Some Cool Little Stuff I Got

Making the high dollar purchases requires some big decision making and some anxiety over ensuring what you are buying meets your comfort and utilitarian requirements, and that'll do the job for years to come.  Decisions on buying the little stuff don't carry the weight of life or death like the big stuff, and checking all of the options is actually a lot more fun.  A glance at my backpacking list shows there are many sundry items that are required (desired?), each with a host of options.

Here's some cool (and some might think some not so cool) little stuff that I got.

When out on a fairly long excursion, my preference is to hike to a good camp site near a lake, set up camp for a few days, and then day hike to other lakes and attractions in the area rather than move camp every night. I can then break camp and do the same thing at another spot. My preferred region, Emigrant Wilderness, has several such areas, like the many lakes in the Emigrant Lake-Deer Lake-Huckleberry Lake area, as well as those up on Granite Dome.

Update - June 4, 2011 - I decided the North Face Recon is too big/heavy to take as a day pack in my backpack (great day hike pack), so I bought an REI Flash 18 pack.  It is really light (10 oz), has a pouch and tube exit for a hydration bladder, chest strap, and when turned inside out doubles as a stuff sack.  The wide, netted shoulder straps make it really comfortable.  I even use it for hikes in the bay Area when I know I won't need much in the way of cloting options.

To make these day trips from base camp and for use on the many day hikes we do while at our Pinecrest cabin, I wanted a really good day pack, so I got the North Face Recon ($69, normally $89, in cardinal and molten red).  My friend Keith has several Recons, and  for the past few years I've had pack envy.  We have some cheap day packs, hip packs, and a few pretty good Jansports, but nothing like the Recon.  It has side pockets for water bottles, is set up for a hydration bladder, and has lots of small pockets for organizing sundry items.

I don't know that I'll always take it, but I have already figured out that it works well as a stuff sack for my clothes, so it does serve double duty.  If I decide to go lighter, the UltraSil Day Pack from Sea to Summit looks intriguing, though very basic with just one big stuff area and no padded shoulders.  But it's tiny and light, and seems a good choice.



For meals, I got a set of GSI plates ($5.95, set of 4, in case someone is along that doesn't have one)

GSI utensil set (2.50)

and GSI salt & pepper shaker ($3.95).

When I was a pre-teen, I went backpacking with my uncle (im Emigrant Wilderness) who had a little collapsible cup for drinking water, which I thought that was the coolest thing and a great space saver. So I looked for something collapsible as opposed to solid and ended up with Sea to Summit X-Mug ($11.95).

According to my research, it's good for hot and cold beverages, and keeps things hotter longer than a titanium cup, though this is heavier ( 2.4oz.).  A handy feature is that it also has measuring cup markings on the inside.  It's available in 4 colors, and has a matching X-Mug bowl that it nests into when flat (I didn't get that, as I'll use this as my bowl).

Other options I considered were the REI Sierra Cup (Titanium), and the Guyot Squishy Bowl Set , but I liked the organized flatness of the X-Mug.

For water bottles, I think that I may have to carry more water than would fit in the two side pockets of my pack where water bottles are normally stowed, and so additional bottles would need to have hooks to hang outside my pack via carabiners.  At $8.00, the 22. oz. Camelback Permformance Bottle seemed perfect, and in fact my wife and I have used them often on day hikes since we got them more than 6 months ago.  It has the patented Camelback bite valve, which for those of you who know from cycling or other activity, takes a little getting used to but is a great technology for sipping and conserving water.

Even though I plan to hike where water from lakes and streams is abundant, one should always travel with extra water (or other necessary fluids such as wine) and so having a Nalgene bottle or two is recommended.

This may go against the grain of most backpackers, but I like to be clean at night before I crash.  If I'm at a lake where I can swim or a stream where I can clean up, that isn't a big deal.  But if it is early or late in the year and the water is too cold, or I just want to be more comfortable, I looked for a portable shower that is lightweight enough for backpackers and gave a good enough shower to be worth the trouble.  The Sea To Summit Backpacker's Shower ($26.95) looked pretty good, though it seems from the reviews I should rig a better way of hanging it.  It warms the water in the sun, has a 10L capacity and weighs only 5.25 oz.  FYI - I've read that it is best to have a plastic placemat or something to stand on while showering, so I'll grab one from the kitchen before heading off.

Being slightly on the fanatical side when it comes to backpack organization, I needed a system that easily allows me to find things - little things - without having to rip my pack apart to find them.  Most backpackers use stuff sacks, and I may still get a few, but when shopping at REI one day, I came across some zippered Eagle Creek Pac-It Sacks on sale, so I bought 4 in various sizes.  I considered them a better choice than stuff sacks for me because a) I can see what's inside them, b) they are flat, and so fit better in the various pockets of my pack, and c) they have clips in case I want to attach them to something.

Anyone heading out into the back country will have to do some kind of repair, rigging, or general maintenance, and so a multi-tool is a necessity.  Leatherman is the old standby, and Martha got me a nice two tool combination set as a gift, one of which is really small.  I'm not sure which one I have, but the bigger one is something like this, and I keep them in a zippered waist belt pocket for easy access.

Next post - some shopping tips.