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The Best Deals From REI’s 2025 Holiday Sale

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The Best Deals From REI’s 2025 Holiday Sale


This year marks a decade of REI’s observance of the consumer high holy day, Black Friday. For the past 10 years REI has shut its doors for Black Friday, suggesting that instead potential customers should get outside and enjoy the world around you. That’s great advice, but of course Black Friday is also one of the biggest retail spending days of the year, and REI is a for-profit co-op—what to do? Have your holiday sale early, of course.

This year the REI Holiday Sale runs from November 14-24. There are two member-exclusive coupons with the Holiday Sale. The first is for 20 percent off a regular-priced item at REI, the second is 20 percent off any item at REI Outlet. Many of the best REI deals this year are on the company’s house brand gear, but we’ve also pulled in deals from competing sales at Backcountry, Six Moon Designs, Zenbivy, and other cottage industry retailers. Below are the best deals on all our favorite tents, backpacks, sleeping bags, pads, cookware, outdoor apparel, and more.

Not sure what you need? Check out our many outdoor gear guides, including guides to the best backpacking tents, best sleeping bags, best sleeping pads for backpacking, best base layers, best merino wool clothes, best rain jackets and many more for all our well-tested picks.

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Deals on Backpacks

Photograph: Scott Gilbertson

The Flash 22 is possibly the best value daypack on the market, especially now, on sale. This is a very lightweight, minimalist pack, but it’s surprisingly comfortable. It’ll handle loads up to 15 pounds without straining your shoulders, and the side stash pockets are large enough for a Nalgene bottle or rain jacket. The Flash 22 is made of 70-denier recycled ripstop nylon, which is on the lighter side, but mine has held up well, even on some rough cross country hikes in the North woods.

The ultralight cousin to the Flash 22, the Flash 18 lacks the hip belt, side stash pockets, and floating lid. The result is a stripped-down, bare-bones pack that we like because you can stuff it in your carry-on, and have a nice backpack whenever you need it. Don’t load it up with more than 8 pounds of gear, and avoid anything with pointy bits, as there’s no padding here, but so long as you recognize its limitations, this is a great little pack.

This travel backpack from Six Moon Designs makes it so you no longer have to pick between optimizing for air travel or carrying long distances at your destination. It’s the only bag I’ve used that maximizes your allotted carry-on space while remaining comfortable for a walk across a mid-sized European city or even a day on the trail. The bag’s square shape and suitcase handle make it easy to show the flight crew you’re compliant, but once you deplane, you have adjustable shoulder straps built by a brand that makes gear for serious backpackers. There’s also a padded harness with water bottle holders and a zipper pouches for Clif Bars or a flashlight. —Martin Cizmar

Which GoRuck Backpack GR2 green bag on wood floor

Photograph: Scott Gilbertson

If I were going to live out of a single bag—traveling the world for the rest of my life—this is the bag I would bring. The GR2 is a gear-hauling monster with a ton of built-in organization options. This deal is on the 40L version, which I think is the perfect size for #onebag travel. It still manages to qualify as a carry-on bag for US flights (you may have trouble with that overseas though). The 34L waxed canvas version is also on sale for $340 ($115 off). And yes, it can double as a rucker, though there are better options if that’s your main use case. See below.

This deal is only on a couple of colors, and only the X-Pac fabric, but this is the cheapest we’ve seen the GR1 go for in quite some time. The GoRuck GR1 (7/10, WIRED Review) is the pack that launched the company, and it’s still the best and most versatile of the GoRuck lineup. This deal is on the smaller, 21L pack which I think is the perfect size for rucking, everyday carry, and weekend trips. I have lived out of the 21L bag (with a shoulder bag for my camera gear) during a weeklong trip. It was a squeeze, but it worked. The 21L GR1 is deceptively large and always seems to swallow more gear than I think it can.

If rucking is your thing, this is the GoRuck to get. It’s very close to the GR1 in size, layout, and fabric options, but the Rucker adds more handles, one on each side. The handles are so that the Rucker can be used as a weight (or kettlebell) in workouts. The interior has a Ruck Plate pocket for holding weight (the 20L version can handle up to 3-pound plates while the 25L can do up to 45-pound plates). The interior pockets are the same as the GR1, but instead of zippers, you get Velcro closures.

