Gear used on the
Vålådalen trip had one thing to cope with: Water. From above, beneath and the sides, it was wet all the time, and up in the fjell also the wind was very strong - good conditions to see if the lightweight kit I took can stand these conditions. For starters, have a look at my
complete gear list.
Weather forecast for our trip.
My
LAUFBURSCHE huckePACK performed as I expected it to perform - excellent. Bushwhacking did nothing to the material, which kept the rain out and the stuff dry inside. Plenty of space for food and gear for a week. Love it.
Photo courtesy of Joe Newton /
Thunder In The Night
My
GoLite Ultra 20 quilt kept me warm and comfy at night, and as it got slightly moist it was easily dried at the campfire. For summer tours I will stay with quilts, no doubt.
Sleeping mats: Mulitmat Adventure & six segments of a Therm-A-Rest Z Lite made for very comfy nights. They function also as a frame and backpanel for my pack, so serve double duty. I can't forget them thus and they also can't break.
Shelter: I continue to use the Gossamer Gear SpinnTwinn and really like it. Easy to set up and to fine-tune, plenty of space and great protection from wind and rain. I'd feel comfortable to pitch this on the fjell on a rainy and windy night if need to. Review forthcoming.
Bivy: A LAUFBURSCHE tyvek bivy is my bivy of choice. Tyvek is super breathable and under a tarp I don't need much more protection from wind and water. Review forthcoming.
Camp Night 1.
Shell clothing: No surprises here, I continue to use the
Rab Momentum jacket and Drillium pants and think they're ace. Dry and protected from wind while walking up hills is all I need. And they dry quick after fording as well.
Base layer: Also no surprise,
Woolpower long johns and longsleeve keep reigning supreme. Kept me warm in the wind and at night, without smelling. The socks also were excellent, great cushioning and warm feet, even when fording ice cold rivers.
Shoes:
Inov-8 Mudclaw 330 were the shoes I used on this trip, and they were great for the conditions we experienced. Great grip in the mud, rock, forest path and riverbeds, though on overflooded duckboards they were a tad slippery. Maybe I like the sole of the
Roclites a bit more. Review forthcoming.
Camp & Sleeping wear: Because I knew it was going to be wet I took the
Montane Fireball Smock to wear it in camp around the fire, and I continue to like heaps. It is light and takes minimal space in my pack, and has no problems with the rain & wetness we were constantly in. To bed I wore the
Klättermusen Loke, as downy goodness from Sweden with a hood is what lets me sleep tight at night. Really like this garment, review forthcoming.
First lunch break.
Kitchen-wise there were the usual suspects:
BushBuddy Ultra and Tibetan Titanium 1100 were used for cooking, and now my fire-making skills are so far that I also feel comfortable to use it in the wet conditions we had. LMF Firesteel, puukko, kuksa and a LMF Spork were used for eating, cutting and drinking, and I continue to find them excellent.
Food wise I had an assortment of
cereal and chocolate bars for quick energy on the trail with me, corn spaghetti & chili tomato sauce as well as polenta for lunch and Real Turmats for dinner. Dessert was a finnish organic blueberry "
kissel" and the obligatory Minttu cacao. Real reigns supreme in the ready-made sector, while the corn spaghetti and chili tomato sauce was ace. I had a Spanish chorizo sausage with me for that high-energy fat, which was delicious.
All other small stuff - first aid, gloves, buffs, mitts, socks, platypus, compass et al worked without problems and I will review a couple of the items when I find the time. To conclude, I felt warm, save and well-fed the whole trip despite the rain. With 1863 g for the big three (Rucksack, shelter, sleeping system) I was the lightest of us six, and including food for three full days I started with 6547 g on my back. I see no need to carry more than that, and think it could even be pushed lower if I would switch some items.
Gear used on the
Vålådalen trip had one thing to cope with: Water. From above, beneath and the sides, it was wet all the time, and up in the fjell also the wind was very strong - good conditions to see if the lightweight kit I took can stand these conditions. For starters, have a look at my
complete gear list.
