Mark's Musings

Outdoor Gear

My recommendations on the following pages originated with backpacking, but most of the observations are applicable to a variety of outdoor activities.  Related: Packing for the Camino (or other other hostel-2-hostel pilgramages) plus notes about packing light for travel. I also keep a list of my “gear for life“. I have pages covering:

Ultralight Approach

Around 2000 I read Mark Twight’s Extreme Alpinism and came across materials by Ray Jardine and realized that I didn’t have to pack like a Boy Scout. I joined the backpackinglight Yahoo! mailing list that was moderated by Don Ladigin who later wrote the marvelous book Lightening Up… and started on a journey to drop my pack weight. I benefitted greatly from correspondence with Glen Van Peski, Ryan Jordan and the BPL community. While I don’t always go as light as some of these folks, I have found that my approach (3 season gear list) keeps me as safe and comfortable as my heavy-weight friends in camp, and is significantly more comfortable when I am moving.

Historically “ultralight backpacking” was defined as <10lbs base weight. I don’t think this is a particularly useful definition these days. First, if you have enough money, it’s possible to purchase gear that gets you to an ultralight base weight (<10lb), even though you are approaching an activity like a classic “heavy-weight” practitioner carrying many items which aren’t actually needed. Second, conditions and trip duration might require more weight given the conditions that will be faced / the duration between resupply. The main reason I am not fond of using merely the a weight to define an ultralight approach is that it misses the spirit of ultralight:

The key to ultralight is to use your head… having enough experience to know how to deal with various situations, and to carefully think about what is needed (or more likely not needed).

An effective ultralight approach uses experience and skills to develop a system of gear and practices which allow you to face a wide variety of circumstances with less gear than most people. In its optimal form you are carrying and simpler, smaller, lighter load and camp life has a number of simple rhythms allowing you to focus on your experience.

Warning… don’t let your quest for the right gear to lead to gearaholism. I have notes about keeping costs down.

Other People’s Recommendations

I am not following outdoor gear as closely as I used to. As a result, some of my recommendations might become dated. There are several sites that I use when I want to see a list of current products that are likely to have category leading performance:

  • Ryan Jordan’s personal selection deep experience, thoughtful analysis, engineers / scientists approach. I rarely disagree with Ryan’s recommendations. If I need to purchase something my first stop is to see what Ryan is using these days
  • Adventure Alan does a good job covering ultralight equipment. I  appreciated Alan’s articles in the early days of backpackinglight.com.
  • Frank Revelo has a pragmatic, moderate cost, often DIY approach to gear which is refreshing
  • Cleverhiker Most aware of current market than me, and seems to come pretty close to my personal taste in equipment. While I don’t stack rank items exactly the same as they do, I never find myself saying “Why did they include XYZ in their listing?”
  • Greenbelly Backpacking Guide has a recommended gear section (need to scroll down) which I find is very readable. I tend to agree with Cleverhiker in actual picks, but Greenbelly’s pages are often more complete. 
  • Outdoor Gearlab covers a wide variety of gear types, but I never agree with their stack ranking. Sometimes items are in their list which I find myself saying “Really? You liked it?”. Most of the time items I think are the best appear in their lists, just not top rated by them. Fail to include the smaller, class leading cottage companies. I often wonder are they a shill for big name outdoor gear companies, but people who know them say they are not in the pockets of the big gear manufacturers.
  • Gear Junkie for outdoor industry news and reviews.
  • roadtrailrun.com – running focus
  • dcrainmaker site for any gear which is related to triathlons, especially technology / instruments. I no longer will purchase any technology for these sports if Ray hasn’t given it a positive review. If he hasn’t reviewed it, it’s like junk.

Additional Notes

Other information you might find useful include:

Surveys

History

My Notes

Buying Stuff

Manufacturers

The follows are my favor companies

Other companies makes ultralight products that are worth a look

Exceptional Physical Stores

  • no/W: Taipei, TW. Really great curation… I could re-buy most of my current kit at the store. Has nearly all Gossamer Gear products (several not sold in the US), Durston Gear, Cumulus, Rab, Montbell products, minimalist sandals, XoSkin toe socks, Trail Designs stove, and NiteCore headlamps / USB battery packs.
  • Garage Grown Gear: Saint Paul, MN: Mostly online, but you can schedule a visit. Stock a lot of cottage gear products.
  • Hiker’s Depot, Tokyo, JP. Great selection of mainstream in cottage gear. Knowledgeable proprietor.
  • Pod 7 kilo, Prague, CZ. Well curated collect of ultralight gear including some cottage manufacturers.
  • samplus: Taipei, TW. A number of cottage gear: SMD, HMG, Enlightened Gear, Yamatomichi, and several other companies from US, Japan, and TW.
  • BackpackingLight: UK. Great selection of a wide range of gear. Have to schedule a visit
  • Mountain Shop: Portland, OR. Gossamer Gear, Six Moon Designs, Rab, Montbell, and a number of others. Have gear for backpacking, skiing, and climbing.

