GEAR OF THE YEAR 2019

[Lamont]

A bit of fun. If you'd like to contribute might you take note of the following please.
Caveats.
1-Must have been purchased by you this year. Doesn't matter if it's been around a long time.
2-You must have used it for a reasonable time. Say 60 hours minimum. Please no -just used it once and love it. Quilts made for minus eight that work at plus five also.
3-It has to have done the job YOU INTENDED.
OR -It could also have been a surprise. Just works so well!
4-If you have a DUD I think it would be alright to mention -BUT it must have NOT MET THE company HYPE. Can't be user error. Maybe avoid the GTX boots for warm weather use here.
--Also peoples intended use is varied. AS LONG as it works for you is all that matters.
Feel free to ask a question of the reviewer- best use etc. I might get a few tips! Giddee Upp.
Mine-Cumulus Apex Climalite Jumper and the Mac Nitro. Hundreds of hours on both. Brilliant.
No duds for me.

Last edited by Lamont on Mon 23 Dec, 2019 8:26 am, edited 1 time in total.

[norts]

Tarptent Notch LI- great tent, easy to pitch.

[Zapruda]

Tarptent Notch LI- great tent, easy to pitch.

Exactly my thoughts. I have both the Sil and DCF version and they put all the other shelters I have used over the past decade to shame. I can’t see myself not using a Notch in the future. I’ve put 100+ nights between them, and the Li will be coming with me on the Hayduke and PCT for 6 months next year.

2nd place goes to my HMG Southwest. I’ve put that pack through hundreds of days of hard use and it’s still holding up. It Shrugs off Namadgi scrub and granite likes it’s nothing. Love that thing.

3rd place goes to my newly acquired Nunatak synthetic jacket. Perfect for sitting around camp on those cold alpine afternoons and excellent to start off the day on those frigid mornings. Exceptional quality.

Honourable mention - Merino Wundies. So comfy, no chafe, durable.

Dud of the year goes to my leaky large Thermarest Xlite. Great to sleep on when it stays inflated... sending it in for a replacement in the new year.


Edit - I didn’t read the caveats. The pack was purchased 3 years ago and the Notch Li last year.

[Lamont]

I'll allow it this once Zapruda because you put me onto the Nitro
Something for you from the sage https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HX55AzGku5Y "...I find tinsel distracting..."
Buon Natale S.
G

Last edited by Lamont on Mon 23 Dec, 2019 10:18 am, edited 1 time in total.

[Zapruda]

Same to you G.

[north-north-west]

ULA Catalyst. It was on my wishlist for a few years and this year I finally bit the bullet and got one. In red. It's marvellous. Light, more capacity than stated for the main compartment, easy to access side pockets, easy to set-up and adjust, most comfortable harness I've ever used (especially the shoulder straps), and stood up to scrub and rock in Tassie, West Macs and Flinders Ranges with no signs of wear yet. Managed to pack twelve days food in there somehow (wouldn't be possible with the usual Tassie gear, but without full waterproofs and one or two other bits, it was fine). Cinches down small enough to be highly practical as a daypack for trips from a base camp.
All it needs to be absolutely perfect is seam sealing and a bit of velcro on the roll-top closure.

No duds except the body, and that's an old acquisition.

[Heremeahappy1]

Having never used a windshirt before Decathlon Helium 500. Less than $30, stuffs into your pocket, light, an absolute game changer. Used for 2 weeks on AAWT from Kosci to Hotham - snow, brutal sun and alpine winds Made me rethink clothing list. Was a recommendation from Mark F on this forum. Thanks again.

[Nuts]

RJays (motorbike) overmitts. Great value, simple, very well made. The material doesn't vent heat & moisture but that's not so much of an issue when overmitts are needed most.

Goretex was too leaky, Cuben too flimsy. Both too expensive.
These no nonsense mitts are proving juuust right!

[johnrs]

And for me in a very cold place

first goes to Aldi merino T shirts
and second a MacPac Tui fleece pullover
Both were a surprise.
John

[CBee]

HMG Southwest. 3400 black. I was surprised from a comfort point of view. But the price tag is ridiculous.

