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underage at the vape shop posted:Now I need to figure out a sleeping bag. I think a -6/20F bag is sufficient, especially because I'm planning on carrying a thermal layer, I can wear that in the bag if it gets too cold. gently caress they get expensive real fast as they get smaller. I also need to figure out a tent. I've seen that a lot of tents use your hiking poles as support, so I guess I need to figure out if I want poles first. Do you guys use them? Where are you planning to hike and what are the typical seasonal highs and lows? With sleeping bags, they are an investment and one of the most expensive pieces of kit. I would suggest getting the warmest and lightest one you can afford. Personally I prefer down because it's warm, light and very compressible but synthetic bags have gotten much better and are less expensive. The Kelty cosmic down is a great budget bag. Most sleeping bag ratings are slightly ambitious. In my experience actual comfort is usually 5-10 degrees above the listed rating. One of the biggest factors of staying warm overnight is a sleeping pad. Bags do a really good job of trapping warm air between you and the bag. The thing they don't do well is prevent the cold reaching you from the ground. A lot of people will have a warm bag and still get cold because the ground was cold and went straight through the bag into their body. An insulated pad will prevent that from happening and keep you warm and comfortable. Poles get a pretty bad rap. They might seem unnecessary and clunky to some but they can help distribute weight, increase your balance on uneven terrain, give you more traction going up steep slopes and soften the impact on downhills. I used to hate the idea of poles but have since incorporated them on my longer trips. I don't use them in short day hikes unless the terrain is pretty extreme. They really do help on long trips though. My knees have been saved by using poles. Buy the cascade mountain technology carbon flick lock poles with cork grips sold at Costco. They're $30 and pretty much impossible to beat for the price. The cheapest poles at rei usually cost around $75 and are likely aluminum. The Costco poles are legendary. I'm still in my first set and have had them for 4 years without any issues. Plus with the Costco poles, if they break, you can return them for an exchange or refund. They're also available on Amazon for $40.
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Feb 24, 2019 09:12
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underage at the vape shop posted:Now I need to figure out a sleeping bag. I think a -6/20F bag is sufficient, especially because I'm planning on carrying a thermal layer, I can wear that in the bag if it gets too cold. gently caress they get expensive real fast as they get smaller. I also need to figure out a tent. I've seen that a lot of tents use your hiking poles as support, so I guess I need to figure out if I want poles first. Do you guys use them? After a very long night last summer when the temperature plunged unexpectedly I got some nice down sleeping bags for myself and my girlfriend. Not sure if Alpkit will ship to Australia but they are excellent value. I got these: https://www.alpkit.com/products/pipedream-600 They also make a down quilt that makes a great extra layer or standalone if it's warm. Sleeping mats have come a long way in terms of lightweight comfort. These are not cheap but warm and comfortable https://www.thermarest.com/neoair-xlite Down sleeping bags are amazing but don't work if they get wet (so not very good for Scotland). I'd really recommend getting dry bags to put all your stuff in, some of them are very lightweight but will prevent problems if you slip crossing a stream or whatever.
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Feb 24, 2019 09:46
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Verman I'm going to Tasmania, track looks like this at its worst. The person wwho took these shots was there in April I beleive, but it snows at any time of the year. I'll be there in November, so the start of summer. I'm in a wee bit of a hurry right now but I'll check out those recomendations properly when I can. There is a costco about an hour and a half north of my house, but they don't have any products on their website for some real dumb reason. I live in Brisbane, and I have a nemo tensor insulated mat that they rate for -9/15F. It's rare I'll go hiking in a place that gets snow, but I'll get use out of such a cold sleeping bag on top of mountains/in queensland winter. A Tasmania bag will be too hot for Queensland but I can just unzip it or bring a light blanket in summer. underage at the vape shop fucked around with this message at 10:19 on Feb 24, 2019 |
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Feb 24, 2019 10:13
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Thirding or fourthing the vote for poles. Poles are super handy on the downhills or rocky trails in general. They saved me from going turtle with my big rear end pack on my back multiple times. Only time poles are a bad idea is if you're my friends' autistic son and they somehow cause you to hike slower.
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Feb 24, 2019 10:33
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Hiking with poles really improved the experience for me and I'm embarrassed that I went so long without them. It's really improved hiking downhill for me, which used to be almost worse the uphill. My local Costco just started them for the spring, in case anyone needs them. Anyone have any thoughts on waterproof socks? My wife needed some filler to get free shipping at REI so I grabbed some that were half price because they were men's sized in hot pink. I have one hike I do a couple times a year where I have to traverse the edge of a small lake, which is always results in muddy feet and soaking wet socks.
