Great news for gear junkies (like me). I am particularly interested in Sea to Summit’s new pad and NWAlpine’s new cuben rain jacket, but they will have to be very good indeed to beat Thermarest’s Neoair or Zpacks rain jacket: http://www.eathomas.com/2015/01/27/or2015gearreport/?utm_source=feedly&utm_reader=feedly&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=or2015gearreport
My wife Della’s new Xmas sleeping bag has arrived. I used to be such an advocate of Montbell’s Ultralight Superstretch Down Hugger #3, a minus 1C bag – mine (recently) washed weighs 738 grams in its compression bag on my scales; still a great bag. Della’s new Zpacks Medium, Regular, -7C weighs 499 grams in its
Two reasons some people don’t like camping: it is wet AND cold, and uncomfortable. This does not have to be. A properly positioned tarp and a fire will take care of the former: the usual 1m tall hiking tent which you are forced to retreat to in the event of rain will make your trip
Some interesting stuff here: http://southwestultralight.blogspot.com.au/2014/08/outdoor-retailer-summer-market-2014.html I DO like AMK’s new $25 pad. I will get some of these. Good for the daypack (or an emergency night in the bush) as is their Escape Bivy. Maybe carry a piece of cuben tape in case repairs are needed. Another great emergency idea is the Blizzard Bag: (http://www.blizzardsurvival.com/product.php/100/blizzard-survival-bag)
What an interesting way of inflating your air pad! Hope Thermarest get onto this (PS: Watch the video): http://www.gizmag.com/windcatcher-air-pad/27582/ Now available from Thermarest: http://www.cascadedesigns.com/therm-a-rest/mattresses/fast-and-light/neoair-xlite-max-sv/product
If you have difficulty buying stuff online, check out http://www.shipito.com/ They are just great. You can (for example) buy that stuff on Amazon (which has free US shipping but which they won’t send to Oz) and have Shipito forward it (very cheaply). We do this all the time. We usually use Shipito’s cheapest freight rates
Exped Ultralight Pillow @45 grams http://www.moontrail.com/exped-airpillow-ul-m.php). I received one of these for Xmas and tried it out last night. VERY comfortable. I have been seeking a new hiking pillow since Graham Medical stopped making their dual chamber ‘Flexair’ pillow http://www.theultralighthiker.com/diy-super-ultralight-pillow/ This could well be it. Unlike Bonnie Prince Charlie who famously used a rock for a
Though still a bit stiff and sore (I think mainly from the VERY hot walk on Wednesday afternoon) I am pretty happy to be still able to walk 20+km a day carrying a pack (even in fairly rugged country). Of course it helps if you can reduce the weight of the contents of your pack
These two young people make some astonishing hiking equipment, including fully functioning packs (http://www.zpacks.com/backpacks/blast.shtml) from 255 grams (Della & I both walked across Tasmania carrying one of these), This 2 person ‘tent’ (http://www.zpacks.com/shelter/hexamid_plus.shtml) from 133 grams, this double groundsheet/poncho combo (http://www.zpacks.com/accessories/groundsheet_poncho.shtml) from 173 grams, a sub zero sleeping bag (http://www.zpacks.com/quilts/sleepingbag.shtml) from 376 grams and a
15/12/11: Other great inventions: the (1) Themarest Neo air (regular 370g) shown made into a chair using the (2) Big Agnes Cyclone Chair (150g) in the photo: ‘Tyvek wigwam’! All that is needed to make this scene perfect is Bacardi 151 (and Della, of course!) 15/12/11: The faux & real pack raft & the Tyvek
