Gear Discussion

Background

This page contains a detailed discussion of backpacking gear. It started out as more of a narrative/journal for our Grand Canyon trip. Since then, it's been revised and expanded. This version of the page is a bit more formal and aims to discuss our current practices and current gear without a lot of extraneous storytelling.

Shopping

There are a lot of places to buy backpacking gear these days. Besides local brick-and-mortar stores, there are plenty of online retailers selling mass-market products. As you start moving into ultralight gear, there are also variety of boutique manufacturers selling low-volume or even custom-made products.

Our needs appear to be met most effectively by a combination of mass-market, low-volume and custom gear. We buy mass-market gear when it is functionally appropriate and the weight isn't excessive. We buy low-volume or custom gear when the mass market just doesn't provide what we need or when better quality gear is available for a reasonable price. Low-volume or custom gear is almost always more expensive, but the truth is that you get what you pay for.

For mass-market items or items that really need to be tried first (like backpacks), we try to purchase locally if possible. Our two local brick-and-mortar resources are REI and Midwest Mountaineering. We have found that if you want good advice, you need to go to these stores during an off time. For instance, Tuesday nights worked well for us when shopping for backpacks. Both REI and Midwest Mountaineering were pretty much empty, and the sales people had time to talk with us in detail without taking time away from other customers. You do not want to try and have a detailed conversation in a crowded store on a Saturday aftenoon.

Just like with anything else, the purchase of a low-volume product sometimes works out and sometimes doesn't. Out track record has been decent so far, but not perfect. In a few cases, we've had a mixed experience with the same manufacturer (i.e. we love the Warmlite tents but hated the poncho).

Remember: in many cases, you can't return custom-made gear at all. In other cases, the manufacturer will take the gear back, but it's not always fair to ask them to. Many of these boutique shops run on shoestring budgets. They don't necessarily make a lot of money, even if the gear is expensive. We try not to take advantage of them.

Backpacks

Julie's pack is a Deuter ACT Lite 45, which is a 45L women's internal frame pack that can be expanded up to 55L. Ken has two packs: a GoLite Quest and an Osprey Argon. The GoLite is a 60L ultralight pack, and the Osprey is a 70L expedition-style pack.

Ken's Pack We bought the Deuter and the GoLite locally at Midwest Mountaineering, although we also shopped at REI. The Osprey was purchased online because no one sold it locally.

The Deuter is a bit fancier than the GoLite — for instance, the shoulder strap mounting is adjustable and there are more zippers and ways into the bag — but GoLite is somewhat lighter. Both packs include space for a 3L hydration pack (i.e. Camelbak) along the back of the pack on the inside.

The Osprey is much fancier than the other packs and includes some additional features, like a removable hydration pack carrier and a removable hip bag. On the other hand, it's substantially heavier — about 3000g vs. 1400g for the GoLite. Ken's brother Mark initially bought this pack because he's a big guy with a long torso, and he didn't have too many options. Midwest Mountaineering recommended it, and he's been happy with it. Ken bought his after deciding that the GoLite was overloaded carrying 40 lb on our Glacier trip in 2011 (the GoLite is intended to carry more like 30-35 lb at most).

Initially, we had both intended to stick with smaller packs (55-60L range). They're lighter than larger packs, and a 55-60L pack is about right for a 3-4 day trip in moderate 3-season conditions. Ken's 70L Osprey (and Mark's, which in XL size is more like 75L) is almost too big for that kind of trip — there's a temptation to bring along too much stuff because it fits. However, the Osprey is more comfortable when fully loaded.

Side note: we've decided that fitting a frame back is about as difficult as fitting a downhill ski boot. Our recommendation: go someplace where can try on a variety of packs with substantial weight in them (at least 30 lb). If possible, see if you can walk up and down some stairs instead of just wandering around on a flat floor.

Tents

Summary

We spent a lot of time trying to decide on a tent. The following articles were of use to us:

We also got a lot of useful information from Roger Caffin's Shelter and DIY - My Designs - Tents pages.

Roger's documentation influenced how we thought about our tent requirements. We decided we wanted a tent that:

was lightweight, less than 5 lb (2300g)
would stand up to some wind
had a decent amount of space inside (able to sit up, put some gear inside)
and would be sealed from bugs (i.e. no floorless tarp-tents)

After some consideration, we decided that we were aiming for a so-called "tunnel tent". Some examples of commercial tunnel tents include the Hilleberge Nallo 2, the Terra Nova LaserLarge, and the Stephenson's Warmlite 2R. The following posts discuss these tents:

All of these tents end up being fairly comparable, with minor compromises between the three in weight, size, floor area, vestibule area, headroom, and price.

