Best hikes, treks, tramps in the world.
UPDATE: In the end I decided not to buy it. Too heavy. Too bulky when worn as a coat. … I’d really like something half as heavy, half as warm.
=== Original post:
Who would buy one of these things?
… I think I’m just about to.
I am looking at one right now. US$190.
I’ll use it as an extra layer with my fearfully thin and worn down bag.
Before I traveled in Europe, I vaguely thought of their gear as … nice. Way overpriced. Gaudy. And sometimes completely goofy. (Especially the tents.)
Then I toured the huge Sportler store in Bolzano, Italy.
Later I was overwhelmed with the even bigger Schuster store in Munich.
Brands like Salewa, Kaikkaalla, Meru, La Sportiva, Mammut, Vaude, Deuter, Hilleberg, Vango, And more appealed. Quality is generally very high.
Also more familiar brands: The North Face, Salomon, Mountain Hardware, MSR, Primus, Therm-a-rest, Marmot, Arc’teryx.
Arc’teryx? How has that Canadian company become so HUGE worldwide? What a success story. They fit right in with the expensive European brands.
Actually, Arc’teryx was bought by Adidas in 2001. Then sold to Amer Sports of Finland in 2005. It’s a multi-national now.
My advice to every European hiker coming to North America: Buy your gear in Canada from Mountain Equipment Co-op. Or check prices on Amazon.com and comparison shop in the USA.
Europeans will get sometimes twices the value for their Euro currency in North America as compared with European prices. Especially on American brands.
My CAD Mountain Hardware Scrambler daypack is always CAD$50 back home. In Europe it’s normally €55. That’s CAD$86.40.
An MSR Hubba tent on Amazon.com is US$250 . At Schuster in Munich it’s €329.95 (US$468.14)
Yet there’s some gear available in Europe that I can’t get at home.
Want to take a Cheeseburger in a can hiking? They are available widely in Germany.
Taste Test: Cheeseburger In A Can
When I gave up on carrying a water filter, I gave up on Nalgene wide mouth bottles.
In recent years I’ve simply carried a soft drink bottle. It’s fantastically reliable and fits more easily into my pack pocket than a Nalgene.
Crow recommends …
… a 20 ounce “Vitamin Water” bottle. I wanted a wide mouth bottle because it’s easier to add drink powders to them. …
I have been using the same bottle for years. That’s the thing about “single use” plastic bottles, I don’t care how many years I have carried the same bottle, nor how many times I have dropped it, nor how rough its life has been. I have never, ever had a “single use” plastic bottle fail me.
They are light, dependable, and cheap. “Single use” plastic bottles are what I use for all my water carrying needs.
read more – Gear Review: “Vitamin Water” bottle
Good idea. I think I’ll buy my first and last bottle of Vitamin Water.
Needless to say, Crow has no time for water bladders.
I travelled and hiked over the past summer with 4 wicking t-shirts:
→ Patagonia
→ Adidas
→ Nike
→ MEC Rapidi-T
The best (and cheapest by far) was the MEC Rapidi-T.
On return to Canada I stocked up, buying 4 more short-sleeved. And 1 long-sleeved. (You never know when this product will be discontinued or the fabric changed.)
$18.00 CAD (US$16.80) – Made in Canada
Search the Mountain Equipment Co-op website (MEC.ca) for Product Number: 5014-990.
If you see me on the trail you’ll be near guaranteed that I’ll be wearing this shirt. MEC Breeze unlined nylon pants. And MEC Seamless Classic Briefs.
Or a Banana Guard ™
official website – Banana Guard
Check the Froot Guard and Froot Case while you are there.
It actually works perfectly, if you want to carry the extra weight.
Thanks Rockin’ Ronnie for embarrassing me with this piece of goofy gear.
by Besthike editor Rick McCharles
I’ve not changed my system much over the past 3yrs.
This works for me.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Leave a comment if you have an opinion.
An unusual item shown was a waterproof “stash” bag. When day hiking, I dump everything into that bag and stash it in the rocks somewhere, taking only the things I needed for the day in the pack.
That up to 50litre pack (.54kg | 1lbs 3oz), a Granite Gear Virga, was named by the Gear Junkie in 2007 on the list of Greatest Gear of 5 Years.
Using a therm-a-rest as a backpack “frame” was first suggested to me by Kraig Becker, of The Adventure Blog and Gadling.
George gave me my first Virga pack. Jane just gifted me my second. I purchased a new 3/4 length, 3/4 inch Therm-a-Rest (no longer available on the Cascade Designs website) as a “frame”. I’m good to go for the next 5yrs.
=== UPDATE:
Critical for me is my pillow.
I wrap this pillow with a fleece top.
The waterproof orange bag is sold by MEC as a “Pack Liner”. It weighs only 86gms and fits up to a 40litre pack.
Most of the bag is filled with the folded, partly inflated 3/4in, 3/4 length therm-a-rest air mattress, no longer available.
Some loose clothing, down jacket and stuff sacks are added to the bottom.
Leave a comment.
Fedak linked to an interesting post on the Fixing Your Feet (FYF) blog:
… I talk about moleskin because it has been around for so long. For years it was the standard hot spot and blister patching tool. In the next edition of FYF, I will make reference to moleskin as a product, which has seen better days.
Here are three reasons why:
Moleskin doesn’t stick
Moleskin doesn’t conform to the curves of the foot
Moleskin is too thick
read more – Moleskin Galore
No mention of my preferred foot repair product, Duct Tape.
That blogger likes (expensive) Drymax socks, by the way.
In Asia we called illegal The North Face knock-off clothing … The North Farce.
They should go after the Asian companies producing those goods, not a teen in the mid-West.
A Missouri teenager frustrated with his classmates’ sheep-like following of a popular clothing line came up with his own parody apparel and now faces a lawsuit for trademark infringement.
Jimmy Winkelmann, 18, said he’s not intimidated by threats of a lawsuit from The North Face Apparel Company over his 2-year-old company The South Butt, LLC.
Jimmy Winkelmann said he has no intention of complying with the cease and desist request sent last month by lawyers for The North Face Apparel Corp., saying his 2-year-old business — The South Butt LLC — poses no threat to it.
“I was like, ‘How did they even find me?'” …
read the article – ABC News – The North Face vs. The South Butt: Entrepreneurial Teen Undaunted by Lawsuit Threat
The South Butt – Apparel for Kids and Adults
(via The Goat)
Click PLAY or watch it on The Adventure Blog.
Can you believe this is Corsica, France?
An island in the Mediterranean.
It’s from an excellent trip report of a 6 days, 95km trek through Corsica in May.
That’s the Trailblaze blog edited by Johannes Huwe, posted in both German and English.
Though snow has been rare on the island since 1979 (presumably due to climate change) the group had significant problems with snow and melt water in 2009.
Kev Reynolds calls the GR20 high-level route across Corsica one of the toughest 3 treks in Western Europe.
besthike.com 