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OlympicMtnBoy

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Posts posted by OlympicMtnBoy

    Survey for product idea of mine

    in The Gear Critic

    Posted

    Cool, I took it. I'd be interested to hear what your idea is.

     

    Your first question says check all that apply but only lets you select one. What type of cooking gear I take depends on a lot of things.

     

    Fast and light climbing with my bivy gear: jetboil and freezedried food

    Winter climbing where i need to melt snow: MSR xgk

    Backpacking where I want to cook more: MSR whisperlight plus pot, pan, mug

    ultralight backpacking solo: alcohol stove, ti pot, small plastic cup (whole thing with fuel is like 6 oz or less)

     

    I had a solid fuel esbit stove in scouts, haven't used it since.

    Need some advice, drying clothing in sleeping bag

    in The Gear Critic

    Posted

    Wow, a lot of topics up there but I'll stab at a few.

     

    If it's going to be rainy and wet, I don't bother with down. It's too much of a pain and you won't get the temperature gradient required to really push moisture out of it. I don't have any experience with any of the new hydrophobic fancy down stuff so maybe someone else can chime in on that, but in really wet weather just leave down behind. Just like you still get sweaty and damp under your breathable goretex jacket in the rain, you face the same problem sleeping in one.

     

    I don't think any sort of liner is going to solve your problem. A vapor barrier is by definition not breathable, if it's breathable it's by definition not a vapor barrier. In my limited experimentation that doesn't help much unless you are talking about REALLY cold stuff and then you have a different set of issues instead of drying soaked clothing.

     

    If I am planning on camping wet I would go with your synthetic climashield or primaloft or whatever quilt. Take your clothes that are soaking wet and wring them out and wear them to bed over some dry long underwear or something. Your clothes will dry if you are warm enough, the outside of your quilt will get damp but probably only a little. If your clothe are totally soaked, maybe it's better just to get a good dry nights sleep in your quilt with your long underwear on drying only the necessary inner layers. When you get up in the morning put on your wet stuff and MOVE. Use your body heat to dry those clothes out without worrying about soaking the other stuff around you.

     

    Honestly other than falling in the creek, you shouldn't have anything soaking wet that isn't easily dried while wearing or put aside and back on wet (rain gear). Look at your clothing system during the day as well. If you are getting wet from inside, you are wearing too much clothing, if you are getting wet from outside, wear breathable rain gear. If you are getting wet from both sides wear only a light synthetic t-shirt under your rain gear and this will dry out later (you have a dry inner layer in your pack too).

     

    Does that help?

    Footwear:Torment-Forbidden

    in North Cascades

    Posted

    It kind of depends on your ability to climb rock in your approach shoes/boots. When I did the west ridge several years ago I opted for strap on crampons over low top approach shoes and climbed the route in the shoes. Low top shoes may get wet and generally kick steps poorly, but the trade off was not having to carry rock shoes too.

     

    In the Bugaboos last week I was happy with a light boot for all the glacier walking and then I carried rock shoes for most routes (5.8 and up). My feet were dry and the step kicking was chill (enough so that I didn't bring crampons after the first day).

     

    As has been mentioned though, ski boots, mountain boots, flip flops, it can all be done, they just have different trade offs. And make sure your crampons fit what you are using. ;-)

    Is Social Media Screwing Over Explorers?

    in Climber's Board

    Posted

    Or is it really just screwing over the community in favor of the individual? Kind of like going to cc.com (or any other site) to see "what" has been climbed lately is different than going to Facebook or whatever blog to see what "so and so" has climbed lately. Pretty different things.

     

    A deep water solo glamping trip makes for pretty photos but doesn't inspire me the same way a hardcore solo FA in Baffin might, even if the pics aren't quite pro. It's a loss.

     

    Now go smash computers and burn the microchip factories down so we can get on with being old curmudgeons by a smoky campfire.

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