2013 Staff Picks

Very disapointed. Hardly any backpacking items listed, and when there were, some were discontinued? What gives? Is this Backpacking light or Packrafting/Bikepacking/"Lifelist Planning"/Hunting Light??

? Lifestyle item ?

I was relieved when I read the choices.

These were probably the least helpful picks ever, here or on any other hiking site. Let's summarize what's on the list (* denotes hiking or backpacking gear I might be interested in):

shoes that give the wearer blisters – good thing they have a "heal cup"
a gun
a bike
a fishing rod
an avalanche protection backpack for skiers which costs over $1000 dollars
a recommendation to take a class
a tent which is "not available for several years"
a running shoe with no details given
a foam roller
a puffy jacket*
hiking poles*
a text editor
10 year old snowshoes
snowshoes for kids
a commuter bike
a rainjacket*
a kayak
the idea of journaling
a cuben fiber pyramid costing $800 (those ads must be generating some revenue!)
a kayak paddle
a national park

Three out of 21 items are realistic hiking and/or backpacking items. To be fair, the title of the article was not "Staff Gear Picks", so I guess we should feel lucky we got items somehow related to being outdoors. They could have picked their favorite beer or movie star. But the email said "…take a minute and see which gear our staff uses often." I would have gotten a lot more out of reading about gear I would potentially be interested in buying.

Dave, or maybe you staff want to think about not watering down the concept of this site. This was just another boring article. Wow, Ryan likes HMG, is he an ambassador maybe?

I don't mind the branching out at all; I have been doing that myself…

My picks:

Ultralight backpacking item.
Hennessy Hyperlite Hammock. This system is super comfortable, easy to set up and weighs in at one pound and 12 ounces, including the fly .

Outdoor activity item.
No surprise here that this would be a Trail Camera. After trying a few of them out, I pick the Cadillac of trail cameras, the Reconyx Hyperfire. Seeing what wildlife shares the trails with me has made my outdoor life even more interesting and very exciting.

Lifestyle item.
Well, soon it might be my brand new Vitamix, but I just got that so until then I will pick the item I do not own as a lifestyle choice: a tv.

I don't mind the diversity at all, but not at the expense of the core product.

If mountain biking and packrafting are the new direction of BPL, that's fine, but that means I'll be here less and less! Actually, that's already true–even in the forum, I now skip the majority of the recent threads. That's even more true of the articles. It's not that I've lost interest in backpacking, just that I'm happy with the gear I have and also find much of the forum material and articles to be repetitious or about stuff that doesn't interest me. Anything I'd list in my 2013 gear picks will be no different than 2012. Somewhere along the line, I've lost my "gear geekness."

The posts/articles that make me pick up my ears these days are either about backpacking with kids or trip reports. As I get older (and the grandkids are able to carry more shared gear), those grandkids are going to keep me out on the trail longer! And I've always loved a good adventure yarn! There is a reason I jump at the trip reports with kids from Ike Jutkowicz (I hope I spelled that right!)–they combine the two!

And after having nearly been run down several times by mountain bikers (who are supposed to give right of way to hikers but instead forced me to jump off the trail), I have an intense dislike for the species.

Will ORVs be next here at BPL?

I personally think hiking with a backpack on is a pretty narrow topic and enjoy reading about these other adventures and interests.

My picks:

UL Backpacking Item: I had to revamp my kit this year so I have many items to choose from but the Lite Trail Solid Fuel Cook System V2 continues to impress. This system works well for when I want to shed weight from my pack but still want a warm meal at the end of the day. I fully expect that 2014 will bring a Flat Cat dry baking system into my life for the trips where I am less worried about hiking from dawn to dusk and want to bring my back-40 culinary experience up several notches.

Outdoor Activity Item: As mentioned above, the very large majority of my 2013 fun money went to my backpacking kit. Slowly but surely I'm bringing my 29er up to snuff for some bike packing in 2014. A couple buddies and I are planning a couple rails-to-trails trips next summer to shake down our gear before we commit to a more ambitious single track adventure.

