The Rab Top Bag - If you've browsed the various "UltraLight" sites out there, you've undoubtedly ran across this forward-thinking bag. If you're scratching your head, here's the skinny - The Rab Elite Top Bag is a 750+ down sleeping bag, with a Pertex Microlight lining, rated at 32°. What makes this bag unique is that the bottom portion of the bag is a mesh lining, saving you lots of weight over more conventional designs. The packsize is also pretty envious.
Before you go running to your outfitter, be aware that this bag, to my knowledge, is only available in the U.K. (Bloody Olde England). I bought this bag, site unseen, through Up and Under. Basically, I searched the web and they had the best deal on the bag. In case you're wondering, the only other e-tailer stocking this bag that I came across was Rock + Run, and they wanted around 15 (USD) more for it.
Anyway, I picked the bag up for around 130 (USD), shipping included. I received my bag within 7-days of the order. The package was so light, it could have been empty. I carefully cut through the tape, exercising caution so as to not puncture the bag.
As you can see from the picture, the bag comes in a rather loud, yellow, color. From the top, it looks like any other semi-rectangular sleeping bag. The material, I might add, appears to be totally down-proof. The Top-Bag has an enclosed footbox with down on the topside and a double layer of Pertex on the bottom. While there is no hood to this bag, there is a drawstring at the top to cinch it closed around your shoulders. The bottom of this bag is made up of a mesh lining that extends from the top of the bag down to where it meets the footbox area, about 1-foot from the bottom. Finally, as the design in zipper-less, you more or less wiggle your way into it.
On Rab's web site, the weight of this bag is advertised at 19.5 oz. I wonder if they changed the design slightly, as the literature that came with the bag listed the weight at 17.25 oz, a weight which is in line with what I've seen listed on various "Ultralight" backpacking web sites. At any rate, my bag weighed in at 20.3 oz. Even at this weight, I am cutting my sleeping bag load by 20 oz (half!). I stuffed the bag into it's stuff sack (1 oz, included) and was amazed at how small of a package it was. Running into the kitchen, I quickly verified my suspicions that this bag could fit into a Zip-Loc gallon-sized bag (not zipped though). Cool!
As mentioned above, this bag is rated to 32° - personally I'd say it's good, standalone, down to about 45°. By standalone, I mean you're sleeping in the bag with no addition insulation (i.e. birthday suit). Even at 45°, you're still going to want to wear a hat - Remember, this bag does not have an integrated hood of any type.
If you're expecting temps to fall into the 30's or below, there's no reason to abandon the Top Bag, however. You can easily integrate an entire sleep system around it and sleep comfortably into the teens. In my case, I bought a down liner (16.8oz) and an Outdoor Research DryLoft Sleeping Bag Cover. The cover, really a 1-pound DryLoft bivy sack, serves to block all incoming wind and keep any moisure off my precious down bag. The liner, a Moonstone 800-fill REI-Outlet closeout, gives me an additional 2-inches of loft. I now have a comfortable winter sleep system that weighs much less than most of the 10° down bags on the market. It's also more flexible, as I can use the individual components seperately to accomodate year-round temperature fluctuations. Finally, the OR bag cover allows me to confidently use a sil-nylon tarp without any concerns of getting my down wet, giving me an additional 3-lb weight savings over my tent. If you're going to use the top-bag at temperatures under 30°, however, I urge you to pack along a balaclava and an additional hat. Without these key pieces of insulation, you're bound to experience a "brain-freeze".
The last detail of the Top Bag that I'd like to touch on is the mesh bottom. Rab makes this a selling point - "Replacing the redundant down and construction from the underside of the bag with a mesh base results in ultra low weight and mass savings." The idea is that all the weight on the underside of a traditional bag that's taken up by down is wasted - you're just crushing the down with your weight and it's not providing any insulative qualities. So Rab decided to just replace this with a mesh lining. Rab's mistake, however, was not tapering this mesh lining along the contour of the mummy shape. The result is that the closer you get to the foot of the bag, the less "buffer" space you have between the mesh and the side of the bag.
If you tend to toss and turn in your sleep, you'll be fighting frequent vents of cold air coming into the bag from underneath. Personally, I happen to like this feature. Rather than playing with the zipper throughout the night to keep me in just the right comfort zone, I can just shift slightly and all that "excess" heat that has built up in the bag is released. I've found that the "venting" action doesn't equate to a freeze but rather a comfortable "fluff" of the covers. Integrated with my Moonstone liner, but without the bivy, I've "vented" the bag, while under a tarp, in 20° temperatures without any discomfort.
Overall, I think that this bag is an excellent investment for those 2-season hikers who will be experiencing lows in the 40's or above. Because of this bag's packability, it makes an ideal addition to the gearlist of someone who's considering using the GoLite Breeze - Dovetail the Top-Bag, a sil-nylon tarp, and the MSR PocketRocket together with the Breeze and you may be able to get away with a 5-day trip with no re-supply.
