The Hiking in Finland Advent Calendar

Hendrik over at Hiking In Finland (a fine UL oriented blog) is doing a great holiday giveaway. I'll be taking a shot so prepare yourself! :D

Well done, Hendrik!

From Hiking In Finland:

The Hiking in Finland Advent Calendar

Over the next 24 days you will be able to win each day a piece of kit. From pullovers over backpacks to climbing gear, each day one post with a sweet piece of kit goes online, and will be raffled off to a lucky Hiking in Finland reader. There will be some rules and tasks, though:

1. You only can win once. This adds a bit of a gamble to the whole calendar, and makes you take risks with when & where you post your comment. Of course if you don't win one day, you still can try your luck the next day!
2. Generally you only need to comment to participate, but on some occasions there might be additional stuff you need to do to qualify.
3. It is open to everyone. As in from Afghanistan to Zambia, I send prices everywhere. And as I pay the postage out of my pocket, don't expect priority & signed shipping for huge items.
4. If you win, and I don't hear from you by the next day via Email, you lose and it goes to the second in line.
5. Posts go online in the morning at six, and entering closes at noon - Finnish time. I then will annex the post with the winner (+ 2nd and 3rd places) to keep updates to a minimum.
6. You can't bribe me or anyone involved to win. You use the item(s) on your own responsibility. Use common sense.

That's it, really. The Advent Calendar starts on Thursday, the 1st of December. Become a Follower, subscribe to the RSS feed, follow on Facebook, Google Plus or Twitter to stay up-to-date and don't miss it!

Fall Singletrack

Life and work has been a little crazy the past few weeks. Its nice to get back out on the trail and find your center. I was lucky enough to ride yesterday and today. I do love bikes.

Make sure you remember what's important to you ... and take time to get out even if its just for an hour or two.

Who are you calling lazy?!

Combine a newborn, scorching hot weather and a pinch of laziness and you get a really stagnant blog. Yow!

After last week's beach adventure, I finally have something to write about. We typically spend a week on the Isle of Palms every year to pretend that we still live in Charleston. Normally its much earlier in the summer (and oppressively hot) but we opted for the end of September this year. WIN!!! The temperature was in the mid 80s, the water was warm and the beaches were empty. Paradise.

Tropical Storm Ophelia was hanging out in the middle of the Atlantic when we got there so there was actually moderately clean and rideable surf for the first half of the week.

My board... surfing is simplicity

This wave was easily 4x larger than this just before Jenny took the photo

 

I took the long boat as well... plans included a paddle up to Caper's Island but that never materialized.

More 8ft monster waves... don't try this at home, kids

 Throw in some Aussie rules frisbee and you're doing it right

We found this blue crab in a tidal pool... Kate was certain that it was going to eat us

All in all, it was a good week but nothing beats a sweet bike & singletrack

Credit where credit is due

I saw this product pop up as one of Topeak's new features recently. I think I deserve at least a free tool set! :D Are you (still) listening, Topeak?

 Topeak's Rocket Ratchet Line

The set I put together back in 2010 & blogged Sept. 2010

http://lightpack.blogspot.com/2010/09/its-little-things-multi-tool.html

Since then, I've upgraded the ratchet, added an 8mm bit and I've ridden hundreds more miles with it.

What do you carry in your day pack?

Hendrik Morkel wrote an interesting post on his blog about the essential items in your pack. If you don't follow Hendrik's blog I recommend it highly. My approach to gear organization & packing has changed recently so I thought it might be fun and possibly interesting to write a follow-up post to Hendrik's original question.

If you asked me 2 years ago what was in my day pack I would have chuckled. I typically pulled my gear together just prior to the trip. The process wasn't a particularly efficient solution but it worked for me. Occasionally, I'd find myself with too much gear or worse than that I'd forget something. Ultimately, day hikes are just not that critical so it was never really a problem. Now that we have a 2 year old and a 2 month old around the house, I have significantly less free time. I've noticed that this keeps me from getting ready for my longer trips until the dead last minute which can be a little stressful. I'm an analytical guy so after noticing that getting ready for trips was beginning to be no fun I changed the process. The biggest improvement? Keeping my base gear in a pack and ready to go. Simple & effective. So now the big question... What's in there, Don?

I keep the day pack loaded with the essentials to get through an unintended overnight.That strategy is more of an outcome of having the core prepared for packing for bigger trips but its a nice benefit. In short, there's minimal shelter, limited food, water treatment, first aid, fire starting capabilities and a few personal conveniences.

