- Bring a fire starter (magnesium sparker) if you have a JetBoil stove. Sometimes the built in starter breaks, or doesn't light in high winds. With the sparker, it takes one swipe and it will start every time.
- If you are using an inflatable air mattress in winter, the air will become cool during the night and you will freeze. I have learned to use another layer between the bottom of the tent and the sleeping pad. Either a lightweight foam pad, or other clothing layers that aren't being used will work.
- Save your filter by pre-filtering overly dirty water. Use a bandana or a t-shirt. I use a Packtowl along with a Steripen pre-filter. Both are extremely light alternatives, and along with some sort of chemical (AquaMira) can save you in a pinch.
- Sleeping bag liners are very comfortable to sleep in, but I am not convinced that they add any additional heat.
- Those re-useable hand warmers are awesome. I slept with one by my feet, and used another to melt about .5 liters of water over night.
- Be careful using water filters in winter, as they might freeze. If it is supposed to get below freezing, put the filter in your sleeping bag.
- When melting snow for water, don't forget to cover the pot. Any sparks could get in your water, and the whole bottle will taste like charcoal.
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
A few quick tips
Here are a few things I learned from my backpacking trips this winter:
Backcountry Firewood Tools
I recently bought 3 items that for backcountry firewood processing. They are the Gerber Gator Axe, Gerber Gator Junior Machete, and the Sven Folding Saw-15".
The axe comes with a serated saw that fits into the handle. Both components work well, but the saw is fairly useless for anything larger than twigs, and it is really hateful chopping firewood with a hatchet. I would only bring this tool in the backcountry if 3+ people were in your group to help divide the weight.
The second item is the Junior machete. This machete has the typical machete blade on one side, but on the other side it has a serated saw blade. This allows a person to hack off thin limbs, as well as saw through thicker limbs. If I was going solo on a trip, I would bring this tool. It is fairly light at 14.3 ounces, and has various uses.
The Sven folding saw is an extremely good tool. I have owned many timber saws in my life, and this saw performs as well as any of them, and its made for the backcountry. The only problem with this tool is that in order to effectively and efficiently process fire wood in the backcountry, a machete or large knife is required to split the wood. If two people are traveling together, one person can saw the dead log into pieces, and another can split the pieces. It is a lot of work for one person, but is the best method for processing fire wood.
The axe comes with a serated saw that fits into the handle. Both components work well, but the saw is fairly useless for anything larger than twigs, and it is really hateful chopping firewood with a hatchet. I would only bring this tool in the backcountry if 3+ people were in your group to help divide the weight.
The second item is the Junior machete. This machete has the typical machete blade on one side, but on the other side it has a serated saw blade. This allows a person to hack off thin limbs, as well as saw through thicker limbs. If I was going solo on a trip, I would bring this tool. It is fairly light at 14.3 ounces, and has various uses.
The Sven folding saw is an extremely good tool. I have owned many timber saws in my life, and this saw performs as well as any of them, and its made for the backcountry. The only problem with this tool is that in order to effectively and efficiently process fire wood in the backcountry, a machete or large knife is required to split the wood. If two people are traveling together, one person can saw the dead log into pieces, and another can split the pieces. It is a lot of work for one person, but is the best method for processing fire wood.
REI Flash 18 Pack
You are on a backpacking trip and you get to your camp around 2 pm, too early to sit in camp all day, so you decide to go on a day hike. Their is a problem, you only brought your 60 liter pack, and have nothing to haul your small amount of essential items that you want to bring. This is where the Flash 18 pack from REI comes in.
The Flash 18 pack is a stuff sack, that when turned inside out, has shoulder straps and a few loops. It is perfect to use in your main backpack as a non-compressible storage sack. Use it to hold your food, or clothing that needs to be readily accessible. Once you get to camp, throw your food, water (it has a hydration sleeve as well), a windbreaker, matches, and your headlamp and head out on a day hike. At 11 ounces, it isn't overly light, but a few things can be removed to make it slightly lighter. When fully stuffed with your extra clothing, it serves as a very good camp pillow as well. At $34.50, you can't really go wrong with this pack. I use it for 3 things (stuff sack, pillow, day pack), and couldn't be happier. It also comes in many different colors.
The Flash 18 pack is a stuff sack, that when turned inside out, has shoulder straps and a few loops. It is perfect to use in your main backpack as a non-compressible storage sack. Use it to hold your food, or clothing that needs to be readily accessible. Once you get to camp, throw your food, water (it has a hydration sleeve as well), a windbreaker, matches, and your headlamp and head out on a day hike. At 11 ounces, it isn't overly light, but a few things can be removed to make it slightly lighter. When fully stuffed with your extra clothing, it serves as a very good camp pillow as well. At $34.50, you can't really go wrong with this pack. I use it for 3 things (stuff sack, pillow, day pack), and couldn't be happier. It also comes in many different colors.
Mountain Laurel Designs DuoMid Review
I have been looking for a lightweight alternative to a tent for my backcountry outings. After some extensive research, I decided on a tarptent, specifically the DuoMid made by Mountain Laurel Designs. The DuoMid weighs in at 17 oz., but that doesn't include tent stakes, or the single trekking pole required to pitch it. Since most people use trekking poles anyway, the weight of them can't really be factored in.
There are several options available with the DuoMid. The first is the color, either Yellow or Gray, I went with the gray. The second is the fabric; the two choices are cuben fiber or SilNylon. The cuben is $200 more expensive, but weighs 4 ounces less. I didn't want to spend $200 for a weight savings of 4 ounces, so I went with the standard SilNylon material. I also elected to add the perimeter bug netting. This netting is around the bottom of the tarp, its about a foot long in all places and is angled into the tent. I am glad I added this, because with the 3 ounce tarp I bring along, this tarptent turns into a bug-free, 4-wall, and floored shelter.