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Feb 24, 2019 16:51
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BeastOfExmoor posted:Anyone have any thoughts on waterproof socks? I've used them a lot in a military context. It may be that civilian ones work better but we only use them to help dry out wet boots when you're stationary. As they aren't very permeable and are in wet boots, if you try and hike any distance you get blisters pretty rapidly. I'd go for gaiters - lots of us use the Berghaus Yeti gaiters which completely cover your boot and up to your knee with goretex. They look a bit funny but your feet just don't get wet.
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Feb 24, 2019 17:10
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I'd never heard of waterproof socks before but that sounds like a great way to get foot rot in a hurry?
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Feb 24, 2019 18:28
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My brother used waterproof socks on a hiking trip we went on and regretted it deeply, but...in some specific use where you're walking through a lake all day maybe they would be ok. MIght be worth trying to put a thin wool layer inside of them, though they will likely be kind of bulky already.
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Feb 24, 2019 18:42
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N'thing poles. Apart from saving your knees on steep descents and giving you an extra point (or two) of contact on rough terrain, they are indispensable for stream crossings. These days the matter of "poles or no" is pretty much settled, it's just a question if you want to carry one or two (I usually just take one). If you get a trekking pole supported shelter but don't to or can't use your trekking poles for it (e.g. because you are base camping and want to leave your tent up while you hike elsewhere, or because you have one pole but the shelter needs two), you can get collapsible shelter poles that are plenty strong and weigh only 1-3 oz, which is really nothing. Zpacks and MLD both sell these but Zpacks are much cheaper, I think (maybe not if you consider they are selling poles for 2x pole shelters while MLD are usually 1 pole shelters). For down sleeping bags I highly recommend looking online for 2nd hand stuff. Properly cared for down lasts a really long time and there are lots of people selling mint condition down sleeping bags / quilts for often sharp discounts. https://lwhiker.com/used-gear-search is a pretty good search engine that indexes a lot of the more popular gear swap forums/sites/subreddits. For the ~20F range you are targeting I am a big fan of quilts vs mummy bags; you may want to consider the pros and cons and see if they make sense. Also worth noting is that for temperatures around or just below freezing, inadequate sleeping pad R value is probably the main cause of people sleeping cold, and this can't really be remedied by a warmer sleeping bag or clothes. An R-value of at least 3 may be a good idea, and you'll probably be noticeably more comfortable with an R4-5 pad if temperatures get to below freezing at night.
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Feb 24, 2019 19:26
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I don't use them, but I can see benefits in winter or in the shoulder season when you are walking through a lot of snow with trail runners. I've read very mixed things about Seal Skinz and Neoprene socks. Mainly due to the lack of breath ability, but also due to taking forever to dry. They don't dry overnight. Maybe in your sleeping bag? I've read decent things about Gore-Tex socks like Rocky Men's Gore Tex socks. I recently saw Ryan Jordan of BPL uses these: https://www.backcountry.com/gore-bike-wear-gore-tex-sock?avad=189374_d1520e3f9&PubID=152258&PubName=backpackinglight.com As long as it isn't really cold I don't really worry too much about wet feet. It just doesn't bother me.
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Feb 24, 2019 19:37
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I mean, for sustained wet conditions, a goretex sock + trail runner is pretty much strictly inferior to just a waterproof boot. Goretex and other WPB membranes aren't magic--they have to obey the laws of thermodynamics--and if you've got a soaking wet trail runner surrounding a goretex sock (that is also wet on the outside), then there is no water concentration gradient to support diffusion from the inside of the sock to the outside. And with only a thin trail runner "insulating" the thin waterproof sock, there won't be much of a temperature gradient either. Water can not diffuse from the inside of a waterproof sock to the outside unless there is a concentration gradient (wetter inside the goretex sock than outside) or a temperature gradient (significantly warmer inside than outside)--ideally both. This is a hard thermodynamic limitation that can not be overcome by materials design, at least not without compromising waterproofness. Incidentally, this is also why a waterproof jacket stops breathing well after the DWR coating on the outside "wets out". So basically, while a goretex sock may stop water from getting in, it will not be able to breath for poo poo if surrounded by a wet shoe. And unlike a boot, where breathability limitations will result in a (usually minor in cold weather) buildup of moisture inside the insulation/fabric of the inner that can later be vented and dried e.g. by putting inside a sleeping bag or other dry and warm place, with a goretex sock all of that excess moisture stays right on the skin of your foot or your socks. Wet feet plus cold weather is really not a winning combination. Now for extremely cold conditions, some people use a waterproof sock as a vapor barrier layer (VBL), but this is to prevent the gradual buildup of internal moisture from degrading the warmth of a boot's insulation. But the only conditions where VBLs make sense would be MUCH too cold to get by with just trail runners, and they only make sense when using insulated & waterproof footwear. In any case, a simple plastic (fully waterproof, not breathable) liner performs just as well and is much less expensive than a WPB/goretex one in that application.
