4/4 P.S.
1) Curious how I kept the flat face of the disk-like device horizontal while I hiked?
2) Garmin strangely refers to what I believe is "transmit power" as "protocol" in three models-- it is correctly called "transmit power" on the "plus" model
3) Garmin doesn't advertise the differences in power. They recommend clear overhead. Unfortunately, #hiking in the wilderness frequently involves forests and may require the extra power!
END
3/4 Last week, I used my new Garmin Inreach Messenger Plus for 20 hours in the same heavily wooded areas I had used my mini, including 10 hours of snowing and heavy overcast. It worked great! Connect times ranged from a few seconds to a few minutes (NOT 10's of minutes like with my mini). Not a scientific test, but not a single long delay among the 22 transmissions of text messages-- looks very promising that there is improvement! (CONT)
2/4 Here are some specs of the four Garmin Inreach models of interest: mini/mini2/messenger/messenger-plus have transmit powers (at Iridium satellite frequency) of 31.7/31.8/35.9/39.7 dBm. The "plus" has 3.8 dB higher power than the regular messenger and 8.0 dB higher than my mini (which translates to 6.3 times the power of my old unit). With such an increase in power, I was hopeful for faster connect times with the "plus". (CONT)
1/4 I recently upgraded from my Garmin Inreach Mini to the Garmin Inreach Messenger Plus. Didn't need all of the bells/whistles of the "plus", but I was attracted to its higher transmit power. I was very frustrated with the poor satellite connectivity that my mini had in heavily wooded areas (typically several 10's of minutes to send a message). I was hoping that a higher transmit power would improve connect times in wooded areas. (CONT)
All that gear packed up into the roller along with the backpack (not shown) and will now make its way to the airport. Two shoulder season hiking trips (4 & 7 days) coming up.
Finally after 11 months my Hilltop Packs' dry bags arrived. Not the fault of Hilltops, but USPS. The originals are now probably being sold on a street market in Egypt.
Hilltops did me a replacement set.
A new piece of gear arrived today. A custom quilt from UGQ outdoor. Rated -6C, I am quite keen to try it out, but current mountain temps are at -12C, so it might be a stretch. It will definitely form a staple of some shoulder season hikes.
Very lightweight with the 950 fill. I opted for the sown footbox, as from previous experience I don't walk around inside my quilt.
Continuing on my water carry theme from
https://mountains.social/@ysb33r/113211211505945611.
Smartwater bottels are popular in the US, but not elsewhere. I recently travelled to South Africa 🇿🇦, and I thought to investigate whether there is anything similar down that way that can be used. Well, I found two that seem to fit the requirements - correct type of plastic, durability, weight.
Mountain Falls & Thirsti are the two brands. The latter brand is available country-wise, but I am sure whether the former is only in the Western Cape. Good news either way - if you travel there, no need to bring your own bottles, just buy them and recycle after your trip.
The take a standard thread so my adaptor kit also works. The also fit nicely into a side pocket of a backpack.
Mountain Falls 1lt 59g
Thirsti 500ml 25g.
The Thirsti bottels also come in 1.5lt versions, but I did not get to try them.
#hiking #southafrica #whatsinyourpack #hydration #mountainfalls #thirsti
For skimo, snowshoeing and winter walking, I have long relied on a pair of 3pc BD expedition poles. What I did not like about them, is that they had no insulation below the handle and the straps were not the easiest to adjust.
Instead of getting one of the newer BF poles, I opted for a pair of Komperdell Titanal Exp poles. Not the lightest at 594g per pair, but they do have some nice features.
The insulated part goes down all the way to just above the top fliplock. The leashes adjust easier than the BD version too.
The insulation will make it more comfortable to ski down with poles in hand - no more feeling the freeze through lightweight skimo gloves. And going up it will easier plunge the poles in and grab them lower down in those non-than-ideal ascents.
https://www.komperdell.com/en/Titanal-Exp-Pro/K1742355-10-Tele
#whatsinyourpack #skimo #winter #snowshoeing #komperdell #blackdiamond
For those of you that use Leukotape, do you save weight by trying to roll a section of the tape onto a smaller cylinder?
I accidentely stumbled upon this reading glasses gem in a shop.
I bought a pair and tried them for backpacking. They are turned out to be a lighter solution that anything I have used before and seeimngly pretty durable.
It is the Rectangular model from Nooz Optics.
https://www.nooz-optics.com/en-int/reading/rectangular?diopter=2&color=Navy
I found an online shop in Europe from which one can get some Evernew and Cnoc products at reasonable prices.
https://farlite.fi/en/tuotteet/equipment/camp-kitchen/bottles-and-containers/
I am looking at the clothing list I put together for a multi-day shoulder season. It comes to 2.14kg (4.72lb).
