Gear Report

[tylik]

seattlejo was asking about what gear exactly I was testing (or at least about the stoves) so I decided to post an actual gear report.


*Last fall I picked up a an REI clipper tent. However, my nerve (or perhaps schedule) failed me, and so this was its maiden voyage.

I really like this tent. There was a small problem with condensation along the long walls near the feet, but this was because the rainfly touched the inner walls, and still wasn't particularly severe. However, I'll be staking out the rainfly next time, now that I have more stakes. Comfortable, well designed, reasonably easy to set up the very first time in the dark and the rain. (I do wonder if I would have chosen the coupe instead if I'd been making my choice now...) Picked up the footprint tarp, too.

*I was also testing out my Thermarest. (Which I can't link to, because this season's models are all different -- it's a 3/4 length, narrow lightweight one, but not quite their thinnest.) I'd always thought eh thermarests were a bit effete... but now I'm old and decripit, and appreciate the padding. Them things are comfortable! And with a little bit of elbow grease, they pack surprisingly small. (However, I have since supplemented this pad with an inflatable pillow/butt pad -- you can lose a lot of heat through your butt in cold weater, really. Decadent, huh?)

*I also picked up this Primus stove. Small, lightweight... the one disadvantage is that it's a cannister rather than liquid fuel, and even that's a mixed thing (easier to use, less tolerant of extreme fuel, and the cannisters are not removeable). I'm sold. Very easy to use, the self lighting bit is a joy, and it boils water quickly.

*And since that stove was fairly cheap, and most of my cooking equipment circa 1978, I also bought this double pot cook set. It's tiny, great for one or two people, and my stove and fuel fit inside. However, if I were looking at backpacking with more people, I'd probably get this, which is a more usable size, and on sale. I'm going to have to pick up a titanium something, just because they're so cute, but they're nothing I'm going to *cook* over.