@emery879 yeah that food price complaint graffiti hit different, totally shifted my view on ancient daily life.

My cousin did something similar but with a garden hose. He was trying to rig up a temporary sprinkler system for his backyard and ran the hose under his garage door. First time he tried to close the door it pinched the hose so bad it burst and sprayed water everywhere. Took him forever to clean up the mess and he had to buy a whole new hose. Its wild how the simplest things can turn into disasters when you're in a hurry. I've learned to always take an extra five minutes to double check where stuff is routed before calling it done.

That approach sounds solid for most situations but what happens when you're on a wreck or a cave and the comms line is the only thing connecting you to the exit? Tight spaces, silt, no visibility. By the time you signal topside and wait for a buddy, you could be out of air or lost. Cutting that line feels drastic but sometimes it's a time vs. risk call. Have you ever been in a spot where stopping to untangle would have meant something worse than losing comms?

Five minutes after lighting mine in the driveway the valve started leaking fuel everywhere, so yeah @wright.kevin is totally right about testing everything first. I always fire up new stoves in the backyard now and let them run for a full 10-15 minutes before I trust them on any trip.

Did you use the OIII on the Veil from a Bortle 3 site too? I feel like the filter helps but the sky darkness is the real key, @keith264 mentioned how the Veil with a filter was a game changer for him and I totally get that now because my first try at home was a total bust. The light pollution just washes out all the faint detail no matter what filter you slap on there. I'm glad I made the drive even if it meant less sleep, the view of the Milky Way core alone was worth it.