[The Outdoors] Gear Inventory
Today I began a project that's been on my mind for a few weeks, to catalogue and organize all of my outdoor gear. I'm using lighterpack.com to track weight, and I also created a chart mapping out what's in which pocket of my backpack. The impetus was my store manager's plan (now abandoned due to a handful of whiners) to hold our upcoming biannual store meeting at a campsite, with the option to camp out for the night afterward. Although the store meeting will be back in the store, a campout may still happen. (NARRATOR: It didn't happen.)
The original plan pushed me to shop for a new tent, among other things. The second one I lived in when I was homeless (Marmot Tungsten UL 2P) was in shreds by the time I got housing assistance. It proved much less durable than the first one (Kelty Salida 2P), and I've been wary of Marmot products in general since. OTOH the sleeping bag and pad from Nemo (blogged about here and here) both performed excellently. Despite my misgivings the Cosmo 3D pad never developed a leak in 17 months of daily use, and my last winter was by far my most comfortable. The only disappointment was that my plan to put it inside the old Target sleeping bag did not pan out―because I had ordered the "extra long, extra wide" size, it didn't fit inside!
Because I'm pleased with the bag and pad and because I would like to put together a lightweight backpacking setup, I strongly considered Nemo's Hornet 1P for my new tent. In fact, the only reason I'm not going with it is that it's currently out of stock at both REI and Nemo. There are some other places I could get it from, but only at full price or more (Amazon's tacked on an extra $70). And anyway, I would also like to have a large comfortable glamping/car-camping tent, so I will table the Hornet for now. I've about settled on the Mountain Hardware Mineral King 2P. It's a stretch for my budget even with my employee discount, and I'm a bit leery because the Marmot had that same all-mesh-above-the-bathtub design, but hopefully this one will prove sturdier. Worst case, I'll have REI's return policy. Also, I like the color. This is the first time I've shopped for a tent where my critera don't incude "fits in my hiding spot" and "no bright colors that a cop might see through the bushes", and that's delightful. I'm also looking into accessories I couldn't safely use before, like light-reflective guy lines and a ceiling light.
Some other highlights from today's labors:
The original plan pushed me to shop for a new tent, among other things. The second one I lived in when I was homeless (Marmot Tungsten UL 2P) was in shreds by the time I got housing assistance. It proved much less durable than the first one (Kelty Salida 2P), and I've been wary of Marmot products in general since. OTOH the sleeping bag and pad from Nemo (blogged about here and here) both performed excellently. Despite my misgivings the Cosmo 3D pad never developed a leak in 17 months of daily use, and my last winter was by far my most comfortable. The only disappointment was that my plan to put it inside the old Target sleeping bag did not pan out―because I had ordered the "extra long, extra wide" size, it didn't fit inside!
Because I'm pleased with the bag and pad and because I would like to put together a lightweight backpacking setup, I strongly considered Nemo's Hornet 1P for my new tent. In fact, the only reason I'm not going with it is that it's currently out of stock at both REI and Nemo. There are some other places I could get it from, but only at full price or more (Amazon's tacked on an extra $70). And anyway, I would also like to have a large comfortable glamping/car-camping tent, so I will table the Hornet for now. I've about settled on the Mountain Hardware Mineral King 2P. It's a stretch for my budget even with my employee discount, and I'm a bit leery because the Marmot had that same all-mesh-above-the-bathtub design, but hopefully this one will prove sturdier. Worst case, I'll have REI's return policy. Also, I like the color. This is the first time I've shopped for a tent where my critera don't incude "fits in my hiding spot" and "no bright colors that a cop might see through the bushes", and that's delightful. I'm also looking into accessories I couldn't safely use before, like light-reflective guy lines and a ceiling light.
Some other highlights from today's labors:
- I cannot find the compression stuff sack for the Nemo Disco 15º sleeping bag; however it fits just fine in one of the 15-liter REI compression sacks I used to use for my laundry. I did find the storage bag (you do not store a sleeping bag compressed, it permanently reduces the loft, reducing its insulation value)
- While not finding the Nemo sack, I did find an entire other sleeping bag I had forgotten I bought, a much lighter weight REI Magma 30º.
- Foiled again by the sleeping pad's extra width―I bought an inflatable camp pillow with a snap-on strap to go around the sleeping pad and hold it in place, but the strap is not long enough. I drilled out the snaps and will lace paracord shock cord through the holes instead.
- A 1.25-liter Diet Coke bottle both fits perfectly into the side pockets of my pack, and its screw top is compatible with my water filter. I have saved my last two coke bottles and will be using them as water bottles from now on.
- As I hoped, the smallest size of isobutane fuel cannister REI sells fits inside my bushpot. There's also room in there for a few compact food items, like, say, bags of oatmeal, trail mix, etc. I found both protein-enriched Kodiak rolled oats and powdered milk on today's grocery trip.
- I've stuck with single-wall stainless steel for my cooking pot, drinking cup, and third water bottle. There are lighter options, but I like the flexibility of being able to plunk them directly into a campfire if need be. Can't do that with a titanium pot.
- I'm using a $25 kitchen scale to weigh things. I'm not sure how accurate it is. For few things I've gone with the published weight, because my pack is too big to fit on the scale and it would be a pain to remove the two MOLLE water pouches from the pack.
- I have a lot of stuff! I'm still not finished. Lighterpack.com lets me share gear lists, here's what I've got so far.