gearup5000

Well, how cushy is the padding in the shoulderstraps? pretty depleted I am guessing? If so, just see if the hassle of getting a so-so hipbelt replacement vs. a new pack - maybe it's time to indulge in a 1st pack buy in 25 yrs? 50lbs and weeklong = Bora 80 to me. Try to get a used one to save on $$$

Try to find a Khamsin 62 used. They were good, light, and well priced. If you can get your volume down, or don't mind side pockets, the arc'teryx Nozone is great: 3300 cubic inches, or 55 litres, tow 7075 stays (flex in the cold) and good features: swap the hipbelt for a webbing one, floating crampon patch is very handy, pretty durable. But for the best priced pack in the range, check out www.mec.ca - you'll be amazed by the quality of affordable gear.

The Volant is a great, well designed down jacket. The pockets close copletely over your wrists, which prevents outside air from blowing in = warm hands! However, w.r.t to the price issue, I like the MHW SubzeroSL with hood Seen it on sale on the net for $220 +/-

The best one I have seen for price and performance is the Casio Exilim ex-Z750 a lot of manual options, a really big scree, a viewfinder, and a docking bay for transfering pics to the comp, and a recharger for the battery. Good to great battery life too. It comes in shiny, and a dark grey. The nikon 7900 is good too, due to the grip, but for quality go Casio.

For a lower-than-oakely-price oakley style pair of sunglasses, I really like the adidas merlin's. THey fit my face a LOT better, the amber tint is good in many conditions, and it comes in small and large size frame options. They get lots of compliments too. $100 CDN at full retail.

I have the preivous model with the solid fuel line. Is there any serious real world downsides, or is was it done to minimize manufacturing costs (same part as other models)? I have the XGKII witht eh solid line, and love it. I do know that the addition of feet allow it to be sold in Canada, as I understand. ^^xgkII sat flat on the ground and that is a no-no according to the gov't.

For the most part on Arc'teryx gear, it always seemed to fit and work better. I got started with the Bora 30, the only daypack with a removeable frame sheet and stay. Now the new ones have a floating op lid, and a little organizer pocket inside, and a key clip in the top lid. They seemed to listend and add valuable features. I think Serratus seemed a little static, but for the most part, it's non-existant image hurt it vis-a-vis established brands (like Arc'teryx) that shoppers coming into the store already heard of. Same goes for the MEC brand - instant familiarity = greater confidence in the consumer. Oh, and although Arc'teryx is NOW owned by ADidas-Salomon, it wasn't always that way. They have done a lot for design in the industry: laminating things especially, look at all the copy-cat water-proof zippers, off-center zipper on TNF jackets. It's kind of sad to see Serratus go, but I guess it got caught standing still in a fast paced world. And yeah, what is WITH all the cloudveil stuff at MEC? Why not Arc'teryx?

Using the POS foam pad from a Salomon adventure backpack, I made an amazing sit-pad/splint/cutting board. I had access to a lot of duct tape, and was bored, so...I started to shingle one side, so when I would sit on the foam pad, it would get dirty and wouldn't tear. Then I thought "Hey, wtf, why not duct tape the whole thing?". SO being prudent, I put minimal tape at the crease so it would still fold. About 7 layers later I was done. I usually keep it in my daypack. You unfold it, lean it against a tree and you have a backrest AND sit pad. Use it as a sitpad in winter to keep your ass dry. Use it as a cutting/prep board when making sandwhiches etc. Emergency bivy pad. My new "Duct-pad" is waterproof and does a lot of different things. It's really useful and improves the life of cheap blue foam and/or Evazote. Why WOULDN'T you add 1 layer to keep your expensive evazote pad from ripping??

So you liked the anabatic jacket? I have the arc'teryx alpha comp jacket - it's a great, versatile piece

Yeah the army cadet tarp is called a "half shelter" waterproof tarp, with male and female side zippers on either side (so if one side breaks, other will work!) You zip two together, and it makes an A-frame type tent set up. The bonus is: 1/3 in on the center line is a tab with a grommet, so when you stake it out, you can guy out the sides which makes it pretty stable and solid. As for army gear, I like the US m-65 jacket Liner, and "ranger" blanket. I heard Arc'teryx won some army design comp - maybe for Canada? Maybe the US, but the US army might have been forced to source from US suppliers. ANy word?

