2008 Backpacking Light Staff Picks

[Brian UL]

1. Caldera cone gram cracker

2. BPL long handled ti spoon

3. Montbell Alpinelight jacket

[Denis Hazlewood]

My three favorites:

1. The BPL, long handled SUL Ti Spoon. I gave my "heavy" one to my son.

2. Henry Shires Tyvek Sublite tent. 18.5 ounces of condensation/bug free comfort. My Big Sky Evolution 2P stays home unless I'm hiking with Susan.

3. Montbell Thermawrap Parka. It's almost too warm. Great for sitting around camp and a perfect addition to my sleep system. Takes my North Face Beeline down to the low 20's

[Jeroen Wesselman]

We are a year in our 15 months world travelling trip were hiking is our main objective. This was a year of almost using all my gear non stop, a great experience.

Although i have used a lot of gear in 2008, three items really stood out for me.

White Box Alcohol Stove; this is the best alcohol stove i have ever used and it is a pleasure to use. Everybody who saw it was amazed with the performance and the weight. My Favorite pot with this stove is the MSR Titan Kettle and this was the cooking set up we used everywhere from New Zealand, Autralia to the high andes of Peru and Bolivia.

Montbell UL Thermawrap Jacket. I always underestimated this jacket as being too thin but i think this is the beauty behind it and it makes it hte most versatile jacket i have. Again this jacket was used everywhere and it will be in my pack for next three months.

Patagonia Wool 2 Zip Neck. In my opinion the best wool base layer out there. I am a wool afficionado and i have loads of woll base layers but this one is the one i used on every hike last year (and the have been many). It performed well all over the world and sadly after one year og very intense use i have to retire it because of the wear and tear. But i already have a new one bought on sale (they are way too expesive, thats the only negative about this shirt).

Jeroenman currently abusing gear in Argentine Patagonia

[Keith Hultman]

Didn't get out much this year but these are my picks for best gear I did get to use. Both increased my freedom outdoors in some way.

MYOG momentum90/silnylon bivy: Based on the VAPR side zip design, it protected my sleeping bag from wind blown rain under a short rock outcrop on a climbing trip to RMNP. Only downside was that I kept sliding down with my thermarest pad over the slippery silnylon. I fixed that with some silicone strips on the pad. I just love throwing down the bivy on a clear night. Makes overnight trips with good weather so convenient and fun.

Arc'teryx R320 climbing harness: Ok, maybe not Backpacking Light material per se, but this harness could have been inspired by UL backpacks. A pared down harness with no bulky padding sounds painful, but it's an ultralight laz-e-boy. Truly revolutionary kit.

[Patrick Young]

1 MontBell UL Inner Parka
2 Big Agnes Copper Spur UL3
3 Trail Designs Ti-Tri Caldera Cone (works with both my 1.5L and 1L MSR ti pots)

[Tim F]

My top three pieces of gear for 2008:

Aluminum Caldera Cone with Gram Cracker Esbit stove- with my SP 600 mug, homemade tin can lid (thanks Jason and Ben!), Reflectix cozy, REI long-handled Ti spoon, and 4 fuel tabs I have a full solo cook set for a long weekend for about 7.5 oz. This setup is extremely efficient: .3-.4 oz of fuel per 2-cup boil. Great for FBC style or freeze-dried meals.

Western Mountaineering Megalite long w/ 2 oz. overfill- this is lighter than my previous 40* bag (I'm slowly getting lighter)! I have used it quilt-style in 55*, and zipped, but not quite battened-down, in 30*. I love the full zip, and it is nice to have a bag that is more than long enough for me.

Patagonia Houdini- after a year of soaking up the great info on this forum, I finally decided to buy my first windshirt. This now comes with me on warm weather trips with no rain in the forecast instead of a rain shell. I also bring it when highs are expected to be 55* or less. Along with a wool baselayer , it is my most versatile clothing piece. I have just finished scooping snow in it in a windy 30* for an hour with wool baselayer and was able to stay very dry and warm.

Thanks to everyone that has helped me find these and other great pieces of gear. I guess my next move will be to post my gear list and take the slings and arrows to try to lighten up further.

-Tim

[Doug Johnson]

"Doug, Doug, Doug,

It's December '08, mon. Don't jump the gun just yet! Haven't you received your Cuban-carbon fibre hoody/shelter prototype?

Sheesh,Rick"

Totally Rick! I really should shoot for an all-Cuben list for 2009. I mean, that merino hood is already SO last-week.

Ha! dj

[Michael Fogarty]

Packs:

Granite Gear Nimbus Ozone
Lowe Alpine Contour HyperLite
MLD Arc
ULA Circuit

Shelters:

B.A. SL1
O.R. Hubba
TT Double Rainbow
TT Contrail

Quilts:

Nunatak Arc Alpinist (1.0 oz Pertex Q.)
Nunatak Arc Specialist (1.0 oz Pertex Q.)

