29 Days till Australia
17 Days till Ontario.
With only three weeks left in Calgary the final crunch is on. I am still collecting the remaining pieces of my kit - several more pieces have arrived over the last few weeks. Most excitingly, my tent has arrived!
After weeks of deliberation, "humming and hawing", I have decided, last minute, upon taking The North Face Meso 22 rather than the Marmot Eos 1P which I had originally planned to take.
So why the last minute change?
Well, lets break down my actual needs and requirements in a tent; I need it to be super light weight, as I am backpacking for a year with it. Highly compressible, as storage space between my two packs is limited. Good ventilation will be key on the hot nights, as well as during mid day when it will be too hot to trek. Also, this will be my home for the next year, I need a comfortable living space for me and my gear.
Lets look at each of these needs individually and see how the two tents differ, and why I made the decision I did.
Light Weight: There is no doubt these are two very light weight tents. Full no-see-um-net mesh canopy cuts tones of weight from both these tents.
The North Face Meso 22: Trail Weight - 3lbs 12 oz
Marmot Eos 1P: Trail Weight - 3lbs 3oz
Highly Compressible/Compactable: By storing the tent poles/pegs on the outside of my pack, and placing the tent in a compression sack, the total packed size can shrink to as little as half the original packed size or less - Taking up way less space - about the size of a football.
Ventilation: The full No-see-um-net mesh canopy offers constant air circulation through the tent, where as many of the solo backpacker tents I had looked at originally offered very low ventilation, and some none at all. Ventilation is key for the Outback for those warmer nights and the hot hot days where shade and shelter are a must during peak hours - where travel is done early and late in the day.
Comfortable Living Space: While the Eos 1P is definitely the lighter of the two tents, its free standing design is not intended for extended use where real living space inside the tent in necessary day-to-day. However, the design of the Meso 22 is quite the opposite. The three pole design actually increases comfort and capacity of the living space inside the tent. This is the main reason for my last minute switch to this tent.
The North Face Meso 22: Floor area - 29 square ft.
Vestibule area - 13 square ft.
Marmot Eos 1P: Floor area - 22.8 square ft
Vestibule area - 6.5 square ft.
Conclusion
Though the Meso 22 weighs in a whole 9oz heavier than the Eos 1P, I believe it will be the better choice for the trip. Double the vestibule size offers lots more room to store gear outside, leaving me with ample room inside - in both floor space and height to sit up, stretch out, and relax.
I can deal with the extra 9oz to carry knowing that my new home-away-from-home will be just that... My new Home.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Monday, April 4, 2011
1 Month, 22 days - Gear selection: How to Choose a Sleeping Bag
1 Month, 10 days till Ottawa.
1 Month, 22 days till Australia.
It has been a slightly slower week - recovering from some form of food poisoning or flu. Although, I did receive my sleeping bag this past week from Marmot!
Choosing the right gear for a trip can be a very tricky task. It can be crucial to have appropriate gear for your trip. For the new adventurer it can be an even more daunting task, however I find it quite exciting.
For a longer, more adventurous trip, such as my own, there are slightly different requirements for gear selection as opposed to, say, 3 weeks of guided tours and resorts. Over the next few weeks I'll walk though each piece of gear I have selected and why I picked that piece. I will later follow up on these with performance reviews from in the field on how my choices have fared out.
Today I would like to focus on my sleeping bag selection - Marmot's Hydrogen 30F.
So why this bag? Lets go through what we know about the trip ahead and what it will require.
Australia's climate ranges everywhere from hot, humid tropical forests, to dry deserts, to snow capped peaks in the rightfully named, Snow Mountains. I need a bag that will be versatile. Temperatures in the outback can be blistering in the summer sun, but during winter months can drop well below freezing. I need a bag that can keep me comfortable and warm. I am traveling a very long distance, for a long time, by foot. I need a small, ultra light load in my pack.
So how does the Marmot Hydrogen 30F meet these needs for me?
Versatile: - This bag offers a 30F/-1C temperature rating as its "lower limit" - the lowest temperature where the standard man will have a comfortable nights sleep. It is unlikely that I will see temperatures in the range of -10C or lower, very unlikely, however the bag has an "extreme limit" of -17C. This represents the survival rating for the average woman in a survival situation. Considering the average man has a warmer core body temperature than the average woman, and knowing that I personally am a human furnace, this is a safe limit.
Temperatures around -1C to -4C is almost a guarantee as I will be spending the winter in the outback - expecting cool, dry nights.
