Flash Reviews (No. 1): ZPacks Challenger Raingear, JepPaks Custom Packs, Zebralight H52Fw Headlamp

[Ryan Jordan]

Companion forum thread to:

Flash Reviews (No. 1): ZPacks Challenger Raingear, JepPaks Custom Packs, Zebralight H52Fw Headlamp

[James Marco]

The link to JepPaks is broken. Needs a second slash in the specifier.

[HkNewman]

Liking the flash review format

Yeah, a little weird (original post time-stamp) on the website itself, … if I go through a search engine … but there's a hyperlink (look for "here") that goes to a neat little website with menu and Pinterest pics. There are pictures of their packs on google images however (looks like Dyneema grid and various cuben hybrid materials – interesting U shaped frame tho)

ed: gr

[Simon Kenton]

Good stuff and nice new format! I like the idea of this being used in conjunction with full fledged reviews, its a nice preview of what may come.

Thanks!

[Jacqueline Bodemann]

Love the new format!
Thanks.

[Tony Wong]

Ryan,

Thrilled to see this new edition to BPL.

Great way to let people know about new gear so they can jump on doing their own research and to spark discussions on the forum.

Also, it means that when a formal review comes out, people cannot complain that BPL is "late" with coming out with news about a new product.

Plus, it creates fresh content to give people a reason to swing by BPL more often.

Be the hub of all things UL/Lightweight as a trusted and current resource of what is happening in the market place.

So great idea.

My suggestion is to have a better home page layout that has different sections to explore that has little bits of information that change from time to time….to entice people to come back again and again.

In particular, as a means to hopefully spur new paying membership, having a permanent section on the home page of rotating past articles that are essentially a 101 on how to get into UL Backpacking would be nice.

I know that there are links for that, but something a little more visually appealing vs. a simply hyperlink. Maybe a smaller version of the rotating photos of the weekly new articles that you currently have, which is great for people who are already UL or Lightweight, but having a section that targets newbies who would be potential new members for generating revenue for BPL would be good.

Anyway, some quick thoughts that I had previously suggested a year or so back.

Tony

[stenslat .]

How noisy is the ZPacks Challenger rain gear? Wondering about suitability for hunting, or just how annoying while walking.

[Thomas Tomlins]

I will second this question

[J-L]

ZPacks' new "Challenger" material is really interesting. I have a ZPacks rain jacket made of the older white eVent material and just got some Challenger Rain Mitts. I am surprised at how much more durable the mittens feel. At 1 oz with taped seams, I'm thinking they could prove to be the ideal UL mitten shells – hoping to use them a lot this winter.

The material, at 1.62 oz/sqyd, is not much heavier than Silnylon. It would be stupidly expensive, but a shelter with the stuff might be great in winter. Edit: I also wonder about using it to make lighter, WPB bivys

[Stuart .]

Not so long ago BPL would offer Spotlight reviews, which were more comprehensive than the guff you find in Backpacker magazine, but didn't require 6+ months of testing that a fully fledged review might. I think they served their purpose well, getting information about newer products out to BPL members.

Then a couple of years ago we were told that we'd be getting rolling reviews of products, from early impressions all the way through to (potential) destruction. The Trailstar review died a death after its first installment, and the HMG Expedition / 4400 Porter was very controversial due to some of the style of writing, broad-based claims and a decision to edit the article after it was published. There was one update with a second article linked to the original one, but that put paid to the rolling reviews idea.

I'm all in favour of a format that brings new and interesting products to our attention, and that's exactly what external blog posts and member contributions on the Gear forum are all about. For editorial content provided to annual and lifetime members, I would hope that the bar be set rather higher.

[Ryan Jordan]

Most nylons will be "noisy" when the nylon rubs against itself. The Challenger is no different. I don't really notice it to be "noisier" or "quieter" than any of the other nylon-faced raingear I own. But, it has a stiffer hand than some types of raingear and that makes it a little bit "crunchier" when you move.

It's quieter than non-nylon-faced Cuben Fiber that is used in stuff sacks and tarps, spinnaker cloth, and silnylon.

And it's noisier than so-called "quiet" hunting raingear (e.g., like those made with waterproof fabric with a brushed polyester face and sometimes a brushed microfiber lining).

[Ryan Jordan]

It will be interesting to see how this format evolves and the extent to which authors would like to write in it. One goal is to create a format where we can bring in more author diversity, but not at the expense of ditching either Spotlite Reviews (which will still feature only one product) and comprehensive performance reviews.

The rolling review format seems interesting and useful, but it's the least favorite among our authors to write. Maybe due to the commitment required to see it through. I've written a few in this format and personally, the format appeals to me, but I have to give some latitude in recognizing that some authors hate that format, and some readers are opposed to the idea of having a review changed/updated over time. I think that's an easy one to solve though: we should have documented that changes were made so the folks that read the original review knew what the changes were (i.e., on the Porter review).