Weather forecast for our trip.
My
LAUFBURSCHE huckePACK performed as I expected it to perform - excellent. Bushwhacking did nothing to the material, which kept the rain out and the stuff dry inside. Plenty of space for food and gear for a week. Love it.
Photo courtesy of Joe Newton /
Thunder In The Night
My
GoLite Ultra 20 quilt kept me warm and comfy at night, and as it got slightly moist it was easily dried at the campfire. For summer tours I will stay with quilts, no doubt.
Sleeping mats: Mulitmat Adventure & six segments of a Therm-A-Rest Z Lite made for very comfy nights. They function also as a frame and backpanel for my pack, so serve double duty. I can't forget them thus and they also can't break.
Shelter: I continue to use the Gossamer Gear SpinnTwinn and really like it. Easy to set up and to fine-tune, plenty of space and great protection from wind and rain. I'd feel comfortable to pitch this on the fjell on a rainy and windy night if need to. Review forthcoming.
Bivy: A LAUFBURSCHE tyvek bivy is my bivy of choice. Tyvek is super breathable and under a tarp I don't need much more protection from wind and water. Review forthcoming.
Camp Night 1.
Shell clothing: No surprises here, I continue to use the
Rab Momentum jacket and Drillium pants and think they're ace. Dry and protected from wind while walking up hills is all I need. And they dry quick after fording as well.
Base layer: Also no surprise,
Woolpower long johns and longsleeve keep reigning supreme. Kept me warm in the wind and at night, without smelling. The socks also were excellent, great cushioning and warm feet, even when fording ice cold rivers.
Shoes:
Inov-8 Mudclaw 330 were the shoes I used on this trip, and they were great for the conditions we experienced. Great grip in the mud, rock, forest path and riverbeds, though on overflooded duckboards they were a tad slippery. Maybe I like the sole of the
Roclites a bit more. Review forthcoming.
Camp & Sleeping wear: Because I knew it was going to be wet I took the
Montane Fireball Smock to wear it in camp around the fire, and I continue to like heaps. It is light and takes minimal space in my pack, and has no problems with the rain & wetness we were constantly in. To bed I wore the
Klättermusen Loke, as downy goodness from Sweden with a hood is what lets me sleep tight at night. Really like this garment, review forthcoming.
First lunch break.
Kitchen-wise there were the usual suspects:
BushBuddy Ultra and Tibetan Titanium 1100 were used for cooking, and now my fire-making skills are so far that I also feel comfortable to use it in the wet conditions we had. LMF Firesteel, puukko, kuksa and a LMF Spork were used for eating, cutting and drinking, and I continue to find them excellent.
Food wise I had an assortment of
cereal and chocolate bars for quick energy on the trail with me, corn spaghetti & chili tomato sauce as well as polenta for lunch and Real Turmats for dinner. Dessert was a finnish organic blueberry "
kissel" and the obligatory Minttu cacao. Real reigns supreme in the ready-made sector, while the corn spaghetti and chili tomato sauce was ace. I had a Spanish chorizo sausage with me for that high-energy fat, which was delicious.
All other small stuff - first aid, gloves, buffs, mitts, socks, platypus, compass et al worked without problems and I will review a couple of the items when I find the time. To conclude, I felt warm, save and well-fed the whole trip despite the rain. With 1863 g for the big three (Rucksack, shelter, sleeping system) I was the lightest of us six, and including food for three full days I started with 6547 g on my back. I see no need to carry more than that, and think it could even be pushed lower if I would switch some items.
Gear that worked and gear that didn't II
Those items would mainly be in the kitchen department, where there are already alcohol setups which are under 50g! But I like wood and prolly will stay with it. A cuben solo tarp would undercut the current shelter by half or more, but the investment is steep. If I know there's not much rain, I could keep the synthetic layer for camp at home and only use the Loke, or get a synthetic layer with a hood.
