Category: gear

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hiker Brian Frankle of ULA

Tom Mangan— I’ve heard that name before … somewhere — published an article on hiking guru Brian Frankle of ULA-Equipment.

Frankle’s ULA-Equipment essentially goes out of business every fall, when he shuts down his garage-based backpack factory in Logan, Utah, and hits the trail, typically for weeks or months along little-known routes like Utah’s Hayduke Trail or Idaho’s Centennial Trail.

Then it’s back to the sewing machines.

“Basically, from the day that I reopen in November until all the way to the day that I close, it’s full-on,” Frankle says. “I’m in here 10 to 12 hours a day, seven days a week.”

Sounds like a crazy workload, but Frankle’s grown into it over the decade since he completed the Pacific Crest Trail in 1999. He started ULA-Equipment in 2001 to bridge a gap: commercially built backpacks were too heavy, and ultra-light packs were too bare-bones.

brian-idaho-375-485

Trailspace – Gear Maker Profile: Brian Frankle of ULA-Equipment

(via Two-Heel Drive) … and Facebook

I am looking for a new multi-day hiking pack this season. My beloved Granite Gear Virga is getting “holey” and is somewhat underfeatured to carry my preferred gear list.

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cooking outdoors – Jetboil Flash PCS


The best site by far for hikers who EAT FOOD is Trail Cooking & The Outdoors.

Subscribe to that blog, for sure.

Sarah posted a good overview article: The Many Methods Of Trail Cooking. The main categories:

  • Freezer Bag Cooking™ (FBC style)
  • One pot meals
  • No Cook Method
  • Insulated mug method

    • If you like one pot meals you should check out the recently announced Jetboil Flash PCS.

    will come in four colors—black, gold, purple, and blue …

    thermochromic technology (the decorative wave on the outside of the cup changes colors as contents inside heat up) …

    translucent lid to track cooking progress …

    The Flash PCS canister stove will be available for fall 2009 and will retail for $99.95.

    Trailspace

    I’ll be updating my current JetBoil. These are good improvements.

    Click PLAY or watch a demo on YouTube.

    Still … the entire system is dangerously unstable. (The centre of gravity too high for the small base of support.) I never use it without stabilizing the unit by burying the base in the sand, or bracing it with rocks.

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    bike tent combo


    Another odd idea.

    … According to Topeak, the Bikamper ‘is a personal shelter that utilizes a 26″ mountain or 700c road front wheel in place of tent poles.’ The tent and the fly fold down into tiny 10.2″ x 5.5″ pack, weighing in at 3.59 lbs. …

    bikamper

    Uncooped – campergirl – The Bikamper: A good idea?

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    waterproof backpacks and bags

    Famously, in his classic book A Walk in the Woods, author Bill Bryson was outraged that top-of-the-line backpacks were not waterproof.

    That’s finally changing.

    Shopping my favourite gear store (Mountain Equipment Co-op) with Christmas gift certificates, I was surprised how many waterproof backpacks were on the shelves. Their website lists 16 products in the hiking section.

    MEC carries Outdoor Research (OR) and Seal Line. Both looked great.

    For example, the OR Drycomp Summit Sack:

    or-drycomp-summit-sack`

    Only $55.00 CAD. Cheap.

    For myself, I picked up a $10 MEC Sil/Pu Pack Liner.

    What gear did you buy yourself for Christmas?

    Leave a comment.

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    VholdR – wearable sport camcorder

    I’m looking at options for recording adventure racing events.

    This would work.

    VholdR Wearable Camcorder (Black)

    VholdR Wearable Camcorder (Black) ($330)

    Leave a comment if you have any other recommendations.

    “Waterproof” (or water resistance) is a big selling point. Here is the VholdR being used on a Jetski.

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    how to pack your hiking food

    Sectionhiker put up a great post:

    Tips and Tricks: How to Pack a Food Bag:

    1. When I pack my bear bag at home, I first divide all of my meals into 5 piles: breakfasts, lunches, dinners, snacks, and drinks.

    2. I put each pile into it’s own plastic bag. I find that the best ones to use for this purpose are the plastic bags that I get from the dry cleaners that wrap my folded dress shirts.

    3. I place my backpacking towel, bear bag line, and mesh sack at the bottom of my food bag.

    4. Then I insert my O.P. Sack into my bear bag and place my long handled titanium spoon and toob tooth brush along the inside, propped up vertically for easy access.

    5. Next, I put the 5 bags of food into my O.P. sack, one by one, so that the meal or snack that I want next, is positioned at the top of my food bag. After, I’ve eaten something, I reorder the bags as required, so that food breaks can be kept short if I want to get going again.

    6. I always carry my food bag on top of the other gear in my backpack so that it’s easy to access during the day.

    Click through for the details – Tips and Tricks: How to Pack a Food Bag – Sectionhiker

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    flying tents

    Nothing like a good “Maytag” tent photo.

    This tent belongs to the West Virginia Civil Air Patrol … All the cadets placed their day equipment into this tent, but no one noticed that it was not staked down. When all the cadets removed their equipment, a gust of wind knocked the tent over. (The top of the tent is facing down.) At the top of the tent is a screen so the tent was more like a parachute. The tent was in the air for about 15 seconds and reached an altitude of 30 feet. Photo by Rocco S. Rossetti

    flying_tent.jpg

    (via EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2006 Photo Gallery)

    And another:

    … at Maker Faire Austin, the lights went out. All power was lost in one whole area of the fairgrounds. It turned out that a dome tent from the camping area had taken flight in a dust devil and crashed into the power lines. Fernando Rizo got a couple of great shots of the tent moments before impact.

    MAKE

    tentfo102308_1.jpg

    tentfo102308_2.jpg

    (via The Piton)

    Leave a comment if you’ve ever had your tent take flight.