Tag: backpacking

blog Landscape photography Photography sarek

Sarek i Bilder (in pictures) – Part 1

Kenneth Shaw on September 12, 2017

My schedule is filled at the moment while trying to get Backpackinglight.se up and running. So instead of a long trail report, I will post some pictures! More pictures coming soon.

Mukka Stugan is a small little emergency cottage that while offers a nice place to eat lunch while it’s raining, has unfortuantely become a trash can for hikers who can’t be bothered to bring their trash with them.

The Trailstar by the glacier river.

13 kilos for a 9 day trip – fully safe and secure with a fishing pole and satellite phone to boot. My packing is watertight, I’m set for far below zero temperatures if needed.

Dinner!

Taking a coffee and candy break while drying out my shoes.

It looks like hell, but believe me, this is some of the best aspects of wearing trailshoes in the wild. When my feet get hot I can just go trudging through some cold water. No blisters, no pain, no problems! Trailshoes are a luxury few have yet discovered.

Down by Rapadalen – Amazing

If only Ron would let me sell his MLD gear! The yellow trailstar is probably the single most beautiful tent build today. An incredibly light and well performing piece of kit.

My Fizan poles and HMG windrider 4400 after a week in Sarek. Both performed incredibly well – so good in fact that I will be supplying both at backpackinglight.se. These are simply the best products available for their intended purpose.

backpacking blog Running sarek vegan

How running has changed my backpacking

Kenneth Shaw on August 11, 2017

Last year I made a 7 day trip through Iceland, north to south through some incredible countryside and even meeting up and joining the Laugavegur trail for 5 days. It was a lovely trip and I had about 10 kilos of gear and food with me for the excursion. The hike at times was tough, or atleast one or two days of the journey was tough, all in all, on a scale of 1-10 for difficulty I would rank it around a 5. A great trail for anyone who is properly prepared. There are however two major inclines (major..) on day one while leaving Landmannalaugar and day 5 between Porsmark and Skogar. These two inclines kicked my ass in every possible way. The last day I was so tired on the incline between porsmark and skogar that I thought I would die. If memory serves me the total incline was around 900-1000 meters. I thought at the time, that considering the circumstances (climbing a 1000meter cliff with backpack on), that I did quite well. It wasn’t until I did my recent trip through Sarek national park in Northern Sweden, that I realized the truth behind my Iceland trip.

Let me paint a little picture here. Hard wind, rain, knee high swamp for hours on end, daily 500-1000 meter inclines and declines, waist high wading and to top it all off – no trails. Complete wild and a 13kilo backpack. That was my most recent trip to the Sarek national park in Northern sweden, a few hundred kilometers north of the arctic circle. This trip was demanding in every possible sense of the word. On my gear, physique and psychology. But I didn’t feel it. My body was such a well oiled machine for this trip that I literally felt as if I could turn around and do it again without any problems. I didn’t have any of the normal knee, back or lung issues. And on the last day I was afraid to tell my traveling companion just how damn good I felt (after a 1300 meter incline with my backpack on) because I didn’t want him to think I was doing the “manly” thing of bragging about how cool I am I could carry my backpack up a hill. (like many of the heavy miserables that like to brag about how much weight they can carry)

My body was functioning better than it ever has on a backpacking trip, this was on minimal sleep and a deprivation diet. Honestly, no matter how much food I pack and eat I still run a deficit on these kinds of trips. The changes this year compared to last year, and the relatively easier Laugavegur trail? My running and diet changes I made late last year. Since going full vegan and running I have lost around 22 lbs (10 kilos) off my body, that’s 10 kilos my legs don’t have to carry when backpacking and the insane amount of carbs I eat on the diet fuels me like nothing else. My running has improved my cardio exponentially, when last year I could barely make the last incline on the Laugavegur trail, this year I did that same 0-1000 meter climb on several occasions and felt damn good.