[crollsurf]

Bought a Arcteryx Beta AR for Tasmania this year. Best rain jacket I have ever had. Used for 3 full days of rain and 5 days skiing. Not UL but knowing you will stay dry all-day every-day makes it worth the extra weight. It also has a durable outer layer which I haven't fully tested but confident it will handle scrub better than most. To be honest @ $700+ not sure I want to test it in the scrub

Zpacks DCF 8.5 x 10. Had a bad experience many years ago with a snake and a tarp so reluctantly bought this. Now I pretty much only travel with this Tarp, so much lighter and a heap more space in fine weather compared to my 1 man tents.

[Petew]

My Atom packs Mo 40. Super comfy with a week's worth of winter crap in it. Very robust for a lightweight pack. Plus got it modified with exactly the features I wanted. Hats off to Tom.

Undercling Mike full zip hoodless sleeping bag -12c very happy with it.

My gear of the year winner though is my mum's old Janome sewing machine.

[andrewa]

My Nitecore NU 25 headlamp....so light, so bright.

My (second hand) HMG Summit pack - an almost perfect design.

A

[Petew]

The nitecore NU 25 is pretty sweet!

[Bubbalouie]

Fenix 6x Pro Sapphire.

The battery life is absolutely astounding, I did the whole KIWT with it tracking me, including side trails and lunch breaks etc. Once all was said and done I still had 20% battery left.

It's also a serviceable replacement for my old eTrex, certainly good enough if you've made some courses and loaded the relevant waypoints.

[ribuck]

The Petzl Bindi headtorch. Super light (35g including strap), USB rechargeable, just the right range of brightness options for me, very comfortable to wear, and has a sensible control system which starts from the lowest light level every time but remembers whether you were on white or red. Used on about 70 days of bushwalks.

The Six Moon Designs Lunar Solo single-skin tent. Used on about 50 days in Central Australia plus 15 days in NSW. Some condensation when used in NSW, but for Central Australia it has been the perfect tent. Light, easy to pitch, well-suited to pegless pitches with rock anchors, very spacious, easy to get in and out of, great view when you leave the vestibule flaps up. And not expensive! However, the zip is starting to jam and I reserve the right to rescind this "Gear of the Year 2019" award if it proves difficult to repair.

[Moondog55]

I was going to play but I don't think I actually bought any new gear in 2019

[wildwanderer]

The Petzl Bindi headtorch.

Looks good, thinking about this one.

How do you find the battery life especially now you have used it for 70 days? Still good or has it decreased?

How many days walking do you get between recharges? Assuming nightly camp use.

[Lamont]

Wow, some nice recommendations! Fairly quiet so far though. Vote early and vote often.
Winner drawn on the 31st at the Societe' headquarters. I see half a dozen contenders thus far. *No correspondence will be entered into.

[philm]

The note core NU 25 gets my vote light and powerful used for about 40 nites

[ribuck]

How do you find the battery life especially now you have used it for 70 days? Still good or has it decreased?

How many days walking do you get between recharges?

Hi wildwanderer,

I haven't noticed any reduction in battery life yet. I easily get five night's use around camp, but I realise that's not a rigorous measure.

My only concern would be if I was delayed and had to walk for three hours on the brightest setting to get to camp. It couldn't do that. I usually carry a small power bank for my phone, so if I needed to walk extensively at night I would recharge on the go.

[bobcrusader]

Nemo Fillo Backpacking/Camping Pillow. So comfy, I now even use it at home!

[wildwanderer]

Cheers ribuck. Very helpful.

Now for my gear of the year recommendation.

Gatewood Cape by Six moon designs.

Weighing 289 grams 2018 version. (unseam-sealed from the factory without pegs).

I originally purchased the Gatewood early this year as an emergency shelter for hut to hut walks in NZ however now it has replaced the 1.1kg tarptent as my go to shelter/tent for 3 season walking.

Extremely compact, stuffs into it's own pocket. Including bugnet, pegs and gnd sheet, it all fits. About the size of a lunchbox.

