Critique of some of my gear used this winter

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Critique of some of my gear used this winter

Postby Moondog55 » Tue 03 Sep, 2013 4:46 pm

Just a follow up on my pre-winter posts.
The cheap tipi I have already posted about.
The PaddyMade japara tent was strong enough but the roof angle was [as expected] too shallow to shed snow readily, and the waxing was really a big mistake. Even tho I waxed this tent over a decade ago it still has too much in the fabric and breathes poorly. I would advise anyone with one of these old classic tents not to make this mistake.
Until my self inflating mat gave way any of the combinations of mat and pad were warm enough but I also packed one of those cheap minkie blankets from K-Mart and I found that exceptionally warm and comfortable over the top of my pads.
What was a big mistake was the cheap Op-Shop sleeping bag, zipper kept getting stuck even though it tested well at home and with the foot area not being boxed I found it uncomfortable in the long term. It was however warm enough when used with either of my cheap liner bags.
The cheap surplus US stuff was superb, warm and weather resistant but the downside was the extra weight over dedicated mountain gear, the one niggle I had with the jacket was the insulation in the hood, it wasn't stitched down and when the hood was tabbed back the lining kept slipping forward over my eyes, two or three stitches with a needle fixes that.
What was a surprise tho was how often I wore the cheap snowboard pants; the combination of a lightweight insulation [ 40-50 GSM?] and a windproof/water resistant outer made them very nice to wear most days with just the silk weight underwear ( I often wore the US stuff over the top first off) and seldom put on my goretex over pants.
The big hobo stove worked very well in combination with the MSR on the occasions when I needed to melt a larger quantity of snow and was worth putting in the stash for this reason
Ve are too soon old und too late schmart
Moondog55
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Re: Critique of some of my gear used this winter

Postby Moondog55 » Wed 04 Sep, 2013 9:35 am

The one thing I did not have with me was a pee bottle and that was a big mistake, next winter I will make sure I have one with me.
Also next year i will have a hard case for my goggles; goggles are so essential that I will replace with the best I can find and make sure I have a rigid case for them. The ones I used cracked the inner lens when I sat on the top pocket of my pack and fogged up when I wore them

LED light chain worked very well as background lighting and when set on flash made the camp very easy to find when the weather was bad and visibility limited to 20 meters or less, a flashing light being easier to see.
The big issue is getting everything to match up and layer effectively , I only used my big down parka to sleep in and it was too warm for this in combination with my sleeping bag on all but a couple of nights when I went to bed cold and tired- mind you I would much rather be too warm than too cold to sleep well.

The cheap LED head torches worked well enough, it was simply that AAA batteries do not have enough capacity for winter nights.

Using insulated containers to cook food using stored heat was a bonus that made eating real porridge easy and the cheap Safeway insulated shopping bags made keeping hot things hot more effective and choosing bright orange made finding them simple, they also slowed down the overnite freezing of the water [ it was cold enough most nites to freeze a 1 liter bottle solid and I burst 2 coke bottles when they did not get put away properly] and being able to have my morning caffeine fix without lighting a stove was bliss, so I would advise if doing things this way to get the very best thermos available the lid on mine stuck a few times due to freezing on the neck as I took a model with no lid.
I only used the MSR Pocket-Rocket twice, the lack of a windshield made it impractical in my particular situation, it goes permanently into my day pack tho.

The garment I got the most use and best value out of was; surprisingly; my old mohair jumper and I am glad it did not go to the Salvos last year, warmer than 300 fleece but heavier than down its main benefit was the very loose weave allowing me to vent excess heat rapidly when I opened my windproof or parka.
My biggest mistake was not proofing my tracksuit with Nikwax, so it wetted out very quickly compared to last year and dried more slowly. This was the Pumas last season, my beloved has promised to help me make a replacement using some medium weight EPIC I bought on eBay last year as well as a new lightweight wind-shirt.
I am now officially a fan of Injinji toe sox, not one blister, its a shame that the long ski boot sock is $40- a pair but being blister free it will be worth every penny next year.
My US Army ICW were the best boot I have ever worn in these conditions, much better than the usual Caribou and the Thinsulate liner sock dried quickly, this is the only Goretex lined boot I have owned that actually performed as it should, the downside being the weight but they were being worn as a camp boot so that wasn't ever an issue. Crocs make great hut slippers but this year tall gumboots may have been better so I wore the ICW boots mainly when I wasn't skiing

Gloves and mittens were a small issue, I only got cold hands a couple of times and went bare handed most of the time, my rag mitts now need replacing and while the OR Mutants are a wonderful ice climbing glove they are a little too heavy and I need to make some lightweight windproof mittens
Ve are too soon old und too late schmart
Moondog55
Lagarostrobos franklinii
Lagarostrobos franklinii
 
Posts: 11176
Joined: Thu 03 Dec, 2009 4:15 pm
Location: Norlane Geelong Victoria Australia
Region: Victoria
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