In the end, we bought the Stephenson's Warmlite 2R. The primary driving factors were cost (slightly less than the other tunnel tents), weight (about as light as a two-person tent gets), size (big enough for the two of us and gear), and the reputation of the tent design and of Stephenson's in general.

Warmlite 2R

The Warmlite 2R is a hand-made 4-season mountaineering tent produced by Stephenson's Warmlite in New Hampshire. The 2R has a two-wall design rather than a separate rain fly.

We like the tent a lot. It's not perfect, but there are always compromises when you're talking about ultralight backpacking gear. Some trade-offs are worthwhile in order to get a tent that weighs less than 3 lb and has this much space available inside.

You can see pictures of our Warmlite 2R, alongside a few other tents that we own, on this gallery page.

Here are some references that discuss the Warmlite tent design:

One of the biggest advantages of the Warmlite design is how easy the tent is to set up in the wind. Even a stiff breeze can make attaching in a rain fly difficult, and Stephenson's avoids this problem with their two-wall design. The tent is also quite stable in the wind once it's up, although you will want to use all 7 stakes in windy conditions. When all the vents are closed, the tent is pretty wind-proof, something we appreciated during one cold and windy night at Indian Garden in the Grand Canyon.

Ventilation is not great. This can be both good and bad. On the one hand, the tent stays cozy warm when it's cold outside. We've had it out in temperatures down as low as 8 degrees F. The tent feels substantially warmer inside. On the other hand, lack of ventilation contributes to condensation (discussed more below) and makes the tent somewhat stuffy in warmer temperatures.

Here in Minnesota, we would prefer to leave the windows open on hot or muggy nights, to get whatever breeze is available. Unfortunately, it's often exactly those nights which have a chance of sudden storms. As a result, we're not quite comfortable going to sleep with the windows open, since we'd have to get outside in the rain to seal the tent up. This is one of those things we haven't quite figured out yet.

Also, the outside window flaps zip up easily enough, but we can't figure out what to do with them once they're open. The tent comes with little sacks that you can GripClip fill with rocks to guy out the flaps, but they don't work very well if there's any sort of breeze. What the tent really needs are some very light tie-downs at the top seam, so you could roll up the flaps and get them out of the way. For the time being, we are improvising, by using the same Grip Clips that we bought to repair our ponchos.

The other issue we have dealt with (as mentioned above) is condensation. Every morning, we wake up and both ends of the tent (the single-wall portions) are covered with a fine sheen of water. It wipes off easily enough (a ShamWow! towel works great), so it's not too much of a pain. But, since Ken's sleeping bag is long enough to touch both the front and back of the tent, we're always dealing with a little dampness. It's not a huge problem, but it is something to be aware of.

The tent is also a bit of a pain if it's raining. The door opens up right over the front "vestibule" (which has a floor). Due to the length of our sleeping bags and such, something is always under the door in a position to get wet. This is another thing we haven't quite figured out, just due to a limited number of camping nights that involve heavy rain.

All in all, though, we like the tent. In fact, we like it enough that we bought a second one for Ken's brother Mark to take on our Glacier trip in September 2011. That probably speaks for how much we trust the tent, even with the trade-offs.

Sleeping Gear

Our Setup

There are a lot of choices out there for sleeping gear, and a nice down bag can be one of the more expensive pieces of backpacking equipment you'll ever purchase. Besides that, that the correct piece of gear can vary with the season (i.e. you need different gear for a steamy Arkansas summer than a dry Grand Canyon autumn). That can make it difficult to decide which sleeping gear to purchase.

Since our original target was Grand Caynon in late October, we aimed for a 15-32 degree bag weighing 3 lbs or less. After a lot of research online and at Midwest Mountaineering, we ended up with a pair of Warmlite Triple goosedown sleeping bags, purchased used from someone in Germany via the BackpackingLight GearSwap pages. For warmer-weather trips, we sometimes use a Big Agnes AirCore mummy pad rather than the down air mat (DAM) provided with the Warmlite Triple, because the Big Agnes pad is lighter and much easier to inflate.

Ken's brother Mark bought a new bag for our Glacier trip in September of 2011. For his purchase, he wanted a 25-degree bag, since Glacier can be pretty cold even in September. He also decided that he would prefer synthetic insulation to goosedown. He eventually bought a Kifaru Slick Bag. He sleeps on top of a square Big Agnes AirCore air mattress, the same pad we use for warm-weather camping with our bags. An air mattress isn't ideal for cold conditions, but it's worked tolerably well so far (see further notes below).