This is what I carry - revel in the brilliance

1. Food - In this case, ramen with the spice pack replaced by miso, a block of dark chocolate, a pack of instant grits and some Starbucks instant coffee.
2. Wet Wipes - Becoming a dad has taught me the wonders of these.
3. Cook kit - My go-to kit is the Trapper mug paired with a Caldera Cone system (more detail on that below) & a few ounces of Heet fuel.
4. Utensils - Ti spoon & free chopsticks because its just not proper to eat ramen with a spoon. ;) They're resting on a neoprene sunglasses case I use to protect my phone when its in the pack.
5. Shelter - MLD tarp packs small and light. Perfect shelter from unexpected rain showers.
6. Essentials - Mini compass, mini whistle & eLite headlamp.
7. Stakes - To stake things.
8. Water treatment - Aquamira Frontier Pro & rolled up 1L Platypus.
9. Miscellaneous - MSR towel & 50ft of reflective line stored in my rock bag.
10. First Aid - more detail on that below.
11. Miscellaneous conveniences - more detail on that below

So first a little detail on the cook kit. I've spent a LOT of time over the past few years testing gear in the lab (read: kitchen) and out in the field. Jenny has discovered me on more than a few occasions to find me with alcohol stoves, fans, thermometers and spreadhseets taking over the kitchen. I used to default to my Snowpeak canister stove but I prefer my Trail Designs Caldera Cone system paired with the Trapper mug now. Its small, light, quiet & efficient. Who could ask for more? I keep a few ounces of Heet (yellow bottle) in an old contact solution bottle. (reduce, re-use, recycle, right?)

Trail Designs Caldera Cone & Trapper mug

My first aid kit is pretty simple and I assembled it myself. I keep it in a snack sized ziplock bag. Most commercially available systems are expensive and seem to have either too much or too little. Example: blister treatment. Most of the items in the photo are self explanatory. Let me know if you are interested in a little more detail.

I keep a few conveniences / essentials in a Granite Gear silnyl envelope. From left to right: firestarter packets, Rite In The Rain notebook, pencil (because pens always seem to dry up), mirror, suntan lotion & Dr. Bronners in mini-droppers, the greatest knife on earth & toothbrush / toothpaste.

Most important of all is to remember that there's no right or wrong answer. I had a lot of help putting the photos for this post together from Kate. When I asked her what her essential gear list looked like I got a radically different answer (see photo below). Ultimately, its all about priorities and experience.

So now the question is... What do you carry in your pack?

Kate and her essentials - Its a very princess themed pack but I'm still proud. She's chosing UL princesses at least!

Bear Bag System

There are a few commercially available bear bag systems out there for mind boggling prices. Please don't pay $80 for a bear bag system. You can pull together a simple system for a fraction of the price.

I normally bring an 8L Sea To Summit Ultra-Sil dry bag, 50ft of reflective line, a rock bag and a small carabiner. I'll add a LokSak bag if I really feel the need to hide the food odor. Typically I'm only trying to keep my food dry and out of reach of racoons and other curious critters. You should be able to pull this together for about $40 at full retail. You can easily cut the price down even further by using a simple stuff sack already in your closet and run of the mill rope. Reflective rope and a fully waterproof bag are both nice but not necessary.

The 8L bag keeps my meals organized in my pack as well. Its larger than I need for food storage but I like to throw my mug, toothbrush, towel, etc in there when I call it a night. The less inviting I make my camp site the better. Keeping the aromatic pieces of gear that invite the critters in for a closer look out of reach just makes sense.

My rock bag was lovingly sewn my my mom who is my inspiration for all of my MYOG projects. Its a nice element to have when you're out in the woods. Every time I use my bag to huck a rock over a limb I smile because I know that my mom made this for me. By the way, my rocks go over the limb perfectly the first time - EVERY time.

I keep the rope packed in the rock bag so its contained and easy to find. Having 50ft of line for bagging food is overkill but I frequently use a length of the line for this or that while out on the trail - usually to help someone else that is less prepared. I really like the line that Lawson has over on LawsonEquipment.com. Remember, support the cottage guys when you can. REI is great but nothing beats doing business with a guy that is actually out in the woods doing the same thing as you. Good stuff.

Bridgestone Poster

One of the things I really enjoy about mountain biking and backpacking is the community. I've made friends all over the world simply because of a shared passion for getting out and enjoying what the wilderness offers. One of those friends sent me this image earlier today so I thought I'd share it... proper. (Thanks, Dave - you get it)