hydroman

I have that combo and it seems to works well for me. The guy at Marmot just cut some stiff thin material of some sort to fill the heel cup before molding them.

Looks like a nice bag (but they don't list fill weight). Though a 1 lb mummy bag has been around for quite a few years. WM Highlight 35 degree. They are both sewn through designs. I've been using the Highlight for a few summers now with great success. Good into the 20's for me in combo with the 10 ounce WM Flight Jacket. http://www.westernmountaineering.com/index.cfm?section=Products&page=Sleeping%20Bags&cat=ExtremeLite%20Series

Nothing out there, eh?

Hey folks, I’m needing a new place to rest my head. Looking for a room to rent either near Bellevue/Kirkland/Redmond or someplace easily accessible via 520, say Capital Hill or U district. I would consider other places if the situation was right. I’m pretty chill and looking for someplace reasonably relaxed and quiet without a TV and video games going all day/night long. Preferably need a room just big enough for a bed (or therm-a-rest) and sewing table for gear projects. If anyone has or knows of anything that might fit the bill please shoot me a PM. Thanks.

I'm looking for some advice for a trip over the New Years weekend. Want to get out for a few nights of camping and BC skiing. Looking for a reasonable approach to a basecamp, maybe even something that would allow dragging a sled without too much trouble and also something that would provide a variety of terrain (touring/steeps) so we have some choices depending on avy conditions. Preferably in WA but might consider driving to a neighboring state or BC. Any ideas would be much appreciated. Thanks.

Bump

All three styles of womens shell pants come in size xs according to the Patagonia website.

Valandre does indeed make an incredibly well made bag. Just consider that though nice, not all ratings are the same. If you take the Valandre Mirage for instance +20 degree 1lb 7ounces. It's the lightest 20 degree bag you'll find. It's 3 ounces lighter than then the Western Mountaineering ultralight, also a 20 degree bag. Where is the 3 ounces of difference? If you compare material weights and dimensions the bags are quite similar. The only real difference is the zipper. The Valandre has a zipper that's like 10 inches long compared with a full zipper on the WM. Still, zippers don't weight that much and don't account for 3 ounces. I know, since I have a lot of these raw materials sitting around at home. (I make my own gear for myself and some friends) The difference is that it appears the Valandre is short an ounce or two of down compared to the WM (or a similar FF). 2 ounces is a huge difference when it comes to down. My point being that watch out when buying an ultralight bag as some manufacturers really cut things to the wire in order to have the lowest weight listed on their hang tag at the store. A buddy has the Valandre and though it's an awesome bag it isn't a 20 in my book. At least not for an average sleeper or compared to FF or WM.

I used a point and shoot digital Nikon on the WB last year and it worked fine in all temps I encountered. I took one spare rechargable battery which I used. Took about 75 photos with 1.5 batteries which is a good bit less than I would have gotten under normal temps.

I like to wash my cord at home as I find I can get more dirt out of it. I use one of my gear tupperware containers. Put that in the tub, toss in some rope wash and warm water and soak it for about 15-30 minutes. Stir it up for 5 minutes or so then dump and rinse. Then I repeat that a few times without soap. The reason I like doing it at home is that I find it takes a good five stir and rinse sessions before the water isn’t dirty when dumping. With most machines you only get one or two fresh rinses before the cycle is over. Plus it’s cheaper at home.

Marmot makes a good bag but I don't think their ratings are as accurate as say, Western Mountaineering. They (Marmot) don't list their fill weights but if you call them you can get them. I've done a little comparing and basically they don't put as much down in their bags as a similarly rated WM and I think their bags, though nice are not filled enough. WM overstuffs if you do the volume calcs which make the bags have a more conservative rating. That's important because some companies just put enough down in the bag to fill the volume when you do the math but in the field you never get the fill power that down is advertised to so the bag ends up unfilled. I'm also a little down on Marmot since they played that whole 900 fill power game a year or two ago. It was total marketing hype since it was the exact same down they used before. They just changed how they 'measured' the down volume to make the down appear better quality when in reality it was the same stuff. I just hate to see marketing hype like that when it's crap. I would vote for the Western Mountaineering Ultralight (1 lb 10 oz reg 20 degree). Super nice bag and it's truer to it's rating than many bags. It would make a great all around lightweight bag. Pro Mountain Sports carries WMs. Feathered Friends also puts a very conservative amount of down in their bags and are pretty accurate to their ratings. I’d look at both those companies. I’ve owned bags from all three companies and they were all good quality. In terms of customer service Marmot rocks. I sent them my 18 year old bag a few years back that went flat and they added some down to bring it bag to spec and put a new zipper on all free of charge. That’s good service.

