My uncle handed me a beat up Avengers 57 when I was like 14 and I remember being annoyed it wasn't bagged and boarded. Then I actually read it and the yellowed pages made it feel like something real people had held. Now I barely touch my slabbed stuff.

You ever check the back side of the panel after a glue pull to see if the metal stretched? Because that wave the old timers talk about shows up later, not right away. I've pulled a dent clean in four minutes and then watched the same spot oil-can a week after the customer paid. How do you know when the glue is holding too hard and actually stretching the metal instead of just popping it?

Three summers back I was camped at 11,000 feet near Bishop and this older couple from Reno watched me tie my tent to a log with paracord because the ground was pure talcum powder. The guy just shook his head and gave me a bag of those screw-in ice anchors, saying I'd thank him when the afternoon wind hit. He wasn't wrong, one gust snapped my trekking pole but the tent never moved an inch. Now I carry those anchors everywhere even if they weigh half a pound more, and honestly I still think about that guy every time I set up camp.