Big Chains

Chains that stock a good range of products, have a large number of physical stores and an online presence

  • REI: A goto retailer in the US. I remember when they had a store in Seattle, and were mostly mail order. They have stores may place. Cover a wide range of products and a good return policy (used to be amazing but people abused it). Mostly main stream manufacturers, so don’t typically have the very best in class products. There in-house brand used to be “ok” and now seems pretty good.
  • Decathlon: Different website in every country, and physical stores across the world (but a poor presence in US). I think of them as the Ikea of outdoor gear. Decent gear that is inexpensive. Their best items are never class leading in materials, design, or manufacture quality but are pretty good. The lower end tends to be made with lower quality materials and manufacturing than typical big-name products. On the other hand their products tend to be very good values because they tend to be significantly cheaper.
  • MEC: Canadian, similar to REI

Online

  • Garage Grown Gear: A lot of cottage gear stocked which ships quickly with a clear / consistant return policy.
  • Backcountry: Reasonable selection.  Owner reviews.  Easy navigation and lists technical specifications.  Free shipping for orders over $50.
  • Sierra Trading Post: Used to have great discounts on seconds, overstocks, and discounted models.
  • campsaver.com:

SF/Bay Area

Minor updates to a list I made in 2005. Needs to be overhauled… bits likely out of date.

  • Down Works closed :(. 222 River St, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, 831-423-9078
    Nick and Shelley are great.  They own the store and have been running it for years.  The store is small, but everything they carry has been carefully selected.  The best store in greater bay area for ultra-light or light-weight packers. They will do custom sewing work and have great relationships with a number of companies. For example they seem to be one of the first in line for new products from Western Mountaineering and know the founders of a number of companies like Osprey. Packs: Granite Gear, ULA, Osprey, Montbell, GoLite, and ArcTeryx.  Sleeping bags: Western Mountaineering, North Face, DownWorks brand.  Clothing: Montane, Montbell, Mountain Hardware, ArcTeryx, Black Diamond, Westcomb, and Integral Designs.
  • Patagonia Santa Cruz, 415 River St. #C, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, 831-423-1776. An outlet store with a minimum of 30% discounts, and an additional 40-50% saving around Memorial Day and Labor Day.
    Decent selection of a variety of manufacturers.
  • Redwood Trading Post
    Mix of outdoor activities and survival gear.  Nice, family owned place.
  • REI: Mountain View  650-969-1938 / Saratoga 408-871-8765 / San Carlos 650-508-2330 / Berkeley 510-527-4140 / SF 415-934-1938
    Large stores with great return policy.  Doesn’t stock a lot of ultra-light gear.  Berkeley store seems to have a better selection of items for light weight backpackers.
  • Sunrise Mountain Sports Used to have a wide variety of manufacturers.  Family owned and has knowledgeable staff, especially when it comes to climbing and alpine. Downsized.
  • Marmot Mountain Works, 3049 Adeline St, Berkeley CA 94703, 510-849-0735. I think closed now.

Historical

These are stores that were unique 2000-2010 and might still be a useful. I haven’t purchased items from them in years and should determine which should be listed in one of the above sections or remove them,

  • Moontrail: Eclectic collection of gear with lots of good pictures.  Almost as good as seeing items in person if you are looking at tents. (was backcountry-equipment.com). I think their pictures are a great service to the online shopper. I encourage people to give them business as a way to say thank you.
  • ProLiteGEAR: Bozmann retailer which has a lot of ultra-light clue. They reliability report weight of items.
  • Only the Lightest: A nice selection of ultralight gear. They reliability report weight of items
  • Wilson’s Eastside Sports: 224 North Main Street, Bishop, CA, 760-873-7520
    Knowledgeable staff. Good mix of manufacturers. If you are in Bishop, also stop in Mountain Light which is down the street just a block or so.
  • Pro Mountain Sports: 5625 University Way NE, Seattle, WA, 206-522-1627
    Very small stock which is exclusively ultralight. Owner has a lot of  ultra-light packing and climbing clue.  Gives 10% of MSRP to compete with REI.
  • Feathered Friends: 119 Yale Avenue N, Seattle, Washington, 98109, 206-292-2210
    Known for their down gear, also runs a small but well stocked retail store with knowledgeable staff.  Across the street from the Flagship REI.

Useful References / Tidbits

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