I borrowed a friends -30 bag for Denali this past spring. Two folks in my group went with the two bag option and I wished I had also. I sweated in that bag every night until I hit 14k. That was wearing nothing but boxers/socks and having tha bag fully unzipped. It was fine for 14 and above though. If I do it again I'll probably take my 0 bag and supplement it with an overbag or my 30/40 ultralight bag inside like two of my partners did. I would have not been happy if I had spend $600 on that thing rather than using two bags I already had.

MP3 is sold. Still got a nice watch though...

PNY VIBE 512MB MP3/FM Radio/Recorder. Bought in May 05 and used for 3 weeks on Denali. Haven’t used since. Basically new. Paid $149 when I bought it but they are cheaper now. I’d part with it for $50. Light and small. 2.4oz with aaa battery. Suunto T6 Watch. Bought in April 05 also. Usual stuff…altitude/temp/barameter/3 alarms/etc. but also has HR monitor/USB download and fancy training software that I thought was cool and then never used. Retails for $499 (crazy). I’d sell for $250. No scratches on face. A few slight scuffs on band. Not worn rock climbing. Generally in great shape and almost new. http://www.suuntowatches.com/t6.htm ($449 here)

I picked up a Flight jacket earlier this year and think it's an awesome jacket. It's essentially replaced my FF because it weighs less and is still quite warm (though not quite as warm as the Helios) That being said there is something to be said for spending a few xtra bucks for something made locally rather than giving the same money to TNF for a jacket they paid $3 to have made overseas.

Definitely check with an arthritis specialist before figuring out what you are going to do. I've got a good case of arthritis in both my feet and it downright sucks. Started when I was about 25 (now 31) and the doc thinks it is just from overuse of my feet (6000-7000 miles of long distance backpacking and abuse). The arthritis specialist I saw said basically that it's not going to get better and will only degenerate from here. Though there are things that can help slow the progress and ease the pain. I take Evening Primrose Oil and Glucosamine and find that it helps somewhat. Other than that it's Alleve and Vitamin I during weekend climbs. It's pretty wierd as I can tell that the toes have been getting stiffer and weirder over the years. Diet can also have a large effect as certain foods tend to inflame arthritis. I'm still trying to figure it all out though. Good Luck

I've only had mine out once so far for a half day outing but it was in steady rain, through heavy brush and several creek crossings up to the top of the boots and mine stayed bone dry.

That reminds me of one other issue. The side straps only have a couple inches of spare strap so forget about putting a pad on there. They are more for skis or pickets. Crampons are an issue also as there is no attachement point and the bungy is too weak to hold them well over the long term and becuase the pack is small putting them on the side doesn't work well either (the pack is not very deep so you hit your arms on them. They cut these little corners to make the pack a couple ounces lighter but in the process made it far less usable. It wasn't worth the weight savings

I picked up this pack last year on clearance for $70 and used it quite regularly over the season for day and overnight climb/ski trips. I may be in the minority but in general I don’t like the pack very much. I don’t like the odd shape of the pack (narrow at bottom wide at top) Though this would seem to make sense as it mimicks the shape of a person (wider at shoulders than waist) it makes packing it a pain. I also hate the way the lid attaches through the load lifter straps. I find that design just sucks and I’m always having to yank the buckles back through the opening in the lid material. One other preference is that I much prefer to have two straps connecting the lid to the bottom rather than just the one in the center (makes utilizing the bungy system easier) though this is more personal and some people like the one strap system better. From a design standpoint the simplicity is nice though and the material is a good balance of weight to durability. I like Mountainsmith’s packs but I wouldn’t buy this particular one again.

I make a fair amount of gear and whipped up a simple two person quilt as one of my earlier projects for a PCT thru-hike. I thought it worked pretty well down to temps around freezing or a tad below. It takes some practice to use with two people though. It was a basic Jardine style quilt but better contoured in the area around the head/neck. That’s the key area to making the thing work in cold temps. Using just an unzipped one person bag isn’t nearly as warm because it’s difficult to seal out drafts. My next one will be with down. Shoot me a PM if you want more info or some pics.