Lifestyle Item: I started a thread a few months back about wanting to improve my photography. I've ordered a couple books today which were recommended to me on that thread and hope to steal a day here and there to explore the wilderness and work on my photography.

"What happened to the art of just going out in the wild, find a nice rock, sit, be."

THAT is downright un-American! Expect to be pulled aside for interrogation by the TSA the next time you try to come and sit on a rock and be, here in The Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave. :=[

My picks out of the gear I acquired in 2013 are:

1) ULA Catalyst Cuben Hybrid
This pack is great for larger loads such as packrafting and winter hikes. The cuben hybrid fabric minimizes water weight uptake and keeps my gear mostly dry when packrafting (I use drysacks for crucial stuff). At 40oz, it enables me to undertake a wider variety of backpacking trips. Compared to the HMG cuben hybrid packs, the Catalyst is more fully featured which suits my style.

2) Locus Gear FL CP2 poles
The Locus Gear Flick lock poles are the best poles for ultralight hiking. The flick locks are much nicer to use than the GG LT4 twist locks, and they're decently stiffer too. The also collapse shorter since they're 3 piece and the price isn't too ridiculous. My only complaint the small diameter grips, which I remedied by replacing them with GG grips. 4.8oz ea with the straps off.

3) Garmin Geko 301
This GPS is excellent for trips where you'd prefer to have the safety net/convenience of a GPS, but you don't plan on using it much. The Geko 301 is very light (~3oz) and it gives me a my UTM coordinates which is all I need to locate myself on the map. It's been discontinued for several years now, which means they are widely available on eBay for $30-$70. The 301 has much better battery life than the 201 and 101 versions.

HONORABLE MENTIONS
Nite-Ize #1 S Biners -Light, strong & well made. Great for bear bagging. 0.1oz.
Nikon AW100 Camera – Waterproof camera's are much nicer to use, and this one is good.
Mountain Hardware Quasar Rain Jacket – The move to more durable 9oz 3 layer rain jacket with a higher quality membrane looks promising.

My picks

Ultralight Backpacking Item – Exped Lighting 60. Great pack! Best 2 pound load hauler I've tried so far.

Insert anti-anti-consumerism rant here

Sometimes the focus on gear isn't some selfish consumerism its just a real need. I would have been happy to use my old pack till the end of time but it wore out, and is discontinued. I didn't go shopping for a new pack because I wanted too but because I had too. I imagine people who hike hundreds of miles a year like Jordan and Chenault are in the same boat.

End of rant.

Outdoor Gear – Running in Merrell Trail Gloves. I tried this on a lark after deciding I didn't have the energy for a 2 mile run in my regular shoes. I thought I'd run a mile. But I felt great! It wasn't just the forefoot striking and ground feel often discussed. I was already forefoot striking more or less. The problem was my stiff NB shoes would slip on the loose gravel as my feet landed and as I toed off. It wasn't as bad as running in sand but it wasn't real efficient. The Merrells just worked better. I think it was because they had a smaller "footprint" so I was slipping on less gravel. Also they wrapped around rocks they hit rather than slipping on top of them. I beat my feet up a bit more but my running was more efficient and I felt less fatigued overall.

Lifestyle – Focusing on Family and Friends. I had ambitious plans for the summer but due to a death in the family I kept feeling like certain family and community events were more important and my backpacking trips kept getting pushed back. I took cousins on a backpacking trip (at there not UL pace), volunteered to help a church youth group on a car camping trip, took my little brother on a short trip and spent a week in Yellowstone with my immediate and extended family. In the end all this cut into my backpacking time a lot more then I thought it would. If I'd known how little backpacking I'd do I might have skipped a few family events. But in the end it was one of the richest and most rewarding summers of my life and I'm glad I (unknowingly) sacrificed backpacking for more important things.

…is the picks that you all have in each of your categories. I really enjoy learning about the diversity of what makes BPL readers tick. Thanks to those of you who are contributing yours, as well.