With his Kestrel 3500 Portable Weather Station, Ralph can gauge temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure, current and average wind speed, maximum wind gust, heat stress index, altitude, dewpoint, wind chill, time of day and something called “wet bulb temperature” wherever we camp.

Why does he need these readings? “It’s fun.”

When he pulls the weather gear from his fetish bag and observes my eyeroll, Ralph reminds me that I created this monster three years ago when I purchased a home weather station for him from Costco, which, in his words, “took 432 hours to get running, not that I begrudge a second of it honey.”

The tiny pocket station is much easier to set up and issues its critical data right away on site.