While my backpacking trip wasn’t full vegan, in fact I snuck in some powdered milk to my breakfast and cheese on the last day at the hotel.. Oh and I did make the mistake of eating a sausage, it had always been the mainstay of my backpacking trips – the reward at the end of the day kind of thing. Only to realize my taste buds have changed, and what once tasted like gods hands massaging my tongue, now tasted like salted dead pig and had the effects you would expect on my daily shitting habits. With that said, I don’t beat myself up about it, I am always working towards long term health goals and benefits, and I can’t kill myself everytime I make a slip up. Beside, being a bitch to other people about their habits is probably the worst thing to do to get converts.

Anyway, last year after laugavegur I was satisfied, ready to hang up my boots for a while a relax. Much like a traditional hiker who normally takes a year off between longer hikes, I felt much the same. Now, the only thing I want to do is get out again. My body, feet and soul feel perfect after my last trip and I can only credit my diet and training habits.

backpacking blog Destinations Gear list

Full packing list and route Sarek 2017

Kenneth Shaw on July 29, 2017

It’s finally here.. my summer journey through Sarek national park in Northern Sweden. I will be leaving from my apartment here in Umeå at 06.30 in the morning by train, and arrive at the gates to Sarek at 17.30 in Ritsem. My journey through sarek if I hussle shoudn’t take more than 5-6 days, however since I plan och doing a lot of day trips, climb several of the higher peaks and do some fishing along the outskirts of the park (fishing is illegal in the park). I plan on pushing my journey to around 10 days. Basically just living life and enjoying my time in some of the more secluded parts of europe. There are no trails, stores or cottages in Sarek, so everything I need on the trail I will have with me in my backpack.

I have made some changes to my gear since making my last post, that have increased the total weight of my packing by about 600 grams. I can live with the extra weight as it is justified by the added warmth and security along a wet and cold trail. The trail this year is much colder and wetter than usual, which means I have to be better prepared for these kinds of conditions, hence the extra weight in rain gear and warmth.

Some of the changes I have made:

I traded out my thermarest xlite small and ul sleeping pad total weight 350grams for the warmer and larger thermarest xtherm weighing 580 grams. There is still a lot of snow along the trail and I don’t want to have to compensate a cold nights sleep by bringing more sweaters and jackets and so on.

I also traded out my Ricoh GR for my Sony rx 100. Same weight, same usb charging, only rx100 gives me the flexibilty of good video and zoom.

Tenkara rod and flies – I added this because, why not! 130 grams for a complete fishing kit. Seems like a small sacrifice to have in some of the worlds best fishing waters.

I’ve opted for the MLD Trailstar and Innertent instead of the Hilleberg enan. I just prefer the room and comfort of the Trailstar to that of the Hilleberg Enan. Weight is about the same as the Enan, and living space is more than twice as large. (well 100 grams lighter but whos counting..)

Packed and ready to go! 13,5 kilos (food weighs less than 5 kilos and not the 6,5 as according to my list) The advantage of the HMG Windrider and the reason I bought it, is the fact that for unsupported trips over a week it’s hard to stuff everything in a 50 liter bag. (when travelling to regions of the world like Alaska and northern sweden)

All the food being prepared for it’s stuff sack, a 13 liter sea to summit bag.

Complete gear list:

