ADKMan

From my experience making quality cutting edge packs is Graham's #2 priority. His #1 priority seems to be having a good time. Response time for e-mail / phone messages ranged from 2 -10 days when I was "trying" to buy my pack. When I asked about some "minor" changes I was told that it would be $100 per hour with a minimum of a $100 charge. I was charged double shipping on my order and it took over a month to receive what turned out to be a "standard" pack. All of this being said the pack I received appears to be a well designed (again, except for the "goofy" strap system), lightweight pack. Sometimes "lightweight" is another way of saying "it won't last forever".

Ben- the Cilo packs don't come with manuals anymore. They have gone to a series of videos on YouTube to replace the written manuals.

For what its worth I have a CCW Valdez and absolutely love it. Randy made some minor modifications for me at no additional cost and it has always been one of my favorite packs. The construction is absolutely bomber, its relatively light weight and has all of the features typically needed in a climbing pack. At only $115 list price its a killer deal as well. One caveat, the volume at 40L is a bit deceiving if compared to the CiloGear 45L worksack. The CCW volume is significantly less as compared with the CiloGear pack. I think the 40L is accurate compared to most other 40L packs but I think the CiloGear 45L designation is somewhat understated.

I can't speak for Ben but I picked up a Cilogear 45L Worksack earlier this year for a trip up Rainier. When it arrived I liked the construction (except for the goofy strap arrangement) and thought I had my next go to pack. However when I loaded it with my anticipated load (about 37 pounds) I just could not get a comfortable fit. I had both the standard aluminum / plastic framesheet as well as the new "AirBeam" framesheet and couldn't get them to carry the load properly. With 25-27 pounds it felt fine but with anything over 30 pounds the pack felt like it was sagging. Consequently I never used the pack for it's intended purpose (look for it in the Yard Sale forum soon).

Wow, you guys are tough. For what it's worth Ben, I was on Rainier in July (Emmons Route / Camp Schurman) and was able to get service with Verizon Wireless using an iphone.

If you are interested in the Mountain Hardwear Direkt 2 it is on sale at Mountain Gear for $399.97 - seems like a great deal but only 2 are available. Mountain Hardwear Direkt 2 at Mountain Gear

Thanks spionin, I will give Mr. Good a try

I'm looking for a pair of Petzl toe bails that I can use to retrofit onto my BD Sabertooth crampons. I have not had any luck with local gear shops or internet searches to locate any. When I called Petzl they told me only the telemark toe bails are available. Any suggestions? Thanks

But you can use the battery from the kindle to create a spark to light your partners novel.

Sounds like we should be fine with 2 liters or 3 max with no stove on summit day. I'm sure we will make conservative decisions relative to weather conditions so it's unlikely we will get pinned down unless someone gets hurt or in the event of a crevasse fall.

Trip specs: 2 person team Mid July Emmons Route We will have a stove at Camp Schurman

I know that conventional wisdom and the most conservative approach would have you pack a stove, pot and fuel in your summit pack but I am curious how many actually do that on Rainier? For those that don't pack a stove how much water do you generally bring? I would assume that 2 liters (the most I usually like to carry) won't be adequate for summit day. Thanks again for your collective and infinite wisdom!

One thing that I have always found to be true, if the boots don't fit near perfectly out of the box it is not likely to get better. I would strongly suggest to search for a pair of boots that fit really well. A good shop / bootfitter should be able to help fine tune with foot beds and lacing techniques.

We have been up Mt. Washington and Mt. Marcy (New York) in the winter, winds can get fierce, whiteout conditions are common. The basic difference with Mt. Rainier is the glacier travel and altitude. Also, generally Washington / Marcy are 8 +/ - hour day trips not multi day climbs. I'm sure this experience will come in handy in July though.

Well said DPS - The closest thing to Mt. Rainier we have here in the Northeast is Mt. Washington (New Hampshire) which gains 4200 feet in about 4 miles. This has a whole different set of challenges and although it can be a good training ground for mountaineering in general it's completely different than what we will encounter in July. Thanks again to everyone for their help!

ScaredSilly - While I appreciate your message I don't think the content of this thread has been anything but useful. Not only to me and my partner but anyone else who may be planning a similar trip. Unfortunately my trip isn't scheduled until July so I can't just go out and climb the mountain. My partner and I are coming from the East Coast so unfortunately it takes time, effort and expense to plan and execute the climb. As far as I am concerned my original questions have been asked and answered. If additional comments or questions are raised on this thread I will respond accordingly. Otherwise I appreciate all of the feedback everyone has given.

To a large extent that is what we will end up doing. My goal though is to have 90% of the process under control and the final 10% will be trailhead decisions.

I suppose a shovel can make a relatively good tent anchor but if that is it's primary purpose I can think of a number of better options. I realize that the decision to bring any certain piece of gear can be right or wrong based on the specific conditions we encounter. So the best we can do is make the most educated decision based on the best beta we can get. If we approach our planning in this way at least we stack the odds in our favor.

Bronco - Unfortunately we have had record warm temperatures this winter in the Northeast so our "snowslope" options are very limited. This being said, we have plenty of opportunities to climb 2500-4000 feet over 4-6 miles with heavy packs. So even though we won't have the snow advantage we can still get the uphill workout. We will try to do at least one climb a week (including a few overnights / multi day climbs) in addition to our gym work. Hopefully all of this will give us a reasonable chance to get to the top.

I never thought about the snowclaw, I have one of those as well. I will discuss it with my partner but that sounds like a reasonable compromise.

All sounds good, I think we're getting pretty close to having everything dialed in. Now we have to hope for a high pressure system to come in between July 12-14.

We are planning on bringing a total of 48 wands (24 in each pack) is that adequate?

DPS - I completely agree. In this case I'm not sure my "experts" even know where Mt. Rainier is. I really appreciate all of the information presented here. It has been extremely valuable to me. If any of you guys are at Camp Schurman on July 12-13 maybe I can say thanks in person.

That was my thought as well but a couple of self proclaimed " experts" i climbed with today thought differently.

Another question that came up on my training climb today - is there any need for a shovel on the Emmons route in July?