Warmlite Triple

The Warmlite Triple is a hand-made goosedown bag produced by Stephenson's Warmlite, the same people who make our Warmlite 2R tent. The Triple is a fairly unusual bag. First, it contains a vapor barrier, which keeps the down from getting damp due to body moisture. Second, all Warmlite bags have a four-piece design: a bottom section containing very little down, a DAM (down air mattress) that slips into Warmlite Triple the bottom section, and then two different tops (light and heavy) that can be used separately or in combination to cover temperature ranges from -60 degees F up to 25 degrees F. The triple is also semi-rectangular, instead of the mummy or semi-mummy shape that you find in a lot of other backpacking bags.

We like the Warmlite bags. Quality appears to be comparable to the alternatives we considered. Besides that, the bags are in some ways technically superior (i.e. the vapor barrier), more flexible (the mix-and-match tops), and roomier (due to the semi-rectangular shape). However, they are not perfect.

Warmlite DAM One huge disadvantage is how expensive they are. We would never have purchased them new. At this price point, they're really targeted at people who walk a lot more miles than us, and at mountaineers for whom the vapor barrier results in a big performance improvement vs. conventional bags.

Another disadvantage is that these bags are slightly heavier than the alternatives, and also somewhat bulkier. This isn't a surprise, given their shape. We use Granite Gear stuff sacks to cut the bulk (the Warmlite documentation says that "uniform end compression" is OK), and this improves the situation. Neither of us have a problem getting the sleeping bags into the bottom of our packs when they're compressed like this.

The process of inflating the DAM (the down air mattress) is also kind of tiresome, so much so that we have developed our own method rather than using the one provided by Stephensons. See DAM Inflation (below) for a further discussion. For warmer-weather trips, we sometimes use a Big Agnes AirCore instead of the DAM, because inflating it is so much easier.

For our purposes, these bags are plenty warm even with just the summer top. We have camped in temperatures as low as the high 30s F with the summer top, and we've been quite comfortable wearing just shorts and a short-sleeved shirt. In fact, if anything, we find the Warmlite bags too warm. We attribute this to the vapor barrier. Neither of us have yet figured out how to properly regulate temperature in these bags on more moderate nights (for instance, when outside temperature are in the 50s or 60s F). We often alterate between being a little sweaty, and being slightly cold.

Kifaru Slick Bag

The Slick Bag is a hand-made semi-mummy bag with synthetic insulation, produced by Kifaru in Colorado. We don't have much experience with the the Slick Bag yet. However, on paper, it looks like a pretty nice piece of equipment, and we decided to take a chance on it.

You don't see Kifaru's equipment discussed very often in backpacking circles, because they seem to market mostly to hunters. However, from what we can tell, they have a pretty good reputation.

In the 20-degree, wide and long configuration that Mark bought, the Slick Bag weighs less than 2.5 lb, which is substantially less than Ken's Warmlite Triple. It also compresses better than any synthetic bag we've ever seen.

What makes the Kifaru bag interesting is that it weighs as little as a down bag, and is competitive in terms of packed volume (not quite as small, but pretty good), but still has the damp-condition advantages of a synthetic. The manufacturing quality seems to be there, so the big question is going to be the quality and longevity of the insulation. Climashield, the insulation used in this bag, has only been on the market since the mid-2000s.

Mark has occassionally been a little chilly in this bag, for instance in 30-degree temperatures at Glacier. For comparison, Ken backyard-tested the bag in below-freezing temperatures (high 20s F) using the same clothes that he would have been able to wear in the Warmlite. He was also cold. He probably would have been more comfortable if he had started out with more clothing on during this test (thicker socks, etc.), but these experiences make us skeptical that the Kifaru is really a 20-degree bag in this setup — especially without a thick insulating pad underneath.

DAM Inflation

The Problem

The Warmlite Triple is a fairly unusual bag. One thing that makes it unusual is the 4-piece design: each Triple bag has a bottom section containing very little down; two different tops (light and heavy); and a DAM (for "down air mat" or "down filled air mattress"), which slips into the bottom section of the sleeping bag. The DAM does a great job insulating the sleeping bag from the ground, and is also quite comfortable. However, inflating the DAM is a fairly tedious process.

You never want to blow warm moist air (i.e. your breath) into the DAM, because this would diminish the insulating capacity of the down and might also eventually damage it. So, you need a way to inflate the DAM using outside air. The mechanism Stephenson's provides is to use the sleeping bag stuff sack as an inflation device. The stuff sack contains a valve that mates up with the DAM. You are supposed to flap the stuff sack to fill it with air, and then squeeze the air out of the stuff sack into the mattress.