Item	Ounces	Grams
Packing
Hmg Sidewinder 4400	34.2	970
Red 2l Pack Bag	0.7	21
Red 4l Pack Bag	0.9	25
Red 4l Pack Bag	0.9	25
Thermarest Pillow Sheet	1.9	54
Shelter
Ti Tent Pegs	3.5	98
Mld Trailstar	18.7	531
Trailstar Inner	14	397
Sleep
Eye Mask	0.5	15
Enlightened Equipment Quilt	22.9	650
Xtherm	20.5	580
Cooking
Sea To Summit Long Spoon Ti	0.4	12
Zefa Water Bottle	3.5	98
Ti Tri Fusion	3.2	90
Snowpeak Ti 900 W/lid	4	114
Cozy	1.2	33
Clothing
Mld Waterproof Gloves	1.6	46
Wp 200g Pants	6.1	174
Haglofs Green Wind Jacket	2.3	65
Headnet	0.9	26
As Tucas Red Beanie	1.8	52
Grey Patagontia Shirt	4.8	137
Haglifs Lim Puffy Jacket	6.7	191
Wp Thick Socks	2.9	81
Alpine Rain Jacket	6.4	181
Soft Shell Rain Pants	6.7	190
Overshoes	0	0
Other
Murla Knife	0.7	20
Superfeet	4.2	119
Ul Teeth Care	3.1	89
Iphone 6s Plus Ink Case	9.9	282
Msr Towel	1.2	35
Thermarest Repair Kit	0.5	14
First Aid Kit	3.1	89
Usb Cables	0.8	24
Globalstar satphone	8.5	240
Sony RX100	8.6	245
Dji Spark Kit	17.7	501
20100 Anker Battery Pack	16.2	460
13000 battery Pack	12.3	349
4400 Battery Pack	4.1	116
Amazon Kindle	7.4	209
Gopro Hero 5 W/3-way	9.7	275
Dji Spark Remote	9.7	275
Worn
Aklima Hoody Wool	13.3	377
Haglofs Grey Zip Hiking Pants	10.8	307
Merrell Allout Terra Trail Shoes Pair	23.5	665
Black Beenie	1.2	35
Suunto Ambit	2.8	78
Craft Underwear	2	57
Fizan Sticks	12.5	354
Consumables
Toilet Papper	5.3	150
Coffee	3.5	100
Alcohol	14.1	400
Food For A Day	25	600
Food For A Day	25	600
Food For A Day	25	600
Food For A Day	25	600
Food For A Day	25	600
Food For A Day	25	600
Food For A Day	25	600
Food For A Day	25	600

Everything ex worn	511.8	13648
Everything ex cosumeables	288.9	8198

My route has not changed since the last time:I will be starting in Ritsem and finishing in Kvikkjokk. Should be a great little trip! This is the straight trip to kvikkjokk, but as I’ve said, I plan on making a lot of daytrips and sideroads along the way.

backpacking blog camping Video

High coast hike 2017

Kenneth Shaw on July 24, 2017

I joined up with a friend who was hiking the high coast hike 2017 in northern Sweden. This is just a quick video of the days I spent along the hike. I used it as a good prep for my 10 day Sarek hike here in a few days.

For more information about the high coast hike check out the official website for the event http://highcoasthike.com/

Enjoy!

backpacking blog Gear list Photography ultralight backpacking

My camera gear for Sarek 2017

Kenneth Shaw on July 7, 2017

I find that I absolutely love video diaries of backpacking.. I have been following and watching them for years on YouTube, but I never really got around to doing it myself. I’ve tried a few times on a smaller scale, but never any real effort. My YouTube channel I don’t even bother marketing and in general I’m not very active on there. I’m not sure why this is to be honest, i guess I just couldn’t figure out how to make it work in practice while holding onto my ultralight philosophy. As well as being stuck on just doing gear reviews, which honestly, is a chore. On top of that I’m not really a computer guy – I don’t like editing video or photography and making an interesting video out of hours and hours of footage is no easy task.

With that said, because I love the format of video documentaries, I am going to start working on it more and more. I am changing up my camera gear for my upcoming trips along the High coast trail in northern Sweden and my two weeks through Sarek journey. My strategy is simple: Record everything! I found out the hard way that it’s damn difficult to make an interesting movie with limited footage. I have been editing my Iceland video now and realize that I hardly recorded anything at all, so as an embarrassment to myself and to the suffrage of everyone watching my videos, I do a 2 minute intro where I’m just describing what was happening… In any case, it kind of works, but would have been better to show instead of tell.

A link to the video: Alone in Iceland part 1.

This means that my Fujifilm x-t2 camera and lenses have been sold to make room for video gear and after my Iceland trip, I’m convinced a pocket camera works wonders for what I do. So some of the gear that my Fujifilm x-t2 has financed so far are as follows:

Gopro hero 3 black edition with accessories – used cost about 150USD (200 grams)
Ricoh GR – An excellent digital compact camera that I absolutely love 200USD (245 grams)

I used the Sony RX100 in Iceland, however I find the Ricoh GR to be a completely different beast altogether with regards to picture quality

DJI Spark drone and controller with two extra batteries 1000USD (550 grams complete)

The DJI Spark is a tiny drone with serious power

To top it all off I have two 20100mhv battery packs to keep everything charged along the way.

