What do you wish your hiking/camping equipment had?

[Ralph Burgess]

Yeah, in Star Wars tech the llama is what you sleep inside when it gets chilly out.   It’s your emergency bivy.

[Roger Caffin]

I was under the impression that using the llama as an emergency bivy was a bit of a one-shot thing? The body would be too heavy to move for the next night?

Cheers

[Ken Thompson]

A big meal before moving on and some knitted goods for travel

[Kelly C]

I still think there is a place for better insulation.  Something with a higher R value in a thin, light, hydrophobic fiber or plumule than an equivalent thickness of down.   Oh yes, and inexpensive.   Imagine a legit 0° bag the thickness of say a 50° bag!  Might be going against some laws of thermodynamics here though.

[Roger Caffin]

Not so much against the laws of physics (thermodynamics) as simply a lack of any such material. Don’t forget: the material has to squash into a small stuff sack repeatedly, and drape around your body. Ducks have the advantage of a few million years of evolution behind them.

An aerogel might have the necessary R-value, but they are as brittle as glass. They have been tried. Vacuum flask? um …

Cheers

[Ryan Jordan]

Y’all may never thought you’d see the day, but here’goes:

“I agree with Ken.” 😂

+1 on the WPB fabric thing.

We need durable air-permeable fabrics that can:

a. move vapor molecules through them at high flux, similar to Arc’teryx Fortius fabrics (which are very good at abrasion resistance); AND

b. resist water penetration from the high pressures caused by sitting on a wet surface, or having a heavy wet backpack strap or back against the fabric while walking, or of course, heavy rain or snowstorm.

This can *almost* be done with larger pore structure fabrics that are NOT calendared, laminated to membranes, or coated with microporous coatings AND have open porosity hydrophobic nanopolymeric mesh for the outer coating. Durability for the latter is the Big Trick that is preventing this from coming to market in a practical way. Solve THAT durability problem, and you just may put Gore-Tex to bed and save us all from C6+ fluoros to boot.

The Pertex-and-Pile model *almost* solved this, but only at levels of very high exertion. This system nailed breathability and durability, but let too much water come in due to pores that were too big and hydrophobicity that was overwhelmed in very wet conditions.

[Eric Blumensaadt]

Gravsled, FOR SURE!

And Unobtanium hiking poles. Or powdered water.

Maybe Dyneema fabric cost cut in 1/2 !!

[Diane “Piper” Soini]

I want a sun shade like you see on a baby carriage, but I want it light and packable, like the kind of sun shade for your car that pops open with a springy wire around the edge. I want it attached to my pack and able to attach a mosquito net to it to cover my upper torso.

[David Thomas]

I’ll second the reusable, smallish (less than 100-gram capacity), butane-mix canister.  As light as possible, so probably titanium.  But I’d accept a heavier, stronger refillable cylinder for propane.  Yes, I rarely need propane’s higher vapor pressure (although it’s nice to have), but I’ve got lots of bulk propane tanks around (1 pound, 20 pound, 250 gallons) to refill it from and replace with a very cheap fuel.  More than average regulatory hurdles with either of those, though.

And I’ll add a third vote for a better sunshade.  I like my Crome Dome sunbrella – it feels 10-15F cooler under it in high elevation sun, it creates a spot of solid shade in a desert that otherwise lacks shade, it works for rain, and my visibility and ventilation are much better than with a parka hood.  But it’s 8 ounces, doesn’t store compactly and is risky to travel with (I pack it in a shipping tube).

I’ve posted about foldable sun shades (extended brims) for hard hats which however need a little futzing to be secure on a baseball cap or other soft hat, but they provide a lot of shade, fold up small, are light and cheap ($9).

As Diane mentioned, mosquito netting that adapted to that – kind of an extra large head net – would keep the netting (and the bugs) further from your head and neck.

And/or some scheme in which the deployable sunshade WASN’T on your head (which makes you warmer), but was some sort of hands-free umbrella.

[Eric Blumensaadt]

And for God’s sake 4X more efficient solar cells and 4X more efficient batteries!

[Roger Caffin]

Sunshade – yeah, but a lot of our walking is done in scrub. Very good idea though.

Miniature gas canisters: an obvious idea, but there are BIG problems. For a start, the general range of canisters compliant with EN417 are all rated for single use only. Refilling is ‘against the law’ (cough).

You can get very small (<100 g) gas canisters, but finding them is hard. Vendors (and customers) probably don’t find them economic. You could consider using the smaller 170 g Powermax canisters if you felt like refilling them. The empties weigh only 68 g, which is really light. (Do NOT over-fill!) They are however liquid feed only: you can’t get a gas feed from them. The empties do sometimes pop up on ebay…

I have often wondered about some of the small hairspray cans – they ones which use butane as the propellant. But, I do not know what pressure (or ambient temp) they are rated to, and they generally do not have a screw thread fitting, or even a Campingaz version. I don’t have any plans to try to make an adapter for one as I don’t want to use straight butane anyhow.

I think Sievert were selling Powermax style canisters of straight propane at one stage, but ONLY in Northern Europe (where it is cold).

Cheers

[David Thomas]

“‘hairspray cans . . . which use butane as the propellant.”

Is that what makes VO-5 Hair Spray an impromptu blow torch?  I’d assumed it was the hair spray material itself, rather than the propellent.  Michael Jackson proved that hair spray, even dried, is quite flammable.  But I guess if it’s already flammable, using a flammable propellent doesn’t add a risk and butane is cheap (in bulk).