Camping and Backpacking Deals

The 31 Best Deals From REIs 2025 Holiday Sale

Photograph: Scott Gilbertson

Six Moon Design’s Lunar Solo (7/10, WIRED Review) is my favorite single-wall ultralight solo tent. It’s not without its quirks (read the pitching tips), but if you want something more than a tarp, that still weighs just 26 ounces (740 grams), this one is hard to beat. It’s well ventilated for a single-walled tent, with the ability to raise up the front door when weather is nice. I also like that it only needs one trekking pole (or one pole if you don’t hike with trekking poles. You’d be hard pressed to find a tent even half this nice at this price.

I’ve noticed that, when trying to lighten their load with a smaller, lighter backpack, people then struggle to fit all their gear. The answer for sleeping bags and clothing is this compression stuff sack, which smashes anything soft down to about half the size of the same item in a regular stuff sack. This works well with sleeping bags and clothing, especially puffer jackets, but also fleece and merino wool.

The Flexlite Air camp chair is a great example of the promise of REI brand gear: it offers 90 percent of the designer item, for 70 percent of the price. It’s not quite as nice as the Nemo below, but it’s still comfortable (it does wobble a little, side to side when you move) and it’s nearly half the price.

Nemo Moonlite Elite Chair front view in the woods

Photograph: Scott Gilbertson

I rarely bring a chair backpacking, but if I did, the Nemo Moonlite Elite would be in my pack. At 18 ounces, it’s one of the lightest chairs around, and it packs down nice and small. It’s comfortable and reasonable stable. Nemo also solved the main problem with all pole chairs; The included base pad keeps it from sinking into soft ground.

This is my favorite backpacking sleeping pad. With an R-Value of 5.4 and weighing just 18.2 ounces, the All-Season has the best R-Value-to-weight ratio of anything we’ve tested. There are lighter pads, like the Therm-a-rest NeoAir Xlite, but they are not as warm, nor as comfortable. The Tensor All-Season packs down well, rolling into a tiny stuff sack. It’s about the size of a 16-ounce Nalgene bottle. I often pair this with a closed cell foam pad like the Therm-a-Rest Z-Lite when camping in snow for a little extra insulation.

I have never slept so well camping as I have on this mat. Technically I have the car-friendly model, but in terms of comfort, they’re the same. In our guide to car camping pads the Therm-a-rest MondoKing edges out the Megamat for top pick among the monster sleeping pads, but I prefer the Megamat for it’s extra warmth (it has an R-value of 8.1 to the MondoKing’s R 7.0) and the soft texture of the top. It’s comfortable enough to sleep directly on the Megamat.

If you get the Exped Megamat, you’ll inflate it without this pump exactly one time. Then you will come back and buy this pump like a sane person. Save yourself even the one time and just get the pump with the pad. You’ll never know how much you should thank me, but that’s OK. Just carry on and have a good night’s sleep.

The 31 Best Deals From REIs 2025 Holiday Sale

Photograph: Scott Gilbertson

My favorite stove for actually cooking real food in the backcountry, the Firebox Nano is a titanium (or steel, but I highly recommend titanium) shell that you can fit with an alcohol burner like the Trangia Spirit burner, or an isobutane burner. You can also use wood to cook directly over flames the way your ancestors did, and you should. For backpacking, with its frequent and pesky burn bans, the Firebox Gas Burner with its diffusion plate is hands down the best backcountry cooking system. It won’t win you any prizes at the next /r/Ultralight get-together (the Firebox Nano on its own weighs 4.25 ounces for the titanium version), but you could be eating some delicious food in the backcountry.

Outdoor Apparel Deals

REI CoOp Rainier Rain Jacket

Courtesy of REI

This is still the best budget rain jacket you can buy. REI’s Rainier Jacket is impressively waterproof and reasonably long-lasting for $70. The durable water repellent (DWR) is PFAS-free, but still pretty good. You also get taped seams and an adjustable hood, two nice features you generally don’t find in jackets this cheap.

