Category: Gear reviews
Gear review: Exped Thunder 70L backpack
I have been looking for a good winter backpack, or heavy load backpack for a while now. My heart has been set on the what I assume is excellent Hyperlite mountain gear porter 4400 packs – but I just couldn’t justify the price. (cost plus import to Sweden would push the pack to around $500) Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind paying for a good product, but as I won’t be using such a large pack year round, the cost couldn’t be justified.
After looking around a bit I ran across the Exped thunder 70L backpack, which here in Sweden at the moment is around $200, so I thought I would give it a shot. The pack is 70Liters with an adjustable frame that fits even my large torso (not always the easiest task to find). On top of that I have a lot of respect for the designers over at Exped as I feel that over the last couple of years they have really been making some ground breaking products… Just not ultralight. Read More
Gear Review: Thermarest xTherm sleeping pad
Let me start by saying that I sleep terribly whether I’m out on the trail or at home. My body just hates sleeping and most beds. With that said I have found some tricks that help me which I will write about in a separate post. This is however a post on the Thermarest xTherm and it’s usage for the outdoors.
I purchased the xTherm about two years ago after a shorter stint with the Exped synmat and dunmat 7s and a few other mats not worth mentioning. I went with the xTherm as I was always freezing from underneath and considering the cost of the Thermarest pads here in Sweden, I stuck with buying one mat that would work year round for me.
The first time I took home the xTherm and blew it up, besides the fact I thought I would die (from how long this thing took to blow up), it was also considerably thinner than the Exped synmat and felt much, much cheaper material wise. I was ready to turn it in and get my money back. I took it out and at least one of my suspicions were confirmed; it was thinner than the Exped. Though, quality wise, the xTherm is superb.
With that said I found the Thermarest xTherm to be at least as comfortable as the exped mats, and considerably warmer. That is saying a lot as I sleep in a quilt in the middle of winter months using quilts that are not exactly made for the deep winter conditions. I stay warm with the xTherm under me.
Weight:
I use the Thermarest xTherm Large version which weighs 650grams/23 ounces in stuff sack on my scale. This is a bit heavy for an ultralight hiker for three season uses, but for winter it’s damn light.
Size:
Packed, it’s about 1000x bigger than an Iphone, I imagine it’s closer a 10000x lager unpacked. yes I know comparing this to the size of an iphone is pretty useless but as I don’t have the standard Nalgene bottle, you will just have to deal with this comparison.
I read a lot of reviewers talk about falling off the sides and so on, personally I have never had that problem and I toss and turn like a half dying fish on land. In other words I find the width to be acceptable even for somebody as large as me, this can even be said about the length. The xTherm large fits my body very well. (190cm long and 95kilos in american monkey standard 6’3″ 215lbs)
The actual width is 63cm / 25inches and length is 196cm /77 inches
The thickness of this pad is 6,3cm or 2,5 inches
Usage and durability:
I use this purely as a sleeping mat, though I’m sure there are other uses for it as well. anyway, after two years of use the xTherm is still going strong. I have gotten a few holes in it, that I could easily fix with the repair kit that is included. These holes where caused by my own stupidity than lack of durability on the xTherms part. It’s also well known that the thermarest xlite and xtherm and quite noisy, this however I don’t think is all that bad, at least not something I think about myself. I think it’s worse if your camping with others – they get annoyed by the sound.
During most hikes I only have the xTherm with me – which I put directly on the ground, though if I know the weather is going to get really, really cold (say -20 degrees or so) than I usually put the xTherm on top of a lightweight closed cell sleeping mat. To this day I have still never been cold while using the xTherm. Which is also why this mat usually follows me even on summer hikes.
Comfort:
No, it’s not the plush, squish-able lovenest that our soft, pathetic bodies are so used to. It’s not unusual for me to wake up in the middle of the night with a slight pain in my lower back. However this pain is considerably less than with any other mats I have used over the years. On top of that I have a few tricks to get a very good nights sleep if I do everything right, which you can read under the title”being tall and discomfort”. Also, did I mention it’s damn warm? Warmth adds an immense amount of comfort to any nights rest.
I will say that on longer hikes when the softness has been beaten out of my body the xTherm offers excellent comfort and a good nights sleep.
Blowing hard:
While I have seen some reviews where the reviewers claim they only had to blow 6 times to fill the xTherm up: I call bullshit. Unless they have the lung capacity of dolphins (which I imagine have massive lungs), or getting paid a shitload of money to say those things, there is no way anybody can blow a Large xTherm up with just six blows. I always dread having to blow up my airpads after a long hike, and while I will admit the xTherm is easier to blow up than say the Multimat, it is still a long ways away from only taking six huffs.
