Summer 2014

[Cole Crawford]

Hi all,

Looking for some feedback for my gear for this summer. Planning trips to the Wind River Range in Wyoming in August for a week or two and shorter trips throughout the Midwest. At 11.5 lbs now, looking to lighten up a bit and get general feedback on how my clothing system works together. Thinking about switching out the down jacket for a R1/Cap 4 hoody or similar. I still need to buy a Circuit (SMD Traveler for now) and a Sawyer Mini as I just sold my Katadyn filter. Open to suggestions for an insulation layer, trekking poles, etc.

http://www.geargrams.com/list?id=14611

Thanks!

[Cole Crawford]

Help would be appreciated =)

[John Klinepeter]

My experience in the Wind River Range is limited to the August 20 to September 20 time frame so it may not apply if you are entering much earlier.

I have a WM Highlite Bag and know I would almost certainly be cold during "normal" conditions at the end of August. I have pushed my bag down to the low 30's F with extra clothing but I was not happy about it. The same comment can be applied to an R2.5 pad–it is probably OK for most nights but a little marginal. Maybe add a half length of 1/4 inch CCF pad under your torso? Or use the Circuit's integrated pad? Most likely you will see low temps in the 30's F but 20's are possible.

Having said the above I will now partially contradict myself. Last September during my three night trip the temps never dropped much below 40F and I was toasty using an EE ~27 degree quilt (overstuffed so the number is odd). For a one or two week trip I suspect you would have a few cold nights with your sleeping gear.

Like you, I always carry extra underpants

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and never use them. Maybe next year I will be smarter and leave them at home. You will have many sunny days and opportunities to launder clothing.

Again, you might squeak by with an R1 hoody but I would take a light weight down jacket.

What I am seeing, to sum up, is that you should probably plan on temps 5 to 10 degrees colder than your gear list suggests.

Sawyer filters work great in the clear waters of the WR Mtns.

Water crossing sandals are not needed if you can tolerate occasional wet feet. I cannot think of any nasty/scary water crossings after mid August, but I have not covered all the trails, either. The deepest one I can recall is the outlet of Roaring Fork Lake which is above the knees and requires some care.

Depending on which part of the mtns. you travel (Shoshone or Bridger Teton) you may need to observe food storage requirements, i.e., hanging or canister use. If you choose to hang do not use minimalist spectra cord–it WILL get stuck and become unmovable (don't ask me how I know). I now use a flat tightly braided nylon cord successfully with the added benefit that it is easy to untangle.

In addition to the bug head net you might consider carrying some bug repellent. Second hand information from friends indicates that the mosquitoes are bad in early August. I also did not see on your list items such as toothbrush, repair kit, small knife, lightweight gloves.

One optional item, though maybe not needed if you exit the mtns. before September 1, would be rain pants. I debated their use for many years, almost convincing myself that they were unneeded. I changed my mind after discovering how much warmth they added during wet snowfalls.

Have a great time and don't be discouraged by all the cars at the trail head. After a few miles of walking you will find plenty of solitude with a little effort.

[Andy F]

Never been out west myself, but here are my thoughts.

Remove?
* any extra clothing not needed for warmth, except for 1 extra pair of socks for sleeping
* camp shoes

Add?
* fire ignition device and backup, one of them carried on-person
* whistle carried on-person
* pad repair kit
* insect repellent
* sunglasses
* sunscreen

Replace?
* use compactor bag instead of trash bag for increased durability on longer trips
* canister stove option might not be the lightest for shorter trips
* For a knife, I like the fixed blade Mora #1 at around $13 and 2.8 oz with sheath.

[John Klinepeter]

Cole,
After some more reflection and taking a second look at your list I am revising my outlook a little. I see that your down jacket is fairly substantial and would probably give significant warmth.
To the point: (1) If you have a reliable weather report showing 30F+ degree nights, (2) if you are a warmish sleeper, (3) if you include the down jacket, and (4) if you add a baselayer for your legs (I did not see that on your list) then the WM Highlite should be OK. I would still recommend an additional thin foamie to add to your Neoair.
My apologies for not seeing the beefiness of your jacket upon first reading. All of the above is merely opinion or a starting point, of course.

[Cole Crawford]

John: thanks for all the insight. I'll probably end up bringing a sleeping bag liner as well. I have a silk cocoon that would give me a bit of wiggle room with lower temperatures for not much additional weight. Adding some CCF under my torso and carrying some base leggings is a good idea. I usually don't carry any leg baselayers in the Midwest but will look into that. Lightweight gloves are another good addition that I usually don't think about during the summer.

I'll add bug repellant and look into getting a different line for my bear bag. Any suggestions for that?

I do have a knife, but forgot to put toiletries on here somehow. If I need to make repairs I usually just use Tenacious Tape which is in my first aid kit.

Andy: camp shoes are an easy cut. Sunglasses are already in clothing. Sunscreen is a good idea, need to repackage some of that. Keeping the canister stove because I will be going with friends, thus going through a decent amount of fuel even though it's a shorter trip where alcohol would normally be lighter. I will be using a trash compactor bag, not a normal garbage bag.

[John Klinepeter]

The bear bag line I have been using for the past 2/3 years was cut off a large spool at a local Army/Navy store. It is about 4mm wide X 1.6mm thick.

I briefly used the much-balleyhooed Zing-It and got tired of untangling it. The flat cord untangles much quicker without any special storage effort. They all tangle in my experience. I have tried various storage methods such as winding it onto a piece of milk carton plastic or cardboard and coiling it around my wrist with no improvement, it still tangles. Zing-It works nicely, slides efficiently over branches and has a nice feel, but……As I recall it comes in at least two diameters. Mine measures 2.2mm. I doubt the smaller dia. line would work better? Maybe someone knows a handy-dandy storage technique?

The line that gave me problems sticking on branches is the extremely light spectra type cords that I purchased about 7 or 8 years ago from two different sources. They probably work fine on some tree species somewhere but not on the trees I have met. Got the spectra stuck twice. On one occasion I was able to climb the tree and dislodge it from a little protruding nubbin for lack of the appropriate word (yup, the fact that I was able to climb the tree means a critter probably could have done the same thing–a bad hang). The other occasion I did a PCT hang and was never able to retrieve all the line despite pulling, yanking, poking, approaching from different angles. I did retrieve the food bag but there is probably still a 15 foot length of cord in a tree near Loch Leven Lake in Wyoming.

End of semi-rant. (smiley face!)

[Andy F]

This works well, although still not tangle proof:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4ygs2VMNzI

Even better but a little slower is to tie the two ends together, keep folding over the cord in halves until it's the desired bundle size, then put a loose overhand knot in the whole bundle.

[John Klinepeter]

Andy,
Thanks for the hints. Over the years I have probably tried most of the techniques but it would be worth revisiting them. I would have a slight preference to use the Zing-It if I can find a good storage method. Part of my problem is that I use more line, 40 to 50 feet, than most people carry. The extra length increases the number of hanging opportunities using the PCT method but also makes an easier mess.
Update: Just tried the figure 8 method shown in the video. It worked well so I will try it in the wild this summer. Thanks again.

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