ReplyDeleteFew questions:
ReplyDeleteWas there anything that did not work or that you would now improve?
How have the Inov-8s (330s and 295s) been performing? How much kilometers you have with them? Mine are about useless now after only some 300km. I'm a bit dissapointed but I think my weight with a heavy pack (military marches in them...) are just too much for the midsole and it has collapsed. Also the liner and padding of the heels (and two pair of socks) are completely worn. So they are maybe not for my feet even though I liked them a lot. =S
Do yoy carry some firestarters or do you manage with only firesteel in wet conditions also? I found out that in dry conditions you manage well without extra tinder using dry grass, pieces of dead birch or juniper bark, really fine wood shavings etc. But in wet that would be hard core!
Excellent - I look forward to reading your recent entries, Hendrik. I just got back from a very wet trip myself with its own gear successes and failures!
ReplyDeleteAre those MudClaws waterproof? Wet trail shoes were my biggest problem. Or did you have waterproof socks?
ReplyDeleteInteresting gear list Hendrik, what I notice is that you now use a closed cell mat (Multimat Adventure 3/4) together with Z-Lite which I guess is for the rucksack back pad also. Have you stopped using the NeoAir due to weight (as you need some form of back pad)or is there another reason?
ReplyDeleteLightening up, I had so few items with me and everything worked. The only thing I can imagine is to get lighter items of some solutions - the mentioned solo cuben tarp, for example. Re: Inov-8s, the Mudclaws have about 80 km on them and are still like new, the Roclites have about 150 km or so on them and also are still nearly new. I like both heaps, and will do a review on the 330s soonish. I use jelly soaked cotton balls for starting a fire, although I can start a fire with birch bark only. But the cotton balls make it easy and weigh next to nothing.
ReplyDeleteMark, loking forward to read about it! Re: Shoes, The Mudclaws are unlined. I was just wearing Woolpower merino socks in them, and while they were wet most of the time I never got cold feet, even in the breaks. In the evenings I put a pair of camp socks on and over them the Goretex socks. Also, I had zero blisters =)
Richard, I don't use the NeoAir because I find it extremely uncomfortable :-O I have a short NeoAir and my lower legs hang of it, when I wake up after a night on the NeoAir I have a massive back ache. I could use the Z Lite also as a (inside) frame for the pack and leave the Multimat at home, but I like the little bit of extra insulation of the Multimat - it is at the same time my groundsheet.
ReplyDeleteI also found an AirMat (POE Ether) uncomfortable although it was full length.
ReplyDeleteAt present I'm using a full length 3mm closed cell mat with a piece of 8mm closed cell foam the same width/height as the ULA Conduit glued on. This serves as a back pad and folds quite small/thin but unfortunately I need to add insulation for my torso. The best solution I could find so far is a 3/4 length Karrimor self inflate which although it's reasonably compact it's heavier than I would like. I normally place this inside the bivvy bag, the CCF part is outside the bivvy bag.
With full summer gear I can still manage an 8mm CCF rolled loosely inside the pack.
Regarding the HuckePACK, hopefully they will be available to purchase sometime as they look very good.
Are the MudClaws somehow fast drying? Which would you choose for wet hiking conditions - the MudCalws, the Roclite 318s, or something else?
ReplyDeleteMy Teva trail runners got unpleasantly soaked and stayed that way. it was my first time using lightweight footwear, and its clear I need to refine the system. I noticed from the photos of the trip most of the fellowship were crossing streams wearing shoes, which is something I've not dared to do yet, but would like to have the right gear for.
