Post by trinity on Oct 10, 2015 13:48:50 GMT -8
Due to a convergence of circumstances I have been obliged to purchase quite a few new pieces of equipment lately. My recent trip to the Winds provided me with my first opportunity to use most of these pieces, so I thought I'd share a few reflections on some of my favorite items:
ZPacks Duplex zpacks.com/shelter/duplex.shtml . I probably would not spend $600 on a tent under normal circumstances, but I received a sabbatical grant, some of which I was able to use to lighten up my load in preparation for an extended backpacking trip. That's right friends and neighbors; I got a church grant to purchase a new cuben fiber tent! In its basic design and layout this tent is very similar to the Nemo Meta2 that has been my go to for the last couple of years, but due to the CF construction and minimal extras, this shelter weighs, with stakes, less than a pound and a half. That's a pretty tough weight to beat. This would be a fairly roomy backpacking shelter for 2, as a solo shelter it was downright palatial, lots of floor space, a fair amount of interior volume, two doors and two good sized vestibules. It is a single wall hybrid which sets up with two trekking poles. Ventilation is a bit better than my meta, so condensation was much less of an issue. Setup is a bit futzy, but after a little experience it is quick and easy to set up with a nice taut pitch, and it actually does quite well in wind, if oriented properly. Conditions on my trip were mostly ideal, but I did have some high winds, as well as some rain and sleet one morning, and this tent did great. The vestibule flaps close with hooks (rather than a zipper), which I found to be a little bit of a pain, but not a big deal. If you like trekking pole supported tents, would like to save a pound or two, and have money to burn, I highly recommend this tent. Shoutout to @idahowalker for giving me some good tips and suggestions from his experience with his own duplex.
Delorme Inreach SE www.rei.com/product/857610/delorme-inreach-se-2-way-satellite-communicator#tab-reviews . I've been using a first generation SPOT for the past 6 years, but it has never been that reliable, and seems to be getting less so. On my last trip, I think about half of my "OK" messages went through, many of which were sent from nice open areas. Even so, I gave some consideration to the third generation SPOT, as I had heard that it was a little more reliable, and is very, very small. I emailed SPOT requesting some information and, you guessed it, never heard back from them. I have long been disgusted with their customer service, and this just did it for me, I am not willing to entrust my life in an emergency to this company. So that left the Delorme Inreach, which is quite a bit more expensive and quite a bit bulkier, as well as providing lots of extra features that I really don't need. Fortunately, I was able to use grant money for this purchase as well. And the features are actually pretty nice. The one I like the best is that the device lets you know once your message has gone through, there is no guessing, as with the SPOT. I wasn't crazy about the idea of being able to send and receive texts (I still don't own a smartphone and don't know how to text), but it was actually kind of nice to be able to send my wife a quick message every couple of days, and to get an occasional weather update from her. The unit comes with a rechargeable battery, and used very judiciously and in the extended tracking mode, the battery was still at 75% after 13 days. A much more complicated device to use than the SPOT, but well worth it, in my judgement. Every one of my messages for over two weeks (counting my days car camping) went through.
Locus Gear CP3 trekking poles locusgear.com/products-2/trekking-poles/cp3?lang=en . My wife recently appropriated my Black Diamond Ergo Grip Cork poles, and I decided to give carbon a try. These poles are extremely lightweight, and fairly inexpensive compared to other carbon fiber poles (depending on the exchange rate on any given day). Shipping from Japan was quick and surprisingly inexpensive. I think that with shipping I paid about $115 for the pair. Though lightweight, they are not quite as light as the Gossamer Gear poles, which seem to be just a bit too delicate. The CP3s are a good compromise between weight and strength. I really love these poles, so much lighter than my old BDs, and I prefer the straight grip to the canted ergogrip. They have a nice fliplock mechanism which is very easy to adjust in the field, if needed. I will say that the foam grip is not as comfortable as cork, and the straps are very minimal, not nearly as nice as the padded straps on my old BDs. Also many users complain about the rattle that the poles make, though there are ways this can be addressed. They are definitely a bit noisier than the BDs, but personally I didn't find this to be a big deal. I very highly recommend these poles. Unfortunately I lost my balance and fell right on top of one with the full weight of my body and my pack, which broke the lowest section in several places, but no pole would have survived this kind of impact. Fortunately the poles are sold as single units rather than in pairs, so I have already ordered myself a replacement pole.
Kovea Spider www.flatcatgear.com/shop/kovea-spider-remote-canister-stove-canister-can-be-inverted/ . Over the past summer my wife and I went on separate simultaneous camping trips, so I decided it was a good time to get a new stove. We have been loving the Snowpeak Gigapower that we've been using for many years now, and we love the convenience of canister stoves, but I wanted something that could be inverted to use in liquid mode, and that I could use with a full windscreen. This stove fits the bill, and though larger than the giga, it is quite a bit smaller and lighter than many similar stoves, such as the Windpro. It is a great stove with a simple design. If fit nicely in my Snowpeak Trek 700 mug, but does not quite fit together with a canister. I rarely needed to use it in liquid fuel mode, but on really cold mornings it was great to have that option, not to mention the ability to use it with a windscreen. This is a much more stable stove than my giga, and would work well with larger pots. It comes with a separate piezo igniter, which works quite well. I'm really glad to have a canister stove to take when I expect temps below the mid-20s, which seems to be the bottom my the giga's range.
Qiwiz Big Dig titanium trowel www.qiwiz.net/trowels.html . Just buy one. Yes, it costs $36 plus shipping. Many of you probably spend that much on Pumpkin Spice Lattes in a week. panatomicx has rightly described this as "the most perfect and valuable piece of backpacking equipment ever conceived in the history of the planet." Just buy one. It is a purchase that you will never regret.