This takes a really long time. For instance, on one early trip, it took most of an hour to inflate one of our DAMs. Initially, we thought we were doing something wrong. We tried seam-sealing the stuff sack, and assumed that our technique would get better with practice. Unfortunately, this never happened. We finally gave up and developed our own inflation method using a portable bicycle pump. We have to carry slightly more weight this way, but it's a lot less frustrating and setup now goes much faster.

Our Inflation Method

The bicycle pump we use is a Topeak Road Morph. This is an on-bike pump designed for road bikes. The pump's valve is attached to a flexible hose, which makes it easy to use the pump inside a cramped tent. To connect the pump to the DAM, I improvised a connection using a spare valve cover (ordered from Stephenson's) and the Shrader valve stem from an old bike tube.

This is the valve that Stephenson's uses in their DAM. The valve says "ROBERTS VALVES" and lists a part number "1020-AF". The valve is sealed by pressing the cover into the opening, as shown in the right-hand picture below:

To create my improvised valve cover, I first cut a section out of an old bike tube. I trimmed the rubber around the bottom of the valve stem so it was roughly the same size as the red valve cover. Then, I cut a hole in the red valve cover large enough to accept the Shrader valve stem, and pushed the valve stem through the hole from the bottom. The valve stem is held in place by friction — no adhesives are required.

To inflate the DAM, I attach the bike pump to the improvised valve cover, and then attach the valve cover to the DAM. That's all there is to it. Even on the larger of our two DAMs, inflation now only takes about 10-12 minutes, which is a vast improvement on the orginal method. It's still slower than inflating a Big Agnes Air Core by mouth, but not so slow that it ruins my evening.

I was wondering whether the extra thickness of the bike tube would cause problems mating the valve cover to the valve in the DAM, but it doesn't seem to have made a a difference. The seal appears to be air-tight, and the DAM does not lose air when I am not pumping.

Stoves

Resources

Stoves and cooking are discussed further on the cooking page. There is also a Fuel section on the meal planning page, which discusses how we estimate how much fuel we need.

Zen Backpacking Stoves is probably the best single stove-related reference I've come across. Here, you can find information about all of the different styles of stoves as well as the associated trade-offs. There's also a lot of information about fuels. Really good stuf.

Our Setup

Our current backpacking stove is a Primus EtaExpress. We picked this stove because it's small and lightweight, but is capable of actual cooking (as opposed to just boiling water). As time has gone on, we are tending more and more toward cooking methods that only require boiling water, but the EtaExpress is still a good fit for us.

Lindal Canister Stoves

Most of the stoves we considered purchasing use a Lindal-valve gas canister, which contains a mixture of propane and either butane or isobutane. Because of this fuel choice, none of these stoves is a great choice for winter camping, because the fuel can freeze. In cold weather, one of us sleeps with the gas can in our sleeping bag (just like you might do with your water bottle).

From our perspective, there are basically two kinds of stoves to consider in this category: stoves that are targeted at boiling water quickly and efficiently, and stoves that are intended for cooking.

Two of the most popular water-boiling stoves are the JetBoil PCS and the MSR Reactor. Both of these stoves use an integrated pot-and-burner configuration with a heat exchanger to capture as much heat as possible out of the fuel. However, you can't cook with them at all:

Two other stoves which popped up during our research were the Primus EtaPower and Primus EtaExpress stoves:

Both the EtaPower and EtaExpress get good reviews. Both can be used to actually cook. Both come with a pot and a frying pan (although the ones that come with the EtaExpress are very small). In the end, we decided that the EtaPower was just too big and heavy for our purposes, and we bought the EtaExpress instead.

Alcohol Stoves

We also considered purchasing an alcohol stove. The main stove that we considered is the Trangia.

The Trangia is not the only alcohol stove on the market, but it is one of the best known. They're difficult to purchase in the U.S., however. So, if we ever do purchase one, it will probably be purchased through Rivendell Bicycle Works, one of the few U.S. distributors.

Alcohol stoves in general have a lot going for them: among other things, they're very simple (no moving parts), and they use cheap fuel that can be found just about anywhere in the U.S. — even Heet fuel line de-icer can be used in a pinch. Plus, there's no need to throw away fuel canisters or have a set of half-empty canisters sitting around home. If you're so-inclined, you can even make yourself an alcohol burner out of a tuna can (but then you'll have to buy your own pots, etc.)

There are two major downsides to alcohol stoves relative to gas-canister stoves like the EtaExpress. First, alcohol stoves produce less heat and thus take longer to boil water or cook food. Second is that you have to carry more alcohol (by volume and weight) to cook the equivalent meal. Regarding the Trangia set in particular, while the burner is very lightweight, the cookset itself is not — a direct consequence of it being more useful than a stove like the EtaExpress for general cooking tasks. Plus, the Trangia cookset is somewhat more expensive than the EtaExpress.