REI’s Sahara Shade Hoodie offers UPF 50+ fabric (a polyester and spandex blend) to protect you from that high-altitude sun (or any sun). It’s soft and stretchy, so you have a good range of movement, and there are thumbholes in the sleeves to keep them from riding up and exposing your arms. The three-panel hood has a drawstring you can use the cinch it down and keep your neck covered as well. I do prefer merino sun hoodies, but they’re double the price, if not more.

The 31 Best Deals From REIs 2025 Holiday Sale

Photograph: Scott Gilbertson

Smartwool’s 100 percent merino Classic Thermal base layer is a nice, heavy 250-gsm merino, base layer, making it a great base layer for cold weather. It’s our top pick heavyweight base layer. It fits looser, making it feel more like a comfortable shirt. The looser fit makes it possible to use this as a second base layer over something like Ibex Woolies when it’s extremely cold (this combo is something I wear all the time here in Northern Wisconsin). The bottoms are also on sale (Men’s/Women’s).

Icebreaker’s 200 Oasis base layer is a 200-gsm base layer. This is about what most of us call a midweight base layer, making it a good choice for everything from cool weather hiking in the fall or spring, to skiing in the front country. The 100 percent merino fibers here are not quite as soft at the Smartwool above, but they’re equally good at regulating body temperature and wicking away moisture. This is also the fastest drying merino top in our base layers guide.

REI’s base layers are a solid value. If you want one base layer to do it all and don’t want to spend a fortune, these are the base layers to get. You can have a crew top and bottom for less than a single garment of merino or a brand name synthetic. This is the midweight version, which is 220 GSM (92 percent recycled polyester, 8 percent spandex). They’re comfortable with a tight, but not overly-tight, fit that makes them easy to layer over, and there’s nice extras like thumb loops on the sleeves.

There are tons of neck gators out there, but this is my favorite (I actually have the slightly longer version, but this is close). Like most things merino it puzzles me how this keeps me warm in the winter, and keeps the sun off my neck in the summer without making me overheat. Somehow it manages this. These make great gifts for your outdoorsy friends too.

These Fjällräven pants are among my favorite hiking pants. The G-1000 fabric is 65 percent recycled polyester and 35 percent organic cotton. They’ve got pockets everywhere and extras like ventilation zippers, reinforced knees (with openings for pads), and a loop on the leg to hold a axe. Do your pants have a axe loop? Didn’t think so. Note that Fjällräven recently changed the fit, so if you’re an old school wearer of these, size up.

Sleeping Bag and Quilt Deals

Grey sleeping bag on top of light blue inflatable sleeping pad both laying in the grass

Photograph: Scott Gilbertson

REI’s Magma 15 is one of our top sleeping bags. It’s warm (comfort rated to 21 degrees Fahrenheit) with a 15-denier nylon ripstop nylon shell (Bluesign approved, with a non-fluorinated DWR coating to keep moisture at bay). Baffles are variably spaced and not stitched through, which helps the fill stay put and minimizes cold spots. I also really like the Magma hood, which is warm and stays on your head throughout the night. There’s a nice interior stash pocket I use to keep my headlamp handy.

Nemo’s Forte 20 is a 30-degree (comfort rated) synthetic-fill sleeping bag, making it a good choice for summer. It’s our favorite synthetic bag. What I like most about this bag, and nearly all of Nemo’s sleeping bags, is the wider cut through the torso area down to the knees. This bag is almost a hybrid of a mummy bag and your father’s good old 1970s square sleeping bag. Which is to say, this bag is roomy.

We’re still working on a guide to backpacking quilts, but it will probably surprise no one to learn that this is our current pick for best value quilt. Like the Magma 30 sleeping bag, the Magma quilt is not the lightest, nor the warmest, but you get a lot, for not a lot. The 15-denier shell encloses 850-fill-power water-resistant goose down that’s comfort-rated down to 30 F. Weighing just 1 lb. 6 oz for a long, the Magma is on the light side for the temp rating. The footbox uses a zipper and drawstring system to be either completely open and flat, or zipped up and cinched down like a sleeping bag on cooler nights.