I thoroughly enjoyed the Fellowship account and this approach to responding to your gear is excellent and beats text only reviews. I was quite surprised with your total pack weight with both the Fireball and the Loke in your pack for insulation. You balanced comfort and weight quite well and under the wet circumstances it was amazing how light you were able to get and remain comfortable. 2 questions. How can you stand the LMF sporks!? I couldn't bear getting food on my hands while spooning out food in the evenings, I've since switched to a long handled ti-spoon, no more messes for me, perhaps I'm not coordinated. Also Hendrik, when are you going to review the Woolpower Belly warmer 200? I believe it would make an excellent undergarment/ belly cozy for the amazing food you stuff in your stomach on your trips! :) Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteMark - I hope Hendrik doesn't mind me getting involved here! The answer is we just got wet feet! It's ok, you won't die :-) In conditions like we encountered in Sweden your going to get wet feet even if you have waterproof footwear. Trail running shoes don't try and keep the water out. With good socks and by keeping moving we didn't suffer from cold. At night it's different, it's important to get your feet dried, into dry socks and then with a pair of gore-tex socks over the top you can slip them back into your wet shoes whilst sitting around camp. The wet hiking socks can be dried near a fire or wrung out and dried somewhat by laying them on your belly while you sleep. It doesn't matter if they're not perfectly dry in the morning because our feet got soaking wet within minutes of starting hiking. It's a technique that goes against all the propaganda you see in the outdoor shops and magazines but it works and is proven in the real world. Try it!
ReplyDeleteNice kit, Hendrik. Will you be discussing your camera gear in a later post?
ReplyDeleteCheers Joe.
ReplyDeleteI'd not really thought of that as a viable technique but with the right gear I can see it working. My recent wet-foot hike wasn't far off: my merino socks kept my feet warm even though wet. I don't have gore-tex socks, but fortunately we were heading to the car anyway at that point.
I am curious about one thing though... If you can get lightweight, waterproof/breathable shoes or boots (for example, inov-8 flyroc 345 gtx or roclite 390 gtx) why not go with them and keep your feet dry?
The one thing I do like about the wet-foot method is fording.
I wish inov-8 didn't have so many shoe options! Can you/Hendrik recommend a few?
Mark, in terrain like this your feet will get sooner or later. From fording, from sweat, from walking in bogs or over snow. Both Roger and Jörgen used mid cut boots with membranes for all, or parts of, the trip. They did not have dry feet.
ReplyDeleteJörgen switched from his Roclite 288 back to his Salomon Tech Amphib as soon as he had made exactly this point, and Roger just kept on walking in his Salomon Fastpackers without complaints.
My feet (in Terroc 330 and thin ladies' nylon socks) were never cold for more than a couple of minutes. Except when I got icy snow under the tongue of the shoe, but that was easily removed. :)
About footwear:
ReplyDeleteNon-membrain footwear will get wet. But also the waterproof footwear will get wet at some point because of something. The non-membrain footwear will dry within hours of use if the ground is dry and its not raining. The membrain-lined footwear will take two or three days to dry in use. This is only from personal experience in certain conditions.
So if yout feet will be wet anyway it is good to have shoes that will dry out and will hold the smallest possible amout of water (additional weight).
If you do only daytrips then membrain-lining might be good. And also in winter time I finf use for membrains in shoes.
One interesting option might be wellington boots. Not the lightest (expect for Crocs Georgies...) but will keep your feet quite dry if you have some spare socks. For example Nokia makes Finntrim model that feels more like a running shoe. It is made for orienteering, can be equipped with studs and is actually quite runnable...
Mark, as Martin mentioned I also walked with wet feet. I have done so on all my trips the last two years. It's very counterintuitive, but it works. I have hiked in waterproof boots before and I'm not going back. I find that my feet overheat in waterproof boots and this increases the risk of blisters. Since I switched I haven't had a single blister (Except when I hiked in my waterproof liner boots!). I prefer to walk off-trail and then fording is very common and on many fords the water goes above even a high boot. Some like to use their rain pants and tie them tightly to the boot and keep dry that way. I tried that and it didn't work for me. Secondly, if the fords don't make my feet wet, sweat will eventually.
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the advice. I'm liking the idea more and more. I'll try and get a pair of Inov-8s and test them on my next trip in a couple of weeks.
