Whoo Hoo....new gear!

“I prefer not to. I like the standard quarts, 16 ozs, gallons, miles, feet and so on measurements”

“And where you think that measurement system originated Ewker?”

“but you guys changed to the metric system. the question is why.”

“My Insulmat came in today... 1lb 7.4oz on my digital scale in the stuff sack with tags.”

“Mine was in IL this afternoom. :-(
Damn slow UPS!”

“7 years in the making and is more valuable than all the gear in all the universe.”

“my new GoLite Trek pack showed up today. I went and weighed it and it was 2.03 lbs.

between the new pack and sleeping bag I have dropped 6.5 lbs of weight.”

“Mine was in IL this afternoom. :-(
Damn slow UPS!”
GreasyGrimyGopherGutsStomper

Mine is no longer in IL. Mine is my living room. Woohoo!
Karhu Orion backcountry skis mounted with Voile hardwire 3pin bindings. All I need now is snow.

Oonga Boonga! Snow! Snow! Snow!


ps... who wants to teach me how to use these dang things?”

“If you had a Terraquest, it would tell you.”

“Put one ski on each foot.

Slide feet back and forth.

Say, "Yee haw!"”

“I have never skied but I would be afraid I would do the splits...ouch”

“I definately got the "Yee Haw" covered. The other 2 steps might take some work. I was an avid downhill skier many years ago, but this heel thing lifting off the ski might take some getting used to.”

“maps and guide books count as gear right? sort of?

well, I got my Rocky Mtn National Park Topo Map and the Hiking Colorado's Front Range Guide Book today.

Thanks Matt!

Latta Outdoors ships FAST.”

“It's gotta be gear. It adds to you pack weight.”

“New gear:
- Marmot Pinnacle Dryloft Sleeping bag: After 3 yrs, I finally sent it back to Marmot for restuffing. After the JMT in '01, I sent it to the cleaners and when I used it a few months later, the down was shifted. Finally got to the post office last month. They sent it back with 4 oz down. No charge.

- Marmot Pinnacle rain pants: They leaked at Montanapalooza, so I had to buy another pair on the way to the Winds for our second trip. Finally sent them back with the sleeping bag. It was past warranty, but they'll sell me another pair for $35. It should be coming any day now.

- OR Mojave Hat(s): Sweat was leaving a yellow stain around the rim. I soaked it and the color leaked from the netting and stained the whole hat (yellow stain). Sent an e-mail to OR and they sent me 2 replacement hats, one in off white/grey like I had, and one in green!

- Wrangler MT/Rs: SnowDude got me another set of tires for my truck. My old ones probably wouldn't have done well in the recent storms.”

“maps add to pack weight!

nice deal on the returns/refits Snowy!”

“my new camera came yesterday. last night I listened to some jazz and played with the camera, man it has some good zoom on it. can't wait to try it out this weekend”

“So what jazz were you listening to? Check out Zoot Sims.”

“Grivel G-12 Crampomatic crampons from The Mountaineer in Keene, NY. These guys are awesome, and were really helpful in finding me a crampon that fits both my plastic mountaineering boots AND 3pin ski boots.

Marmot EQ Helium 15 degree bag from Plateau Outdoors. $80 cheaper than any of the major retailers. Thanks for the heads-up, Ewker!”

“a new Paddle.........now who can I try it out on?????”

“mememememememememe!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


I picked up some new gloves for me and Sarah yesterday! and a fleece hat for Sarah too!

I like winter!!!”

“Yay! I got boots that actually fit well! Men's Lowa Renegade II size 7.5. Goretex, unfortunately.”

“Why unfortunately? Although to be honest, I've never really found G-Tex boots to be that effective.”

“Hot feet.”

“Yup.”

“Yeah, I know. I think goretex in footwear is overrated. It was that, or wait a week for the non goretex version to come in. Either way is fine, really. I just need to use more antipersipirant on my feet with goretex.”

“boots that fit well are the best!
=D

I like my goretex boots though. I can cross shallow streams and as long as the water doesn't go over the top of my boots, my feet stay dry.
But I don't have hot feet either...I wear smartwool socks year round, no liner.”