Weight: 20.3 oz, verified.
Retail: Approx. 130.00 (USD), inc. shipping. Sorry, no size options - something to consider if you're over 6'2".
A note regarding international shopping: To convert the Brittish Pound into USD (or any other currency), see this link. The prices you'll see posted on the above sites include a European 17% VAT (Value Added Tax) - If you're in the U.S. you won't get charged this amount. You will get hit with a shipping cost though, which will put the overall cost within a couple of dollars of the price with VAT. On top of this you're supposed to pay a "Customs Duty", which is collected by the U.S. Postal Service upon delivery. I didn't get charged this amount - I came home and the box was at my doorstep, simple as that. Furthermore, all the accounts on the web of people buying this bag list similar experiences - I haven't found anyone who's had this bag sent to them in the U.S. who had to pay any duty whatsoever. Still, I wonder what would have happened had I actually been home to meet the mailman...
MSR has introduced a New lightweight stove to their product arsenal, aptly named the PocketRocket. This little baby weighs just 3.1 oz, 4.1 oz. if you carry it in it's hard plastic shelled case (included). Like most MSR stoves, the PocketRocket sounds like a jet-engine has been left running in the backcountry.
This stove heats water fast which, along with it's small size and light weight, is what makes it a winner for me. When I'm hungry, I want my food ASAP. Yeah, I could putz around with an Esbit stove but the wait would be a real drag. Personally, if the choice is between the frustration I go through waiting for the Esbit to heat a liter of water and the additional weight of carrying the PocketRocket's MSR ISO Pro fuel canister around all day, just throw the canister into my pack. No priming or preheating here... just screw the stove on the fuel tank, turn on the gas, and light.
One canister at 1000 ft. will bring approximately 12 liters of water to a rolling boil. That's about 6 days worth of cooking for my "just add water" backcountry culinary style. For you gourmets, the PocketRocket allows for flame adjustment so simmering isn't a problem.
The PocketRocket is definitely a personal stove or, at best, limited to heating up to 2.5 liters of water, or 5-pounds of weight, at a time. I haven't tested these maximum limits but I can tell you that, for the sake of stability, I wouldn't use any pot smaller than my 1.3l Evernew with this stove.
As this stove is ISO Pro, you don't use a windscreen - doing so could bring the tanks temperature level up to a point where it explodes. On the plus side, this saves you a little weight as you don't have to pack along a windscreen. On the downside, wind really bites into the stove's performance. I've been able to get around this issue pretty much by using my body to block the bulk of any wind that may be present. I have to monitor the stove anyway (see below), so it's not really that much of an extra effort. If things were really bad, I'd just shelter the stove with my umbrella, or set up a cooking area under my poncho/tarp. So far the only time I've even had to worry about this has been when cooking in exposed areas, like on the beach.
Another thing that I don't like about this stove is that, even though the pot supports are serrated, pots placed onto it tend to slowly slide off. This means I have to carefully monitor the stove or risk boiling water spilling all over the place, not to mention the obvious resulting waste of fuel and water. I think the "dancing pot" phenomena is caused by the force of the flame working against a pot which sits on the tiny tips of the three pot supports. A little movement here and there adds up over the course of 3-4 minutes. Simply moving to a wider pot with an overall heavier load may dramatically decrease, or even put an end, to this shifting. Of course, I have no intention of substituting my titanium cookware for anything heavier or larger. The other alternative may be to decrease the strength of the flame. This may not only eliminate my pot movement, but will minimize the "jet" sound annoyance factor.
Overall, price, weight, size, and convenience made this a must-buy for those extended weekend excursions. Yes it has it's quirks, but most lightweight alternatives involve some sort of consession in durability, features, or utility. At the end of a long day, just knowing that I've got the speed and reliability of the PocketRocket puts an extra smile on my face.
Weight: 3.1 oz. (base stove), 4.1 oz. with carrying case (included) verified.
Retail: 34.95 (USD)
This summer's big trip is to the Sierra Nevada Mountains. As most of my hiking is done in relatively low, and flat, Michigan, and I've been spending *way* too much time behind the computer lately, I know that there's going to be a nice "burn" in my thighs from the first step on that mountain trail. "Ultralight", while not my usual direction, would be advisable on this trip. So, I ran to the Bivouac and picked up the core piece of "Ultralight" gear, the GoLite Breeze backpack. This one change in gear would cut my pack weight by four pounds immediately (the removable hip-belt on my pack weighs a scant 1 oz. less than the Breeze alone).