In the end, we decided to stay with the EtaExpress. For our current needs, we can't spare the extra cost and weight of the Trangia versus the Eta Express. Although the Eta Express is less flexible and less environmentally friendly, it is a better fit for our needs. If we ever do any long-distance hiking, we will probably purchase the Trangia to use instead of the EtaExpress.

Stakes

After receiving our tent, we realized that would need some stakes. The Warmlite 2R requires 3 stakes minimum (2 front, 1 rear) and also accepts 4 additional stakes at the corners for stormy weather. However, the tent doesn't come with any stakes, probably because choice of stake is very dependent on locale (soil conditions) and anticipated weather.

Originally, we used simple titanium wire-style stakes at all locations. However, over time, it became clear that we needed several different styles of stakes. The wire-style stakes are fine in normal back yard-like conditions. However, if the ground is very soft (i.e. bed of pine needles), they don't hold well. Likewise, if the ground is hard they're difficult to pound in (although it can be done with a rock as long as you're careful).

Roger Caffin has a whole page devoted to stakes and lines:

Tent Pegs and Guy Ropes

Based on what we read there, plus other research, we now carry three kinds of stakes:

The MSR Groundhog is a three-sided stake that's good for soft soils. The Vargo Titanium Nail stake is very beefy, and is supposedly strong enough to be pounded into asphalt. We'll use the Vargo in rock-hard soil, like what we found at Indian Garden in Grand Canyon. The Lazr wire-style stakes are general-purpose, and will probably be used at the corners of the tent in stormy weather. No matter which stakes are in use, we'll always have at least 3 spares, in case we lose or damage something.

None of these stakes are appropriate for snowy winter camping. They just don't have enough grip. We don't own any stakes that would work for snowy conditions, although Ken once used two garden trowels and a seat post from a bike to set up the Warmlite (which actually worked pretty well).

Something to consider when purchasing stakes: you can sometimes buy fancy stakes painted in "high-visibility" colors. It costs more, so we didn't do it when purchasing the Lazr stakes. In retrospect, we should have paid the money. These wire-style stakes are very easy to lose.

Water Treatment

We generally always use water treatment unless there's a piped-in water source available, like in the Grand Canyon. Since 2009, our primary water treatment mechanism has been the UV-based SteriPEN Classic. In 2015, we added a General Ecology First Need XLE pump as an alternate to the SteriPEN.

Roger Caffin has a very detailed introduction to the subject of water treatment:

FAQ - Drinking Water Safety

Roger does make some recommendations. We thought these were most relevant:

All filters block very easily: always settle, strain and prefilter
Chlorine dioxide treatment is reliable if the instructions are followed
UV treatment is reliable if the instructions are followed
Pentavalent iodine tablets may smell, but properly used they work for most bugs
Chlorine tablets by themselves work well against viruses and bacteria, but have trouble against protozoa
Filters may not neccessarily block viruses

The SteriPEN is mentioned on Roger's FAQ, but we also dug up some additional information about it:

We have had intermittent problems using the SteriPEN, especially in cold water like at Glacier — the pen would "give up" partway through a treatment, show a red error light, and we would have to start over. This cost us a lot of time. SteriPEN's customer support people decided that the pen was probably defective, and we tried to have it repaired. Unfortunately, we made the mistake of not adding postal tracking when we returned it, and it got "lost" somewhere. The replacement we purchased does seem to be more reliable.

SteriPEN battery life appears to be decent, although we always carry spare batteries just in case. We always use rechargeable Eneloop batteries, which use a standard NiMH charger but self-discharge more slowly than normal NiMH batteries.

We're not very impressed with the SteriPEN pre-filter, which attaches to the top of a 1L Nalgene bottle. In order to make it work, you have to carefully pour water over the pre-filter — it doesn't work to just dunk it in a stream or a pool unless the water is deep enough for the bottle to stand upright. This means it can be quite slow to even prefilter a bottle of water, much less treat it.

To keep clean and dirty water separate using the SteriPEN seems to require a "dirty" bottle that's used for nothing except collecting water to be treated. We put the prefilter on the dirty bottle, fill it, run through a SteriPEN treatment cycle, then pop off the pre-filter cover (carefully wiping off the rim so there are no drips), pour the treated water into a clean bottle, and repeat the process. It takes a while if a lot of water is required.