ZPacks Duplex zpacks.com/shelter/duplex.shtml . I probably would not spend $600 on a tent under normal circumstances, but I received a sabbatical grant, some of which I was able to use to lighten up my load in preparation for an extended backpacking trip. That's right friends and neighbors; I got a church grant to purchase a new cuben fiber tent! In its basic design and layout this tent is very similar to the Nemo Meta2 that has been my go to for the last couple of years, but due to the CF construction and minimal extras, this shelter weighs, with stakes, less than a pound and a half. That's a pretty tough weight to beat. This would be a fairly roomy backpacking shelter for 2, as a solo shelter it was downright palatial, lots of floor space, a fair amount of interior volume, two doors and two good sized vestibules. It is a single wall hybrid which sets up with two trekking poles. Ventilation is a bit better than my meta, so condensation was much less of an issue. Setup is a bit futzy, but after a little experience it is quick and easy to set up with a nice taut pitch, and it actually does quite well in wind, if oriented properly. Conditions on my trip were mostly ideal, but I did have some high winds, as well as some rain and sleet one morning, and this tent did great. The vestibule flaps close with hooks (rather than a zipper), which I found to be a little bit of a pain, but not a big deal. If you like trekking pole supported tents, would like to save a pound or two, and have money to burn, I highly recommend this tent. Shoutout to @idahowalker for giving me some good tips and suggestions from his experience with his own duplex.
Delorme Inreach SE www.rei.com/product/857610/delorme-inreach-se-2-way-satellite-communicator#tab-reviews . I've been using a first generation SPOT for the past 6 years, but it has never been that reliable, and seems to be getting less so. On my last trip, I think about half of my "OK" messages went through, many of which were sent from nice open areas. Even so, I gave some consideration to the third generation SPOT, as I had heard that it was a little more reliable, and is very, very small. I emailed SPOT requesting some information and, you guessed it, never heard back from them. I have long been disgusted with their customer service, and this just did it for me, I am not willing to entrust my life in an emergency to this company. So that left the Delorme Inreach, which is quite a bit more expensive and quite a bit bulkier, as well as providing lots of extra features that I really don't need. Fortunately, I was able to use grant money for this purchase as well. And the features are actually pretty nice. The one I like the best is that the device lets you know once your message has gone through, there is no guessing, as with the SPOT. I wasn't crazy about the idea of being able to send and receive texts (I still don't own a smartphone and don't know how to text), but it was actually kind of nice to be able to send my wife a quick message every couple of days, and to get an occasional weather update from her. The unit comes with a rechargeable battery, and used very judiciously and in the extended tracking mode, the battery was still at 75% after 13 days. A much more complicated device to use than the SPOT, but well worth it, in my judgement. Every one of my messages for over two weeks (counting my days car camping) went through.
Locus Gear CP3 trekking poles locusgear.com/products-2/trekking-poles/cp3?lang=en . My wife recently appropriated my Black Diamond Ergo Grip Cork poles, and I decided to give carbon a try. These poles are extremely lightweight, and fairly inexpensive compared to other carbon fiber poles (depending on the exchange rate on any given day). Shipping from Japan was quick and surprisingly inexpensive. I think that with shipping I paid about $115 for the pair. Though lightweight, they are not quite as light as the Gossamer Gear poles, which seem to be just a bit too delicate. The CP3s are a good compromise between weight and strength. I really love these poles, so much lighter than my old BDs, and I prefer the straight grip to the canted ergogrip. They have a nice fliplock mechanism which is very easy to adjust in the field, if needed. I will say that the foam grip is not as comfortable as cork, and the straps are very minimal, not nearly as nice as the padded straps on my old BDs. Also many users complain about the rattle that the poles make, though there are ways this can be addressed. They are definitely a bit noisier than the BDs, but personally I didn't find this to be a big deal. I very highly recommend these poles. Unfortunately I lost my balance and fell right on top of one with the full weight of my body and my pack, which broke the lowest section in several places, but no pole would have survived this kind of impact. Fortunately the poles are sold as single units rather than in pairs, so I have already ordered myself a replacement pole.
Kovea Spider www.flatcatgear.com/shop/kovea-spider-remote-canister-stove-canister-can-be-inverted/ . Over the past summer my wife and I went on separate simultaneous camping trips, so I decided it was a good time to get a new stove. We have been loving the Snowpeak Gigapower that we've been using for many years now, and we love the convenience of canister stoves, but I wanted something that could be inverted to use in liquid mode, and that I could use with a full windscreen. This stove fits the bill, and though larger than the giga, it is quite a bit smaller and lighter than many similar stoves, such as the Windpro. It is a great stove with a simple design. If fit nicely in my Snowpeak Trek 700 mug, but does not quite fit together with a canister. I rarely needed to use it in liquid fuel mode, but on really cold mornings it was great to have that option, not to mention the ability to use it with a windscreen. This is a much more stable stove than my giga, and would work well with larger pots. It comes with a separate piezo igniter, which works quite well. I'm really glad to have a canister stove to take when I expect temps below the mid-20s, which seems to be the bottom my the giga's range.
Qiwiz Big Dig titanium trowel www.qiwiz.net/trowels.html . Just buy one. Yes, it costs $36 plus shipping. Many of you probably spend that much on Pumpkin Spice Lattes in a week. panatomicx has rightly described this as "the most perfect and valuable piece of backpacking equipment ever conceived in the history of the planet." Just buy one. It is a purchase that you will never regret.