I’ve sold all my Fuji gear for around 2400USD

Total weight for my new photography and video gear = 1095grams
Total weight of Fujifilm x-t2 with lenses and batteries = 1114grams

Weight of battery packs 490grams each (added one for the drone)

Total weight increase for new system: 300grams

Total money savings: around 1000usd

I can live with a total weight increase of 300grams for so much more flexibility and control. The Ricoh GR works fantastic for me as almost all my photography in the wild is at 28mm, no matter what lenses and cameras I have with me – my shots are always wide. and now I have true video capabilities.

Concerns about drones: I got some feedback with regards to bringing a drone with me or drones in general. It seems to be a very hot topic in the USA and something I hadn’t thought about before as drones have never bothered me personally. I will call it the “road rage syndrome”, there are people who have an incredible amount of pent up rage and are looking for something to go bezerk over and I have to take this into consideration when flying the spark.

To the advantage of the spark it is tiny, unobtrusive and quiet. With that said I think drones should fall somewhere between loud music in camp and deficating on the trail. Neither of these should be practiced, and with proper fore thought and consideration for others, can easily be avoided.

My strategy for succeeding with video:
Record everything! Better to record days and days of video and edit down to a highly interesting 30 minute clip, than to take minimal video and try and stretch it out.

I also need to work on my editing skills. I don’t like working on computers that much, so I will have to find presets and styles that I like so I can get my editing done quickly. I also know what kind of footage I like – So I will try to emulate this.

Where it could possibly fail:
I like to keep things simple, sometimes it’s a hassle to record. To always have to think about the shot. To pull out a drone and start recording takes me out of the moment. hopefully I can overcome this, as I find I really love the video format, and I love watching my old videos of all the hikes I’ve done. (sadly I have barely edited any of them… so nothing is on youtube yet)

backpacking camping Gear ultralight ultralight backpacking

Day 1: Outdoor Show 2017 Friedrichshafen

Kenneth Shaw on June 18, 2017

It’s hard to put into words just how massive the Friedrichshafen event really is. It is quite simply the epicenter of outdoor gear and trade here in Europe connecting manufacturers with agents, distributors, pr and bloggs. If a company wants to break into the european market, this event is a must. I am happy that I gave myself the four days to go through it all.. It’s just massive. With that said I can imagine it’s fairly easy for a company to be drowned out, it was easy to see that many were. Also, it’s very difficult for a company to not only be seen in this kind of enviroment, but to stand out with products.

In general I’m not looking for this years next big thing, and writing about gear is not my biggest passion either, I can however say that some companies did have products that I liked and these I will post here.

Carsten Jost from fastpacking.de looking rather happy at his time at the Outdoor blogger base. A well organised and put together station were all the bloggers of the world (well… atleast some of them?) meet up at network. I have to work on my networking skills 🙂

There were a lot of very interesting tents at the show, many of them would give any ultralight blogger wet dreams, however these I was not allowed to take pictures of.. so, I instead took pictures of the Big Sky international wisp 1.5 cuben tent which I was allowed to take pictures of. The wisp 1.5 is a big brother to their Wisp. So far it’s the only cuben tent on display that I have seen, and the only one on sale in stores in Europe.

Jetboil had some new products to show off. Or atleast the same products with new valve features that allows for much faster boils at around 1.30 minutes per boil. Impressive. Sadly no more Titanium SOL.

This Nordisk tent is incredibly light for a double wall tent, weighing in at 500 or 600 grams (can’t remember now). Even won the award for most innovative product. Honestly though, not knocking the product, but I don’t see how a real live human could fit in this. The top of the loop didn’t even reach my knee caps, that’s how small this tent is.

Hilleberg on the other hand had a product that stood out for me, the Mesh 1 and the Tarp 5 you see here. A real live human can easily fit in this with room to spare. Total weight 710 grams for the tarp and mesh inner, with a few impressive innovations that I would like to show off later. I am in the talks with them now, and hopefully I will be able to use this kit for one of my future outings this year.

camping kids ultralight backpacking ultralight kids

Gear suggestions for kids

Kenneth Shaw on June 4, 2017

I’m not a really big fan of owning a lot of gear. For the most part I try to keep my backpacking life simplistic for many reasons, though for the most part it’s because I want to spend more time in the outdoors knowing exactly what I own and how to use what I own, than spending hours in a gear shop or gear closet.