In fact I am convinced one of the worst experiences on earth is hiking 30 kilometers and then having to blow up an airpad; which is why I purchased the excellent thermarest mini-pump. This is probably one of my favorite pieces of gear in my bag. If you have an airmat, buy the mini-pump.
Conclusion:
ok, so I know I rambled a bit on this post – I wanted to shoot for a 2000 word review like some of my excellent hiker colleagues out in the world. But honestly I couldn’t do it. I tried so hard as well. With that said, if you are looking for one mat to rule all others, the xTherm is it. While heavy for summer use compared to other available options, it is the best for all conditions, and sometimes versatility is worth the weight.
The xTherm is the only mat I use anymore when I go out summer or winter. I sleep good on it, it’s warm and for it’s versatility relatively lightweight.
Gear review: Trail designs Ti-tri Caldera Cone
Finally.. after two years of fairly constant use I think I am ready to give my review on the Trail designs Ti-tri Caldera Cone. I have the fusion Ti-tri that I purchased with all the extra gizmos and gadgets. (inferno insert and floor) suited for my Snowpeak 900ml titanium mug.
I purchased the Ti-tri fusion as I wasn’t 100% satisfied with my Bushbuddy at the time or backcountry boiler. Mainly because of the limits of a pure woodgas stove. When I simply go on a nice little night out then I don’t mind a good woodgas stove, but for other purposes, such as a thru-hike I find their use to be rather limited for fairly obvious reasons. Anyway, I purchased the Ti-tri as I liked that it gave the option of three fuels, though I never use Esbit so I will say two fuels: Wood and Alcohol.
For me alcohol has been a love love relationship and something that has come and gone. Being from the USA I was raised on the old Coleman camp stoves, the white gas monsters of the Americas. I think we had to have a car pull that thing around it weighed so much. Anyway, I was introduced to the alcohol stove when I moved to Sweden for the first time in 2001 when a girl I was dating at the time bought me a Trangia kitchen set for my birthday. I was so fascinated by this stove, I never knew that alcohol stoves existed let alone were complete with windshield and no noise.
I still have that Trangia kitchen set today, though sadly I haven’t used it for a few years. After a few months with a Svea 123 (which I still own and use for certain occasions) and the Jetboil TI, I eventually made my way back to alcohol stoves and my fascination with alcohol stoves soon turned into a sheer delight and love for them. I have made a few of my own including the excellent fancy feast version and have had and used many different commercial alcohol stoves as well.
After trying many different stoves over the years I have come to truly love and enjoy my little Ti-tri. It has by far the best windshield of any stove I’ve ever used – just recently on a week long trip through kingstrail in northern sweden I would setup my little Ti-tri out in the open while everyone else I was hiking with would look for rocks, or dig holes or set-up some kind of make shift windshield with their bodies and backpacks. (standard cook gear for most hikers these days is the Jetboil)
It performs to exact standards every time – I know exactly how much alcohol is going to be needed for each boil (20ml for 500ml water) and exactly how much to bring with me on my trips (3 dl for 5 days). The Ti-tri never falters in this manner. It works today as well as it did yesterday, the day before that and the 500 times before that.
The Trail designs alcohol burner. Well used but going strong!
Setup
Setup is fairly easy though granted, a bit more of a process than just turning a knob on a Jetboil. As I have the Ti-tri fusion it is a two piece set when in alcohol mode plus burner and two pot holders. The titanium sheets are simply slided into each other and then stacked on top of one another. Once the alcohol burner is lit then it’s just a matter of putting the pot holders in and pot on top.
The wood gas stove is probably closer to a 20 piece project (a bit exaggerated of course – but you get the picture). Because I have the inferno insert which is two extra pieces and a floor the process starts to get a bit more daunting when you just want to have a cup of coffee.
Weight
I use my Ti-tri fusion in various different setup and arrangements. From just the cone and alcohol stove only which weighs just 67 grams, to bringing the entire fusion inferno kit so that I can do some wood burning which weighs 114 grams. I can even use just the upper half of the two piece cone as an ultralight windshield for my Fancy feast stove 5 grams, this setup weighs just 30 grams total. All of this fits nice and snug inside my Snow Peak 900ml Titanium mug which weighs 104 grams.
In fancy feast mode – Just the top section of the two piece ti-tri fusion set
On most of my trips I skip the wood burning option and bring only the two piece cone section and burner. Together with my snow peak mug the total weight is 171grams for a complete kitchen set with windshield. I prefer the Trail designs burner over the Fancy feast burner as in my experience I find the trail designs burner burns faster, more stable and more efficient.