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Feb 24, 2019 20:58
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I generally just run with one pole but have the other on my pack just in case. I started carrying one to poke at snakes but found it really, really useful for actually hiking. I have lovely knees and they help so much on descents.
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Feb 24, 2019 22:34
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https://www.amazon.com/Cascade-Moun...ps%2C356&sr=8-3 Are these the right poles?
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Feb 25, 2019 09:58
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underage at the vape shop posted:https://www.amazon.com/Cascade-Moun...ps%2C356&sr=8-3 Yep. I have them with the plastic grip but cork might be nicer on your hands.
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Feb 25, 2019 11:09
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I can get them from american amazon for almost exactly a third of what they cost on australian amazon, including shipping, lmao
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Feb 25, 2019 12:55
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underage at the vape shop posted:https://www.amazon.com/Cascade-Moun...ps%2C356&sr=8-3 Yes those are the correct poles. My vote is for cork grips. Most high end poles have cork grips and they do feel nicer on your hands in my opinion.
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Feb 25, 2019 20:44
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-1 on poles, which will incur endless wrath itt but this will give me a chance to review my reasoning. If you have a constrained budget, there are plenty of other things that will better improve your hiking comfort in or below the $40--100 range: Real hiking socks (a la midweight Smartwool), breathable shirts, modular gloves, water pouches with hoses, sunglasses, lightweight thermal layers (often more modular that big jackets), spikes. There are also items that improve drastically in quality with an extra $50--100: Boots, sleeping bags, rain gear. Decades ago I hiked with a single stick, then a single pole. For the past eight years (at least), I rarely hike with poles. For traction, I prefer the spikes, which work over a wider variety of terrain, don't get stuck (between rocks/talus), and place the grip where you want it, at the point of contact under your feet. Poles require lots of maneuvering and positioning but contrast, which can be very distracting when you're concentrating on foot position, and surface strength and grip. Likewise, if the ascent is steep, I'll be using my hands and poles get in the way. A "medium ascent" is typically a "steep descent", so you may be using your hands to lower yourself, and again the poles are always in the way. Hiking with a pole was giving me knee and hip pain --- I think, I'd have to check my notes --- because I was favoring the poles instead of concentrating on hiking. They are rarely the correct height in any sort of mixed terrain and may require constant adjustment. Yes, poles engage your upper body strength; however,... poles engage your upper body. Your legs are probably stronger, or probably need to be, and if you engage your upper body you'll ramp your heart up considerably. Poles were slowing me down because of all the dinking with them, and having to stop so often to let my heart recover, so I switched over to using my legs. I don't use them for snowshoeing, and have done some multi-day hikes (I'm talking the 50mi range here) and long single-day hikes (~20mi) without them. If I'm heading down a hill, I'm "exercising my knees". In the 5mi of every 200mi that I end up using poles, I have a fairly high rate of failure. Once I used them starting around 12mi on a rather over-heated August day in 2017, made it to the top of the bump, then promptly caught them on a plant/scrub, tripped over them, and went face planting into the side of the hill. I'm lucky I didn't impale myself. Buuut, I got a pair of Cascade Mountain rubber grips before my five-day jaunt on the PCT a few years ago. I did use them on the final day because of an injury (naup, I didn't fall down); considering that I could barely walk while using them, who knows if they helped. I choose the rubbers because I wear hiking gloves all the time and had seen the cork get eaten by little furry things (that like chewy salt treats like cork hand grips filled with sweat). Don't expect to borrow my spikes, my hiking gloves, boots, socks, Goretex jacket, or the Platypus. You can use my extra mittens, my hat, food, sunglasses, and, yes, my poles.
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Feb 26, 2019 01:24
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A lot of that logic doesn't really follow, especially the heart rate bit re: upper body vs legs. If you're using the poles enough to up your heart rate either your technique is awful or the terrain is pretty technical and/or steep and it's going to be up no matter what, but using the poles can absolutely help take effort off your quads and calves and save your legs some valuable fast twitch muscle fiber recovery. If you're futzing with the poles constantly you're also not setting them up or using them right. I don't use poles either, but the only point I agree with there is that spikes are probably better for traction.