Nemo Pulse backpacking quilt in gray and lime green

Courtesy: Nemo Equipment

Nemo’s Pulse quilt is made of 1,000-fill duck down that keeps you warm while remaining extremely lightweight (just 18 ounces for the regular size). I’ve found this to be one of the warmest quilts I’ve tested. Nemo rates it to 20F, but I’d be willing to go down below that provided you have a good, well insulated sleeping pad. Part of the weight saving is the 10-denier ripstop shell, but it’s held up just find in my testing. My only complaint here is the footbox which does not come completely apart to lay flat.

Our favorite sleeping bag for summer car camping, the Siesta isn’t fancy, but hey, it’s car camping. If all else fails, there’s a car to retreat to. With that in mind, don’t spend a fortune on a car camping bag if that’s all you need. The Siesta gives you a nice, roomy, rectangular cut, and the 20-degree rating makes it enough for three-season trips. The bonus here is the hood, which you don’t often find in this type of bag. If you don’t need the hood, REI also has the new Campwell 30 degree bag on sale for $70 ($30 off).

Think of a Rumpl blanket as if your sleeping bag had a baby with the coziest lap blanket that your grandma knitted for you. They’re made from DWR-treated ripstop polyester, so they’re sturdy, durable, and resist getting soaked or stained. But they’re also soft and warm enough to fall asleep under on the couch, and they come in a wide variety of colors and patterns. —Adrienne So

Puffer Jacket and Winter Gear Deals

It’s already snowed once where I live. Now’s the time to score some new ski gear—jackets, helmets, gloves, and googles are all on sale.

A person with wearing the REI Magma 850 Puffer Jacket in twotone grey standing against a light brown wall

Photograph: Scott Gilbertson

With an 850-fill-power goose down and a recycled ripstop nylon shell, this is one of the warmer jackets in our best puffer jackets guide. I like the zippered chest pocket (there are also two zippered hand pockets, one of which the jacket stuffs into), and at 12.5 ounces this jacket is surprisingly light for how warm it is. The front zip has a wind flap, and there’s even a draft collar, something you hardly ever find in a puffer at this price. Even better, you can cinch the hood to keep cold air from blowing in the sides.

Our favorite bargain three-season puffer jacket, the REI 650 down jacket isn’t as warm as the Magma above, but it’s hard to argue with this price. If you need a cheap, packable jacket for those cold summits or star gazing on chilly nights, this is the jacket to get. The stitched-through baffles mean this one isn’t as warm and is more susceptible to wind, but at this price, it’s worth buying.

Initially I did not like the idea of a down vest. If it’s cold enough to need a down jacket, my arms are probably cold too, right? But then I moved somewhere cold (Why? I don’t know, but I did) and realized there is an infinite variety of shades when it comes to cold. For some shades of cold, the vest is the right move. Pair it with a good base layer, maybe even a hoodie, and you have something that’s warm, but leaves your arms free to swing an ax or whatever you might be doing.

Fjällräven’s hybrid fill jacket uses 700-fill-power down for most of the jacket but adds recycled polyester insulation over the shoulders to help resist moisture. That later works quite well when the snow is really coming down. The hood does a good job of keeping you warm while staying out of your way thanks to two drawcord tabs at the front, and an elastic drawcord at the back. It also, as the name suggests, packs down pretty small.


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A Single Strike Won’t Shut Off the Gulf’s Desalination System

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A Single Strike Won’t Shut Off the Gulf’s Desalination System


Across the region, facilities tied to water and power—including desalination plants—have been damaged or exposed to risk as Iranian strikes extend beyond traditional targets.

A single strike, however, is unlikely to shut off the gulf’s water supply. The system is designed to absorb isolated disruption, but sustained or multisite attacks would begin to strain supply far more quickly.

“In the Gulf, desalination is built with enough breathing room that losing one plant doesn’t immediately show up at the tap,” says Rabee Rustum, professor of water and environmental engineering at Heriot-Watt University Dubai.

In Kuwait, Iranian drone attacks have damaged two power and desalination facilities and ignited fires at two oil sites. Other sites, including Fujairah in the UAE, have been identified as potentially exposed.