Size/Weight: - The Hydrogen is stuffed with an 850-fill goose down. Very light, highly packable. This, combined with a Nylon Ripstop DWR face fabric (weighing in at a whooping 1.2 oz/yd), gives me a super lightweight, ultra packable, yet durable bag. A total weight just under 1 pound, 8 oz. Stuff-able to the size of a small football.
Comfort: Down is a highly breathable insulator. I will see cold nights in the outback, but I will also see warm (if not hot) humid nights along the coast. When no insulation is needed at night the Hydrogen will still make a great mattress, offering breathability and comfort you would not get from just an inflatable mattress.
Overall the Hydrogen stands to be a good choice for the trip. However, my decision was not made without taking some factors into consideration.
This bag is filled with down, and even though it is covered by a Ripstop DWR (Durable Water Repellent) outer fabric, there is still the possibility of the down getting wet. And we all know that down does not hold up well when wet, unlike many high-end synthetics. The down clumps together, loses its loft and heat retention capability, rendering it pretty much useless. In the wild there are no driers to restore your bag quickly.
This was taken into consideration when I selected this bag, and is a risk I left comfortable taking. If you don't feel confident that you can keep you sleeping bag dry throughout your trip, a synthetic filled bag may be the better choice - or at very least a waterproof compression sack to store it in, such as I will be doing.
So will my selection prove to be the right one? Only time will tell.
1 Month, 22 days till Australia.
It has been a slightly slower week - recovering from some form of food poisoning or flu. Although, I did receive my sleeping bag this past week from Marmot!
Choosing the right gear for a trip can be a very tricky task. It can be crucial to have appropriate gear for your trip. For the new adventurer it can be an even more daunting task, however I find it quite exciting.
For a longer, more adventurous trip, such as my own, there are slightly different requirements for gear selection as opposed to, say, 3 weeks of guided tours and resorts. Over the next few weeks I'll walk though each piece of gear I have selected and why I picked that piece. I will later follow up on these with performance reviews from in the field on how my choices have fared out.
Today I would like to focus on my sleeping bag selection - Marmot's Hydrogen 30F.
So why this bag? Lets go through what we know about the trip ahead and what it will require.
Australia's climate ranges everywhere from hot, humid tropical forests, to dry deserts, to snow capped peaks in the rightfully named, Snow Mountains. I need a bag that will be versatile. Temperatures in the outback can be blistering in the summer sun, but during winter months can drop well below freezing. I need a bag that can keep me comfortable and warm. I am traveling a very long distance, for a long time, by foot. I need a small, ultra light load in my pack.
So how does the Marmot Hydrogen 30F meet these needs for me?
Versatile: - This bag offers a 30F/-1C temperature rating as its "lower limit" - the lowest temperature where the standard man will have a comfortable nights sleep. It is unlikely that I will see temperatures in the range of -10C or lower, very unlikely, however the bag has an "extreme limit" of -17C. This represents the survival rating for the average woman in a survival situation. Considering the average man has a warmer core body temperature than the average woman, and knowing that I personally am a human furnace, this is a safe limit.
Temperatures around -1C to -4C is almost a guarantee as I will be spending the winter in the outback - expecting cool, dry nights.
Size/Weight: - The Hydrogen is stuffed with an 850-fill goose down. Very light, highly packable. This, combined with a Nylon Ripstop DWR face fabric (weighing in at a whooping 1.2 oz/yd), gives me a super lightweight, ultra packable, yet durable bag. A total weight just under 1 pound, 8 oz. Stuff-able to the size of a small football.
Comfort: Down is a highly breathable insulator. I will see cold nights in the outback, but I will also see warm (if not hot) humid nights along the coast. When no insulation is needed at night the Hydrogen will still make a great mattress, offering breathability and comfort you would not get from just an inflatable mattress.
Overall the Hydrogen stands to be a good choice for the trip. However, my decision was not made without taking some factors into consideration.
This bag is filled with down, and even though it is covered by a Ripstop DWR (Durable Water Repellent) outer fabric, there is still the possibility of the down getting wet. And we all know that down does not hold up well when wet, unlike many high-end synthetics. The down clumps together, loses its loft and heat retention capability, rendering it pretty much useless. In the wild there are no driers to restore your bag quickly.
This was taken into consideration when I selected this bag, and is a risk I left comfortable taking. If you don't feel confident that you can keep you sleeping bag dry throughout your trip, a synthetic filled bag may be the better choice - or at very least a waterproof compression sack to store it in, such as I will be doing.
So will my selection prove to be the right one? Only time will tell.
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