Whoo Hoo....new gear!

“Good to know. I am getting a Golite Race in the mail anytime now.
Stovie, saw your pack idea. I think it's great. But I have yet to see an aluminum kids chair anywhere!!!”

“Yay! It is nice. It's the Golite Speed in "sun" which thankfully is more orange than that awful TNF gold color that I hate. I like orange. I love the water bladder system.”

“pixie - I found with a full pack I couldn't use the internal water bladder pouches. Easy to get the empty bladder out, but impossible to put back in w/o unloading the main compartment. Not gonna happen. So I just put the bladder on top of the main compartment - still threading the tube through the built-in slot(s).”

“Good to know about the water bladder. That's a pity though. There never seems to be a good place to put those suckers.”

“This is a new use for previously purchased gear:

take a big MSR dromedary bag, fill with hot (not boiling) water and drape over your shoulders and neck to relieve muscle knots.”

“I bought a bunch of Wal-Mart gear today. :)

Two cheapo sleeping bags that zip together for those summer nights when the kidlets scare themselves silly reading about bears after I tell them about the bears in the campground. My sleeping bag just doesn't fit three people, even if two of 'em are little ones.

A couple of cute little paddles so I don't get a black eye or knocked out next time we go kayaking with three paddles in one boat.

Little dipnets to replace the ones that slipped out of little fingers while intently trying to catch bugs from the kayak.

Magnifying glasses. We went to a children's program done by the rangers on Saturday and the kids enjoyed looking thru them at bugs and things.

And a new camera to replace the one I fried!”

“great idea Lyndy!
=D”

“Just got a LL Bean trekkin shirt. Looks like a long sleeved dress shirt but is made of coolmax and poly. I gotta start stylin on the trail like everyone else...it has 4 pockets on the front of the shirt and a button on the shoulder so you can roll the sleeves up and fasten them.

Also got one of those "3 in 1" jackets - water resistant nylon shell with a polartec 200 fleece liner that you can zip in or out. It's VERY warm ! Lots of pockets...yeah...gotta stop looking like a homeless person on the trail...”

“Oh gawd, I went to REI for some underclothing last night. First mistake. Second mistake after picking out the underclothing was "looking around to see if there's anything else I need."

Okay, the organizer bag made by REI and guaranteed by REI was not something I needed, but it can be used as a shoulder bag, fanny pack, or carried by the handle, and it holds whatever I need for a day trip.”

“

What sort of poor gear ho am I? I haven't bought a new piece of hiking gear in about 1.5 months! I haven't even sewn anything in that time frame.

I did pick up a new Dual face KZG Gemini 395 9* with Harrison Pro 2.5 ti Stiff flex shaft and Lamkin Crossline cord grip.”

“my stuff really really should get here today!!! really!! please let it be here today!!”

“WM can take ages to send those things out.”

“:( don't say that. It's still not hear. Not sure what time ups normally get to my house. It's been sooooo long since I ordered gear.

Shoot, I am not even sure if they shipped via ups now that I think about it.”

“my western mountaineering versalight got here. whooohooohooo, awesome bag.

rei send me my big agnes tent (super huge, I have to weigh it though, it feels like it weighs more then 3 lb and 3 or 7 oz.

it does look huge and awesome. can't wait to try it out. Finally I'll have some room.

finally got my thermarest chair thingy. that's almost another lb. I am going from heavy to lighter, back to heavier. LOL

oh well...”

“yay for new gear!!!!”

“http://www.boundarywaterscatalog.com/browse.cfm/4,3930,0,0,0.htm Sorry you\'ll have to copy and paste. My apologies. But I am thinking this sucker is worth the pound and a half.”

“Interesting.
The poor man's SlingLite....”

“Yup. It certainly is cheaper. It's a little heavier, but instead of the Sling Light it actually folds down to a small bundle. 3.5 inches by 13, I believe. I've been doing my research. ; )”

“the thermarest chair weighs a pound? I'll have to weigh mine - maybe it does - the stays would be close, but I didn't think it was a full pound.”

“That's what the specs on REI.com say. But there is a "lite" (orange) version that is 11.5 oz. Guess it depends on which one you get. I am on a quest to get off the ground though. I've been to some mighty dusty campsites this summer. I want to lean back and be off the ground. That's my goal.”

“the sling thing looks mighty comfy!”

“Rio Cali Sport 256 Mp3 player. Woohoo, rock and roll!!”

“I am on a search for a thermarest chair thingy myself. Pennsy had one on the Isle Au Haut trip last year, and he brought it over to our lean to, dubbed party central where we cooked up lobster and shared many a good time. But I digress.... I tried out his thermarest chair and basically stole it from him for the remainder of the trip. That sucker was comfy!!! The nights I fell asleep in that chair... Even with all the revelry going on, they couldn't keep me awake.

Bean's had a couple a few weeks ago and now does not have any, and their website doesn't show em anymore and there salesmen couldn't locate em anymore. They could locate the large ones, and actually had 5 of them, but we need the 20 inch ones. EMS doesn't have em either, or STP or Campmor. REI trip tomorrow, hopefully. Funny thing, the same thing is happening with the noseeum nets to hang from the shelter roof over your sleeping bags. REI lists those, but I struck out at all the others....

I have never bought anything at REI, but it looks like this will have to be a first!!!”

“I just put my Thermarest Lite Chair Kit on my digital scale,
11.0 ounces.

It works well with my Thermarest ProLite 3 Short pad, for an additional 13 ounces.