With that said I also love going on little mini adventures with my son who is soon to be four years old. In these adventures we usually look for trolls living in trees or rocks. (My bedtime stories usually involve a dad and son on a camping trip and a big friendly troll that lives in a tree… a story for another day). In any case these small bedtime stories prime my sons sense of adventure and every time I mention sleeping in a tent he’s racing out to the car with his backpack on. Like father, like son!

Me and Eric bring our kids out for a lovely evening by the lake. Right side of the pic my son and our yellow gear. Left side of the pic Eric, Klara and his Double rainbow and green hammock

But as I stated in the beginning, I don’t like having a lot of gear, and I certainly don’t like carrying a lot of gear. Kids gear to say the least is, shit. It’s heavy, expensive and rather useless. So I choose to build my sons kit around my own needs. For example, I own only two quilts and two sleeping mats. One quilt is a down quilt rated at -6 Celsius and weighs 630 grams, and the other quilt is a synthetic -2 degree bag that weighs 720 grams. I bought the synthetic quilt as a winter complement to my down quilt. This quilt combination brings me down to -20 in the winter. In the summer it’s a great bag for my son.

Is this big rock where the troll lives??

My two sleeping mats are a thermarest xl xTherm and an Xlite small. The xtherm is excellent for my winter adventures and the xlite is a great torso pad that weighs 200 grams for 3 season use. It’s also a perfect kids sleeping pad.

Our entire kit for the night. The duomid, two quilts, sleeping pads and more

The tent I use is the Mountain Laurel Designs duomid with no inner tent and two trekking poles setup in an apex at the top opening up the center completely. A great two man tent that weighs 700 grams with the perimeter netting.

I even bring along a tenkara fly rod and flies to do some fishing with total weighing in at 103 grams. A hammock for him to play in, a DD super light hammock that weighs 270 grams, food, and flashlights to go look for trolls with.

Depending on how where feeling we´ll even bring a MLD Trailstar.. Though it’s less accessible than the Duomid. It’s much larger floor space means no fast in and outs

Everything I need for me and him with extra clothes, food and gear fits in my HMG windrider with room leftover and weighs less that 6-7 kilos for all gear and food for an overnight trip. If we want to be out several nights we just pack more food. Simple as that. No shit gear, no wasted money, just great gear for all seasons and reasons.

Everything fits nice and snug in my HMG windrider. Well, minus my sons toys which he gets to carry in his own backpack.

My gear list when going out with the little one:

Item	Ounces	Grams
Packing
Hmg Sidewinder 4400	34.2	970
Red 2l Pack Bag	0.7	21
Red 4l Pack Bag	0.9	25
Green Pack Sack 4l	1.1	30
Thermarest Pillow Sheet	1.9	54
Shelter
Ti Tent Pegs	3.5	98
Mld Duomid Complete	26.7	756
Sleep
Thermarest Pump	2.6	73
Enlightened Equipment Quilt	22.9	650
Synthetic Sleeping Bag	24.7	700
Xtherm	20.5	580
Xlite Small	7.1	200
Eye Mask	0.5	15
Cooking
Sea To Summit Long Spoon Ti	0.4	12
Ti Tri Fusion	3.2	90
Snowpeak Ti 900 W/lid	4	114
Sawyer Mini Filter	1.4	41
Zefa Water Bottle	3.5	98
Marches	0.4	11
Clothing
Mld Waterproof Gloves	1.6	46
Wp 200g Pants	6.1	174
Haglofs Green Wind Jacket	2.3	65
Haglifs Lim Puffy Jacket	6.7	191
Ula Silnylon Rain Skirt	2.8	78
Patagonia Alpine Rain Shell	6.4	181
Other
Fallkniven F1	6.9	196
Ul Teeth Care	3.1	89
Murla Knife	0.7	20
Bd Headlamp	3.6	101
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
Tenkara Sawtooth Fly Rod	3.4	95
Worn
Consumables
Coffee	3.5	100
Toilet Papper	5.3	150
Food For A Day	26.5	750
Alcohol 5 Days	14.1	400

	218.1	6183

essentials Gear reviews trekking poles

Gear review: Fizan compact trekking poles

Kenneth Shaw on June 2, 2017

A few weeks ago I was contacted by a representative from Massdrop on writing a review for one of their upcoming massdrops. For those of you not familiar with massdrop it’s a community or social shopping network that sets up different products for ridiculously cheap prices. For example right now they have an 800 down Enlightened Equipment high quality quilt on sale for 189usd. So the prices are fantastic and the products on offer are often of the highest quality.