“Striking desalination plants would be a strategic move, but it would also come very close to, and in some cases cross, a red line,” says Andreas Krieg, senior lecturer at the School of Security Studies at King’s College London.

Water infrastructure, Krieg explains, occupies a distinct category. “Water infrastructure is not just another utility. In places that depend on desalination, it underpins civilian survival, public health, hospital function, sanitation, and basic state legitimacy.”

Krieg notes that international humanitarian law gives special protection to civilian objects and to objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population. “Which is precisely why attacks on water systems carry such grave legal and moral weight,” Krieg adds.

The incidents highlight a structural reality: Desalination is central to water supply in the gulf, and disruption carries immediate implications for daily life.

How the System Absorbs Disruption

At first glance, desalination appears vulnerable. Shut down a plant, and supply is reduced. In practice, the system is designed with layers of redundancy.

Plants operate across multiple locations, allowing output to be redistributed if one facility slows down. Water is also stored at different points across the network, including central reservoirs and building-level tanks, creating a buffer that delays disruption.

According to a statement to WIRED Middle East by Veolia, an environmental services provider whose technologies account for nearly 19 percent of desalination capacity in the region, “the region’s water supply is diversified thanks to a network of numerous facilities distributed along the coastline.”

The company adds that distribution systems are interconnected, allowing plants to “support and substitute for one another when necessary,” helping maintain continuity of service.

In the UAE, storage capacity typically covers around one week, while in other parts of the region it may be limited to two to three days, Veolia says.

In practice, this means the system can absorb disruption for a limited period. Once reserves are depleted, water supply depends on whether plants can continue producing enough water to meet demand.

The System That Produces Water

Unlike most regions, the Gulf does not rely on rivers or rainfall. It depends on a network of desalination plants along its coastline that convert seawater into potable water on a continuous basis.

Seawater is drawn into treatment facilities, filtered and processed either through reverse osmosis—forcing it through membranes to remove salt and impurities—or through thermal methods that evaporate and condense water. The resulting supply is distributed through pipelines, stored in reservoirs, and delivered to homes, hospitals, and industry.

This is not a flexible system. It is designed to operate continuously, producing water at a scale that sustains cities, industrial activity, and essential services. Gulf states produce roughly 40 percent of the world’s desalinated water, operating more than 400 plants across the region.

Dependence varies by country but is high everywhere. In the UAE, desalination accounts for 41 to 42 percent of total water supply, while in Kuwait, it provides around 90 percent of drinking water, and in Saudi Arabia, approximately 70 percent.

When Disruption Becomes Visible

For residents, disruption would not be felt immediately—water would continue to flow.

Rustum explains that buildings are supported by internal storage and pumping systems, meaning early changes in supply may not be apparent. In many cases, water pressure remains stable, even as the wider system adjusts.



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Border Patrol Agents Sold Challenge Coins With ‘Charlotte’s Web’ Characters in Riot Gear

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Border Patrol Agents Sold Challenge Coins With ‘Charlotte’s Web’ Characters in Riot Gear


US Border Patrol agents are raising money by selling coins that commemorate last year’s wave of immigration enforcement “operations” across the country, along with other merchandise. The funds are for nonprofit organizations that list Border Patrol buildings as their address in IRS paperwork. At least two of the organizations have dedicated US Customs and Border Protection email addresses.

The front side of one coin for sale reads, “NORTH AMERICAN TOUR 2025,” along with the acronyms for US Border Patrol and the acronym for “fuck around and find out”—a phrase that was initially popularized by the far-right group the Proud Boys and has been used by various Trump officials. In the center, the coin depicts a gas mask, a riot control smoke grenade, and a pepper ball launcher. On the other side, the coin appears to have a portrait of Border Patrol’s now retired commander-at-large, Gregory Bovino, with his arm raised in a salute, along with the text “COMING TO A CITY NEAR YOU!” It lists seven cities, many of which actually saw federal enforcement surges in 2025: Chicago, Los Angeles, Memphis, Phoenix, Portland, Charlotte, and Atlanta.

The coin is for sale by Willcox Morale Welfare and Recreation, a nonprofit that the IRS most recently declared tax-exempt during the Biden administration and whose address on IRS paperwork matches that of the Willcox Border Patrol Station in Arizona. A request for comment sent to Willcox MWR’s dedicated CBP email address went unanswered.

