All posts by Kenneth Shaw

Blogger, photographer and backpacker. If you like my writing or my site don't be afraid to follow me, like or share my posts here on the site. Thanks and enjoy!

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A chance meeting with a Jehovas Witness

So I recently had the pleasure of meeting a Jehovas Witness.. though not in the manner you are thinking. Yes, he came to my house, yes he knocked on my door, no I did not shut the door in his face, or pretend I wasn’t home or anything else. I opened my door, gave him a big smile and invited him in.

We didn’t talk about god, or about how he was part of the 100 or so special ones of the 7 billion people on earth that will actually meet god, nor did we talk about how god performs miracles everyday, or how religion in general has led humanity in or out of the dark ages depending on how you think of those things. We didn’t even discuss how gods word is so perfectly clear and understandable that there only exists 30 000 different scriptures and prophecies describing what god was actually trying to say. We didn’t discuss how wonderfully miraculous it is to pray to god and get cured from a common cold, but that growing back and amputated arm would never happen – because that’s not how god works.

We didn’t discuss how god loves us all, just that he happens to love kids in America more than kids in Africa.. or as Ricky Gervais likes to say “he loves kids in America, and gives kids in Africa Aids”. I would have loved to discuss these ideas, about the thoughts I have running around in my head from day to day, I would have loved to ask about his thoughts on Islam, or the Buddha, or any of the other thousands upon thousands of religions and why just his book, is the proper book. The one and only true path to god’s glory. I like these kinds of discussions, they open my mind, I don’t see them as debates, where I am trying to convince anybody of my views, but I think they are ideas that need to be discussed in all earnest.

We didn’t discuss the catholic church, ahh.. the Catholic church, by this point there can be no doubt of the true nature of the Catholic church: To cultivate, breed and protect a culture of pedophilia. Nor did we discuss the evangelical church that cares nothing of god and only of power. Power not just over minds of its followers, but power over politics, policies and politicians. We have an Islamic cult that wants nothing less than for it’s women to be chained and shackled and non-believers to be executed in the fiery napalm bomb of a suicide martyr. We lacked the foresight to discuss how world is transgressing, moving backwards in it’s evolution of the mind. A period of enlightenment is giving way to a dangerous religiosity.

But alas, these are ideas and subjects with which we are not allowed to discuss – for fear of being ostracized and stigmatized. No, these are subjects we are not allowed to discuss in public, only accept that the power these groups wield can force their own ideas, rules and regulations on us, but we, we are not allowed to discuss this. Only accept.

No, we did not discuss any of this as he was simply a young man that wanted to buy my computer screen that I was selling. As he parted we talked about life in general, and funnily enough, we discussed a little about the meaning of life.. or atleast what we could in just the briefest of meetings. I said to him that so many people fret over the meaning of life, that they forget to live. Life passes them by as they are too busy sprinting after money, security, love and sex. My point was that I have and had them all, and all I want is time. I want time to live more, to live fully, to experience everything I can in the very limited time I have on this planet.

It’s something I think about a lot, and even something I discuss with others from time to time. Many people say they want to live life, they want to experience life. It’s not new. For me though, it’s something deeper, I truly, honestly in the deepest facet of my being, feel. Time. ticking. Not subtle or quiet. But a loud and constant reminder that I will die sooner than I realize.

I accept death, I don’t mind the idea of dying, I have my regrets, we all do, but I will never have the regret of wasting my life on pursuing and sticking with a dead-end job, marrying a woman I don’t love, having a son I don’t want, not doing whatever dream or passion makes it’s way onto my brain or living a life I’m not happy with. At this very moment in my life, I have never been happier. Life is getting better the older I get. I have done more and experienced more in the short life I have lived on this earth, than probably most people alive, granted, that’s not saying much considering a large portion of people are born into poverty and die before turning 5. In any case, maybe someday I will write a memoir, maybe not, some stupidity is probably better off dying with me.

I realize I don’t really have a point with this post, just the ideas and questions that bubbled up got me thinking about some other things and I thought I would share them. Writing is sometimes like that, and it’s what I love about writing – I thought I would sit down and write a review of the High route, then I got thinking about some other things, than I just let my words flow and now here we are – a 1000 word bubbling mess that may or may not speak to you.

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Tält för de Svenska fjällen

Okej.. A little different here, I will be writing this article in Swedish, sorry guys.. The only one I’ve ever written in Swedish, and probably will stay that way.. I will translate it later. To keep you occupied until that faithful day comes when the translation arrives I have a nice little video here from my hike in the Swedish and Norwegian mountains around Rogen.

