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A Lesson From the Trail
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Gear
Odds and Ends
"And
when the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell upon it."
Num
11:9
This where I put all the crap that just has no category like
lights, candles, filters and poles. This is also where I come to vent,
rant and rave about what I think is wrong with the world of gear and where if I
run into a piece of gear that is so horrible I will bring it in here and bash it
to pieces. I think too often we hate to admit when we have bought a piece
of crap because no one likes to admit they've been taken. I don't think
like that. If it's crap, it's crap and I say so. This page of odd gear will be very helter skelter for the most part and if I bash a piece
of gear here that you love try not to be offended and not let other's words diminish
your personal enjoyment of something you love. My words are not that
important.
Lights
-
Petzl
Micro Zoom- This was my first headlamp. It was only about $28
and very light (huh,huh, that's punny!). I never held headlamps in too
high of esteem but after actually buying one I see what all the fuss is
about. Even with all the convenience of this head lamp I found it not
very bright, it had those cheap flashlight ring shadows in the beam and the
lens scratches easier that anything I've ever seen. I do realize that
this is the bottom of the line for Petzl lights and take that into
account. I have seen some of their top of the line lights that are the
cat's meow.
-
PrincetonTech
Solo- Now this is more like it! This is a great bright
light. It comes with a dimmer bulb and a brighter bulb that are fairly
easy to change although I have not had to try it in the dark. It comes
with a wide beam reflector and a narrow one too. Neither of them have
the cheap rings like the Petzl has. One of the greatest features of
this light is the ease of changing batteries. The lid that you take
off slides out and you can put the batteries in any way you want as long as
one is opposite from the other. It runs on two AA batteries and will
last a good long time with lithiums in it. I found this light at
Campmor on sale for $20. It was marked as imperfect and it turned out
the only thing wrong with it is the fact that the headband is all black and
has no bright flashy colors on it. How lucky was Nigal!?
-
The
Flash Card- I found this little light at Wal Mart for $1.89. It
is the size of a credit card and about 1/4" thick. It has a small
bulb in the end of one of the ends with a little button on one of the flat
sides. The label touted a battery life of 500 minutes but it turns out
that is how long the battery is good for on the shelf. It does have a
very long life though. I took a length of 1/4" rope and duct
taped it to the back of the light so I can hang it around my neck in the
dark and always know where it is. The big drawback is the fact that
you have to hold down on the button to make it work. It won't stay on
by it's self. No biggy. I mainly use it just for digging in my
pack or making a late night run to the bushes. One other little
addition I made was to glue a little Velcro tab on the button because the
button is impossible to find in the dark. With the Velcro button on
there I always know where the button is. In short a great little light
at a great price.
-
Candle
Lantern- These things are great if you're using quality candles that
burn evenly. If they burn crooked they suck. these are one of
those things that you either swear at it or swear by it. The first
time you knock it over and have to spend an hour scraping wax off the globe
you'll swear at it. However there is just something about a flame that
is very comforting. I then bought an oil insert for it that was a
great improvement when it came to the wax thing but these things leak no
matter what you do. They just don't seal. I have given thought
to trying to make a better seal for it but I don't even carry my lantern any
more. I always end up carrying my headlamp also so why even take
both. Duplication of gear is a huge no-no for going light. These
weigh somewhere in the area of 11 oz. and cost about $15.
-
Candles-
even after leaving the lantern at home I find the need for a flame
too much to ignore. I now carry a candle with me just for
ambience. There are as many different candles you can carry than there
are trails to carry them on. I like the little candles that come in
the tuna can and have sent added to them but they drowned before they burn
all the wax and you have to constantly dump wax out as it burns. Small
votive candles are very good. They burn longer and weigh mere ounces
more. a nice vanilla scent is great. 
I also like small tea light
candles too. Yankee Candles make about every sent that you could
imagine but they have so much sent in them that they are a bit smoky.
They are still the best. I take a small folded piece of foil with me
and make a little bowl with a high backside to reflect light where I need
it. If heavier foil could be used you could use a Christmas tree
ornament hook to hang it. One point about the scented candles though;
never take scented candles into bear country as they could smell this from a
mile away and come looking for a sweet snack.
-
New!
The
Photon II Micro Light- I have been meaning to buy one of these lights
for a long time now and found them $10.95 so I got one. What a gem!
It weighs a mere 5 grams, is smaller than a quarter and is as bright if not
brighter than a Maglight Minimag. It runs constant for over 170 hours
(that's a week). I got the red one because I found that I like having
the night vision and I don't mind having the color washed out of what I'm
looking at. It is so small that I tied it onto a shoe string so I can
keep track of it. I hang it around my neck so I have it when I need
it. When moving around camp I simply switch it on and and walk around
with it still hanging from my neck. I would like to figure out a rig
for clipping it to the bill of my hiking hat so I can use it as a
traditional headlamp is used. I believe they make little clips for
them but I'd like to figure out a way to make one myself.