Overall my first impressions of the DuoMid are great. It is extremely roomy, with more than enough room for two to sleep (without gear, comfortable) and a huge shelter for one person. It is very easy to pitch. I setup it up for the first time, by myself, in under 3 minutes. The only thing I would change is having the guylines be installed before shipping. The guylines are supplied, but they aren't cut into correct lengths or installed onto the tarp tent. It is a very easy process, and easy to follow directions are supplied online, but why not just do it in the factory where are the tools needed are readily available?
Overall, a very good buy that I am extremely happy with. Now the only thing is seeing how durable it is after substantial use. I will post a picture later of the pitched DuoMid from my next trip.
There are several options available with the DuoMid. The first is the color, either Yellow or Gray, I went with the gray. The second is the fabric; the two choices are cuben fiber or SilNylon. The cuben is $200 more expensive, but weighs 4 ounces less. I didn't want to spend $200 for a weight savings of 4 ounces, so I went with the standard SilNylon material. I also elected to add the perimeter bug netting. This netting is around the bottom of the tarp, its about a foot long in all places and is angled into the tent. I am glad I added this, because with the 3 ounce tarp I bring along, this tarptent turns into a bug-free, 4-wall, and floored shelter.
Overall my first impressions of the DuoMid are great. It is extremely roomy, with more than enough room for two to sleep (without gear, comfortable) and a huge shelter for one person. It is very easy to pitch. I setup it up for the first time, by myself, in under 3 minutes. The only thing I would change is having the guylines be installed before shipping. The guylines are supplied, but they aren't cut into correct lengths or installed onto the tarp tent. It is a very easy process, and easy to follow directions are supplied online, but why not just do it in the factory where are the tools needed are readily available?
Overall, a very good buy that I am extremely happy with. Now the only thing is seeing how durable it is after substantial use. I will post a picture later of the pitched DuoMid from my next trip.
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
GNP Trip Day 3
Our third day itinerary included hiking from Glenn's Lake head to our 3rd campsite, located at the foot of Elizabeth Lake. On our hike from Glenn's Lake to Elizabeth Lake, we encountered another suspension bridge over the river, as well as a pretty impressive waterfall. Notice the size of it compared to myself, I am about 6 feet tall. I would estimate the waterfall to be about 150 feet tall, even though it doesn't look like it in the picture.
About 2 miles farther down the trail, we came to our campsite at the foot of Elizabeth Lake. Here was the view from the beach located about 10 feet from our tent. This was our last night, we hiked out to the car the next morning.
GNP Trip Day 2
In the morning we woke up and began our hike to the head of Glenn's Lake, which was about 7 miles away. Within 5 minutes of hiking, we had to cross a pretty interesting foot-bridge across the river.
From there the trail headed basically straight west through a sparse forest. The trail climbed a few hundred feet and we hiked along the crest of the hill for about a mile. Then we turned NW into a very thick forest where we encountered this off trail waterfall.
Continuing along the trail, we encountered our first glimpse of Glenn's Lake.
Not much farther along, we arrived at the campsite. We made camp and
since it was before noon still, we decided to day hike up Stony Indian
pass. We packed some water and food into our day packs and took off.
The trail to Stony Indian Pass was very beautiful, it climbed in
elevation drastically so naturally there was a lot of water run off
coming down. Some pretty nice hydro-logic features were up there.
We didn't make it all the way up to Stony Indian Pass, which is too bad because I have heard from many people that it is the most beautiful backcountry campsite in Glacier.
From there the trail headed basically straight west through a sparse forest. The trail climbed a few hundred feet and we hiked along the crest of the hill for about a mile. Then we turned NW into a very thick forest where we encountered this off trail waterfall.
Continuing along the trail, we encountered our first glimpse of Glenn's Lake.
We didn't make it all the way up to Stony Indian Pass, which is too bad because I have heard from many people that it is the most beautiful backcountry campsite in Glacier.
GNP Trip Day 1 continued
All back country campsites in Glacier National Park have these things; tent plots, a water source, a pit toilet with surrounding structure, food storage area, food preparation area, fire ring with benches, and a place to tie up horses.
We were the first people to arrive at the campsite that day, so we surveyed the 4 tent pads, and picked the one closest to the toilet. The pads were located about 10 feet from the water source, which was a small stream about 10 feet across. Since we had only hiked 6.1 miles so far that day, we decided to set up camp and do a little day hiking. There were 3 trail spurs near the campsite, two of each we would explore on the following days, naturally we took the third one which led up to Gable Pass.
This trail is extremely steep, good thing only had day packs with us. We hiked for about an hour, which we figured to be between 2 or 3 miles since it was so steep. We found a clearing near the peak of the trail and stopped to take some pictures, the view was pretty great.
After the picture taking, we hiked down, which was alot easier than coming up. Once we got back to camp, the sun began to set. So we had some dinner and went to sleep for the night.
We were the first people to arrive at the campsite that day, so we surveyed the 4 tent pads, and picked the one closest to the toilet. The pads were located about 10 feet from the water source, which was a small stream about 10 feet across. Since we had only hiked 6.1 miles so far that day, we decided to set up camp and do a little day hiking. There were 3 trail spurs near the campsite, two of each we would explore on the following days, naturally we took the third one which led up to Gable Pass.
This trail is extremely steep, good thing only had day packs with us. We hiked for about an hour, which we figured to be between 2 or 3 miles since it was so steep. We found a clearing near the peak of the trail and stopped to take some pictures, the view was pretty great.
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| View across the valley |
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| Slightly hazy from forest fires |
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| Day 1 Sunset |
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