Tält för den svenska fjällen

  • Okej, men klarar den av ”Svenska fjällen”

Den frågan är kanske den frågan jag får mest på Backpackinglight.se. Enligt mig är det en ganska relevant fråga med. Men jag vill påpeka att varje lokalbefolkning tror just att  deras fjäll är de mest hårda och opålitliga fjällen i världen. (Förutom Danskarna kanske..) Överallt i världen jag har vandrat är det helt klart att just ”vårt fjäll” som är den hårdaste fjället. Nu vet jag inte vilka av de länderna som faktiskt har de hårdaste och tuffaste fjällmiljöerna, men statistiken visar att det är just K2 i Himalayan som är det ”hårdaste” fjället med sina 30% av de som försöker bestiga berget som dör. (Everest har 5% odds)

Med det sagt, vad är det med fjällen som orsakar sådan oro och framförallt osäkerhet? Svensk fjällmiljö är i stort sätt relativt lugna fjäll. Visst kan vädret ändra sig  från en timme till nästa och det kan regna hårt och blåsa hårt i dagar. Ibland kan man tro att det till och med  är orkanvindar som rusar ner för  bergstopparna. (det kanske är så ibland). Det är inte ovanligt att jag ser folk skriver eller hör de säga ”det var minst 20 m/s vind”. Tveksamt att det verkligen är 20m/s, men  förståligt att man skulle tro det. Jag har själv varit i 18m/s (jag mätte med vindmätare) och kunde knappt stå. Alla tält har det svårt när vinden börja stiga upp mot ca 14m/s.

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Tittar man på de svenska fjällen skulle jag tro att ca 90% av de personer som vandrar där oftast håller sig till de väl etablerade lederna med stugor och toaletter längst vägen. Även delar av Sarek har stugor man kan besöka och nyttja. Även om man skulle hamna i skiten, är det inte troligt att man kommer att dö. Det är inte att underskatta de svenska fjällen, det är snarare att man har förståelse och förbereder sig på vilka omständigheter som råder. Ja, det kommer att regna, blåsa och stundvis vara ett rent helvete. Men det är långt ifrån alltid så. Och visst, det är bra att vara förberedd när man beger sig ut i fjällen, men man ska inte förväxla svenska fjäll under sommarhalvåret med att bestiga K2 eller Everest. De är helt olika äventyr som kräver helt olika sorters utrustning.

Så vad är ett bra tält för svensk fjällmiljö? Ett bra tält i fjällen är kort sagt: Det tält du känner dig trygg med och har erfarenhet med innan. Jag har själv vandrat genom stora delar av de svenska fjällen med en enkel tarp, ibland med och ibland utan innertält. I stora delar av fjällen skulle jag nog rekommendera innertält. Inte bara för mygg, men även pga de blöta underlag man ofta har. De flesta somrar jag har vandrat i fjällen, är det oftast blött på marken, överallt. Visst kan man använda en polycro eller tyvek ”groundsheet” för sin tarp, men de är inte helt optimal i längden. Till slut hamnar man med ytter, innertält och ”groundsheet”. Med andra ord, många olika delar att få ihop och ändå inte lika bekväm som ett helt, komplett tält.

DSCF5043Det är kul med tält utan golv.. förutom när det inte är det.. typ när marken är genom blött.. Innertält är att önska

Svenskfjäll tycker jag kan klassificeras så här:

  • Blött
  • Blåsigt
  • Mygg
  • Milt

Det är blött, ja det är blött både i marken från tynandet från snön på vintern och i luften då de hemska mörka molnen kan dra över och bara släpper oändlig mycket regn. Kan man ta ett tarp och polycro golv? Absolut, frågan är snarare vill man? Kan man ta med tält där man sätter upp inner och yttertält separat? Absolut, är det optimalt? Kanske inte. För mig funkar det att sätta upp innertält först och sedan yttertält. Med lite träning kan man få ihop ett sånt tält under en minut – det är inte mycket regn som kommer in då. Men personligen föredrar jag att kunna sätta upp yttertältet först och sedan innertält. De behöver dock inte sitta ihop som många tälttillverkare gör – då jag tycker om att kunna lägga yttertält om det är blött på utsidan av min ryggsäck och innertält på insidan. Med andra ord, det ska vara enkelt att dra isär inner och yttertält.

DSC06267Pyramid likande tält som denna är helt enastående på fjällen

Blåsigt Ibland, eller snarare oftast är det blåsigt i de svenska fjällen, och för den delen är alla fjäll blåsiga. Kanske inte orkanvind alla dagar, men inte helt ovanligt för vinden att blåsa uppemot 8-10 meter per sekund. Självklart är alla fjäll blåsiga! Det finns inga träd som fångar upp vinden! När vinden överstiger 12 meter per sekund duger inte ett vanligt tält längre, eller snarare, det är inte så många tält som duger i sådana vindar. Det är då tältbågar börjar ge vika, jag har sett och varit med om tältbågar som i princip exploderat i höga vindar. Och då inte endast billiga tält av dålig kvalitet.