Pitched using a single trekking pole I've used it for about 15 nights so far this year in a variety of conditions. Sunshine, all night heavy rain in NZ and at altitude. It's handled 30-40km/h winds without a problem. I've stayed dry and comfortable throughout.

Setup is more time consuming than a free standing tent as it's a modular solution.

- Gatewood shelter (305gms seamsealed)
- polycro ground sheet (44gms)
- sea to summit nano bug net (87gms)
- 2 x stick elevated guys for extra headroom. (10gms each)
- 8 ti pegs (54gms)

Deploying all the above and getting a tight pitch takes 10-12 mins. Gatewood only and its under 5 mins.

It's sil but I've only noticed sag in very wet/misty conditions.

Heaps of room for me and gear. Can sit up. On wet mornings I take down the bug net, sit in my camp chair and boil coffee and breakfast. All under the Gatewood! Joy!

It's main negative is it's asymmetrical sides, the vestibule side doesn't extend all the way to the ground, at it's lowest pitch there is still about 10cm gap. The other 3 sides can be pitched with full ground contact. It's mid shape can handle significant winds from those three sides but an exposed site combined with a midnight gusty 40km/h+ wind change could cause issues. Hasn't happened to me though.(yet )

[whynotwalk]

Rab Cirrus Flex jacket. I wanted a lightweight synthetic “puffer” that would be warm enough for cool summer nights at altitude on the Tour du Mont Blanc. It needed to pack down small, not weigh much, and not make me look like the Michelin man.

It more than ticked all those boxes, and has become my 3 season favourite to throw on in Tassie’s 4-seasons-in-one-day weather. More details here https://rab.equipment/eu/cirrus-flex-jacket. One caveat: unless you’re made of money, look for it discounted at sites like Cotswold Outdoors.

cheers

Peter

[Rileyr]

Enlightened Equipment climashield apex jackets and quilts!

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

[Lamont]

Enlightened Equipment climashield apex jackets and quilts!

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

Hey now! Can you be more specific. Which worked best for you?

[Lamont]

Whoops a daisy-Patagonia Baggies. Your nether region will love you for them.

[Mark F]

And don't forget, wildwanderer, on those days where it is bucketing down you can slip off your dry pack that is under the cape and sit down for a break and scabble around in your pack for snacks or lunch all in amazing dryness.

[Lamont]

Well it's time.
For the 19th Annual Bushwalk.com GEAR OF THE YEAR.
This year the GEAR OF THE YEAR candidates are;
Cumulus Climalite Apex Jumper, straight out of Poland
Macpac Nitro, the new UL darling
Nunatak Apex (hmmm lovely, I concur Zapruda!) ,
Tarptent Notch Li, Just WOW!
ULA Catalyst, sounds awesome
Decathlon Helium, no one trick pony
RJays (motorbike) overmitts, the answer was simple
a MacPac Tui fleece pullover, ah sweet fleece
HMG Southwest, tried and tested and beloved by many
an Arcteryx Beta AR, WOW again (hey big spender Crolly!),
an Atom Mo 40, the world loves his rucksacks
mum's old Janome sewing machine, the sentimental favourite,
the UL favourite Nitecore NU 25 headtorch was very popular all over the shop with good reason (I like my NU20 but it's two years old now),
the Fenix 6x Pro Sapphire, sounds like better tracking than the Australian Signals Detectorate!
Petzl Bindi headtorch, excellence in a very small package
Nemo Fillo Backpacking/Camping Pillow, it's so good I use it at home -sweet!
Gatewood Cape by Six moon designs, No one trick pony again-UL simplicity!
a Rab Cirrus Flex jacket, Ah Synthetics for the wet -lovely
and last of all Patagonia Baggies. Let the air flowwww.

And the 19th annual Gear of the year for the year 2019 is

the 'Dark Horse'-my 1980s, 80 cent cowboy shirt from the Ocean Grove Op Shop High collar, breathes like a charm and pearl press stud buttons. Already clocked up about 200 ks and barely smells after repeated wearings!

Happy New Year everyone.
Let's be kind and generous out there.

[Zapruda]

Excellent work Lamont!

Happy New Year!