In 2015, we planned a trip to Isle Royale in Lake Superior. All of the water sources on Isle Royale are considered to be infested with tapeworm parasites. The SteriPEN UV treatment is considered ineffective against tapeworms, so we had to buy a water filter instead. After reviewing the alternatives, we settled on the First Need XLE by General Ecology. it's a little heavier than the alternatives, but has an excellent reputation. Plus, it protects against bacteria, cysts, and even viruses.

We don't have much experience with the First Need pump yet, but we're hoping that it will be easier to use than the SteriPEN, especially when coupled with a Seattle Sports Pocket Bucket to gather water and let excess sediment settle out before filtering. We like that the First Need clearly separates inflow and outflow, making it easier to avoid cross-contamination. A typical 1L Nalgene bottle screws right onto the bottom of the filter assembly, and the pump hose inlet includes its own prefilter.

Ice Traction Aids

We originally considered ice traction because of the weather at Grand Caynon. In the end, we didn't take any ice traction aids along. However, we did do some research about what options were available.

Options include:

Full-on climbing crampons (impractical)
So-called "instep" crampons (more practical, but not great if terrain varies between ice and not)
Ice cleats or other similar traction aids

BackpackGearTest has a whole page on traction aids, and there is a really good thread on BackpackingLight:

In 2009, alternatives included the following:

CMI Instep Crampon
YakTrax
Katoola Microspikes

Prices ranged from $10 for the CMI up to $60 for the Microspikes.

Bear and Critter Protection

Since racoons and bears are a concern on many of the trails we hike, we need to take this into account when packing and storing food, smelly items, dishes, and cooking utensils. We also need to take into account bear-specific regulations in places that have them. As of this writing, we have never hiked anywhere with these regulations, but we hope to someday (i.e. Yosemite National Park).

There are basically two main things we're aiming for: first, we want to avoid losing any food to a critter; and second, we want to avoid contaminating any of our non-food gear with food smells, so it's safe to store that gear in the tent overnight. We have used two different solutions: the Ursack and the Wild Ideas Bearikade Expedition. Both are discussed in more detail below.

There are a lot of good general references on the general subject of bear proofing your food stash, including Bear-Proof Food Storage on Joe's Ultralight Backpacking.

Bearikade

The Bearikade is basically a cylinder of carbon fiber. Machined aluminum ends are bonded to the cylinder with a durable adhesive. The cover is secured with three quarter-turn fasteners that can be opened using the edge of a coin or a washer (or a screwdriver). There are several different models of Bearikade, and we bought the large Expedition model, which is supposed to hold about 9 person-days of food.

The Bearikade Expedition is substantially larger than the Ursack. For weekend trips, we can easily fit all food plus all smelly items and dishes in the canister, and there's no need to hang anything. For longer trips, we can fit most things, except maybe the cooking cozies (which don't compress very well). It's nice to just be able to set it on the ground and forget about it. Bears might toss it around (i.e. you might have to search for it the next morning), but they're unlikely to get into it.

On the other hand, the size of the canister works against it. It's huge. We tried putting it in Julie's Deuter pack, and it took up basically the entire main pocket of the pack. Even in Ken's big new 70L Osprey Argon pack, it takes up a lot of the available space. Plus, since it doesn't squish, it's not as easy to pack around as the Ursack is. We thought for a while that it would become our "standard" solution even when hiking locally on the SHT (making the Ursack obsolete), but it's not clear that we'll really use it that way.

Ursack

The Ursack is a bag made of "bullet proof" Spectra fabric. Food and all smelly food-like items (toothpaste, lotion) are always packed in an OP Sak odor-barrier bag before being put in the Ursack. Anything else that might smell of food (stove, dishes, sporks, cozies) is packed in the kitchen bag, which is a separate silnylon stuff sack lined with its own OP Sak.

Overnight, we hang the Ursack and the kitchen bag. The Ursack is generally hung with its own rope. In the past, we have used Kelty Trip Tease line to hang the kitchen bag. We've since read that this can damage trees, so we've we've moved to the TreeLine Spectra Line sold by AntiGravityGear. We have limited experience with this line, but it gets good reviews on BackpackGearTest and worked well for us on our Glacier trip. (Hint: try winding the end of the line around a stick and then pulling on the stick so you don't hurt your hands ... pulling this stuff is like pulling wire.)

The only major problem we've had with the Ursack has been a lack of suitable limbs on which to hang it. While hiking the SHT, for instance, we've often had to just tie it around a big tree and let it sit on the ground, which is one of the recommended strategies in this situation. This leaves the bag somewhat more vulnerable to rodents like squirrels which have sharper teeth than bears. From what we've read, rodents will often avoid an Ursack that's been hung in the air, because while hanging on the Ursack they are more vulnerable to predators like owls. This is less of a problem for them if the Ursack is on the ground.