Being the kind of guy I am, I have no problems exchanging my time for products and doing a review as long as I can fit it into my schedule. Also it’s not unusual for me to get request to do reviews for products and companies in the USA as a lot of my visitors to this site come from the USA. (Not so strange considering I write in English and come from the USA myself).

With that said, I have known about Fizan as a company for some time as they make trekking poles that are known throughout Europe as a high quality brand. I’m not sure if the products exist in the USA, but in Italy and Europe they have been around since the 1950’s and still being made in Italy.

The timing for Debbie over at Massdrop couldn’t have been better as I was in the market for a new pair of trekking poles as I’m not completely happy with the ones I have. I was in the market for highly adjustable, lightweight, aluminum poles. (I keep breaking my Carbon fiber poles). Feeling I would be more than happy to sacrifice some weight for the added strength of Aluminum.

Weight:

Anyway, I got my Fizan compact trekking poles in the mail a few days ago and I was immediately surprised by the writing on the poles ”worlds lightest trekking poles 158grams”. I thought – bull… But to be honest they are the lightest adjustable poles on the market which is pretty awesome. (Correct me if I’m wrong here). My current carbon fibre adjustable poles weigh in at 184 grams each. These with the straps and baskets weigh 175grams. Take off the straps and baskets (which I normally do) and were down to 158grams each. Light.

175 grams with the basket and strap on. Hard to find Carbon fiber adjustable poles at this weight.

Quality

As I stated I haven’t had a whole lot of time to test these out, I have been out a few nights and walked a total of about 65 kilometers with varying weight on my backpack and with two different tents. (The MLD Duomid and the MLD Trailstar). The poles have held up well (holding the tents up) even in some really heavy wind and rain on one of my nights out.

The Fizan compacts use a three part proprietary interlocking system, that they have been using for years in their compact system without problems. I find no reason to doubt this interlocking system.

To be honest, I have no real issues with the quality here, as I said before, Fizan is a well known brand and I have had their poles once upon a time a few years back, they never let me down. I don’t feel like this will be issue with these poles either.

Looks and feel

I think these poles look good, as good as trekking poles can look that is. They are still old people sticks (joke from my book), but do what they are suppose to do. I have seen much uglier poles. They do however feel fantastic. Weight and balance and even the tiniest of attention to details really stand out. I like the feel of the straps and how small the poles pack down to due to the three part adjustable system.

The color on the Massdrop sale for these pole swill be blue and not the red that is seen in these pictures.

Size

My Fizan compacts are adjustable from 58 centimeters (23 inches) to about 132 centimeters (52 inches) maxed out. In other words perfect from any toddler sized human to about my size 190cm (6’3”).

The Fizan sticks holding up an MLD Duomid + Innertent

Specs:

Weight with straps and basket: 178grams each

Height: 58cm (23 inches) – 132 centimenters (52 inches)

Material: 7001 Lightweight Aluminum

Locking: Proprietary Flexy internal locking system

Grips: Ergonomic EVA foam grip with rounded plastic top

3 sets of removable baskets: 35, 50, and 95 mm

Suggested price: $59.99

Massdrop start date: Monday, June 5 at 6 a.m. PST.

Address for the massdrop site and sticks:

https://www.massdrop.com/buy/massdrop-fizan-compact?utm_source=Iterable&iterableCampaignId=122529&iterableTemplateId=178324&utm_campaign=massdrop_x_fizan_compact_trekking_poles&mode=guest_open&referer=C9BLKJ&utm_medium=email

PROS:

Lightweight adjustable poles

Aluminum

Extra baskets

Cheap (to be honest, I’m surprised by the price on these.. This is cheap)

Great brand

Made in Italy

CONS:

Aluminum (You can get lighter with non-adjustable carbon fiber)

The tips on these are wider than standard trekking poles which means the pole extender on the MLD Duomid won’t work. That’s why in the picture above I use PVC piping instead of the carbon fiber pole extender.

