I just wanted to post the results of my first season using check valve spouts. I'm a realist and skeptic and have to see things for myself. I found that I was able to maintain 27" of vacuum all season with very little effort, even though I work full time and am not home during daylight hours to walk the lines every day. I repaired all the initial tapping leaks and they were fine the rest of the season. I've never been able to maintain more than 24"-25" for any length of time before. The trees also ran until the end, in fact they're still running but the sap has turned. We had the most snowpack in 35 yrs., very similar to last season and a very late start and short season, but I made nearly 70% more syrup this year. It salvaged what would have been another terrible season. I'm retiring early this spring from my day job and can't wait to see what I can do next year with a few sugarbush improvements, more time to dedicate to sugaring and CV2 spouts.