- Baselayer leggings
- Short-sleeved shirt
- Sun Hoodie (double as baselayer)
- 2x lightweights buffs
- Windprood buff
- Beanie
- Zip-off trousers
- Lightweight gloves (comfort 8ºC)
- UA underwear (2 pairs)
- Socks (2 pairs)
- Light fleece
- Puffy
- Drybag to stuff everything into.
I am trying to cut that weight but...
(1) In the last 3 yrs of shoulder season trips I had temperatures between -1ºC - 25ºC, rain, some snow, wind.
(2) One trip I only took a light fleece and a body warmer and then it snowed - I felt it in the night.
(3) One trip I took a puffy and no fleece and I did not quite warm up in the puffy.
(4) Another trip I took the windproof buff, but lent it to someone else and only used the beanie, so I might not need it, but my ears get sore very quickly in cold wind.
What do other people pack for the same kind of trip?
Initial impressions on the CampingMoon XD-2F.
TL;DR: you get what you pay for.
1st bugbear: It always leaks a bit of gas when screwing on/off. Especially not nice when it is cold and you do it with bare hands.
2nd bugbear: It does not quite fit inside a 900ml pot (the one in picture) alongside a small gas canister. I'll need to use the bag it comes in, 52g more.
Anotger issue that I ran into is that it did not work with Coleman canisters. It screws on, but no gas is emitted. After some reading, I found that a number of people have reported issues with Coleman canisters on a number of stove brands.
There are definitely factors at play in what solution to choose for a trip and it goes beyond just weight savings:
- Does the backpack support hydration bladders?
- Does the backpack have side pockets for bottles?
- Is this a 3-season or a winter hike.
- How much water needs to be carried and how much water is actually needed for cooking?
- Do you only drink water or do you want to mix an electrolyte solution?
(8/8)
The 2lt version of the Hydraulics bladder is 27g lighter than the 3lt, which brings it to 170g.
In the same vein, if I do 2x 1lt Platypus Soft Bottles it all comes to 83g. That is a 71g saving.
P.S. Osprey does have LT versions of their bladders, but in my experience they don't last that long, especially being pushed in and pulled out of hydration sleeves on a backpack. I always prefer the standard bladder versions.
(7/8)
To add further context, the Osprey Hydraulics bladder weighs 197g. This includes the pipe section up to the connector.
The adaptor I made weighs 35g. So if I had to carry the same amount of water with the Platypus soft bottles that will be 35 + 3x24 = 107g, so there is a small win here in terms of weight.
With a full Nalgene solution it is 35 + 16 + 3x180 = 591g (Extra 16g is the additional wide-mouth adaptor).
For a day hike it will matter little which solution I take, but on a multi-day, it will definitely be a much bigger decision.
(6/8)
Carrying on with the hydration theme. I acquired a 1lt Platypus Soft Bottle and then used the modified Source adaptor to test. No leakage so far, even after putting pressue on the soft bottle when it was nearly full.
This brings about a 40g solution in place of a 180g Nalgene. Still heavier than a normal Osprey hydration bladder, but more versatile for sure.
https://www.platy.com/ie/bottles/softbottle/softbottle.html
(5/8)
I'm not quite a UL person, but I am trying to shave about 1kg off my base weight for some trips next year. I have been looking into two areas:
Backpack: I have looked into a specific UL pack. This will require me to change away from a hydration bladder, so I have been experimenting with different bottles and and a hydration pipe. There is potential to cut up to 700g here.
Sleep system: I want to go for a warmer quilt, but I do not want to carry more than by current system. I have been looking at the Ugq Bandit Quilt, but that will add 90-160g more. Will need to change the liner away from the Sts Reactor liner to maybe some silk liner. I have a Pertex liner from years ago, which weighs 100g less than the Reactor. I can probably cut 90g more. That should even it out.
| am still 300g short of my 1000g target though.
After a couple of months of using the Tomir 2.0 shoes from Nnormal, I found that the laces still undo themselves, even if double-knotted and hidden away under a pair of trail gaiters.
I thus ordered a pair quick-laces to try them out. These are remiscent of the Salomon quick lacing system, although with a slightly larger diameter.
After a bit of fiddling I managed to work out how to put the laces back through the locking pieces.
The Decathlon laces are slightly shorter than the Nnormal-supplied laces and I had the skip a set of holes to get it to work properly. I just hope I skipped the right set, but I'll soon find out when I am trail this week.