ReplyDeleteIt's quite liberating not to have to worry about getting wet feet! And I'm looking forward to stress-free fordings.
Which soles are better on wet surfaces, btw - the terrocs or the roclites?
Mark - I feel that the Roclite soles clear mud better. Any of the Inov8 models with the Sticky rubber will grip better but wear out faster than the Endurance rubber models (think car racing tyres - you can have grip or longevity but rarely both!)
ReplyDeleteThe Blade Runner font on the pack really makes it for me :)
ReplyDeleteRichard, great to hear that I am not the only one who finds airmats uncomfortable - I though I was alone with that. I place both mats outside of the bivy, as I also use the Z Lite to sit on in camp. The Z Lite is a damn comfortable mat which I only can recommend. huckePACK hopefully will be available in August commercially - I am bugging the maker to get started!
ReplyDeleteMark, the Mudclaws dry fine if the conditions are good, but in wet weather they will stay wet, even if dried close to the fire. For crossing streams, try it with someone around to be safe and take a easy crossing. It was the first time that I forded, and it was fine - thanks to Joe's GG LT4s! Re: shoes, I like the Mudclaws 330 and my Roclite 295, whereas Joe & Martin like the Terroc 330, and Martin Rye recommends the Roclite 315. I think it is all a matter how they fit you - I got narrow feet, so am fine with the Roclite 295s where as some like the wider footboy of the Terrocs. Go try different pairs on and see what fits you best! and regarding soles, I think both Mudclaw and Roclite are ace, though the Roclite seems to be a bit grippier, but I don't have scientific proof for that.
Thank you Eugene! I like the LMF spork again after I lost my long handled spoon (got a replacement last week!). I just cut the food bag to a good length with my knife and then also the hands stay clean. I (or my fiancée) will review the Woolpower Belly Warmer 200 once there is a need for it ;)
Thank you Joe for jumping in and explaining it so well!
Dondo, I might have a look at the camera kit in a later post indeed. I used the Canon EOS 50D with a Ortlieb Waterproof bag, which is together about 1750 g - it isn't in the list, I saw, so will add it.
Martin, thanks for helping out!
Lightening up, thanks for the additional insights re shoes! I will need to check those Nokia wellies…
Fraser, that font is ace =)
I find the NeoAir a little bit odd but I've only used it a few times so I'll give it a bit more time before I call time on it. I have a Gossamer Gear Gorilla with a SitLight pad as a back system but could easily change that to a GG TorsoLight or 6 section Z-Lite instead if I find the NeoAir uncomfortable (it's the height on a torso length model that is not too comfortable).
ReplyDeleteI'm intrigued by the running shoe debate and the cavalier attitude to wet feet - if it doesn't bother you then I can see the logic in simply disregarding the search for dry feet - as I've said before, UL and SUL is all about challenging preconceptions and experimenting. I agree though - very often, your feet are just going to get wet and once you can deal with that, it's so much easier. In the UK though, you cannot really dry your shoes out unless the weather is good the next day as you cannot light a fire! I guess once you are past the first 5 minutes and your feet are back in your shoes, it does not matter too much...
Maz, nicely said. Regarding shoes, I think it is a matter of "mind over matter". Sure, dry, warm feet are all what we'd like to have when walking outdoors, but the reality is that when we go off-trail (and often enough even on trail!) this wishful thinking soon meets the reality of wet feet. I do also think that while I love a fire and try to dry the shoes by it, it is of limited use. As you noted, once you're back in the moist (merino) socks and shoes and start walking, you will have warm feet again after a matter of minutes. can recommend trying it, and maybe carry a pair of back-up shoes & socks in case it proves unbearable!
ReplyDeleteWish I could carry backup shoes but when you're a European 47, they really are too big and too heavy... ;-)
ReplyDeleteWhat is this red jacket?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, that Joe from http://thunderinthenight.blogspot.com/ - ask him, as I don't know!
ReplyDelete