Employees of the Department of Homeland Security, the parent agency for Border Patrol, are allowed to start private, not-for-profit employee associations within DHS, so long as they get formally recognized by the agency and follow certain rules. According to DHS policies, officially recognized groups can fundraise using government property and create merchandise with the agency’s name and logos–but they have to receive advance approval from the agency.

Willcox MWR is just one of several groups across the country that cater to Border Patrol agents and refer to themselves as MWRs, a reference to the US military’s “morale, welfare and recreation” programs. The groups tend to throw holiday events and retirement parties, and sometimes raise money for the families of agents going through hard times, including those not getting paid during the current shutdown.

Many MWRs also sell customized medallions known as “challenge coins” that commemorate specific teams or events. While anyone, including CBP alumni, can design and sell coins, current DHS employees are not supposed to use government resources to sell ones that use the agency’s seals or logos without permission, or ones that the agency considers inappropriate or unprofessional.

CBP did not provide comment about its relationship to Willcox MWR or any other nonprofit mentioned in this story, nor whether the agency had green-lit the “North American Tour” coin design, ahead of publication.

Under Willcox MWR’s Facebook post about the “North American Tour” coin, someone named Juan Diego commented, “Sign up SDC BK5 MWR for 10.”

“Shoot us an email,” someone managing the Willcox MWR account replied, giving out what appeared to be a dedicated cbp.dhs.gov email address for the group.

SDC BK5 MWR, also a registered nonprofit, lists an address on its website that matches that of a government facility in Chula Vista, California. It says on its site that it was started by San Diego Sector Border Patrol agents and sells custom merchandise “designed to raise funds for morale and relief efforts.”

Diego did not respond to a request for comment.

The SDC BK5 MWR website has listings for over 200 different products in addition to the North American Tour coin. One of those listings was a “Chicago Midway Blitz” challenge coin in the shape of a gas mask that doubles as a bottle opener. Embossed around the edges of the coin are the names of several municipalities and neighborhoods caught up in DHS’s immigration enforcement surge of the same name last fall. Like the North American Tour coin, it features the US Border Patrol logo and the acronym for “fuck around and find out.” Opponents of the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement activity in Illinois are unamused.



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One of Our Favorite 360 Cams Is 35 Percent Off

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One of Our Favorite 360 Cams Is 35 Percent Off


Tired of taking your action camera on an adventure, only to get home and find out you missed the action with a bad angle? One option is to switch to a 360-degree action cam, so you can capture all of the action and then edit down to just the good stuff later. One of our favorite options, the DJI Osmo 360, is currently available for just $390 on Amazon, a $209 discount from its usual price, and it comes with a selfie stick and an extra battery.

The DJI Osmo 360 achieves its impressive all-around video quality by leveraging a pair of 1/1.1-inch sensors, larger than some other offerings, and by supporting 10-bit color. You can really see that in the camera’s output, with colors that are vivid and bold, to the point that you may need to dial them back a bit in post if you want something more natural. With support for up to 50 frames per second at 8K when recording in 360 degrees, or 120 fps at 4K when shooting with only one sensor, you’ll have plenty of material to work with. In our testing, it ran for just shy of two hours at 30 fps, which is also around the time the internal storage had filled up anyway.

If you plan on catching any serious discussions with your Osmo 360, you’ll be pleased to know it connects directly to DJI’s line of wireless lavalier microphones, including the excellent and frequently discounted DJI Mic 2 and Mic Mini. If you want to mount it to something other than the included 1.2-meter selfie stick, it has both DJI’s magnetic attachment system and a more traditional ¼”-20 tripod mount. The DJI Mimo app lets you control the camera and adjust any settings, and there’s even a simple editor for on-the-fly production. For desktop users, DJI Studio has even more in-depth settings and editing options, in case you don’t want to pay for Premiere.

The DJI Osmo 360 is one of our favorite action cameras, and is particularly appealing at the discounted price point, but make sure to check out our full review for more info, or head over to our full roundup to see what else is available.



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