The Chroniclings of a Gear Head

Hmm thats a hard one.

I’d, personally, go for the bivy — however, they both have their pros and cons. 

I like bivy’s because they are light [most are a pound or under], easy to manage, super packable [many stuffing about the same size  if not smaller than a nalgene bottle]. However, as a good friend once said to me “A bivy is basically a glorified trash bag.” and he is most certainly right. Bivies basically are a waterproof bag that you throw over yourself and your stuff. The end, no bells and whistles — and if thats what you’re going for, the minimalist backpacking/ climbing style, than by all means go for it, the bivy sack is the answer for you!

However, if you like the comfort of a roof over your head and dont mind a few extra pounds to provide a cozy little home away from home for you and your gear, then go for the 1 person tent. And, not only do you have a vestibule to put boots and packs and a bit of room to store a stuff sack of clothes as a pillow, if you really needed to get cozy and share with another person, most one person tents can squeeze in another [small] person if an emergency arises, which a bivy cannot. 

A few suggestions for a solid bivy sack are:

1) The Marmot Alpinist Bivy very basic, and very reliable. And a cool color.

2) The Outdoor Research Alpine Bivy it gives a nice crossover between a tent and a bivy with the hoop

3) MSR AC bivy very minimalist. Very. 

And a few single person tents: 

1) The Big Anges Copper Spur UL1 so, so, so light for a single person tent, its crazy! 

2) The EMS Velocity 1 a great value for a solid tent

And of course, I’ll always recommend a tarp/ mid to any backcountry travelers for the reason listed here in my novel of a reply.

Let me know if you have any more questions, I have about a zillion more tent/ bivy recs, so please, don’t hesistate to message me again!

Happy shopping!

jas

No, thank you for the follow!

Happy adventuring! 

jas

Will do my very best!

Thanks,

jas

Oh deary! I have many rain jackets/ shells that I could recommend, but if one pictures them on a graph — as the bad-ass-ery moves up in conjunction with the price…

So I will give you a smattering of shells of varying prices that I like very much - then if you have more questions, more specific price ranges etc…  feel free to ask away!

1) Marmot PreCip Jacket So this jacket is like many others [E.g the Patagonia Torrentshell, or the North Face Venture Jacket] are all solid, all around [from biking to work to swacking in Alaska]  jackets. These puppies range from $99 to $120 [with Patagucci, er Patagonia, as the most expensive]. They all rely on coated nylon rather then membrane technology to be waterproof — hence the lower price than some of the jackets I will list shortly. 

Coated nylon works just how it sounds, the various outdoors co.’s take a bit of nylon and coat it with some kind of fancy chemical which repels water — however nylon isn’t the most breathable fabric so one must take into consideration what kind of adventures both the user and the jacket will partake in. In addition, this chemical coating often wears off after a while and although there are methods like Nikwax which “prolongs the life and enhances the performance of clothing, footwear & equipment,” I’ve had trouble fully reviving my coated nylon products to their initial waterproof glory. The other kind of rain shell tech is Membrane. Gore tex, E-vent, H2No etc.. are some examples of the many names the membrane tech has in the outdoor world. Similarly to how semi-permiable membranes work in our high school biology class, membrane rain jackets have several layers which allow sweat, heat, moisture out, but not other kinds of dampness like rain, snow, sleet, in. These jackets are not only more breathable than coated, but they also tend to be a longer lasting and more waterproof [because of this aforementioned semi-permeable membrane, and the same waterproof chemical used in the coated nylon shells] in the long run. However, they can be much, much, much more expensive. [See REI’s handy-dandy how rain gear works for more details on the mechanics of membrane jackets]

2) Moving on, the Patagonia Rain Shadow jacket is a kind of middle ground between the high performing, high priced membrane jackets coming up, and the lower performance coated nylon ones. This shell uses Patagonia’s H2No membrane technology as well as their Deluge DWR [durable water repellent] finish. Its a great all around jacket, I do have to say that I am a proud owner and it has served me well from the lofty snow-covered peaks of Alaska, to the orange Canyonlands of Utah. The First Ascent BC-200 jacket is another similar option. It is about $20 more expensive than the Patagonia, but it is lighter. On the down side, the hood is really built for a helmeted head and although it cinches down, if you’re not intending to wear it where helmets are involved for at least a few trips, I’d consider the Patagonia more seriously. 

