Backpacking question (1 Viewer)

[Philip Hamm]

Those bags are far more expensive than I can afford right now. Actually I'm looking at a -15°F bag from "Backside" that's being sold for a very good price at overstock.com. Not really ultralite but fairly light weight and relatively small, and guaranteed to keep me absolutely toasty. At 2700 feet in the West Virginia Mountains in the middle of February it gets pretty cold! I am really excited about this trip. Now what do I do with my old gear that I just replaced?

 

[Jay H]

Things to do with old gear:
1)Donate it to the Salvation Army or the homeless
2)Give it to relatives
3)Sell it on Ebay
4)Make a halloween costume out of it.
5)Tack it to the wall and admire all the uses you've gotten with it.

Jay

 

[JayV]

I would add:

6. Save it if you have the room. I always run into people who want to go backpacking, but have no gear.

More frequently, I run into people who say they really want to go but later come up with reason after reason why they can't go. Spare gear can help remove one of those reasons.

-j

 

[Philip Hamm]

Well, our President's Day Weekend trip was impossible for obvious reasons, but my friend and I got out last weekend for a quick overnighter. Since some of you wanted to see pictures, here's just a couple from Jim's digital camera. Click here.

 

[MikeH1]

Looking forward to seeing some pics but unfortenetly the link isn't working for me.

 

[Philip Hamm]

Interesting. It works in Opera but not in Internet Exploder. I fixed the HTML - try it again.

 

[MikeH1]

OK it works now.

Looks like a nice little trip but wheres the snow? I figured there would be some in Virginia especially since the east got quite a dumping of it this winter, but I guess not that far south.

Is it usually snow free in that area in winter?

 

[Philip Hamm]

There was a tiny bit of snow in the corner of that little alcove that we were in. maybe 4x5 feet and about a half a foot. That's the only snow we saw. It's very warm in the day here, though at night it was definitely below freezing. The new backpack and sleeping bag worked great. The 3500" bag was fine with the thermarest lashed to the outside.

 

[Jay H]

Nice pics! I'll have to see more of them when I am at work and have a faster connection. How cold did it get at night? With some smart parking, I can get my 4000ci pack to go for 4 days in 3-season hiking. I should even go longer with a new Down sleeping bag that I am looking at getting as my current sleeping bag is a light synthetic bag but it doesn't pack as small as down bags.

Jay

 

[Jin E]

Sierratradingpost has the long version of my sleeping bag on sale for $75 with an extra 20% off (~60). look for item 79674. North Face Windstorm. It's not a down bag but for a synthetic is packs down quite small. Mine is just a tad pver 2lbs. Great for me with the mild climate we have here in the south. Now I can't wait for my next backpacking trip after looking at all the pics!

 

[Philip Hamm]

I would guess that the temp got down to the mid 20s overnight, perhaps low 20s. It was darn cold in the morning. I was wearing every stitch that I brought when we were hanging out at night and I was not cold (perfect packing). My sleeping bag and Thermarest were toasty. With no bugs out and no chance of rain we didn't pack a tent, just threw down my groundcloth.

 

[Eric Kahn]

You are much more adventurous than I will ever be, my idea of camping right now is staying at a holiday inn
owing to self induced physical problems (weight) sleeping on the ground is actually physically painful and leave's me unable do do anything for hours the next day
I guess the only way I will get to see some of those views is from an airplane or from your pictures

I actually have a nice tent and air mattress for motorcycle camping (no motorcycle though right now) but the tent is about 30 pounds and not suitable for hiking

 

[Jay H]

You can always try a hammock, a hammock has an added bonus of being fairly light (lighter than most tents and roughly the same weights of minimalist shelters such as the Betamid) because there are no poles or a groundcloth to carry.
http://www.PictureTrail.com/gid1887193
Pictures of the Appalachian Trail + others over in Worthington State Forest in NJ (Part of the Delaware Water Gap) Was out for a short dayhike on Friday.
Jay

 

[Philip Hamm]

I actually have a nice tent and air mattress for motorcycle camping (no motorcycle though right now) but the tent is about 30 pounds and not suitable for hiking

Wow I've done a lot of moto camping in my day and I've found that weight is almost as important a concern as with backpacking. Even on a Goldwing or major tourer you need to be concerned with handling and maximum weight handling.

Personally I find my Thermarest on the ground to be almost as comfortable as a bed, and far more comfortable that the vast majority of hotel beds. (I've been known to sleep in my baG on my Thermarest on the floor at hotels on many occasions instead of on a back destroying bed).

But the hike up that rock would be the tough part. Most people dayhike up Old Rag Mountain with nothing but a daypack, it's the best hike for hundreds of miles in every direction. The park service calls it "Heart Attack Hill" for good reason. I've personally hiked by a casualty of the mountain one time.

I can't sleep in a Hammock. I've tried, it's impossible.

 

[Jin E]

I have the Mountain Hardwear sleeping pad that converts into a chair. IMHO it's the greatest thing since sliced bread while backpacking. I love it more then my trekking poles.
A review of one here.

 

[Jay H]

Jin, looks comfy. A compromise in size/weight could be one of those strap thingajigs that will convert a "thermarest" pad into a chair.

Jay

 

[Eric Kahn]

the very act of putting my 420 pound body onto a motorcycle overloads any one that is made, so another 50 pounds of junk do not make it much worse, just put the shock preload on the highest setting and remember that corners are not to be taken at high speeds on an overloaded electraglide, last bike I went anywhere on