While the Breeze doesn't look like much of a pack (no hip-belt or top-pocket), that's really the point - if you carry the bare essentials you don't need a heavy-duty, high volume, sack. By using the latest in lightweight materials (spectra-ripstop nylon), and keeping only the basics in utility and design, the finished product weighs a mere 11-12 oz. (advertised), depending on what size you purchase. I had already trimmed my gearlist down as far as I was willing to go and all that was left was stuffing it all into the pack.
The Breeze has three mesh external pockets (rear, +2-sides) which can hold a surprising amount of gear. I stuffed my tarp, stakes, guy line, and poncho in the rear pocket, and water bladders in the sides. There was still plenty of room left, so I added my 1st-aid kit, headnet, and film - basically, anything that couldn't fall through the mesh and was adequetly protected from the elements (ZipLoc's are great). So far, so good.
Next, I threw my bear canister, sleeping bag, cook-pot, and sleeping pad into the main compartment. This pretty much filled the inside of the pack up. I could still squeeze a flannel and spare set of socks into the gaps, but anything more would have to fit into the area provided by the "extension collar". As there is no top-pocket to cinch down on this collar, and there's no frame in the pack, you really can't rely on this area for holding anything securely beyond the lightest, fluffiest, of items.
While I still didn't have everything packed, I already had a good idea of the Breeze's advantages and it's limitations. Before investing any more time in space-management techniques, I decided to step on the scale. I'm pleased to announce that, with around 85% of my base gear accounted for, the pack weighed less than 10-lbs.
However, even at this light weight, simply going upstairs was a pain - doing actual trail mileage was out of the question. For me, the shoulder straps just sat too wide for comfort. I tried placing a fanny pack under the Breeze for additional support, and played with the shoulder strap tension. Nothing helped. While I may have been able to get by simply slinging the Breeze over one shoulder, the comprimise in load balance would not have been desirable, especially on uneven, sloping, terrain.
While the pack, off the shelf, wasn't for me I felt that there was just too much potential to simply give up and return it. Perhaps the Breeze could be modified to address my comfort concerns and still weigh in at under a pound.
The first enhancement I tried was a sternum strap. I detached the strap from my wife's Gregory Reality pack and installed it on the Breeze. Wow! The pack was easy to adjust to a level where it was comfortable for me. The sternum strap that I installed weighed 1.7 oz. In staying with the "Ultralight" mindset, I immediately replaced it with a simple 24 in. webbing lash strap with a ladder-loc buckle - performance is the same as with the Gregory, yet it weighed a mere 0.4 oz.
At this point, the Breeze could be a replacement to my pack for any 3-season outings lasting less than 4-days, where I didn't plan to bring along any fishing gear or serious camera equipment. As I wanted to use the Breeze for 6-7 day outings, the next set of challenges were obvious - padding, suspension, and weight distribution. The Breeze is designed be "comfortable with loads under 20 pounds." My food alone, in a Garcia Bear Can, weighed 15 pounds. Adding to this the pack itself, and 2-liters of water, I had already hit the 20 pounds mark. With or without the Bear Can, I'd be going way over GoLite's suggested maximum weight for comfort. Could I make this pack work?
I found that folding a 3/4 length sleeping pad lengthwise, in four equal parts, did a nice job in creating a comfortable buffer between my back and everything in the pack. As mentioned above, I also riggest a sternum strap that allowed me to adjust the position of the shoulder straps, giving me a variety in where the weight sat. Finally, I bought a pack of 12 kitchen sponges (5x3x1 inches) at the dollar store. Their weight, individually, didn't even register on my digital postage scale. I placed one under each shoulder strap. This worked wonders in easing stress points.
I contemplated using duct-tape to attach the sponge to the strap but found that, as I adjusted the strap position on my shoulders, I needed to shift the location of the sponge. I could either tape 2 sponges onto each strap, or simply shove one sponge under each strap as needed. I decided against taping as the duct-tape would add weight to the pack and I would have to use two sponges per strap for total coverage, as opposed to just moving one around. Believe me, once you get a sponge under the strap it's not going anywhere.
Again, my goal was to get the Breeze to comfortable carry a 6-7 day load. Unfortunately, this meant putting around 30-pounds total (including food and water) into the pack. Even with all my adjustments, the Breeze lacked the comfort of a more traditional pack. Yes, moving to my regular pack meant adding 4-pounds of weight to my overall load but at least it would carry comfortably.
Perhaps I could cut my existing pack load down by dissecting it - Nothing so radical as cutting excess strap lengths though. Maybe I'm could just leave a few detachable components at home (i.e. top lid, beaver tail/pouch combo). In doing so, I'd still be getting my pack's weight down under 4-pounds. Still not the lightest of options, but at least my load would sit comfortably.
In the end, the lesson is that there are always options... be creative and don't be afraid to experiment.