We're learning. Thanks for your feedback!

[Stuart .]

Ryan, thanks for taking the time to respond to comments about the new format, and for sharing the trials and tribulations for those of you who were involved in writing the rolling reviews.

I value the indepth reviews published periodically, and the MLD Soul bivy was one of the stand-outs of the last year. I'm also glad to hear that the new format isn't intended to replace the Spotlight reviews. Thanks for being open to feedback from your membership.

[Ryan Smith]

"Second, I’m discovering much shorter battery life (even with the manufacturer-recommended Sanyo 2000 mAh Eneloop AA battery) at the suggested outputs than what the manufacturer is claiming. "

Several have noticed that over in the forums. In order to achieve the run times posted by ZL, you must use the Energizer Ultimate Lithium that they also recommend.

Ryan

[Ethan A.]

Ryan I really appreciate this new format. While the in-depth reviews are very helpful, getting more reviews out and getting them out earlier will help a lot of readers. Reminds me of the academic peer-review process, which can take two or more years, versus researchers sharing their focus on an ongoing basis in shorter articles and blog posts.

Which shelter are you using in your photo with the ZPacks Challenger jacket?

I'm pleasantly surprised to hear how breathable the Challenger jacket is and amazed it's available with pit zips for a very small weight penalty.

[Ethan A.]

Ryan what made you choose the floody Zebralight H52Fw over a spot version? Does the spot version have enough of a flood spread to work well in camp on low settings, and wouldn't it work just as well on the trail?

Some people say they like the flood for hiking when mounting the light at waist level, but I've had no problem night hiking with a head-mounted spot beam so long as it has enough of a flood spread in addition to the center spot.

Does the spot version of the same headlamp suffer from the same complexity in settings?

[Bob Gross]

One thing might help users decide whether to get a flood beam or a spot beam. If you do any night photography and do not use a strobe, you can use a flood beam. The spot beam will tend to appear too artificial, but the flood will look halfway natural, especially if you get one with a natural light color temperature.

–B.G.–

[Ian]

I've yet to buy a ZL but it seems that the spot vs flood issue is the first hurdle many buyers struggle with before making the purchase.

I have a Petzl Tikka and one feature I really appreciate is the ability to have both options. I use the regular lens as a spot light and there's a built in light diffuser (not sure what it's supposed to be called) I flip up when I want more of a flood.

I was going to steal a picture of it from the internet to share with the class but from looking at REI and Petzl's website, I didn't see that feature on any of the current headlamps. Too bad because I think it's great.

Anyways, I don't think it'd cost more than a nickel for ZL to produce and offer a clip on light diffuser that can be added to a spotlight version of their headlamp. Also sounds like a fairly straightforward MYOG project.

PS
Nice article and format Ryan.

Edit: Found an old REI sales page which advertised this feature as "Spring-assisted, flip-up diffuser lens changes beam shape from spotlight to area light for different conditions"

Edity edit: Looks like the rechargeable core battery for the Tikka is AWOL too.

[Richard Nisley]

Ryan said, " I’ve experienced their effective breathability"…"am happy to verify its excellent breathability in a wider range of conditions than what I’ve experienced with most, if not all, of my other raingear".

I measured the air permeability for this version of WPB Cuben at .29 CFM. Although this is almost double the prior WPB Cuben air permeability (.17 CFM), it is approximately 1/2 of conventional UL 3 layer eVent rain jackets (.50 CFM). I tested the HH at greater than 3,500 mm H2O for this version as well as prior versions of WPB Cuben.

The low air permeability may be the result of the very densely woven nylon face fabric and the manner that it is laminated to the outside of the sandwich. The following is the latest WPB Cuben lamination's nylon fabric micrograph with a field of view = 1.4 mm:

The following is the latest WPB Cuben lamination's inner surface micrograph with a field of view = 5.0 mm. Note that it looks identical to all prior generations of WPB Cuben:

[James holden]

The zebralight is listed with an eneloop AA for its claimed runtimes

http://www.zebralight.com/H52-AA-Headlamp-Cool-White_p_131.html

However this is an ANSI measurement which means down to 1/10 the intensity, not what most folks would consider "run time"

For more and why how things get fudged read this …

http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/a/11165/Why-Headlamp-Claims-are-Deceptive

As to flood vs spot, some of the new petzls have both a flood and spot LED

;)

[Ryan Smith]

Richard,

Thanks for the information regarding this style of WP/B from CubicTech. Really helps to cut through all of the anecdotal "this stuff breathes awesome" that we continually hear when a new product is released. CT is moving in the right direction, but not there yet IMO.

Ryan

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