This is the 'Lite' version, I think the reg version is a pound.

REI does have the Therm-a-Rest Lite 20 Chair Kit
$29.95 Item 708550.”

“Binks came thru for me again.
Backpackingdeals.com

Chatted with him on the phone Friday evening, ordered a new Granite Gear Vapor Trail backpack from him. It was waiting on my doorstep this afternoon.

The pack came with free shipping this month.
Binks sent it express for nothing extra and a free colored nalgene looptop bottle was in the box also!

Thanks Binks!”

“thar ya go MonkeyBoy. Click on Stovie's link and do some REI shopping. You'll need to, cuz you ain't stealing mine next month in Maine. ;o)”

“Yup, that's the ones we're looking for!!! REI, here we come....”

“That's the one I have...

REI does have the Therm-a-Rest Lite 20 Chair Kit
$29.95 Item 708550.

so it's not a pound but pretty darn close to it. It does feel very heavy. Much heavier then expected. Sort of glad that I ordered it over the internet. I don't think I would've bought it local... (too heavy) LOL

I know I would regred it though on my next trip while trying to get comfortable on the campfire. SO yes, I am glad I have it now.”

“I came home from work today, and found a big box at my door. I thought to myself, what did my wife buy now? When I opened it up, it was a Malboro Gear internal frame backpack! I entered some goofy contest about six months ago, I totally forgot about, and I won. I couldn't believe it. Not the greatest quality, but hey.. a good spare. Proly about 2700ci, 'bout 3 pounds, fits me well. It's red & black. Pretty cool :-)”

“What kind of scale do you use to weigh your gear?”

“I don't know if I just have an older version, but I weighed my thermarest chair kit at 8ozs”

“would be nice. 8 oz. isn't too bad. 11.5 oz here. didn't weigh it eyt though.”

“monkeyboy, I have one of those thermarest kits that I never use...want it?
it's in that hole I call a gear room somewhere.”

“Stovie
"What kind of scale do you use to weigh your gear?"
pixie
01:38:13 PM
07/28/04

A pelouze PE5 digital scale. It's quite accurate to the tenth of an ounce up to 1 pound 10 ounces, after that it is a little low.
I checked it with some lab weighs.”

“That GCI Trail Sling "chair" actually IS quite comfy. And light. And Compact. I'd definatley pack it if I had it... but I'd recommend you try before you buy. I checked one out in my local outdoors shop. I really liked it at first beucause it's comfy & packs small. They say it can handle up to 275lbs. but I wouldn't trust it to stand up to any real abuse. It seemed a bit flimsy, and leaning it back is a really good way to ask for trouble (look at the little plastic joint in the back leg).

http://www.gcioutdoor.com/products_trailsling.htm

Oh yeah, and while I was there I got a new water filter (MSR Mini Works EX), new cookware (MSR BlackLite Gormet), and a new pad (Exped Airmat 7.5) which inflates 3" thick and packs down to 14x8" and only weighs 17oz! WooHoo!”

“how do you put in a link, anyway?

http://www.gcioutdoor.com/products_trailsling.htm”

“oh. Like that. Heh.”

“They said they will special order it for me, but I have to pay for it in advance. But of course if I don't like it they will take it back. Thanks, I didn't know the manufacturer.”

“Might also try the GCI Pack Seat (saw it at an REI store). It has no back support and packs up bigger but is light and sturdy. I liked the one I tried... except for the lack of back support, of course.

http://www.gcioutdoor.com/products_packseat.htm”

“At Bean's they stopped carrying the 20 inch thermarest chair kits. So anyways, being in portland, I stopped over to their outlet store. Guess where they moved the remainder of their chair kits??? That's right and with a good little discount also. Down from $29.95 to $22.95. That and some Bean's funny money equals a total cash outlay of $18 for two!!!!”

“shoot, that is a lot of weight for them. 1.6 lb for the small chair
and 1.9 lb for the large chair with back support.”

“So where is this Bean's outlet store in PLand? I have a friend there who'd love to find it!”

“Bean's Factory store is on Congress st in Portland. If you take the Forest Ave exit and head towards South Portland on 77, take a left onto Congress st at the top of the hill. It'll be on your right, next to Olympia sports. There are also some Patagonia dealers and TNF dealers up there on that street (not factory stores, dealers).”

“"I don't know if I just have an older version, but I weighed my thermarest chair kit at 8ozs"
ynamiynami
01:44:19 PM
07/28/04
ignore this user

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"would be nice. 8 oz. isn't too bad. 11.5 oz here. didn't weigh it eyt though."
Gemini
01:49:03 PM
07/28/04



Mine weighs 8.5 oz on an old postal scale.”

“okay, I am getting the scale out now”

“exactally 11oz on a digital food scale.

Those stabelizers are weighing a ton. There should be a way to exchange them and use lighter ones.”

“Sorry Kai. I know you were thinking OR. I hate when there are duplicate names of big cities. I get so so irritated when people refer to DC as "Washington." I live in Washington. They live in DC! Darn it!”

“Is anyone going to bring one of those chair kits to Maine?

I'd like to try one sometime.I saw one yesterday and thought about getting it but then saw the picture and didn't think I would find it comfortable.”

“Does an REI Gift Card count as new gear? :-)

I quit my job of 8 1/2 years. Today was my official last day. Last night was my going away party. I was presented with a great many gifts, one of which was $250 gift card. How generous!!

I'll report back to this thread as soon as I decide what to buy.”