that doesn't weigh a ton?

My new $80 leather apron turned into a real surprise

I was working on a simple leaf keychain, just a quick heat and tap, when a tiny piece of hot scale popped off the anvil and landed right on the apron's chest... and it started to smoke and melt a hole straight through. I guess 'tooling leather' doesn't always mean 'forge leather'. Has anyone found a good apron that can actually take a stray spark?

Tried using that 'fast set' joint compound on a whole house job and it cost me a full day

I got a deal on a pallet of that 20-minute setting type mud last month, thought I'd save time on a big residential job in Springfield. Big mistake. I mixed a whole bucket for a bedroom ceiling, got maybe two seams done before it started going off in the pan. Had to stop, clean everything out, and mix a fresh batch. Did that three more times before lunch. By the end of the day, I'd wasted over half the product and spent more time cleaning tools than hanging board. I figure I lost a full day's pay, maybe $400, just trying to rush things. It's fine for small patches, but for production work it's a total time trap. Anyone have a go-to all-purpose mud they use for big jobs that stays workable?