Yeah the alpine 60 or 80 I think? the price difference to an Arc'teryx bora pack (similar size/etc.) was minimal and thus = a Why the heck would I ever consider it? from me. However, their light, stripped down alpine pack was around $160, or $180 CDN and was quite a bargain for the size and performance. Well, Serratus had a good run, hopefully MEC uses the odd good designs under the "MEC" brand. I think MEC's idea into make all it's own gear is to popularize it's own LOgo and recognizition to future markets. i.e. Instead of seeing serratus everywhere, you see mec packs everywhere

The gear guide is OK, but going on reviews only for getting a pack is totally wrong. I like the UK mags as I get to see a bunch of stuff we don't have over here. I usuaully ignore reviews on packs as I have an idea of what I like, and prefer certain brands over others. Then again, one person can find a pack totally uncomfortable while another could love it. Oh, and with the gear guide, you don't see much in a grid format i.e. 6 to 9 items a page. The volume and breadth of gear with ease of access: easy! is why they are handy. ex: want to see 2004 packs all at once?

Dru: The edge I give to the UK magazine's "roundrups" is that they show a LOT of gear, with the prices. So if you want to look at say alpine packs, there's 4 pages worth of 20 packs or so with prices and brief descriptions. It's quite handy. Not that you should shop so much, but it's nice to see what's available, new, etc.

Comparitive reviews and "shootouts" are few and fare between. Also, some brands get omitted. The best "reviews" are summaries that are done in UK magazines. I have seen 2 to 4 pages of only shells. The price, rating and pros and cons were all done nicely. Don't remember if it was AT trekking or not... But check UK mags if they are available - or online

The biggest difference between the needle line and the Nozone is that the Nozone uses 7075 stays. They are stronger, more springy and flexible I find.

I saw a genie for $8 CDN at a MEC gearswap but passed! I thought MEC owned Serratus? hopefully they kepp the designs alive

Forgot to metnion: fit is foremost. Even if one pack is fancier, go with the one that fits better. You'll appreciate it.

Which way would you lean? I figure they are all good gloves, but anyone have any insight? the BD and marmot gloves seem very similar, and marmot ultimate ski gloves are pricey! currently have arc'teryx gamma sv gloves which are nice

Just look at the review sections at magazine stands, or at Chapters or Borders stores. For reviews online (independent) try: www.trailspace.com www.backpackgeartest.org www.outdoorreview.com

MEC gear and prices are excellent. I have one in my town and wouldn't know what to do if I didn't! Their line of packs borrow a lot on Arc'teryx innovations, but are MUCH cheaper in price, but on-par for quality.

The Nozone is a great pack and I have one. I also have a Borea (based on the Bora 40) The Nozone has a the head cavity spacer in the framesheet which is great (so you can tilt back without a hitch) and twin stays. The "floating" crampon patch is pretty good, and the narrow width is to my liking. The shoulder pads could be thicker, but it's an alpine pack, and winter clothing under the pads is factored in the design. The Borea is more comfortable because of a much more substantial backpanel. It's pretty beefy compared to the thin panel of the Nozone. The Nozone doesn't carry skis well (maybe on the back panel) but it's not designed for that. I like both packs very much: The Nozone is pared down and can be stripped to nothing. The webbing hipbelt idea is great (sometimes I put it on the Borea) The Borea is more comfy, and is great for skiing/camping because of it's many pockets to organize my gear. But , if you want an all-round alpine pack, I'd highly reccomend the Nozone. Good fit, can be stripped down to make it way light, or put the stays in for heavy loads.

My friend had one and loved it. The big factor is wether or not you'll like the roll-top design. But as for performance the pack is fine.

Trailspace is pretty much the oldest. Lots of reviews too. There's outdoor review.com - messy and epinions.com (review everything) is sort of coming along, but I think they use trailspace's reveiws.

try to find a used Thunderlight jacket from Marmot pretty light, fully featured for a 3ply gore-tex jacket

Favourite summer jacket? Well used to be my mountain harweader tempest SL jacket. was waterproof - fully featured, light AND acted as an insulative layer (for colder nights or during rain) since it had a brushed inner fleece layer. ^^amazing piece and a staple