I am thinking of modifying one of Big Agnes’ AXL Air Pads (by cutting it down say to 5’4″) and adding in approximately 4 ounces of Hyper Dry Down. This should give me a pad which weighs around 360 grams is 4″ thick yet has an R-rating of around 6.0 – so suitable for say […]
Great news: I wrote back in August ‘Big Agnes were showcasing a new pad at the Outdoor Retailer show. It will be 20 x72 x just under 4 inches thick – 9 ounces ie 50 x 180 x 7.5cm – 270 grams. It will be available in uninsulated (US$140) and insulated with Primaloft Silver (10
I doubt anything else about camping has changed so much as sleeping. When I was a lad I always just slept on the bare ground. As a bit of a sissy, my only concession to comfort was to dig the traditional hip hole (which was derided by tougher-minded types) then maybe lean my head on
You will definitely see more deer if you spend longer deep in the bush where they live, and especially if you can spend the night out with them. I prefer to ‘get away from it all’ and camp out far from anyone else rather than eg hunting the fringes of private land where I admit
This is Big Agnes Cyclone Chair which weighs only 170 grams. I always carry one of these. Have been doing so for nearly twenty years. You can make a comfy chair with it out of just about any pad. Today I use the Thermarest Neoair X-Lite Womens or the Big Agnes Insulated AXL Air. In
We have a lovely unnamed creek here at Jeeralang Junction (I like to call it ‘Sawyer’s Gully’ after the original selectors here) which rises high in the forest valley behind and winds through the bottom of our farm. Not long after we came here nearly thirty years ago I hacked a path through the blackberries
New pads, new valves from Thermares and a new R-value standard. If It Works, Don’t Fix It – Thermarest’s WingLock™ and TwinLock™ Valve: https://www.thermarest.com/blog/crafting-a-better-valve/ Time to buy a mat while you can still opt for the ‘Classic’ valve perhaps . Extra weight and extra complexity for what? Who found it so difficult to pinch the
Leave No Trace strictures vs Vandalism: There is a better way. I have been involved in land management for nearly seventy years and have planted thousands of trees, even this year when I am laid up with this ‘broken’ back. Surely most who read this have also thrilled to depictions of just the opposite, such
Yet another sixteen ‘free’ ultralight hiking ideas. Enjoy. A Cure for Slippery Mats: I have just spent a couple of weeks sleeping on my new Big Agnes AXL Air 300 gram mat in Scotland. It is indubitably the most comfortable mat I have ever slept on, but it does suffer from being a tad slippery.
Not so long ago people thought this was impossible. I have been complaining for years that hiking manufacturers could not get their heads around making their products seriously light, so I have been making my own (such as this and this). Now, Big Agnes have made one for those of you who cannot do so
