Camping and Backpacking GEAR thread

Check out Zebralight's SC62w and their headlamp version of it if you want to double that output ha

 

I definately would not use that to hang a hammock.

 

Load limit on those are 150lbs per the manufactures website. SO no i wouldnt use one. Plus those teeth to "hold the rope"...any sort of slipping on the rope and those teeth will chew up your rope.

 

Thanks for the reply! I will consider some real climbing carabiner then

 

They are pretty cheap. Go on http://www.animatedknots.com/ and you can learn a few quick knots to help you hang it

 

I 've learned a couple ones from Field and Stream but this site is awesome Thanks for sharing it @amaes !

 

They really do make a huge difference, it just makes it harder to hike with a beer in your hand.

 

No way. I have one and it's not well suited. If you're not counting grams, just get 2 caribiners if your hammock didn't come with them (mine already had biners). I use $5 worth of harbor freight ratchet straps cut off the hardware with a figure eight on one end. Loop around tree, make an overhand loop knot & attach your hammock.

 

I use a small version of those figure 9 caribiners to hang my hammock tarp, but never the hammock.

 

In 2003 i hiked the PCT from the Mex border to Yosemite Camp 4, and yes a high high percentage, including me had trekking poles from the start. Mine were by Leki and lightweight, adjustable length, ergonomic grips and spring loaded. They were awesome. (I do not work for Leki, just love their product!) They become extensions of your arms, like feelers (in a peripheral way) and the real nice thing is twice, they scared rattlesnakes outta my way, that my foot might have hit. I find i get in a really good hiking pace with them, especially since we were doing 20 miles a day from day 1. Hiking uphill you adjust them shorter and you can kind of push off them. Gaiters were awesome too, i had a pair by Mountain Hardware, they do a great job keeping stuff outta your shoes.

Here's the ironic thing about the trekking poles on the PCT(and maybe other trails). Since so many people use the trekking poles, which have a steel tip, it makes 1000's of little holes along the sides of the trail. They say that slowly in some places the sides of the pct trail is being eroded away. Yes its slow, but in time the trail will become more and more narrow. But i still use and love mine!

 

Due to my obsession with cook stoves, pots, etc., and with titanium products, I picked up the Vargo BOT in titanium this week. I like that it's a full liter pot, but it has a threaded lid with heat-resistant waterproof seal so it has dual purpose. I can carry water with it, cook in it, use the lid as a cup, and it's feather light. Requires use of a pot lifter since it doesn't have handles, but it fits in any pouch that normally fits a Nalgene bottle.

Unfortunately the Solo Stove or my Toaks titanium gasifier stove don't fit inside of it, but my Evernew DX stand and titanium alcohol stove do. I can carry Esbit fuel cubes, or just burn wood in the stand. This pot also fits the smaller diameter fuel canisters for gas stoves, and a micro stove fits in great even in the case. Leaves room for folding spork, soap, sponge, striker, etc.

 

^^^ noice! My old Ti snow peak pot has kinda served its time, been looking for a new lightweight multipurpose cooking pot. hmmm

 

The BOT is bigger than most pots, which I'm normally against, but in this case I like that it can hold a full liter. Much more versatile for a bug-out stove kit and/or extra water carrier. Nobody has a threaded cap on theirs yet, which is also what really sold me. I usually use the mesh bag that comes with my cook pots to hold the lid on and keep the contents in side. No need for the bag anymore, saving an ounce or two. Plus, the cap flips over and rests on the pot as a lid, making use of the recessed lip on the cap to nest onto the top of the pot and not slide off.

Some people had difficulty with changing air pressure in the pot when they had the lid screwed on tight and sealed. If you seal the lid and it either goes from warm to cold, or you go to lower altitude, you get a suction in the pot which makes the cap impossible to take off by hand. The trick is to slip the corner of a credit card or something thin up under the edge of the seal (which is visible when the cap is on) and give it a minute or two to let the pressure slowly equalize. However, the pot holds a watertight seal when only barely screwed down, so I just won't be overtightening it.

 

No one builds a screw on lid cause some idiot will boil water and blow themself up.

I have yet to find anything as efficient as the jet boil or MSR.

 

Yep, some dumbass will boil water with the lid on and have a serious issue. Let's let Darwin take effect on that because we don't need those fools in the gene pool anyways.

Of course a JetBoil or MSR stove is more efficient. But it also requires store-bought fuel to be carried. If you want to travel more primitive than that, then you'll need another solution. I want the option to burn wood fuels because that can be picked up anywhere in the world and never runs out.

 

Unless you are above the tree line, in the desert or hanging from the side of a big ass cliff on an epic rock climbing adventure.

 

I have the ever new 1.3L and fill that sucker every time I eat. Especially with oatmeal ha. I don't know if I could do a sub liter pot anymore

 

Above the tree line still has shrubbery, blown debris, etc. Unless you're in the himilayas or somewhere WAY above the treeline. I live in the desert, and there is probably more easily burnable wood here than most anywhere I go. Likely it's dry, and easy to light. Rock climbing adventure is probably one of those scenarios where you are using a gas stove anyways.

 

interesting thread.

i recently started backpacking again. mostly to get to trout fishing spots. trekking poles are a game changer. i'm much faster. the first night, i felt my triceps starting to cramp a bit. so i know i was pushing hard on them. i just bought inexpensive aluminum ones from REI. pretty solid. they were the only ones that held up at the connections when i leaned hard on the poles. most slipped alittle.

i have a Jet Boil, but i am gonna ditch it. i dont like how the pot attached on the stove, and it really is just a water boiler. i want a pot that is more versatile so i can cook a hunk of killed deer. or something.

 

You can buy pots for jet boils. I have a quart pot (or 1.5 liter i cant remember). I havent used it a whole lot but i has worked pretty well so far.

Obviously wont give quite as much control as other setups but using the jetboil on low i could control the heat pretty well.