IMG_2812.jpgHyperlite mountain gear Ultamid 2 väger 500gram är bland de mest stabila och lätta på marknaden

Här krävs mer kunskap än bombsäkra tält för att lyckas! Att bara köpa den dyraste tältet redo för en expedition på Everest  kan förstås funka, men det kommer fortfarande vara en skitkväll utan sömn. Har du försökt sova i tält under extrem höga vindar? Låtar som ett Formel 1 lopp som pågår utanför. Ska man sätta upp sitt tält på ett helt exponerat kalfjäll, då får man förvänta sig att något kommer att gå sönder. Det bästa tipset här är att titta på kartan innan du beger dig ut, markera områden som ser lite mindre exponerat ut. Tex nära skog, mellan stenar och så vidare och planera din resa utifrån att du vill kunna sova gott och tryggt på kvällarna.

IMG_3143.jpgTramplite shelter i Skottland

Sedan finns det klart bättre och sämre tält för fjäll. Enligt min mening är pyramidtält eller liknande formade tält de absolut bästa på kalfjäll, vinden har helt enkelt inte har något att ta tag i. Och genom att man använder stora tjocka vandringsstavar för att sätta upp tältet så finns det mycket liten chans för att något skall gå sönder. Viktigt är dock att det går att slå upp tältet relativt nära marken.

Nästa är de mer traditionella tunneltälten. De är lite tyngre men kan stå emot relativt höga vindar, så länge man sätta upp tälten rätt. Dock är det oftast de tälten som går sönder just för att man tror att man köpt ett tält rustat för Everest och sätter upp det på mycket exponerade platser.

Sist är tält med lätta bågar, fyrkantiga sidor och lätt tältduk. De kan börja vika sig och gå sönder redan i relativt milda vindar.

IMG_2831.jpg Tarptent Stratospire är ett superb tält för fjällvandring

Mygg – Om det är något som Sverige har mycket av är det mygg. Som tur är problemet som mest intensivt under endast några månader per år. Här, precis som tidigare, skulle jag rekommendera ett riktigt innertält. Inte bara ett myggnät över huvudet eller en liten bivack. Stundvis på fjällen kan det vara så tjockt med mygg att man inte får vara ifred en sekund. Föreställa dig då att den enda lugna stunden du får är när du kliver in i en liten bivack. Inte optimalt.

IMG_3268.jpgEnkel tunneltält är härliga i fjällen – liten, lätt, stabilt och golv

Mild – Det är alltid farligt för någon att underskatta fjällmiljön som det kanske verkar som jag gör. Så är det verkligen inte. Jag vill inte att ni ska tro att fjällen är som att vandra i skogarna runt Stockholm. Man ska ha mycket respekt för miljöerna man beger sig till, kolla ordentligt, läsa om området och förbereda sig smart utifrån vad man förväntar sig att möta. När jag skriver mild, handlar det mest om att det är väldigt sällan man kommer hamna i riktigt skit man inte förväntat sig. Svensk fjäll kan vara brutala stundvis, men som tur är, är det ytterst sällan under sommarmånaderna.

Andra saker att fundera på:

  • Använder du vandringsstavar, isåfall är det ganska poänglöst att använda tält som kräver tältbågar – Om man använder stavar är det lika bra att använda just dessa för att sätta upp sitt tält med. Då har med dubbelfunktion av sina prylar. Sparar både vikt och ökar stabiliteten.
  • Det är enkel att hamna i ”jag ska ha lättast möjlig tält” läge när man väl börjar bege sig in på lättviktstänkande. Oavsett vad jag skriver här kommer ni att köpa den absolut lättaste pryl och tar den upp till fjället för att esta. Det är en del av processen, men glöm inte att bekvämligheter är nog så viktigt som lätt vikt. Det är okej att bära med sig lite extra vikt för maximal komfort och trygghet. T ex tält med innertält – lite tyngre men mycket skönare och bekvämare.
  • Om man ska vandra 99% av sin tid på sommaren är det inte så förnuftigt att köpa ett tält gjort för vinteranvändning och som väger 5 kilo. Köp ett tält som du använder 99% av tiden, och hyr för resten.
  • Vad det gäller friluftsutrustning, får man oftast vad man betalar för. Betalar man 1000kr för ett tält från Kina, får man förvänta sig att den kanske är sämre kvalitet på material och sömnad och då är mer av en förbrukningsvara än något som förväntas hålla säsong efter säsong.

