hydroman

I use to flame Pataguchi all the time citing their way expensive fashionable stuff. A couple years ago a friend lent me “Let My People Surf” by Yvon Chouinard. I read it and was really impressed and after doing a bit more research I find myself going out of my way to purchase most of my clothes from Patagonia. Yup, the catalog has a lot of non technical street clothes. I’m actually pretty psyched about that. Like most of us I have a job to go to and need to wear non climbing clothes during the work week. Accordingly I’m really happy that Patagonia offers a place where I can buy clothes from a company that sets a great example of what companies should be, but than few are, or give a crap about being. You folks can flame them all you want about high prices and street wear but if you do any research and actually think about it the reality is that the stuff costs exactly what it should. Yup, I buy mostly Patagonia. I'm certainly not made of money or any highly paid IT person. I just have my priorities. Anyone with half a head on their shoulders knows full well that America is stuck in a Wal Mart mentality and that most only care about cheap goods no matter what the societal or environmental costs. The fact is that the costs of most of the crap we buy doesn’t reflect the real, true cost in the long term. Cheap goods are cheap because they come at the expense of others less fortunate and the planet. When a company like Patagonia actually devotes an enormous amount of time to everything they make and exactly what the impacts are of every decision, it costs more to make stuff and the extra cost get passed on to the consumer. And no I’m not talking about Patagonia just giving some proceeds back to the community and environment. They carefully consider everything. Where their materials come from, the longevity of a product, the environmental costs of how far and by what method things are shipped, packaging, where they locate their stores and what type of buildings they use and how they are refurbished. They also pay their employees decent and provide a better perks. That all costs money. If you don’t want to pay so much than simply go to REImart and there are plenty of manufacturers who sell a similar shirt or jacket for less. You can pass the legacy of your decisions on to future generations because you were too cheap to pay the extra $$ for something that is in fact well worth the extra money. Or hey, why don’t we all just suck it up and buy one pair of pants and wear them until they are worn out and can’t be repaired anymore rather than owning 4 pairs of cheap pants. Anyone who bitches about Patagonia’s prices should look in their closets. If you own more than one version of any piece of outdoor clothing than quit your bitching because you are one of the problem not the solution. The stuff may seem expensive but when you buy one good quality item and use it and repair it until it can no longer be used than you will see that the price really isn’t that much. In the book Yvon even laments the fact that much of the technical products are not affordable to the people that they really are designed for. Problem is that they cost what they cost when you do business in a responsible manner. To offer lower cost goods you’d have to simple cut corners and pass off the real costs to others like 99% of businesses today. Sad but true. Sorry about the rant but I’m just tired of people complaining about how much things cost. Good stuff costs good money and people usually just buy too much crap in the first place. It’s companies like North Face that really burn me. It’s unbelievable that suckers go and buy their crappy China made down coats when you can go to Feathered Friends and buy something custom made by people making a fair wage here in Seattle for the same or less money. In the end it’s really all about priorities.

Check these out. Though carbon fiber, they are not skinny like the 2 section BDs. Fairly rigid and super light at ~12ounces/pair. They've been working for me fairly well. Probably rigid enough for using as a megamid center pole or something along those lines. http://www.rei.com/product/749458

"Everything I read and many experienced folk with whom I speak say that you need a serious 4-season tent for summer climbing on the volcanoes in the area; that at least a 3-pole design is necessary to deal with the high winds. and possible snow loads. Is this not correct and/or overkill? " I'd say that's bs. For all but a serious storm high on a volcano a well staked (and guyed) out 3 pole 3 season (not convertible) tent will do on any cascade volcano in the summer. And if a serious storm is expected than you probably shouldn't be out anyhow. If your criteria is bombproof as you said in your initial post than yes, this tent will fit the bill. Still my 2cents is that tent is overkill for 99% of what you will encounter around here in the summer. I’d be pretty hard pressed to carry a 7-8 lb tent in Washington. In fact I've never carried something that heavy on any trip winter or summer around here. If you find yourself getting dumped on unexpectedly one night just set your alarm and get up and shovel the snow off every few hours. No big deal. For the odd occasion that you plan on being high on a volcano with really high winds just borrow or rent a 4 season. Carrying 7-8 lbs for backpacking seems nuts these days.

Is there any way to get a partial zipper on one or both sides of this bag or does the design make it impossible? I’d like to order one but am concerned about the ventilation issue. I like the shared heat principle but I’ve had issues sharing bags with serious overheating when there is no way to get some ventilation in the bag. The ounce or so that a couple quarter zips adds seems well worth it. Not to mention making it easier to enter and exit without totally upsetting your partner. Any thoughts on this?

I agree that the new system sucks. I've already been burned by it once this year. You are forced to buy permits a min of 2 days in advance (thur for a sat summit) and the way the weather changes around here you can be out of luck quick. Forecast went from sunny to crappy the day before my trip but there is no was to get my money back. You are simply out the $22, no refunds, no transfers. Conversly if the weather suddenly changes for the better you can't get a permit last minute. LAME.

For long trips Cottonelles (baby wipes for adults) are a mandatory item for me for keeping clean and reducing chafing. Vaseline also worked well during long thru-hikes. Neosporin helps if you don't catch it in time.

Like everyone has said before, you are targeting a very small audience with this bag. If you want to make it commercially viable I think you really need to make it very attractive to thru-hikers. That being said, you must keep in mind that while some hard core climbers may put up with no frills for a few nights to a week on a hard route, thru-hikers are going to be using these things for 6 months straight. Some hikers will want the lightest thing possible and won’t care about a zipper but I think it really needs to be at least an option. Losing sleep for 6 months because your significant other has to wriggle out of the bag once or twice a night sounds like hell. A couple of different widths would be nice as well so that bigger folks can roll around and not be waking each other up every time. The hoods need to be workable for people who roll from side to side during the night. For thru-hikers, 0 is too warm. They would be shooting more for a 20-25. But as you said the down fill can be adjusted. I've thru-hiked various long trails and have also made a synthetic version of this bag for a 2000 PCT hike. I really liked using the system to save weight. Personally, I would not consider buying one without a zipper. I also found when designing and experimenting that getting the correct shape on the top and yoke is key. Just a straight across cut and a rectangular yoke don't work very well. It needs to be well contoured to fit snugly around the shoulders/neck. I've been trying to get around to making a down version of this bag just like you are proposing (but with zippers). Alas I never seem to have the time. If you make one I'll likely buy it, but for backpacking. For me though it's got to have zippers and it needs to be wide enough to be reasonably comfortable. I climb a lot but certainly not hard enough to warrant spooning with my partner. I typically just carry a 16 ounce WM Highlight for most of the season and deal with being a little cool some nights and pull out the 20 for winter. How much would I pay? $400-450 Give or take. $500 tops. Otherwise I will just make it.

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.

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.