3) Now, here comes the bad-ass-ery: the Patagonia Triolet, the Arc’Teryx Alpha LT Jacket, the Mountain Hardware Quasar Pull Over, the Mammut Felstrum Half-Zip jacket are just a few sexy shells out of the dozens that I could [and am tempted to list]. The prices get increasingly outrageous, but they are each great jackets. I’m personally a fan of the Mammut jacket, but the half zip might be a deterring factor for many. It is [like each of these jackets] high preforming, waterproof and exceptionally breathable. However, this jacket is different just because the Gore-Tex used it a new kind that is 50% thinner and lighter and is great in a wide range of temperatures, which a few of the jackets listed [the Patagonia and the Arc’ Teryx are meant for slightly colder temperatures]. But seriously, I would give a lot to be the proud owner of any one of these jackets. 

As you can see there is alot to rain shell picking out. Rain gear is one THE most important items to have in your pack, they can seriously save your life! I have only just skimmed the surface of jackets and am more than happy to write another long post about shells if you have any questions on Coated Nylon vs. Membrane, have a specific price range you want me to delve into, a particular jacket you want me to talk about, or if I am not making sense. 

Cheers, and happy shopping :P,

jas 

Hahaha thank you so much!

Yes, I am quite fond of that Gene Wilder/ Willy Wonka thing. I know that I have often adopted that expression when listening to people rave about their North Face Denali Jacket, but yet unable to name exactly which country Denali is in…

cheers, and happy climbing [addressed to your little icon picture thing],

jas

I think they are really dumb looking. 

Sorry, in all seriousness although I am not the first climber/backpacker/ not very good at getting out of my sleeping bag person ever to wish that I could just walk around in my bag, I think that selk bags are not the most efficient heaters/ equipment out there. This is because each little “limb encasor” keeps each of the other limbs away from each other so therefore your two legs, for example, can not benefit from the other’s heat. Much like the glove vs. mitten idea, where each little finger in its own little wrapping isnt nearly as warm as 5 fingers cozily keeping each other warm, selk bags dont allow you to benefit off of sharing heat with yourself.

If that made any sense to you, yay, and please please let me know if you need any more clarification/ have anymore questions,

cheers, jas

Ah, the mysterious realm of tarps and mids, my favorite of the realms!

Now, as you might have guessed by previous posts, I am a bit long winded so bear with me! [But if you like my rants, y’all should submit more questions :p]

Disclaimer: I love all gear, from sexy skis I wish I knew how to control better/ properly use, to hot and beautiful cams I know how to use but cannot afford — so this in no way is a rant against tents [particularly of the Mountain Hardware mountaineering type]. 

Now, onward and up to tarps and mids! 

So firstly, mid and tarps [tarps esp.]  are often viewed as a kinda kooky minimalist type thing or as the boy scout troop down the street gear. And [its ok you can admit it] there’s a little bit of unease surrounding the thought of not having walls/ floors/ just a thin piece of courdasil above your head between you and the bears [or pikas, marmots, snakes, rain, sleet, spiders etc…] 

However, after a single night of sleeping under a mid, I was converted for several reasons:

a) they are actually super easy  and versatile to set up [Because they have no floor or walls, you can set them up where ever you want, you can use trees, trekking poles rocks etc… to tie them off on, and you can adjust the height, like make a “front door” for easy in and out during the day by raising one side of the mid, then lowering it at night to keep heat in better and feel a bit more protected]

b) Because of this versatile set up, much easier in and out. 

c) If set up well [tightly/ pulled taut, secure anchors etc…] they are fantastically weather proof 

d) They are so much lighter than a tent its actually unreal [think about it, only one bit of fabric, as opposed to the tent fly, tent body, poles, footprint etc… and you can use your trekking poles, trees, rocks, tent stakes etc… or any combination thereof to suit your anchoring/ setting up needs, as opposed to carrying an extra pound of tent poles]

e) Good tarps and mids are rampant among brands I was actually familiar with ranging from the Black Diamond Mega Mid [personal favorite] to MSR E-Wing and GoLite Shang Gri-La. 

f) Being able to look out from under your tarps, from the comfort of your sleeping bag at the towering buttes and deep canyons at sunset, it truly amazing

So all in all, tarps and mids are lighter, more versatile, easy to set up, get you in better touch with nature, and you have more or less the same amount of protection from the elements and the creatures [lets face it, tarp, tent or mid, if a bear wants that snickers in your sleeping bag, it’ll get it].