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Nemo Hornet 1 – A tent review

“Damn this is a tiny package!”… Literally the first words out of my mouth when I opened the box with the Nemo hornet 1. The Nemo Hornet one is probably the smallest tent package I have ever seen or held. The tent literally fits in the palm of my hand. And light, did I mention the Nemo hornet one is light? This of course led to my next thought “there is no way in hell this is a full size one man tent”. I am always suspicious of one man “ultralight-tents” by major producers. They usually prefer to sacrifice size and usability for weight.

What is the Nemo Hornet 1

The Nemo Hornet 1 is a semi-freestanding one man tent from Nemo equipment. Or in their own words:

If you’re looking for the master of ultralight tents, look no further. The Hornet offers the ultimate in livability and comfort. The 2-Person has two doors and two vestibules for two pounds, and the 1-Person weighs in at an ethereal 27 ounces.

The single pole construction allows for lightning quick setup, free-standing support, and minimal pole weight. Triangulated volumizing guy-outs increase interior space up to 15%, making your home on the trail even more livable. Hornet’s smart design and fabric set make it the ultimate ultralight experience.

 

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Weight

Since nobody actually understands ounces and pounds or really any of the imperial system (really, 32 degrees is freezing? what the hell is that.. not to speak of 212 for boiling.. WHAT THE HELL!) the 27 ounces literally says nothing about it’s weight. So, with my rant out of the way, the Nemo hornet 1 weighs just 780grams trail weight. I have it at about 800grams complete. That’s damn light for the usability of it. To put that into perspective, the Hilleberg enan weighs 1,2kilos complete, the Tarptent Notch weighs 800grams and the MLD Duomid with inner-tent weighs around 1kilo (minus weigh of trekking poles)

Livability

While the aforementioned Notch has the livability of a coffin (for me), the Nemo Hornet 1 is surprisingly roomy for even somebody as tall as I am 6’3″ or in a more comprehensable measurement of 190cm on the metric scale. Though, I would say that my height is probably the limit – anyone taller would probably be touching the ends of the tent. With that said, for me it’s more comfortable living space than the Terra nova 1 laser competition.

Height 102cm, length 221cm and width at 102cm

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The Nemo hornet may not be the largest one man tent on the market (that honor probably goes to the Tarptent Stratospire 1), but it’s certainly not the smallest. It has about the livability of something like the Terra nova laser one, but with it’s steep sloping walls it actually feels bigger than something like the Terra nova laser and Hilleberg Enan.

Extremes

I remember when I hiked Iceland a few years ago, that was the first time I ran into the Nemo Hornet 1. I don’t remember who I talked to or anything like that. But I remember talking to a guy who had been using the Nemo Hornet 1 for sometime and he was super happy with it. He did mention that in real heavy winds the hornet faulters if the extra guylines are not staked out. I can say that I had pitched my Duomid fairly close to his hornet and that night the winds were howling down the mountain side and my duomid was shaking pretty hard. I got out to re-stake some of the guys and took a look at his tent – it held up. Perhaps not as well as the Duomid but it certainly held it’s own.

I am mentioning that experience as I normally don’t pitch in exposed areas so I can’t really give an honest opinion about that on the Nemo Hornet 1. I will say that for everything I have used the tent for, it has held up really well.

Rain

“But that big gap on the back, it just has to let in a lot of water”.. No, no it doesn’t. That is however something I read about alot online, and found after a lot of research nobody that actually owns the tent that has had that problem. I myself have not had the problem when the tent is properly pitched. So, my conclusion is that with the very tall bathtub floor, I just don’t see how rain would be a serious problem.

Pitching the tent

Back in the early days of my hiking life I used to only want tents that would pitch the inner and outer tents together. I.e the Hilleberg pitch. Don’t get me wrong, in areas where it’s only raining for days and weeks on end it’s probably to be preferred. But these days I do prefer pitching the inner and outer separately as it allows a little more flexibility in setup and tear down. The Nemo hornet 1 is pitched with a separate inner and outer tent – which for me is excellent. I like being able to pitch only the inner if the sun and bugs are out, while being able to separate the outer from the inner on tear down during a wet period is also quite nice. I can keep the outer on the outside of my pack, while keeping my inner tent on the inside of my pack nice and dry.

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To say the Hornet 1 is easy to pitch is an understatement. It can be pitched in a minute needing only the minimal of brainpower to setup. This tent is in other words idiot proof.