Filters
-
Guardian
Sweetwater- This filter cost me about $50 and the replacement filters
are about $30. It weighs 11oz. I have been using this filter for
about five years now. The only time it ever failed me was when I tried
to pump freezing water through it and it froze up. I have pumped water
from beaver ponds, mud puddles, trickles and muddy creeks. The water
has ALWAYS been better than that which comes from my tap at home. This
is without the viral guard pre-filter too. I would be comfortable
filtering any water from just about anywhere with this filter. This
filter, however, does take some assembly every time you want to use it and
this in turn results in more moving parts than needed. More moving
parts mean more failures in the outdoor gear world. I have had the pin
wear out that holds the pump handle in place but easily replaced it with a
paper clip. No biggy. If you try and carry the filter fully
assembled it is very awkward to pack and doesn't fit anywhere you try and
put it. If I had to do it all over again I would buy the Pur
Hiker. The cost is the same, it filters the same microns and it has no
assembly required and fewer moving parts.
-
Safe
Water Anywhere Filter Bottle- I got this filtering bottle for
Christmas in an attempt to shave a little more weight from my pack. It
is 1 liter and weighs 4 oz. It cost $24 and will filter 700 liters
before needing replaced. I was skeptical at first about this filtering
bottle but have become a believer with only one use. I found it hard
to squirt the water out and thought it would be a nightmare filtering a
gallon a day of water through it but got around that. My general
practice is to fill the bottle as I come to water sources and then when I
load up at the end of the day I fill my water bag with untreated water and
hang it in camp. As I need water I fill the bottle and use it instead
of sitting by the river and filtering a gallon of water into the bag. It
works great. One problem I have is that while I did cut out the 11 oz.
filter I do still have to bring my Tupper wear bottle for mixing drinks and
measuring water for cooking. Oh well! Can't win them all,
huh? Safe Water also makes an in-line filter for hydration systems
that lets you fill your bladder with untreated water it filters as you
suck. For in camp use you can carry a separate bag for clean water and
attach the hose to this one and hang the whole deal in a tree and let
gravity pull the untreated water through the line and filter into the clean
bag. I may try this in the summer when I need a hydration system to
stay hydrated. UPDATE!
[As of 11/18/00 the SWA filter/bottle has died.
It lasted nearly a full year which is what I expected it to. My final
take on this filter is that I will move on to something else now.
Taking into account the bad design of putting the opening in the dipping end
of the bottle, the effort it takes to squeeze water through the bottle, the cumbersome
size and shape of the bottle, and the fact that it cost as much as a
replacement cartridge on a full filter I will not buy another one. I
will, however, try one of the inline filters made by SWA in the coming
spring when a hydration system will not freeze up. CT]
Odds and
Ends
-
Leki
Tour Lite Poles- Trekking poles are one of those things I absolutely
dragged myself kicking and screaming to buy. I always saw the ripped
yuppies in Backpacker Magazine with them and though, "Yuppie
scum!" All my west coast friends swore by them and I saw a set of
good Lekis for sale for $50 (from $75) and bought them knowing if I didn't
like them I could sell them easily. So I reluctantly bought
them. They really do make a difference on hilly trails. They
save energy but they do spread the load over more of your body. I like
these poles because they telescope down to be very short for easy storage
and to make them more useful. They are as useful in camp as on the
trail too. I use them with my tarps as poles so I do not need
trees. They can be used as extra tie out supports on a tent. You
can even make a mono pod out of them for photography. I don't like
these poles for flatter hiking because they just become a pain and are more
work than they help. I use the good old wooden staff for tamer
trails. So, yes, I love trekking poles now and yes, this does make me
yuppie scum...damn!
"Hey
hippy! How's the skiing? Haha!"
"Yeah,
haha! Laugh it up dork! My poles are a lot better than that
raggedy old stick you carry." "Hey
that stick's been all over with me. Saved my life once. Some feral
dogs tried to attack me and take my armadillo I was cooking on the fire. I
whacked 'em away with my trusty staff. Only bad thing is that while I was
wrestling the dogs my possum in a half-shell burned on the fire. Took me
half an hour to snare another one!" "(sigh)
Ya know what Darrel? Sometimes you make it too easy and that just takes
all the fun out of ragging on you. Please try harder, OK?" "What?
WHAT!?"
-
NEW!
Greenelee Kevlar Line- A hiking buddy of mine who is an
electrician gave me a bunch of line that he said was used in pulling
electrical wire through conduit. This stuff is great! It looks
like 1/4" wide dental floss and is made of Kevlar by a company called Greenelee.
The breaking limit is 1,200 lb. I made a small loop of it and went out
in the back yard to hang myself with it to see how it would do. It did
break but it was at the knot I made and it took all of my weight to do
it. It's none of you business how much weight that is but suffice it
to say that unless you camp on top of Mt.Washington these lines won't break
under regular use. The line also has marks on it at one foot intervals
and that can be a handy thing sometimes. I replaced all the lines on
my sil tarp with this stuff and the weight doesn't even register on the
scales. The only negatives is that when you put a knot in this stuff
it is next to impossible to get out. A sliding knot is unusable with
this stuff but my lines don't get moved so it's no biggy. I think some
of those little clip/slides would work OK with this line. The other
bad thing is that this stuff would be very hard to get as it only comes in
3,000' rolls. The best bet would be to find a contractor or contractor
supply-house and try to scrounge some there.
This is
an ever changing page so check back often!
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