Favorite Piece of Gear Purchased? Last 6 Mo.

Well, I'm thinking that the nunatak skaha plus pullover is as nice as anything I've acquired in a long time.
I really grew quite fond of it last weekend when I left it sitting behind the seat of my truck and spent 2 days backcountry skiing. I'm sure it was improving the r-value of the cab by a lot more then me.
So my new favorite piece of gear is a huge note on my windshield written with a sharpie thar sez "look in your pack dummy and see if your really nice parka is in there".

Oh you guys have got to be kidding.

ONE?

A ticket to Tucson after a looooong winter in Montana, that's what, to…go hiking with Don and Carol and our friends at NOLS down in the Saguaro Wilderness. AND I DON'T HAVE TO SKI – OR SNOWSHOE – OR USE VAPOR BARRIERS – OR MELT SNOW!

Really, ONE? C'mon. OK seven.

Bushbuddy Ultra
ULA Relay
BD OneShot
iPod Shuffle
Inov8 O'340s
Java Juice and Jackie Chan Tea (!)
Carbon Fiber tubing for an ultralight version of the GoLite pole extender

Hmm, sorry. I guess I snuck in 8!

i love my golite phantom jacket. mostly just because i like how good i look in it (my wife may beg to differ with that statement).

My Tarptent Rainbow for sure. Friend woke up in a sauna, I couldnt've been more comfy…

Two of my recent faves are:

Patagonia Wool 2 zip-an outstanding wool base layer that works in a wide variety of temps. and feels perfect on the skin.

Mountain Laurel Designs Revelation-have gone on a couple of short hikes with SUL loads, and it has been supremely comfortable and well-designed. A five-day trip is quickly approaching and I can't wait.

Oops, I almost forgot. The iPod Shuffle is great. So much good stuff for only .55 oz.

I'm with the good Dr., six months is a long time.
MDL Prophet
MDL Superlite bivy
Firelite 500 cookpot
Golite Virga

Ryan, Matthew, Jim, et. al.

If most people can finalize their choices to one and only one mate for life, why can't you identify a 'favorite' piece of gear purchased in the last six months? Get with the program, eh? It's not that hard. :)

Hey, Denis did it!

Hmm…I see how it is. You got me, Ben. I will narrow it down to the Patagonia Wool 2 since I need to put more miles on the Revelation to be sure. Now are you happy?:)

Smart wool med weight base layer. Just sooo good.

Leatherman Squirt P4 for $1.35

Oooooh. One won't do.

Icebreaker 200 merino top and bottom
iPod Shuffle
ULA Amp
Brooks Adreneline

Inov-8 mudclaw 270's (after I ripped off two [of four] plastic logo tags and covered up all red accents with a Sharpie [still unclear how that will hold up]).

Hey Matt, Your Popcan sounds pretty light considering you are 6'5" tall. Is that with all accessories? McHale told me the 'official' light weight of the packs is with a summit flap and accessories off. I first weighed mine with the hip pack and switching it out with the summit flap took it down to 2.75 lbs. Maybe that's still not UL here!

the car I just crashed. it was not totaled, but needs some work. until fixed, I am stuck home. no hike for me for a while.

Hey Ryan,

How do you like the Black Diamond Oneshot tent? I've
been looking it, but I've not seen any reviews of it yet.

Mark

My backpackinglight.com membership. Knowledge is power!

Couldn't have just one favorite….

ULA Conduit
Ipod Shuffle

The shuffle is awesome. I have a regular Ipod too but it collects dust since I got the shuffle. I wear it running and working out and I don't even know it is there.

Steve

My Six Moon Designs Gatewood Cape. Pure Brilliance. Love it!!!!!

Hands down, my ULA Catalyst. Just an incredible design!

Yeah, 4 lbs 3 oz is the weight on my postal scale with all accesories attached (that's the summit flap, 2 side water bottle holders and a hipbelt pouch). My popcan is made out of the green nylon small grid dyneema fabric (full dyneema and other color options were not available last year when I bought mine). Not too bad in my opinion for such an awesome fit. Like I said in my original post, I am not an ultralighter so I like having a more supportive pack with stays and a decent hipbelt.

Right on, Shawn!

I LOVE my Catalyst.

A close second is TarpTent Contrail.

I just bought it this week!

I am in LOVE with it!

It is the Exped Wallcreeper sleeping bag. There are several down versions but because of our climate I prefer the synthetic version!

It has many uses and I love that about it. It packs down really small and is super light.

I can use it as a sleeping bag, wear it as a camp parka, wear it to the toilet in the middle of the night etc. I can also use it with my bivy sac in colder weather!

I am also going to try using it as an under quilt for my hammock!

I've been thinking for a few days and its either my Nunatak Arc Ghost or my smartwool shaddows hoody. Very different, but both have greatly improved my outdoor enjoyment. But I also really like my coleman F1. The slight increase in weight vs the hassle of alcohol or esbit makes it nice…

I have to ask what you mean by "favorite". Favorite as in "I use it all the time" or as in "Man, this is cool!"

For the "use it all the time" category I'd say my MontBell Super Merino Wool short-sleeve undershirt. I use it all the time, now even for in town and for work. I love the base layer so much I've bought three more of them (now I have six!). I bought a pair of Smartwool merino wool longjohns recently and there is just something different about the feel of the wool that I just don't like. Feels stiffer, rougher (more itchy?), and less stretchy.

For the "coolness" category I'd say my TarpTent Rainbow. Whenever I set it up, even in the mountains, something about it always makes me stop and gaze at it for a while, it's that beautiful. As a designer I love concepts and forms that approach the Golden Mean, and the Rainbow does that aesthetically.

My new Golite Lite-Speed may also become one of my favorite items, but unfortunately, as others have mentioned in the forums, Golite's sizing definitely is on the small side. I have a medium and it never fits right, always riding up to my navel. I've contacted Golite about this and hopefully they will help me with a large size, but they haven't answered yet, so I don't know. The Lite-Speed may very well be my Mountainsmith Ghost replacement, though I think the Ghost carries heavier loads better. For sure the Lite-Speed will be my travel pack.

Ryan J. you mentioned earlier that the new BD OneShot is one of your favorite items. I've been curious about this tent ever since you mentioned it at the summer outdoor fair. May I ask what you like about it and how it performs? Is the lack of a vestibule a problem? Has the bugnetting door problem been addressed? What situations would you use it in, considering that you seem to usually like much lighter shelters? Is there enough room for someone with gear holing up in a storm? So far there isn't any mention of it anywhere so I have no way to guage its viability. Just curious.

I guess my new toy without a doubt would have to be the GG Uberlight. Previously my favorite was the GG Hyperlight, but it was way too big for my usual 2 – 3 day jaunts.