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Feb 26, 2019 01:31
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Poles are great because you don't get fat fingers from all your blood draining into your hands
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Feb 26, 2019 02:00
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Poles aren't really there to improve traction and it's hard to see how they could do a very good job at that. Their main utility is just to take a bit of load off your knees/legs on descent and to provide an additional point of contact or two on terrain where that might be useful. I'm not sure cost is a big factor since you can get decent quality poles for pretty cheap (compared to the cost of jackets, shoes, etc). For the height thing. most pole grips are designed so you can choke up on them comfortably if you need to. Personally I'm fine using one length setting for decent, and another for everything else. One thing I will acknowledge is that pole usage is not a substitute for proper foot placement and technique, and on steeper or rougher ground you sometimes see people adopting really awkward and imbalanced postures (like center of gravity far away from either foot) using their poles as a crutch. Apart from being a good way to fall down, this is really rough on poles. It's also true that poles are not really a substitute for developing the stabilizer muscles around your knees/quads, which are really indispensable for efficiency and balance, especially on descent. So, there is something to be said for making sure you know how to move properly without poles so as not to misuse them when they come along. But I don't really think that's a good enough argument for not bringing a pole or two. You can learn proper movement and strengthen the right muscles hiking with poles just as easy as without, so may as well take them. Either way, it's not like poles make a massive difference. Everyone's preferences are different, and if you find they aren't helping you then that's one less thing to bring.
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Feb 26, 2019 03:02
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I think i am going to get poles, thinking about it I always end up using a stick without thinking about it anyway. Opens up a lot of tent choices too E: i like hiking at night/twilight and Brisbane has these horrible night spiders that seem to exclusively set up webs across paths about 20 minutes after the sun sets. Having a pole on hand to deal with that bullshit is a big plus underage at the vape shop fucked around with this message at 04:05 on Feb 26, 2019 |
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Feb 26, 2019 03:49
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Speaking of those Costco poles, I didn't attach the snow baskets correctly and lost them at some point. Does anyone know if I can order replacements without just getting a new set of poles?
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Feb 26, 2019 05:35
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Vivian Darkbloom posted:Speaking of those Costco poles, I didn't attach the snow baskets correctly and lost them at some point. Does anyone know if I can order replacements without just getting a new set of poles? Reviews say these fit the Cascade Mountain Tech ones. $5.50 for 6. Bunch of others on Amazon as well, but these were the ones that looked most like the originals and mentioned those poles in the review explicitly. Get yourself some replacement tips while you're at it.
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Feb 26, 2019 06:16
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BeastOfExmoor posted:Reviews say these fit the Cascade Mountain Tech ones. $5.50 for 6. Thank you, those look perfect!
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Feb 26, 2019 06:25
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I miss the old school longbeards hiking with wizard poles. Some of my earliest backpacking memories is running into what I'm assuming are old hippies with something out of a D&D adventure manual. Speaking of poles, is there an REI equivalent in Scotland I can purchase some cheap hiking poles? I'd like to get a set before I head up to Skye but don't want to fly with mine.
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Mar 1, 2019 14:14
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Re: Cascade Mountain Tech poles. I'm on my second set. While hiking to the Second Flatiron, I lent one to my climbing partner (who left his traction in his car) and he ended up busting it and his rear end in a fall. Totally broke the whole tip off. He was behind me so I have no idea what happened. I will also say that compared to the Black Diamond carbon fiber poles, they absorb less shock. That being said, I can't quite make myself shell out for the BDs just yet and the CMTs did just fine on a 40mi backpacking trip. I will maybe buy the BDs if I break a CMT on the CT this summer. Anyways, just providing a data (err, anecdote) point.
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Mar 1, 2019 14:33
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Yooper posted:I miss the old school longbeards hiking with wizard poles. Some of my earliest backpacking memories is running into what I'm assuming are old hippies with something out of a D&D adventure manual. Decathlon or Cotswold I guess? There are several hiking/climbing gear shops in Ft William if you pass through there on the way up. I saw a (single) pole of some sort on sale for 6 GBP in Nevisport there a few weeks ago, although that's kind of unusual. You probably shouldn't have any difficulty finding some for 30-40 GBP, maybe less if you look around.
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Mar 2, 2019 05:03
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remote control carnivore posted:Re: Cascade Mountain Tech poles. i handle trekking poles the way I handle sunglasses: since I 'm bound to lose or break them I go the cheap route, and the Cascades are the best bang for your buck. The baskets tend to get mangled but overall they are resilent, however one time I lost my balance scrambling on rocks and fell back, my pole in hand took a blow and snapped. Probably wouldve been my hand otherwise No idea how strong the more expensive poles are in comparison, I was under the impression they're all about the same. Cant see myself shelling out $100 on poles lol
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Mar 2, 2019 08:07
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Morbus posted:Decathlon or Cotswold I guess? There are several hiking/climbing gear shops in Ft William if you pass through there on the way up. I saw a (single) pole of some sort on sale for 6 GBP in Nevisport there a few weeks ago, although that's kind of unusual. You probably shouldn't have any difficulty finding some for 30-40 GBP, maybe less if you look around. Thanks! The Ordnance Survey maps came yesterday, talk about some awesome maps.