Also, we found the instructions for how to properly close and hang the bag to be a little confusing. The newer version of the bag we bought for Mark to use at Glacier in 2011 was easier to close than the original version that we bought back in 2009.

Here are some references regarding the Ursack:

It's important to note that support for the Ursack is not universal. These are a few of the more negative reviews we ran across:

Rain Gear

Current Solution

We need two things when it comes to rain gear: some way to keep ourselves (relatively) dry, and some way to keep our packs and important gear dry.

Our current strategy uses a two-tiered approach: critical gear (i.e. down sleeping bags, certain clothes) is packed in water-proof or highly water-resistant stuff sacks or bags. Then, we use a water-proof pack cover on top of the pack to prevent the pack itself from getting wet. We're using Granite Gear DryLite compression sacks for the sleeping bags, and Sea-to-Summit UltraSil Dry Sacks for packing clothing and other gear. The Sea to Summit sacks weigh about the same as other silnylon stuff sacks, but have a roll top for better water resistence.

For personal rain gear, we have settled on The Packa, coupled with Moonbow Rain Chaps and Integral Designs eVENT Gaiters for our boots.

The Packa is a low-volume product sold by Cedar Tree in Virgina (the owner Edward is a pleasure to work with). It's a big silnylon jacket with an integrated pack cover. When you're wearing it, your body and pack together are completely enclosed under the same garment. As a result, your whole pack stays dry, including the straps. There are big "pit zips" under the arms that provide ventilation. We also use it as a windbreaker in cooler weather.

Our rain chaps were custom-made by Moonbow Gear in New Hampshire. (Jonathan also made us some custom silnylon stake bags.) Moonbow rain chaps are basically "tubes" of silnylon that are large enough to slip over your boots. They attach to your belt with little loops. Since the top is open, they ventilate better than fully-enclosed pants with a waist. They're also a lot lighter than most rain pants (70g for the pair).

The gaiters are used to keep water out of our boots. They also keep out lots of other annoying stuff, like sand and rocks. We wear them all the time — even when it's dry — but we picked this particular model because it's water proof.

Research

The following are some general discussions of rain gear:

Options basically boil down to:

Rain suit and separate pack cover
Poncho with separate pack cover
Hybrid solutions with an integrated pack cover

A good comparison of rain suits versus ponchos can be found in BackpackingLight Thread #7170.

In general, a rain suit provides full protection and works best in the wind because it fits snugly and doesn't blow around. A rain suit might also be better when the trail is narrow and has lots of close-in brush that would snag loose clothing. A rain jacket can also double as a windbreaker, and in some cases, as an insulating layer. A poncho is usually lighter in weight and ventilates better. It's also easier to get on and off quickly. Some ponchos also double as tarp-tents, for people not inclined to take a tent along with them.

With a rain suit, and probably with a normal-sized poncho, you will need to use a separate pack cover. Pack covers stretch over your pack and protect the outside from the rain. However, they do not cover the part of the pack that sits against your back, and they do not cover the pack straps. So, there is still a chance for water leakage along your back, and your straps will always be wet. Besides that, your back will probably not ventilate well even if you are wearing a breathable rain suit (since the pack is pressed on the outside of your rain gear.)

The hybrid solutions attempt to solve the two problems with pack covers by covering both you and your pack with the same piece of fabric. Besides that, they potentially offer some weight savings because often the extra pack covering material won't weigh as much as a separate pack cover would. Options include:

Warmlite Poncho with pack extension
Moonbow Poncho with back extension
The Packa

One question with ponchos or with the hybrid solutions is how to keep your feet (and to a lesser extent, your legs) dry while hiking. Water-proof boots are a good start, but you still need to worry about water running in at your ankles. One alternative is to wear rain pants if there is heavy rain. However, that can be fairly warm and negates a lot of the weight savings.

Another alternative is to wear so-called rain chaps, which are lightweight semi-pants that go under your poncho or Pack. Examples include:

You can also rely on boot gaiters to keep water out of your boots:

Some options include the following:

As mentioned above, we ended up with a hybrid solution along with both rain chaps and gaiters.

Previous Solution

When we were initially preparing for Grand Canyon, we had a pretty difficult time deciding what to purchase. After talking it over, we decided that the hybrid solutions appeared to offer the best compromise of weight and functionality. We went with the Warmlite poncho, mainly because it was cheaper and because it seemed worthwhile to get something custom-sized. We liked that the Warmlite product zips rather than using snaps or velcro like on other ponchos. Warmlite also advertised that the pack-cover section could be zipped up when you're not wearing your pack, something that the Packa doesn't do.

