|
NonNCO posted:Out of the blue here, but I'm going on a 800 mile hike for the Shikoku Pilgrimage in Japan over two months and was wondering about the issue that's always kicked my rear end to some degree; chafing. I've hiked a couple of days in Japan. It's hot and humid as hell in the summer, but the infrastructure where we hiked (kumano kodo in wakayama prefecture) was very good and the 88 shrines route looks even better. I'm from a generally cold and dry climate, so the Japanese humidity really put a strain me. 2-Quarts of water (around 2L) sounds reasonable, if you've got the option to fill up one or more times a day. I'm assuming you've been to Japan before, so you probably already know this, but be sure to pick up a phrasebook-app thing for your phone, sleep in a tent if you are at all squeamish about bugs and get ready to start loving forest/temple vending machines. Your packing list could be shaved down considerably, I'd ditch the extra set of boots (and if you want, the original set of boots in favour of some trailrunners, but that's a personal preference), like you've already said, six pairs of socks seems a little excessive, so does bright fabric for emergencies, a compass and the GPS, since the trails will be clearly marked and I understand that it's a very popular route. If you'll be hiking in the summer, you could consider a quilt instead of a sleeping bag. There's a lot of debate about what people like etc., but for the Japanese heat a quilt would be perfect. Also, be sure to splurge once in a while on a stay in a ryokan or similar, but be sure to book in advance. A question for the thread. I'm looking for a new "cheap" and light two people tent and came across the North Face O2 tent. I'm not generally a fan of their products, but I've never had anything but good experiences with their tents, any thoughts? It's around 230 dollars and around 1 kg. Seems like a pretty decent 1 person hiking tent without breaking the bank?
|
#
¿
May 12, 2015 16:53
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 28, 2024 09:30 |
|
|
TheEye posted:Hey guys, I'm pretty new to hiking, but did a decent amount at Zion and a bit at Bryce Canyon and Grand Canyon a couple years ago, and am going to Yosemite soon. I need new shoes though, and am wondering which of the shoe types in the OP would be the best for me to go with. Unless you're carrying a heavy backpack burden, I'd suggest trailrunners. They're as comfortable as sneakers, grip great, not as expensive as boots and nicer to put on in the morning. I've heard good things about the Brooks Cascadia 9 shoes, I haven't been able to try them myself, but last year I saw a lot of people using these on their thru hikes, so if they're good enough for that they'll probably be good enough for you 
|
|
#
¿
May 14, 2015 12:08
|
|
|
BaseballPCHiker posted:It might not be the exact type of alcohol stove you were looking for but I've really loved my Trangia stove. If you want to go ultralight with it you can just take the brass stove and leave the windscreen and stand at home. They work just as well as the red bull and cat food stoves that people make themselves. I think they hold up much much better though. I grew up with the trangia complete set as the only stove I ever knew as a kid and they are great, you can even get a gas attachment for the pots and windscreen if you wanna speed it up, but while the trangia stove itself is very durable, it is quite a lot heavier than the redbull stoves people make themselves and also a lot more expensive. Making your own approximation is both fun, cheap and ultralight. I'm pretty sure you know that, but I just wanted to add this point for the guy you're helping
|
|
#
¿
May 18, 2015 12:28
|
|
|
Keldoclock posted:Another good minor correction for boot problems is lacing. this goes for trekking shoes as well, but you're right, its very important not to lace those boots too tightly. Everybody I've hiked with who wore boots and especially too tightly laced new boots always came away from the first day with a million blisters. Had one guy last summer who couldn't even walk to the outhouse by himself because he had laces up too tight! We actually carried him to a train station
|
|
#
¿
May 22, 2015 01:45
|
|
|
Rime posted:Get a down quilt from Enlightened, they are the bees knees. I have a thin one of these that works down to about 10 degrees celcius which I use for summer trips and can confirm, these are indeed awesome Also 450 dollars for a sleeping bag is insane, you could get like a zpacks tent or something for that kind of money! edit: woah, I retract my 450 dollars statement after looking at the feathered friends website. Still, seems a little excessive. prinneh fucked around with this message at 11:37 on May 26, 2015 |
|
#
¿
May 26, 2015 11:32
|
|
|
LivesInGrey posted:In general, what are the options like for hiking and backpacking on a budget? My wife and I are starting out with 1-2 hour hikes while we improve our stamina, but would like to work up to overnight trips. We also happen to have a pretty low income and seeing casual talk of $200 sleeping bags takes the wind out of my sails. Good light and durable gear won't come cheap, but people have been hiking for years with much worse gear than what you'd be able to pick up used on the cheap. I mean, just look at what some people used to haul down the AT or the PCT. If you're walking 1-2 hours to improve stamina, it's not like you'll be hiking for weeks and weeks soon and will need to buy the lightweight gear which makes such trips more enjoyable. Summer is coming, which is an easy time to hike. You could find and sleep in shelters, then you'll only need a foam pad, a light sleeping bag and a backpack each and maybe something like a Trangia cooking set, unless you prefer to cook straight on the fire. I love all the gear I have and I'm not a rich man either, so I save up for one thing at a time, but really, as long as your shoes or boots fit you don't really need to spend your lifesavings to take a walk Just think smart, like, use old water bottles to carry water, If your wife or yourself knows how to sew, it's pretty easy to make a decent quilt and there are a lot of guides online, you can make a decent fuel burner from two red bull cans, pick up some used packs on ebay, you could even just buy one foam sleeping pad, cut it in half and share it, putting your packs under your legs. The thing I enjoyed most about "going lightweight" wasn't the titanium pots, it was stuff like this, the DIY guides (sometimes called MYOG - make your own gear). Just get decent footwear and socks, whether it be trail runners or hiking boots, that's the one place where you really should spend a little money. 200 dollars is a little pricey for a sleeping bag IMO, but some of the guys here have even more expensive sleeping bags than that, some guy a page or two back just picked up a bag for 450 dollars. You don't need to do that in order to enjoy nature in the spring, summer or early fall, so please don't let it scare you off. And try to go light right from the beginning, it's a good exercise and it makes walking that much easier. In some extreme cases, this means cutting a toothbrush in half to save weight, but what I mean by light from the start is just things like don't bring an entire roll of toiletpaper for a single night outdoors, don't bring your biggest knife and flashlight, don't bring Infinite Jest, don't bring the entire bottle of sunscreen, etc. Just take what you need. It'll help keep costs down and walking more enjoyable.