““Yay! I got boots that actually fit well! Men's Lowa Renegade II size 7.5. Goretex, unfortunately.”
treebait
8:40:14 AM
11/17/04

The gortex boots I wear are women's size 10”

“You have narrow low volume feet WK?”

“After owning an REI Sub Kilo for a year and a half, I returned it Friday. It was rated for 20*, but I used it 3 nights at temps to the low to mid 30's and was freezing every time - even when using a thick duff layer, a Z-rest and a Therm-o-rest all together.

They gave me full credit.

So, now I have a new REI Kilo Plus 0* bag. About 8 ozs. heavier but definitely feels warmer so hopefully no more cold nights.

Between the full credit on my old bag and the sale on the Kilo Pluses going on right now I paid out a total of about $3 in cash to upgrade. How sweet is that?”

“very cool!
Do you have any idea how it compares to the REI polar pod?”

“According to the specs on their web site, the Polar Pod is synthetic, the Kilo line (Sub Kilo, Kilo Plus) is down. Polar pod is 3 lbs 4 ozs., for 20*. Kilo Plus is 2 lbs. 11 ozs for 0*. Sub Kilo is 2 lbs. 2 ozs. for 20* (supposedly).”

“Always look forward to your gear posts tech! Thanks!”

“No prob, Nigal. If you are in the market for a Kilo Plus, right now is the time to get it - $169 and change.”

“Hey, tech. I have that Kilo Plus, too. Picked it up at one of the clearance sales last year. Got it for a steal!”

“tarabull - what temps have you taken it down to? Any other observations?”

“Winter Boots!

Columbia Bugaboot

i'll find out if i like them at all tomorrow. AND I'm now an REI member - I finally live close to a store!

Sarah got snow boots too!”

“Winter Boots...Koflach degre,hopefully the
newer version won't bark my shins like the
older pair. Dealer used a heating appliance
to warm up the liners,then I wore the liners
around the store floor to form to the shape
of my foot.”

“the US Mail delivered me a package today. I wasn't expecting it till Friday.

I got a new pair of Fleece pants and MTI paddling jacket that I wish I had this past weekend”

“Just wait until you try to get that jacket off (might want someone else around to laugh at you). Mine's impossible.”

“bought a zero degree bag tonight and got a good deal at EMS amongst other things. Spent 250 bucks in all for new gear tonight. Next purchase - new stove since mine was left in North Carolina somewhere on the big butt trail. I may go with a whisperlite this time. Since I'm getting into winter backpacking.”

“The only complaint i have with the whisperlite is the need to (almost) constantly pump the damn thing. But it does work very reliably well.”

“Been looking for some gore tex gloves for a while now but they are expensive. Found a pair of nice Columbia gloves at Kohls for $25 plus coupon plus wife’s discount so I got them for about 50% off. They are nice because they are thinner than most gloves. I don’t like the ones that are so insulated you can’t even bend your fingers. Hey! I wonder if I can wear them while I post?

The quick re3d fox jumpe3d noiv3er the lqazay brownm deog.;

Nope.”

“much do they weigh?”

“Ya know Sticky there are times when you're funny as hell. Then there are times like these...LOL!”

“niggle, I like that much better and its almost the same.”

“One of my old friends Nomad from back in the day here refused to call me NigEL because he said it is misspelled. He called me NiGAL until I started calling him Monad. He quit after that. LOL!”

“call you numbnut, but that could be misconstrued.”

“I went and got me a new mouse today. I know it's not hiking gear but I'm real happy. I got one of those M$ wireless mouses. These things have come a looooong way sense the IR ones that sucked batteries dry. The batteries are supposed to last for 6 months and it can be 20' away from the reciever. WOW! And only $25!”

“new trekking poles (I will miss all the scratches and nicks on my old ones, I put quite a bit of mileage on them) and a new whisperlite stove so I can cook in the cold and plus I left my pocket rocket on the big butt trail.”