Alcohol
In my experience there isn’t a better alcohol stove on the market, in my bias there’s not a better ultralight stove period. As I wrote earlier it’s lighter, burns faster and more efficient than anything else I’ve tried. The simplicity of this stove for alcohol use is incredible, on top of that the windshield is better than anything else being made right now.
Woodgas
While the Trail designs ti-tri fusion is certainly a pain in the ass to put together and setup in wood gas mode, once it’s setup; it works. The Ti-tri with the inferno kit burns easily as well as my Bushbuddy with the added benefit of being able to pile on some pretty big pieces of wood. (Instead of just the dainty little twigs that the bushbuddy requires)
Here the Ti-tri fusion is setup in wood gas – it burns damn hot damn quick.
Here you can see just how large the opening is, once the pot is on it, it is still quite easy to pile on some pretty big branches and so on to keep the fire hot.
Without the inferno setup, burning twigs just isn’t the same. It’s like hiking in boots: You know something’s not right. It takes a little longer to get the fire started, it takes a bit more effort to keep it going; in the end it still works, just not as fun as the hot hell fire known as the “Inferno”
Esbit
No idea, I image it works quite well here as well. The secret is in the shape of the cone.
Boiling time
A completely useless metric in the world of backpacking stoves. Your in nature, enjoy yourself. Whether it takes 3.5 minutes or 7 minutes doesn’t really matter does it?
Conclusion
If you love alcohol or wood stoves you will love the Trail designs Ti-tri fusion. If you don’t love alcohol stoves, it’s time to start and this is the perfect tool for the job. With it’s built in windshield, easy to track fuel usage, light weight and extremely versatile usage – there is no reason to look any where else for three season usage.
Watch me do the impossible and compare this stove to my wife: Before I met my wife I didn’t mind trying out new models and changing out one woman for another. Once I met my wife my interest for everyone else disappeared completely, from the very first day (which is why I am now married). This stove had the exact same effect on me – Once I bought this stove, my interest in all other stoves disappeared completely.
Gear Review: Mountain Laurel Design Duomid
Before I start this review it’s important to know, I wasn’t given this tarp, I wasn’t bribed or paid to say anything about this. (Though I gladly except brides) In fact Mountain laurel design has no idea I even exist here in the little corner of my world in Stockholm. Read More
Osprey EXOS 48 backpack – A review
I really want to hate this bag. After all it weighs 1kilo, holds just 50 liters and is mass produced in vietnam with second tier textiles (compared to cuben fiber). But I also want to give this bag an honest shot – I paid just 100usd for it on sale and compared to many other backpacks that can be bought in regular outdoor shops; this bag is light. So here I am a couple of weeks later and 100 kilometers on my back with it and I don’t want to give it back. It’s a love hate relationship here: It’s heavier and smaller than my zpacks arc-blast, it’s arguably uglier, and because I really want to hate it I really searched for all the problems I could. Read More
Powermonkey extreme and solarmonkey review
After the last week of hiking I decided to do a quick review on a very important piece of gear for somebody like me who brings all kinds of photo and video equipment on a longer hiking trip – that is of course the battery power pack and solar charger. In this case I did a quick video review of the Powermonkey extreme along with the solarmonkey extreme. Read More
Zpacks Arc blast – Review
It’s about that time, fall is here, it’s rainy and cold.. I’ve been stuck indoors and getting desperate to get out! In lew of getting out i’ve acquired a bad case of GAS (gear acquisition syndrome), in other words I keep buying new gear. This time around I bought a Zpacks arc blast backpack. Read More
Six moon designs – Skyscape trekker review
The SMD skycape trekker is by all accounts a great lightweight solo tent. Well made and extremely easy to setup. I originally made a video for this review out in the wild but I realized that as with my Laufbursche Huckepack video the resolution is horrible. (filmed with an ipad) on top of that my “on video” charisma is about as charming as a stick. (I would say rock but some rocks are pretty interesting) Read More
Hipstamatic iphone app review
I will say it right off the bat – I have never been a fan of “phone” photography. pixelated, terrible colours, almost always crappy selfies and the cheap feel of Instagram. In other words I hate phone photography. With that said, I still made the decision to bring only my Iphone 5s with me on my Coast 2 coast Sweden thru-hike. Why? I just couldn’t be bothered to bring my lovely Sony A7 and Zeiss 35mm lens. It was added weight that the hike couldn’t really justify. Read More