For all of you who are all like, “but I store my stuff in my tent! what if my [fill in the blank] get wet/stolen/lost/eaten by hungry bears” honestly, you can store your backpack, boots, food etc… in safe and effective manners outside of your shelter, regardless of whether it’s a tent or a tarp. [I’m more than happy to go over some of those if people want – and who wants their hiking buddy’s smelly boots in the tent anyway?] 

I could go more into the technicalities of how to set up mids and tarps, but that’s a whole other story – so I hope I scratched the surface of why I’m pro mid/tarp/ tent alternative, and if you have any more questions, please let me know!

cheers,

jas

Hello, hello!

Sorry for taking a few days to reply, things have been a bit crazy for me recently!

So, ok — Firstly, a $120, or £80, tent that isnt complete crap is a tall order. Backpacking tents are different than others like car camping tents because they are often made out of lighter and more packable materials. 

Several solid, low budget, although not quite as low as yours, are:

1) The Kelty Salida 2: This is one of the best backpacking tents out there, period. Light weight, easy to set up and has a tough ripstop nylon floor. It also has handy mesh storage space and a huge interior and vestibule. And to top that all off, its only $160. [Also won the Backpacker’s editor’s choice award, if that means anything] 

2) The REI Series: the REI Camp Dome 2. This is the more low-key of the tents, as in less intense backpacking, more family-over-night-trips-with-the-dog-and-small-child-in-tow type deals, but it is only $99 and a pretty solid, sturdy, easy to set up and fairly lightweight tent nonetheless. The REI Passage 2 tent is the next in the REI series. At $149, it is, like the Kelty, on the higher end of your price range, but it is very waterproof, about the same weight as the two previous tents as well as comfortable and easy to set up. This tent is def. the nicer of the 2 REI’s. The final REI, I won’t say too much about because it is $180, but its one of the nicer backpacking tents out there for a very good price. The REI Half Dome 2 won the Backpacker’s editor’s choice last year, quote “The Half Dome remains the epitome of functional, affordable design.”

3) Now,  if you are willing/ ready to hold on to your hats, I am about to venture into the mysterious realm of tarps and mids. As one who has converted to tarps about a year ago for all outdoor endeavors besides larger scale glacier mountaineering type deal, I strongly recommend them for multiple reasons:  

• So much lighter, its actually insane.
• If set up properly, you get about the same amount of protection from the wind and rain and snow
• There is more room for creative set up, like pitching it a few feet off the ground on one side, creating a “front door” which you can  view the nature around you, and easily run to the bathroom in the night
• You get a much more “wildernessy” vibe, because you are, admittedly, much more psychologically exposed. 

Although when you have a tarp, you do need to buy some kind of ground cloth, or foot print, I would recommend buying “personal” ground cloths for each member of the camping group. For a cheap, and honestly equally, if not more durable and lightweight ground cloth, I’d head over to your local hardware store and pick up a few 3 feet wide by 6, 6.5 feet long trips of “tyvek” — that material used for building houses and use that. So then, instead of you and 2 buddies all sharing one ground cloth which can be tricky to maneuver around the poles used to set up the tarp, you each get your own lightweight and maneuverable ones.

With that said, the Outdoor Research NightHaven Light Shelter the MSR E-Wing Tarp the Intergral Designs SilShelter and the Black Diamond Beta Mid [my personal favorite] are all neat choices.

All of these shelters can be set up using trees, trekking poles or poles that some of them come with. 

That was a very long intro, to a kind of shelter you probably were not interested in, so I will stop here.

If you have any more questions, or want more tent recs, just shoot me another message!

cheers and happy hiking,

jas

Hahaha, I already got one on my iTunes!

But I’ll fo’ sho’ publish it on the gear blog, thanks for the idea! 

Wow, thanks for the heads up!

I own a pair of OR ones myself, however, a ton of my friends use them. Admittedly mainly for backpacking, thus no crampons involved, but I’ll fo’ sho keep that in mind when shopping for new ones! 

Hahaha

I’ll do my best, honestly I don’t know too much about alpine skiing gear, so if you’d like to submit anything, please do so! Thanks for the feedback!

Thats a great idea, thanks so much!

Thank you so much!

That is a truly wonderful compliment!

Your blog is pretty sweet to, keep up the adventuring!

jas

Great! 

Glad I could be of service!

And since you’re apparently looking for durable cameras might i suggest taking a peak at:

This Pentax which is nice because it has a panorama option which is sweet for larger scale mountain landscape type shots, and this Sony, which is a sleeker design with a touch screen.

Happy shooting [photography wise that is]!

jas