Oh man, the overplanning trap is my whole life... spent way too many hours rearranging the same spreadsheets before my last big project. Buddy told me the 80-20 rule works for everything, even laundry... now I just focus on the stuff that actually gets wrinkled and call it a day. Still end up triple checking stuff though, old habits die hard I guess. Kinda freeing to admit most of the prep work was just me trying to feel in control.

Honestly my friend does IT for a bunch of small offices and he said the same thing. He's found people just toss cables on the floor even when he leaves everything neatly labeled in a tray.

That timer button failing after a week sounds more like a defect, not cheap gear in general.

Did you have a second guy on the radio below to help with the safeties, or were you just working blind up top?

And then you have to spend the next morning trying to dry everything out in a Colorado wind that just laughs at your camp stove. I think I spent more time trying to get my gear dry on that trip than I actually did sleeping.