Warmlite Poncho Unfortunately, we ended up being quite disappointed. First of all, the ponchos are enormous — way too big. Julie's is so long that she steps on it. We may have screwed up the measurements slightly, but we were aiming for mid-calf, so that would be a pretty big error.

The zippers on the sleeves are basically useless, since they only close up half the opening, and the remaining portion of the opening is big enough for either of us to put our entire body through. In fact, the opening is so big that almost the entire side of Julie's pack is exposed in a breeze. And, we expected the pack-cover section to zip up, but instead it's held in place with velcro — so much for that advantage. All in all, it felt like a waste of $65.

We considered just starting over, but we were loathe to throw away our $130, and we also didn't want to spend another $200+ for the Packa. So, we did our best to fix the poncho by gathering up excess fabric and closing up the arm openings. For this, we utilized a product made by Shelter Systems called the Light Fabric Grip Clip. The Grip Clip is intended for use in attaching guy lines to tarps without puncturing or damaging the fabric. However, it seems to work fairly well as a way to clip parts of our slippery silnylon ponchos together. The result was workable, but not great.

In retrospect, we probably should have complained to Stephenson's. However, they've got a reputation for being a little "prickly", and we didn't feel like we had time to argue with them about it.

We switched to The Packa a few years later, for our trip to Glacier in September of 2011. We figured that the weather was likely to be cold and wet at Glacier, and we just didn't want to mess with the poncho any more.

Insects

For most of our first few years of hiking, we got really lucky with insects. We were either hiking in dry places with no real insect problem (i.e. Grand Canyon), or we were hiking late enough in the year that insects weren't very active (i.e. Glacier in September). That all changed when we hiked on in central Minnesota in June of 2012.

The spring of 2012 was a strange one in Minnesota: we were literally measuring rain in feet some weeks. Apparently, that made the mosquito population really happy. By 15 minutes into our hike, we had been through several swarms of mosquitoes, and at one point Julie had a cloud of them (hundreds?) around her head. Even with a pretty substantial layer of 100% DEET, she was in bad shape. We did have headnets along (and put them on pretty early into the process), but the mosquitoes (and later the flies) were so thick that we were constantly getting bit through the headnet in vulnerable locations like our ears and the backs of our necks.

After finishing our hike, we also realized that we had a problem with ticks. Ken found something like 25 big wood ticks crawling around on him, mostly on his legs and around his belt line. Fortunately, none of them were latched on, but it was a long drive home — they kept appearing on hands, legs, and even the driver's-side sunshade.

Some research led us to Peter's Headnets. Peter Vacco hand-builds what are frankly the nicest headnets we've ever seen. They're pricey (for headnets: about $16 including shipping in 2012), but we think they're worth it. We both bought new hats (Tilley LTM6), and the headnet works with the large hat brim to keep the bugs from being able to touch any parts of our body through the net.

Peter's web site also has some really useful clothing tips for mosquito protection. There's also a useful discussion about various types of mosquito repellants and how they work.

After reading Peter's advice, we also decided to purchase some long-sleeved, button up shirts for hiking. A long-sleeved shirt with a collar integrates well with the head net and leaves the bare minimum of skin exposed. We decided on the Outdoor Research Sentinel, which comes in men's and women's models. It's rated at SPF 50 and comes pre-impregnated with with OR calls "Insect Shield" (maybe permethrin?). We're tenatively thinking that the Sentinel will be our go-to shirt for most hikes, rather than the wicking t-shirts we have been wearing up until now (but we'll probably end up layering a wicking shirt under the Sentinel).

For our Olympic National Park trip, we bought spray-on permethrin at REI and treated our convertible pants and hats. We focused on the belt line, the knees (by the zippers) and at the cuffs of the pants. We're hoping that this will prevent the kinds of problems we had with ticks.

Venomous Snakes

Venomous snakes are not a problem in Minnesota. However, they are a concern in the Grand Canyon and some other places we are likely to hike in the future. As a result, we ended up with a Sawyer Extractor as a regular part of our packing list.

The link below contains some very comprehensive advice on treating snakebites:

Hit the Trail - Snakes

You should read the entire article. However, a fair summary is as follows:

Get the victim to a hospital and administer antivenom as soon as possible
Use a good venom extractor until starting antivenom treatment
Consider the use of light compression, for instance via an ace bandage

Specifically, "old style" treatments such as razor blades, sucking venom by mouth, ice packs, tourniquets, etc. should never be used.

Basically every reference we found suggested the Sawyer Extractor or the equivalent European product, so that is what we decided to buy (about $15 at REI).

Incidentally, if you really want a scare, check out the testimonials page on Sawyer's site.