Conclusion

Ok, so the Nemo hornet 1 is roomy, light, double walled and relatively cheap. It’s easy to setup, holds up well to most weather conditions and if you don’t use trekking poles is just a damn good solution for most solo hikers in my opinion. Downfalls then? Of course a tent this light means that it’s going to be using much lighter materials that probably won’t hold up to the test of time. My guess is that the Nemo Hornet 1 is good for a few good seasons of relatively easy usage. But, it the wind picks up and really starts to batter the hell out of it, well, all bets are off. I don’t know what the tear strength is of the 15 denier sil-nylon that the Nemo uses, but if I compare it to the other 15 d tents I’ve had, I would say it’s good for a few seasons but not much after that.

Of course, most of us buy and sales tents several times over the course of a season.. so.. there is that.

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To buy this tent:

https://backpackinglight.dk/tents/nemo-hornet-1p-ultralight-backpacking-tent

Disclaimer:

Nemo doesn’t pay me to write reviews of their tents, I don’t get these products for free from Nemo. Instead I have a very priviledged position in life in that I run and own a Backpacking gear shop here in Europe called Backpackinglight.se. I have the honor of being able to try and test gear before importing and selling. In other words, if the gear is crap, my shop is not going to sell it.

 

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TGO Challenge 2018 part 1 video and pics

Scotland, what a beautiful nation and what an incredible hike Scotland has to offer. Truly incredible experience and one I thoroughly enjoyed. The TGO Challenge is a hiking adventure that is organized once a year since 1980. You have a few different starting points, and a few ending, and you make your own route through the country. Our route started in Lochailort and ended at Dunnottar castle of the coast of Stonehaven – A total hike of about 340km with some of the detours and other site we sent of towards. We did this is 12 days of hiking.

you can either read all of this, or just click on the video and watch all of it..

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The full route as seen on Viewranger

I flew into Edinburgh, took the direct bus to Glasgow, in Glasgow I sent two packages to myself at the post office that is located right outside the bus stop. I had my resuplies sent to the Inverlochy villas in Fort william where I was staying for the night and Braemar youth hostel. This cost about 3pounds per package.

From Glasgow I met up with Niels blok who has ultralightpedestrian.com, and we took the train up to Lochailort where we arrived at around 23.00 in the evening. Tired, and no place to sleep we pitched the Ultamid 2 in the parking lot right outside the train station. This worked just fine as we arrived on the last train, and the first train wouldn’t start until around 7.30 in the morning.. plenty of time to get sleep.

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We woke up, packed our shit and after a nice long and healthy fight with the Lochailort inn employees, we were able to get breakfast and check in for the TGO Challenge. Though we were one step away from having to grovel on our hands and knees to get that damn breakfast.

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From there we made our way into the mountains via the Prince charlies cave, which we didn’t see, along the Loch beoraid where we stopped and ate breakfast at or around the Kinlochbeoraid bothy

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From there we pushed through the Gleann Donn, a wild trail, or rather no trail, just bogs and rocks to climb up a ravine and down into Glen Finnan where all ambition to climb another ravine was lost and we set up camp at the bothy there.

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After a nice evening at the camp we decided that the ravine wasn’t for us, so we made a detour around the ravine as you can see in the pic below.

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That worked out just fine for us and we continued on our journey.

IMG_2876.jpgDay two started with that detour taking us around Beinn an Tuim, though, next time I will probably opt to climb up and over as I don’t care for road walking too much either.

Once we caught up with our route we then made our way along the Leann Fionnlighe which was rather spectacular at times, felt like we were heading into true scandinavien mountains. Large rolling hills, wet bogs, bugs and some waterfalls along the way.

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After what turned out to be the worst campsite of the trail, a small little tick infested hell by the water (though the water and view was nice).. We trekked our way into Fort william, ate a burger, drank a beer and changed out my Ultamid 2 for a Terra nova laser 1 competition. Several reasons for that really, 1. I wanted to try a new tent that I had plans on importing and selling 2. I wanted a tent with a smaller footprint and 3. I wanted a little better protection from ticks. My hiking mate Niels had been talking about his horrific experience with Lime disease, and just the whole, spending a week in a hospital nearly dead stuff kind of scared me into submission.. inner tent it would be then.

 

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Gear review: Gossamer Gear The One tent

This is not a review of the old Spinnaker cloth The one, rather of the new silnylon The one. And more recently the 2017 version (if there is a difference between 2016 and 2017 I don’t know). Anyway, the One has been a classic ultralight solo tent, and one that has been used and abused by many backpackers over the years until the Spinnaker cloth version of the tent was cut. Mainly from what I understand because Spinnaker cloth itself was no longer being produced. In anycase, not very interesting but gives me something to fill up my word count with.

Now, 2017 I brought in The One to Backpackinglight.dk webshop to sell, and like everything else if I can’t stand behind a product, I don’t bother selling them. So, I have been testing the One quite rigorously now for the last 5 months and this review will be a rundown of what I think about the One, it’s goods, bads and quirks.