Clothing:

Montbell ThermaWrap Parka
Patagonia #2 Zip-T-neck top & bottoms
O.R. Celestial jacket and pants

[Mark Bishop]

My top three choices, all are new to me in ’08:
1. Montbell UL Down Inner Vest
2. Golite Ultra 20
3. SMD Serenity net tent (designed for the Gatewood Cape, another great product)

[Richard Morris]

I have been eyeing the Terroc 330 as a replacement for my aging boots. I read a review that said that Terrocs were dangerous on wet rock. I wondered about your experience.
Thanks,
Richard

[Martin Rye]

A map

A compass

A train ticket to were the location the map is for.

Or:

Pacer Poles, Carbon Fibre models

Inov-8 318

Primus Eta Express solo stove

[Paul Tree]

☺ Mont-Bell Ex Light down jacket: 6.2 oz.
     3/4" of fairy down for layering. Full zip, size Large. Worn on top, it floats, so.. weightless?
☺ Backcountry.com Rime PowerShield shirt: 10 oz.
     Thin 'softshell' pullover shirt, great for the cold, next-to-skin. Easy care. Minimal.
☺ MYOG backpack: 22.2 oz.
     Pack frame design, with or without trash compactor bag. Cushy Osprey straps, no hip belt.

[J B]

I used these waterproof socks just yesterday around the Spitzingsee. Lots of snow and rain, but my feet stayed dry.

[Mitchell Keil]

Like Carol I have become addicted to the comfort of the BG Clearview pad and the Cyclone XL chair kit. I have made a slight modification to the Clearview which allows me to create a pad system, taking my comfort down to about 20 degrees. I added a evazote 1/8" topper pad and my wife stitched up a sylnylon 1.5oz sleeve for the two. Now I can protect this delicate pad from sharp stuff and combine it with the topper when needed for extra warmth — all without worrying about the pads slipping apart at night. I even have a set of sewn on strings at the top of the sleeve which allow me to keep my UL air pillow attached to pad. What a system and all for a total weight of 17 oz.

My third item is my ULA Catalyst. What a sweet pack this is! Best hip belt I have ever encountered and easy to carry up to about 27 lbs. without a worry or any discomfort.

[Richard Lyon]

1. Westcomb Mirage eVENT shell – Backcountry.com Special edition. Best rain shell I've ever owned. Also the lightest.

2. Ryders Eyewear Adrenaline Intersect Interchangeable Sunglasses – finally a pair of sunglasses that stays in place. The interchangeable lenses are a bonus.

3. Oboz Yellowstone boots – First pair of hiking boots on which I didn't need to use custom footbeds.

Wild Things EPIC windshirt and BPL Beartooth Hoodie are close runners-up.

[Joshua Billings]

1. Western mountaineering alpinelite

2. ULA catalyst

3. BPL wool hoody

So much gear so little time

[Richard Matthews]

zpacks Blast 32 pack

Brawny windshirt

Caldera Cone stove for the mini-Trangia

[Carol Corbridge]

1. Beartooth Merino Hoody – nice job BPL

2. Petzl E+Lite Headlamp – replaces my old Tikka

3. Big Agnes Clearview Air Pad & Cyclone SL Chair Kit – Luxury I can live with

[Adrian B]

Liteflux LF2 AAA powered flashlight – same weight as my e+LITE, but far, far brighter and more versatile.

Mountain Laurel Designs Zip – tough, lighter & more features than the Jam2.

Snow Peak Lite Max stove – 1.9oz/54g makes it very hard to say no to the convenience of a canister stove. Folds up well, flame can be turned down to super-low output for fuel efficiency or simmering.

Worthy mentions:

MLD Patrol shelter, in cuben – fantastic so far, but picked this up too late in the year to be a contender. Fantastic design, and I love being able to see the trees & the moon *through* the shelter.

Spark-Lite Firestarter – lighter than even a small Bic lighter, doesn't run out of gas, or stop working in the wind & sub-zero temps.

[Lynn Tramper]

1)Trail Designs Caldera Keg with Gram Cracker (for solo trips)
2)Trail Designs Ti-Tri Caldera for 2 litre pot
3)BPL Thoroughfare pants

[Poul Kjeldgaard]

If you add CHDK to these old Canon cameras, you wont believe what can be squeezed out of them.

RAW, All sorts of timing, PDA-functions, e-book-reading, automatic photos of lightning and a lot more.

chdk.wikia.com

[Roger Caffin]

Hi Poul

> If you add CHDK to these old Canon cameras, you wont believe what can be squeezed out of them.

That is an utterly unreal reference! Thank you VERY much!

Cheers

[Joe Westing]

I second Poul's recommendation of the CHDK. I am using it w/ my year old Canon SD800 and having the ability to take RAW photos is great. I am still just learning about all the features that CHDK enables. Another great thing is that it is still actively being development, so improvements happen all the time. I am excited to see how it improves in the future.

[Poul Kjeldgaard]

steroids is better (-8

But with Photoshop around, it could be true.

[David Drake]

Realize it's a bit late for posting, but I just bought a pair of Keen Ridgelines on closeout, and noticed Will Rietveld had them as his pick for 08. Wondering how they've held up. Mine had busted out plastic grommets–when received–which I had replaced with brass. I'm happy with the fix (and the credit the retailer gave me which more than covered the repair cost) but wondering if Will had the same problem (it seems common) and if any other problems have cropped up. Other than this, I like the shoe.

[Author]

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