Perhaps shouldn’t be used as ski poles…. . .

The Fizan compact poles are an excellent compliment to the MLD Trailstar as they are highly adjustable.

TO read more about these poles check out this excellent, detailed review:

https://www.massdrop.com/talk/1797/upcoming-massdrop-x-fizan-collaboration?utm_placement=3&referer=PYEQYA&mode=guest_open&utm_campaign=Automated%20Daily%20Promotional%202017-05-26&utm_source=SparkPost&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Daily%20Promotional&utm_content=1495797900732.028910651407058611965059

Gear Photo reviews Photography

My favorite backpacking cameras

Kenneth Shaw on May 28, 2017

Through the years I have used many cameras on the trail, and several of them I have written reviews on. I thought for fun I would include a few pictures and a few of my favorites here. I know what your thinking, it’s not the gear that makes the photographer, and it’s absolutely correct, but it sure does help to have quality gear that inspires. You will notice I don’t put any importance on year the camera was made, I do this because I don’t really care. I love the Sony rx100, is it as good as the rx100 m4? probably not, but I wouldn’t know as I haven’t owned the m4. I have owned the m3 and I thought it too was an excellent backpacking camera. Anyway, here are my personal favorites:

Fujifilm X-T1

It’s hard not to love this camera. It takes amazing pictures, the XF lenses are the best lenses on the market, and to top it off because of the release of the X-T2, the X-T1’s are relatively cheap now. The fujifilm with the 18-55 kit lens is a fantastic backpacking combination that weighs around 800 grams total. 16mp sensor.

Fujifilm X100s

Super crisp pictures and a set focal length of 35mm. What’s not to like. Missing the classic chrome film simulation mode and not really the best for video. However, an excellent backpacking camera. weighs 430 grams and 16mp sensor.

Sony RX100

Small, light and excellent sensor. I used the sony RX 100 on my solo trip in Iceland and don’t regret a thing. Perhaps not the best quality when compared to Fuji, but still an excellent all around compact camera. 245 grams and 28-100mm lens and 20mp sensor. These can now be purchased relatively cheap on the classifieds.

Sony RX100 m3

Everything I love about the sony RX100 the M3 does better. The lens is criper, the files are cleaner, the sensor is better and the Sony RX 100 M3 even has a built in viewfinder and HD video. Only negative? 24-70mm lens is perhaps less flexible than the 28-100 on the Rx 100.

Ricoh GR

Small, light, excellent pictures and sensor… what’s not to like? Some people don’t like single focal length cameras, personally they are my favorite. I hate having to think about what lens might work best for a certain situation. Why bother? The 28mm lens on the Ricoh GR is one of the best on the market. Excellent for both backpacking and street photography. The Ricoh GR weighs 245 grams with battery and has a 16mp sensor.

Fujifilm X-T2

The Fufilm X-T2 is no simple upgrade. It’s basically a completely new camera as compared to the X-T2. Sensor upgrade to a new Xtrans 24megapixel, two memory cards, autobracket for HDR and 4K video to name just a few of the upgrades. The downside of course being that a X-T2 will cost you twice as much as the X-T1 at the moment. But like all the Fujifilm cameras, the X-T2 is probably the best mirrorless camera on the market and easily competes with most full frames. The weight is similar to the X-T1 at 450 grams with battery.

Runner up:
Sony A7R

Small body, clunky lenses and massive files that takes days to transfer to computer.. Excellent picture quality but a bore to use. Some of my best pictures have been taken with the A7R, but I can’t recommend the camera as for every one excellent picture 10 are bad. Why? because the shutter causes vibrations in the photo making sharp pictures handheld very difficult.