Video Review: 

What is the One: 

The One is an ultralight, fully enclosed, complete single wall tent. Meaning, it has a floor, walls, bugnetting and everything else you need to be considered a tent. The one is easily setup with two trekking poles, or tent poles.

Weight:

On my scales the One complete with stuff sack, guy lines and seam sealed weighs just 618grams. Add 6 tent pegs and your upp to about 700grams.

Setup: 

Stake the four corners, stick in trekking poles, stake out the trekking pole guy lines and your done.. stretch and tighten accordingly. Takes a few setups but you’ll be an expert in no time!

Useage: 

Well, anywhere really. But should probably avoid winter camping and highly exposed and wet campsites. The silnylon and low 1200mm waterproofing means that it’s not a tent for week long trips in heavy wind and rainy mountain trips. For everything else it works great.

The Good:

  1. the one like most silnylon tents packs up nice and small – I know this doesn’t seem like it should matter, but the amount of volume a cuben tent can take up in a backpack is crazy. Silnylon on the other hand has about half the pack volume of a caparable cuben fiber tent.
  2. Big – unlike most ultralight solo tents, the One is fairly large and I feel that even for me at 190cm or 6’3″ The One is roomy. Definitely enough room to situp in and move around.
  3. Lightweight – at 618grams the One is hard to beat for size and comfort
  4. The One is a complete shelter – I don’t need to think about bug nets, bathtub floors, seam sealing or add-ons in general.
  5. Nice pockets on inside of tent
  6. Easy setup – takes about a minute to setup once you know what your doing
  7. I love tents that can open up large – the One offers a massive screen view when in the vestibule is rolled up. One of my favorite aspects of this tent.

The Bad:

  1. the 15D silnylon seems like it would rip quite easy. Though, I have not had this problem, and it’s more of a feeling than an actual gripe
  2. Silnylon – silnylon has it’s pluses and minuses. A minus is that it stretches – which means you have to tighten down the tent from time to time, and more so when wet.
  3. Tent peg intensive. Requires 6 pegs to setup. I don’t like having to use 6 pegs for setup. I like 2-4 for setup and 2-4 for strengthening.
  4. Because of the very thin silnylon floor, you really have to check where you put your tent – the nylon if placed on wet ground, will seep in water (bad grammar here) in anycase, if the ground is wet, the inside of your tent will get wet when applying pressure.

Improvements:

I really don’t see too much in the way of improvements, but I would like to see a tie out point in the middle of the tent side. Much like a Lunar solo with would give me the option of tieing out the side to give me more head/feet space, better wind protection and better overall stability.

A small zipper opening on non-vestibule side. This way I can extend the trekking pole from the inside when the material starts to stretch, or just place small odds and ends that I don’t necessarily need with me in my tent or under the vestibule

Conclusion: 

The One in my opinion is a great, relatively cheap ultralight selection for most people doing thru-hikes on something like the PCT or Appalachian trail, forest trails and so on. I don’t know if I would be comfortable using the One on a wide open site, valley and so on. I also setup my tents in the least exposed areas possible, and I certainly wouldn’t make an exception for the Gossamer gear One.

I don’t mention condensation in my review because I don’t really see much of a difference between this or any other tent. Camp selection, ventilation and outside temperatures are always the biggest determining factors when it comes to condensation. The One has great ventilation so in theory condensation shouldn’t be a problem – or atleast not more of a problem than any other option.

Where to buy:

If you live in Europe than in my own opinion Backpackinglight.dk is the best shop – in Sweden backpackinglight.se

 

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A night in paradise: video and gear list

Hammock glamping.. that’s right, glamping maxed out, and no shame at all. The first real day of spring has arrived in Stockholm so I did what any highly motived government employee would do: I ditch work early, packed my backpack and headed to the lake.. This particular area is called “Paradiset” – The paradise. I agree. I love this little area and it’s only about a 15 minute drive from my house in Farsta.

No long walk, no ultralight, no dehydrated fodder – just glamping. I made an awesome little lentils, carrots and broccoli casserole in a thick and heavy Trangia kitchen set along with freshly grinded coffee beans in a snow peak coffee press. I slept like a king in the REI quarter dome hammock system (assuming kings sleep well of course). All in all it was just a great night out and one that was sorely needed after the long and depressing winter.

Testing different editing options, I edited this video completely on the Ipad mini using Lumafusion. Not a perfect edit but good enough.