Yeah, I see some of the hair spray and deodorant containers in the store, especially the little sample-sized ones and some of them are aluminum with lovely, rounded concave bottoms but lack a screw fitting of any sort.  Rather, the “valve” seems more like a spray-paint can in which pressing the spray head causes a flapper valve to swing open into the canister.  That’s fine for venting to the atmosphere anyway, but wouldn’t work to adapt to a stove head since there’ll be some back pressure across the fuel orifice in the fuel-air mixing assembly.

[jscott]

It would be easy to attach a sunshade to an external frame back; and in fact Luxurylite does (or did) do just that. You simply leave one frame support open on top and fit an umbrella to match. The problem is with their umbrella,which turned inside out in a gust of wind.

that, and the fact that most these days won’t touch external frame packs.

so my second idea is, develop a lightweight external frame pack that uses a regular bag instead of the soft canisters luxurylite uses. External frame packs distribute weight better than internal frame packs, and are more comfortable imo. If weights are the same, I could see people gravitating back to these.

[Roger Caffin]

@David
the “valve” seems more like a spray-paint can in which pressing the spray head causes a flapper valve to swing open into the canister.
I don’t think so. The ones I have examined here in Oz do have some sort of flap on top, but it is there to push a pin down into the Lindal valve, to open a fairly stock valve mech.
First Q: is there a ‘rim’ around the valve, like in LH pic and middle pic?

If so, the pin under the flap is like the blue rod in the RH pic.

The same applies to all the ‘rocker’ fittings on spray cans: they just push a pin down to open the basic Lindal valve. To be sure, there are small variations, but only small. They all rely on the basic Lindal valve, which is sold in the millions (each year).

If you take a standard cheap butane can or something similar, you may end up with a protrusion like the can on the left (photo by Jan Rezak)

Jan cut the long red tube down and tweaked my canister connector so he could use these with one of my stoves:

James Klein did something very similar. Both worked.

Now a big caution: all these were using the butane which comes in these cheap lighter refills. Propane has a pressure several times higher than butane, especially when you get ‘warm’. We do NOT know how these cans are rated – or at what pressure they will explode (with such exciting consequences).

Cheers

[Murali C]

Vargo Outdoors makes titanium external frame packs – 2.5 lbs – but, they didn’t carry as well as the Kelty’s. Their lumbar pad/titanium plate is significant….if it fits you.

Seek Outside Divide is another external frame pack at 3.25 lbs or so. When I used to use the 4 inch extensions, it almost felt like the Kelty’s but the frame used to bump my butt at the bottom due to the way it was built.

Tried LuxuryLite as well – the belt connection point to the pack was awkward – the belt used to push into the tummy in the front and push the pack down into the butt in the back.

I agree – external frame packs like Kelty Tioga or Trekker carry weight very well – just wish the frame could be collapsed and removed for carry on somehow. Or easy way to collapse the frame to 19-21 inches or so for carry on. The clevis pins are a pain. I think carrying the load higher up is what contributes to the great carrying capabilities of the external frames.

[Diane “Piper” Soini]

I don’t want an umbrella for a sunshade. I want what baby buggies have. Look at a baby buggy going by next time you’re out. They extend and retract. And of course, not something as heavy as what a baby buggy will have, but something super light like a popup sunshade for your windshield.

[Roger Caffin]

Good idea, but finding a universal means of attachment: ah, that’s very hard.

Cheers

[Mordecai _]

Production processes that allow for greater range and specificity of customization for sizing/fit across all product categories.

[Paul Wagner]

For those who responded to this with scepticism or sarcasm, I would suggest that students often learn more by struggling to address problems unsuccessfully than by solving a problem easily. And yes, this teacher regularly gives out assignments like this. I do the same when I teach. The results are fun to read, and sometimes a group of students with widely diverse backgrounds comes up with really new ideas–the advantage of an interdisciplinary approach that is rarely found in industry.

The broader the question, the more likely you’ll find a real breakthrough idea, specifically because the students will approach from a completely new perspective. But the goal isn’t a great new product. The goal is to get the students to think hard about solving a tough problem.

Sometimes I wonder if some of the people here have forgotten what is what like to be twenty years old.

And if you DIDN’T reply with scepticism or sarcasm, thank you.

[jscott]

Piper, the sunshade is a good idea. Again,with an external frame I could imagine simply mating the sunshade posts into the two main frame posts and perhaps using a clevis pin (or nothing) to hold it in place. This would work for rain protection too. And it should solve the whole umbrella turning inside out issue.

[Eric Blanche]

This is a fun thread.

To add to the idea of bringing new technology to the “hiking/camping” segment, what about the graphene material we keep hearing about?

Supposedly very strong.

* I know nothing about graphene or its intentions and possible uses other than to make rubber more durable

[Jerry Adams]

“The broader the question, the more likely you’ll find a real breakthrough idea, specifically because the students will approach from a completely new perspective. But the goal isn’t a great new product. The goal is to get the students to think hard about solving a tough problem.”

yeah, and what else you said

don’t focus on whether something is right or wrong but can it stimulate some other idea…

[Murali C]

+1 on Paul Wagner’s comments. I am currently reading a book called Range by David Epstein which essentially says the same thing. Learning sticks when there is a struggle. And when the learning is interleaved/spaced rather than block learning (repetition etc). Highly recommend this book – fun read.

Piper – check this out for the sunshade stuff:

[Murali C]

One more – this one seems like it can be added to any backpack! There is a video on how it works…

[Diane “Piper” Soini]

Wow, that is very cool. I wonder how much it weighs. Would I be laughed it if I wore it walking around town?

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