Gear Gear reviews Uncategorized

Gear review: Hilleberg Enan

Kenneth Shaw on May 27, 2017

A few years back my first gear review I ever did on this site was a review of the Hilleberg Akto. I liked the tent but found it had too many faults to really consider it a keeper. I even wrote in that review that if Hilleberg were to fix the sagging innertent and lighten the tent to around 800grams that I would be more than happy to purchase the upgrade. A few years later and as I so humbly like to take credit for (though they probably have no clue who I am.. still), Hilleberg did upgrade their Akto with the Enan. While not 800grams, it is 1100grams complete in stuff sack with pegs. They did fix the sagging innertent and as an extra bonus even gave it a lot more ventilation allowing for better air circulation and much less condensation.

The Hilleberg Enan has a small footprint, allowing setup in tight areas

I will start by saying that I love the Enan, I think it is an excellent tent, fun to use, fast and easy to setup that even a monkey could make it work. The enan is by far the easiest tent I have ever had the pleasure of setting up, even beating out the Mountain laurel designs Duomid in simplicity. A small tent pole and theoretically two pegs and your done. It really is that easy.

You might think that being a lighter tent, the Hilleberg Enan loses out on space, or “ruggedness” compared to the Akto. I beg to differ, this tent is made for the mountains, and all the weather than entails. I can gladly say that even in the heaviest of winds, worst of downpours and even light snow the Enan has held up really well.

Two large vents on eachside of the Enan allow for great air circulation

What is it:

The Hilleberg Enan is a single man, tunnel, coffin style, double walled tent and Hillebergs lightest tent in their line-up. People like to describe these tents as bomber, but honestly I hate the term, so I will stick with rugged, mountain tent for 3 season use. Though, for many people, the Enan would work just as well as a 4 season tent.

Weight:

The Hilleberg enan 2016 variation that I have weighs 1200grams complete with all guylines, tent pegs and stuff sack. The 2016 variation uses Kerlon fabric 1000 which is a little heavier than the 2015 variation that uses Kerlon 600. Not the lightest single man tent on the market, but definitely not the heaviest either

Size:

Where the Akto lost me in a sagging innertent, weight and bad ventilation along with being a tight fit. The Enan fixes atleast most of these issues and because of no sagging innertent, the Enan even seems roomier. While I love the Enan experience, I don’t really want to be stuck in it for longer than just an overnight sleep. I find the coffin style one man tent to be just a little tight for my liking.

One tent to rule them all?

I think for most casual backpackers looking for just a single tent that they can have for 30 years in any weather conditions, the Hilleberg Enan, much like a lot of Hilleberg tents, is just that tent. It’s light enough for most backpackers, and robust enough to last a lifetime. On top of that it is extremely fast and easy to use. For taller people like myself at 6’3″ (190cm) I would suggest looking elsewhere as it may be a little to tight a fit for the long haul. If you are looking for an ultralight tent, then I would also suggest looking elsewhere as the enan is on the heavy side when compared to many competing tarp-tents. Though to be fair, most backpackers carry more than just a tarp, they usually have trekking poles (250grams minimum, inner-tent of some kind, 250 gram minimum, ground floor… so on and so forth)

However where Enan wins, and Hilleberg in general, is in quality. Your not going to find a better made tent anywhere. The attention to detail, the fabrics, the quality of the sew, there’s nothing quite like a Hilleberg, which is why I’m always willing to give Hilleberg a chance. There’s nothing quite like the look and feel of a Hilleberg and the Enan is no exception.

The Hilleberg Enan really is simplistic perfection. An excellent one man tent

Conclusion:

As I stated in the beginning, I love the Hilleberg Enan. Maybe it’s the quality of the product, the ease of use, or perhaps it’s just the brand Hilleberg. Whatever it is it’s hard for me to part with this tent. If your somebody who wants a simple to setup, one solution for all conditions and don’t use trekking poles, then the Enan is hard to beat. However for me the Hilleberg Enan is a tent that is too small for my use. But it’s just so damn good.

Pros:

Lightweight single man tent
Fast and easy to setup and use
Excellent build quality
Hilleberg
Great ventilation = lower condensation

Cons:

Expensive when compare to most chinese manufactured competitors
Heavy for the size and living area

You can buy the Enan in Sweden at: https://backpackinglight.se/varumarken/hilleberg/

or Europe: https://backpackinglight.dk/brands/hilleberg

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