Full gear list:

https://lighterpack.com/r/8nul9i

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Fjällräven classic 2018 – A gear guide and list

I recently posted a videon on my youtube channel of the different gear I would probably bring with me on the Fjällräven classic this year if I were to do it. (I am not.. I’m doing the TGOChallenge, A couple of winter hikes, Zambia, and Jämtlandsfjäll).. This would however be some of the gear I would pack for the trip – granted i would use the HMG Windrider 4400 and not the ULA Circuit, also A few other changes I would make. This was kind of a budget run-down of gear selections that most people could make.

Reasoning behind the gear choices: 

Northern Sweden is a tricky area to plan “super ultralight” for, and honestly I don’t do Super ultralight. I do ultralight and comfortable (Notice the Helinox chair? yes, the 500grams are worth it for me). The reason for Northern Sweden being a little heavier and warmer is because it could be rain for days, followed by snow, then to sunshine. You could place your tent on snow and ice – which I have done during the classic, and the winds could just blow ice cold wind down from the mountains. With that, I usually try to plan for most of what I will encounter. I have done that trail several times with and without bug nets, with and without any real rain gear, with and without a proper sleeping pad, bag or tent. I suggest aiming for warmth and comfort at the lightest weight possible.

Here is another issue to think about – all my gear is heavier than yours even if we have the exact same gear. This is because I have to buy large and wide for everything 🙂

Also, keep in mind there are a few major ascents and descents – so don’t pack more than 8-10 kilos in your bag and bring walking sticks. I have seen countless heavy-miserables (the hikers with 20+ kilos) with broken feet, legs and bodies after three or four days along the classic) You will be given food in two day intervals and you don’t need to carry water as it’s everywhere.

Use lightweight mesh trail shoes with Superfeet insoles. Boots will kill you on this trail as there are quite a few water crossing and wading. Once your boots get wet, your trip is ruined. Trail shoes love water – and dry quickly.

Hope this little guide and packing list help you in your Fjällräven classic planning!

Most of this gear can be purchased in Europe at Http://www.backpackinglight.dk or in sweden http://www.backpackinglight.se

Item Ounces Grams
Packing  
Packing Pod L 1.6 45
Packing Pod S 1.3 37
Hmg Stuff Sack Pillow 1.4 40
Ula Circuilt 34.6 980
Shelter
Ti Tent Pegs 3.5 98
Tarptent Stratospire 1 W/ Solid 37 1050
Helinix Zero Chair 17.3 490
Sleep
As Tucas Sestrals Poncho 26.1 740
Xtherm 20.5 580
Cooking
Sea To Summit Long Spoon Ti 0.4 12
Sea To Summit Sink 4.6 130
Soto Amicus 2.8 79
Toaks 700ml W Lid And Case 3.5 99
Zefa Water Bottle 3.5 98
Clothing
Mld Waterproof Gloves 1.6 46
Wp 200g Pants 6.1 174
Wp 200g Shirt 8.1 229
Headnet 0.9 26
Haglofs Green Wind Jacket 2.3 65
Patagonia Alpine Rain Shell 6.4 181
Soft Shell Rain Pants 6.7 190
Haglifs Lim Puffy Jacket 6.7 191
Other
Murla Knife 0.7 20
Ul Teeth Care 3.1 89
Iphone 6s Plus Ink Case 9.9 282
Thermarest Repair Kit 0.5 14
First Aid Kit 3.1 89
Usb Cables 0.8 24
Globalstar 8.5 240
20100 Anker Battery Pack 16.2 460
Amazon Kindle 7.4 209
Gopro Hero 5 W/3-way 9.7 275
Sony Rx100 IV 8.2 232
Consumables
Butane Cannister Small 7.1 202
Toilet Papper 5.3 150
Coffee 3.5 100
Total 280.9 7966
backpackingblogcampinghobbiesLiving simply

A reflection on backpacking

Some of my earliest memories in life are that of me and my family out camping – car camping of course as I was raised in the USA. I remember us driving around, setting up a tent, breaking out the coleman camping stove, grilling hot dogs, even remember the times our tarp was flooded out in Hawaii, or our car broken into in Utah while we slept in our tents. As I got older and in my teens, my camping trips started going towards shorter walks with tents, weed, beer and big ass bon fires. In my early twenties I moved to Sweden and my love for backpacking grew exponentially.

I bought my first tent in Sweden, my own personal tent when I was about 20. Before that I had just been borrowing tents. Me and my then girlfriend had this fantasy that we would travel around and sleep in a tent and explore Sweden. This worked for one time and the fantasy became mine alone and the misses stayed home. I soon realized that I didn’t have any hiking friends like I did in the USA, and out of necessity my love for solo hiking was discovered.