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Mar 2, 2019 15:41
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Mokelumne Trekka posted:No idea how strong the more expensive poles are in comparison, I was under the impression they're all about the same. Cant see myself shelling out $100 on poles lol They are, you just get very small gains in shock absorption, durability, weight, and packability. I think for the majority of hikers and backpackers, there isn't really a good reason to splurge on poles. The differences are fairly minimal and everything is going to snap if you go down awkwardly with the pole planted (better the pole snaps than your arm/wrist). If you're spending a lot of time fastpacking or running with poles, then I'd consider looking into folding carbon fiber poles rather than telescoping aluminum, but overall you're best off starting with those cheap Costco ones and upgrade only if you develop reasons to upgrade.
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Mar 2, 2019 18:17
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It’s like climbing harnesses or parachutes, just get the second cheapest thing available.
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Mar 2, 2019 20:33
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I'll be camping for the first time since ~1997. The only electronic item I will be carrying with me will be my camera, and I will perhaps want to charge its batteries while camping. The trouble is that the camera cannot be charged via USB. So I think I am stuck with the regular 110 V charger. How do I power this thing while camping? I do expect sufficient sun light.
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Mar 2, 2019 22:43
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theHUNGERian posted:I'll be camping for the first time since ~1997. The only electronic item I will be carrying with me will be my camera, and I will perhaps want to charge its batteries while camping. The trouble is that the camera cannot be charged via USB. So I think I am stuck with the regular 110 V charger. How do I power this thing while camping? I do expect sufficient sun light. How long are you going to be out? If your camera has a removable battery it's probably better to pack one or two of those as spares. I hike with a Canon 70D and am usually able to get away with 2 or 3 days of charge on one battery.
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Mar 2, 2019 23:02
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Cascade Mountain Tech carbon poles are great, and cheap enough that if you leave them in the parking lot or on top of the car you can just buy more.
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Mar 2, 2019 23:55
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Yooper posted:The Ordnance Survey maps came yesterday, talk about some awesome maps. I love them, nothing quite matches them in terms of design.
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Mar 3, 2019 00:11
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Freaquency posted:How long are you going to be out? If your camera has a removable battery it's probably better to pack one or two of those as spares. I hike with a Canon 70D and am usually able to get away with 2 or 3 days of charge on one battery. ~8 days with a Sony A7R3. I have one spare battery, and I will be occupied enough to not be shooting all day. So while I might get away without a charger, if there is a cheap, compact, and simple option to charge one battery during the trip, I would probably pack it just for insurance.
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Mar 3, 2019 00:12
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theHUNGERian posted:~8 days with a Sony A7R3. I have one spare battery, and I will be occupied enough to not be shooting all day. So while I might get away without a charger, if there is a cheap, compact, and simple option to charge one battery during the trip, I would probably pack it just for insurance. You can get small and very light USB battery chargers for pretty cheap (generally specific to the batteries for your particular camera), and those are in turn easy to charge via a large travel battery or a solar charger. For 8 days, one of those Anker power packs or similar travel battery is probably the simplest and most time/weight/volume efficient option. You can get a nominal 10,000 mAh unit that weighs 6-7 oz that should be enough for 8 days on a mirrorless camera if you take 2 fully charged batteries to start. This isn't as elegant as direct USB charging but it has worked fine for me. Are you gonna be backpacking for 8 days or will you have access to a car? Cause USB battery charger + car is easiest of all.
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Mar 3, 2019 01:16
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Yooper posted:The Ordnance Survey maps came yesterday, talk about some awesome maps. Since moving to Canada I wonder how anyone ever gets anywhere. This is why I'm trying to update my local OSM.
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Mar 3, 2019 01:17
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Heners_UK posted:Since moving to Canada I wonder how anyone ever gets anywhere. This is why I'm trying to update my local OSM. Caltopo.com allegedly works well for Canada, although I haven't tried it myself.
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Mar 3, 2019 01:29
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Morbus posted:Caltopo.com allegedly works well for Canada, although I haven't tried it myself. Oh it does for BC, but even then the data sources it has are only so good. OSM could be the future for really great backcountry maps if we could get enough in.
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Mar 3, 2019 01:53
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