|
|
#
¿
May 28, 2015 00:55
|
|
|
Keldoclock posted:You know this is a joke, right? These days people just use either generic, no-frills rectangular plastic handle brushes ( since they dont have heavy rubber and poo poo on them) or these Yes, I know it's a joke, or at least it should be treated as such. So should the zpacks toothbrush, by the way, at least for long trips. This is why I called cutting your toothbrush in half extreme and gave several other weight saving examples concluding with going lightweight just means to carry only what you need. I was not advocating for a complete SUL doctrine, just that shaving some weight off does not have to be expensive, which I thought was very relevant to the question posed, since the guy is, like me, on a budget, but mostly because he mentioned 1-2 hour hikes to gain stamina.
prinneh fucked around with this message at 04:38 on May 28, 2015 |
|
#
¿
May 28, 2015 04:33
|
|
|
lollybo posted:Anybody have a favorite smartphone GPS app? I currently have the backcountry navigator demo installed and it is pretty decent, however the interface sucks and you have to pay for the good maps. I heard from some people that Gaia GPS has worked better for them, but I thought I would ask you all if anyone has had good experiences with any apps. Sorry, no, I don't have a decent one. If I hike in my own country (denmark, extremely flat) I just use google maps and/or open maps to plan a route before hand. Hiking in more demanding terrain, I just pack a small compass and a paper topo map. Since I'd run out of battery too quickly for longer trips, iPhone GPS really sucks the life out of the phones battery. Since you'll end up paying for most good maps, digital or paper, you should try to give paper maps a go, They're a lot of fun and look fantastic The cheap way is to print (and laminate, if you want) a map from home or try to borrow and copy one from a library.
|
|
#
¿
May 29, 2015 14:33
|
|
|
I asked this a couple of pages back but got no takers, I'll try just one more time: Does anybody know anything of the new 3 season north face O2 tent? It's a 2-person(well, "2") tent for around $300 and just under 1kg. I've had good experiences with north face tents before, but that tent was like 10-20 years old. I've heard North Face has been dropping a bit in quality since, but I can get a 15% discount on this tent and I need a light tent for solo hiking asap. Honestly, I'd buy something else if I was in America, but this tent is just very well priced in europe where most brands are either very heavy or very, very expensive. Since it's new, There are hardly any reviews yet so if anyone with a good eye for tents could take a gander at it you'd be helping me out a bunch: https://www.thenorthface.com/shop/o2#pr-container edit: Actually, a review showed up on http://www.backcountry.com/the-north-face-o2-tent-2-person-3-season just two days ago and it appears favourable so I think I might just pull the trigger prinneh fucked around with this message at 19:17 on Jun 4, 2015 |
|
#
¿
Jun 4, 2015 19:14
|
|
|
Comatoast posted:Absolutely not. I would love any of these and have had them bookmarked for a while, but as I said I am in Europe. After shipping and tax, $400 becomes more like $600  edit: And I love the cottage manufacturers, shipping, tax and the recent downturn the euro has taken against the dollar just makes it way too expensive. My favourite can't-get-tent is the duplex one from zpacks, that tent is a thing of beauty, however, it's like $600 before shipping ($50), import tax (12% for tents), regular tax (25% of total price, that includes shipping and import tax) and then an extra thing of around $20 which is the price it costs for them to do the calculation, afaik. prinneh fucked around with this message at 20:31 on Jun 4, 2015 |
|
#
¿
Jun 4, 2015 20:19
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 28, 2024 09:30 |
|
|
Comatoast posted:Can you not get Big Agnes in Europe? I'd go for that over a NorthFace any day. I edited my post to show you the draconian laws here It's not really the international shipping price, it's what happens when a package arrives here. Having you "help me" would be illegal and basically smuggling, which, aside from whatever I might think of the subject, wouldn't be fair to ask of anyone I checked out big agnes, a UL place stocks them but for around £340 for a 2 pers tent, I'm guessing thats more than what you'd expect right?
|
|
#
¿
Jun 4, 2015 20:37
|
|