Throughout the years I have solo hiked thousands of miles, slept countless nights outdoors from Far above the arctic circle to deep in the Australian outback and everywhere in between. I have always loved solo hiking, I loved the deep contemplative beauty of it, the mental games of always questioning my own ability, or discovering a new idea. Solo backpacking is truly something I think everyone has to experience, I have grown as a person because of my solo hiking.

About 3 years ago I started to notice a change however, I started to find that I missed the comradery of hiking a trail together with a friend. Or discovering new friends along the trail. My solo adventures started to feel lonely and isolated. It wasn’t that I had nothing left to discover within myself, it was just that I wanted to discover other people and their loves or struggles. On my trek through Iceland in 2015, I felt a kind of loneliness that I hadn’t felt before, and it really took away from the total experience of hiking such an amazing landscape.

Maybe it was the birth of my son and the changes in the family dynamic after that, that made these other changes in me. Since my son was born, life seems so “solid” – love feels real, and my closeness to my wife has deepened in a way that is hard to explain. But on the flip side, my deeper meaning discussions with my wife have have been replaced by two word dialogs interrupted by a lovely boy that wants attention in one way or another. Perhaps his finger stinks because he picked his but and he wants us to smell, or maybe a meatball fell to the ground, or some other world shaking catastrophes that interrupts what little time my wife and I have for each other. So now we content ourselves with our little corners in the sofa with an ipad or iphone in hand and a TV on as background noise.

In other words, the isolation I so desired by hiking solo, has been filled by a 5 year old boy and an Ipad. So now, more than anything, I desire a grown up conversation about nothing, that is not interrupted in two word intervals. My love for isolation is now being or has been replaced, by a need to meet friends and new people. I’m not sure if there is anything better than just talking about nothing with a friend around a campfire. Last summer I made a pointed effort to meet somebody along the trail in Sarek and just hike with them. Ended up being one of the better trips I’ve had in a long time, and with that I made a new friend that I still meet up with from time to time here in Stockholm.

I keep trying to force myself to just go out and rekindle my love of sleeping in the outdoors by myself. I still go out 3-4 nights a month, and some of those nights are lovely, and others are less than optimal. But the best times are always with a friend or with my family. So instead of running away from this realization, it’s time to embrace it. Maybe I should start organizing little get together around Stockholm and around Sweden and everywhere else I happen to be travelling. Maybe little weekend groups here in Stockholm – I don’t know how this will take place, but I feel like it’s time to try something new. To embrace this new phase and need in my life, and I think it would be awesome to share that with new people!

 

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Video: Hyperlite mountain gear Ultamid 4 – Review

Ok, it was cold, shitty and hardly any snow – in other words a typical winter day in Stockholm. Stockholm is known for it’s absolutely horrific and pointless winters. With that said, it’s a good enough place to test different gear for upcoming winter trips in the mountains. So I went out to test some gear including the hyperlite mountain gear Ultamid 4, The soto muka multifuel stove, my winter quilt system and a few other pieces of equipment that I plan on using on a winter trip in Jämtland in a few weeks.

If you haven’t seen it already I posted a video of the Soto muka stove that you can watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKt7adKB9rg&t=3s

What is the Ultamid 4

The HMG Ultamid 4 is a massive 4 man pyramid tent from Hyperlite mountain gear. Here is Hyperlite mountain gears description of the Ultamid 4:

Providing maximum coverage at a minimum weight, the UltaMid 4 pyramid tent is stripped down and dialed in to meet the exacting requirements of passionate, goal-oriented adventurers. This ultralight four-person tent takes harsh conditions in stride all four seasons of the year. It handles, wind, rain, snow, sleet and hail better than traditional tents with much smaller footprints.

Weight: 

A tent this big surely must weight a ton you say.. no. The Ultamid 4 weighs just 618grams – without all the guylines, so around 700 with. The pack size is not too bad either, about two liters in total volume.

Size:

The Ultamid 4 is massive – in the video I show myself more or less standing up in the tent, slightly bent of course, but still. It’s easily a four man tent. Most four man tents might fit two, and two man tents are excellent one man tents. The Ultamid 4 however is a four man tent, and an excellent two man, and a palace for one.

actual dimensions are

  • Width: 111” (281.9cm)
  • Length: 111” (281.9cm)
  • Height: 75” (190.5cm)

Overall conclusion:

I have been a fan of pyramid tents for years and have used them all over the world in various conditions. The Ultamid 4 is by far the largest of all the pyramid tents that I have and would bring with me. I like the sturdiness of the Ultamid series in general – as both the Ultamid 2 and Ultamid 4 have a ton of tie outs and are built to be used and abused. Easily all around, year round tents. If you are looking for that one tent that can be used everything and have cash to burn, then you can’t go wrong with either the Ultamid 2 or Ultamid 4.