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.
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.
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.
Granite Gear Virga backpack with Therm-a-Rest frame
=== 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.
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
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.
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.
The best air mattress on the market right now is the NeoAir made by Cascade Designs Therm-a-Rest.
I was lying on mine one night in the tent during an 8-day hike of the Haute Route in the Alps. A strange sizzling sound began.
At first I thought I was being attacked by insects under the tent.
Then my NeoAir began to swell in one small spot.
Bizarre.
Each night after being inflated the swelling increased in size. It seemed to stop when internal pressure reached a specific point. (under-inflated)
weird bulge on an air mattress
I slept on the thing anyway though, being a savvy hiker, I was actually carrying a second small air mattress, using it as a pack frame and pillow.
I’m BRILLIANT to have a back-up. Right?
Sadly, my “pillow” had developed a slow leak. It was worse than the NeoAir.
The NeoAir is not widely available in Europe as yet. By luck I happened to find a demo model in Chamonix, France reduced to 109 Euro (US$156).
I’ll be returning the damaged NeoAir on warranty when I get home.
But I’m wondering if this was a fluke. Or a design flaw in a new product. Leave a comment if you’ve heard of this happening to any other NeoAir mattresses.
I’ll post it to Twitter tagged #NeoAirFail, as well.
This turned out to be the most memorable day of many amazing days.
The weather was terrible. All day. Terrible.
The most remote and wild terrain of the entire route.
intensely glaciatedsurreal glacial tarn
I was quite happy to finally arrive at Cabane de Prafleuri.
alpine hut
These refuges offer accommodation as well as food. Nice.
Rosti
I got a chance to dry out. And warm up. Then walked on when the rain slowed.
Very impressive this day was Lac Dix, man made, created by one of the highest dams in the world.
Lac Dix (Lake 10)
The wildflowers and wildlife this day, were the best of the entire Haute Route. It’s an animal reserve.
marmot
In the early evening the weather worsened. Again.
I decided to stay at an alpine hut rather than try to climb out of the valley.
A long, impressive ridge would take me up to Cabine Dix.
That photo I shot the following morning. The night before, in the rain and dark. I thought I’d never get there. It’s very high. Nearly 3000m. Higher than the pass I would cross next day.
Cost for dinner, bunk bed and breakfast was US$65.
The dinner was excellent. The bed very comfortable. The breakfast the worst I had in Europe.
I was the only Anglophone that night. Ordered about like a German soldier.
Overall, I’d rather sleep in my tent and cook my own food.
besthike.com 