So, I am returning my Breeze? Nope! I think that this pack is extremely viable for weekend trips, where temperatures stay above freezing. Also, the Breeze can easily be adapted to handle even extended weekends, say up to 4-days. Should you run out and buy this pack? It depends. Keep in mind that this pack is designed to hold all your gear in the space provided (i.e. don't expect to lash straps, pockets, or extra gear to the outside of the Breeze). You should also stay within that 20-pound load that GoLite recommends. If your existing gear won't fit in this pack, or is too heavy for this pack, there's really no point in even buying it. Assuming you're planning on carrying your shelter, sleeping bag, stove, pot, and food in the Breeze, make sure you have the "Ultralight" versions of these necessitites first - each item of equipment should be lightweight and take up as little space, when packed, as possible. Invest in everything else that's "Ultralight" first - Otherwise, you may just wasting your money... and spine.
Weight: 14 oz. (medium), 15 oz. (large) verified.
Retail: 110.00 (USD)
PETZL has introduced a New ultra-lightweight headlamp, the Zipka.
Essentially, the Zipka is just the Tikka without the headband. Instead, PETZL has integrated a retractable spectra cord system, reducing the overall weight of this little gem to just 2.25 oz, including 3-AAA batteries (included). I have verified this weight on my digital postal scale at home. The headlamp sits comfortably... it's easy to forget you're even wearing anything. The fit is so secure that you can use the headlamp for nighttime jogging without any issues. I have already used it on a night hike. Outstanding!
Weight: 2.25 oz, verified.
Retail: 44.99 (USD)
Marmot has introduced a New ultra-lightweight 30° bag, the Hydrogen. It's an 800 power goose down mummy bag, with a ParaLight N-120R DWR finish. The average weight of this bag is a mere 1lb. 7oz. for the regular length (6'0") and 1lb. 11oz. for the long (6'6"). Basically, this is a redesign of the Arroyo where they've shortened the zipper and used a lighter weight shell material (1.2 oz./sq. yard as opposed to 1.5 for the Arroyo). They've also taken in the shoulder and hip circumference by 1-inch and the footbox area by 3-inches.
I would guess that this series of bags will replace some older, existing, models in Marmot's lineup - I base this statement on how closely the stats and price points are between the new lightweight "ParaLight" bag and the "old" lightweight Marmot models.
The one reservation that I have is in the material. I have seen the Paprika color of a Marmot ParaLight bag (the Lithium) and you could see clumps of down right through the material. While darker colored ParaLight bags, such as the Hydrogen, do not lend themselves to this transluscent characteristic make no mistake that the material is just as thin. As Marmot has a great reputation, I'm sure the material has been thoroughly tested for wear and has no issues. However, I have no personal experience with ParaLight material. I will be eagerly following these bags performance, via comments from fellow hikers, and post summaries of owner experiences as they become available.
Marmot has also introduced a warmer version of this bag, the Helium, that's rated to 15°. The regular length weighs just 2lbs, and the long is just 2lbs. 4oz. Outside of the shell color (Pacifica) and the temp. rating, it's the same bag as the Hydrogen - Oh yeah... it'll also cost you another 50 (USD). There's also the Lithium, mentioned above, that's a 0° version.
Weight: I haven't weighed this bag personally, but Marmot bags usually come in at around 10% above specifications.
Retail: 249.00 reg./269.00 long (USD)
Western Mountaineering MegaLite
Western Mountaineering has added to their EXtremeLite series of bags for 2001. One 3-Season bag that caught my eye was the MegaLite. At 25 oz, this 30° down bag is one of the lightest you'll find on the market. While some bags may save you a few ounces, it remains to be seen if they are truely 30° bags. With Western Mountaineering, the advertised specs are dead on - In all cases, I've found their ratings to be "optimal". Most other manufacturer ratings tend to be based on rather "conservative" assumptions. If you read my reviews on the Rab and the Hydrogen, you'll see that temperature ratings and actual weight in advertising are points of concern.
This bag is definitely more versatile than any other I've reviewed. Being a hiker that sleeps either under the stars, or under a tarp, I'm pretty much exposed to the wind. I need a no-nonsense 30° bag - the lighter the better. With features such as a generous cut (just enough to be efficient without being claustrophbic), 12 oz. of 750+ goose down fill, and continuous baffles, no other bag listed here compares. Because the MegaLite has a full length zipper, it can be opened up and used as a blanket on warmer nights. That "wasted down" on the underside of the bag can be shifted to the top, pushing the comfort limits of this bag well into the 20-degree range.
Be warned, Western Mountaineering is a company that's dedicated to personal attention and producing the highest quality bags on the market. What's bad about that??? Timing! WM bags are not "mass produced" - They make some of the best sleeping bags available on the market today. WM is a small operation (in biz for 30 Years+ though) that makes their bags by hand, in model lots. That means they may not have a shell in stock for the bag/size you need. In such cases, you could be stuck waiting for up to 6-months for delivery. Usually, "regular" sized bags are not a problem. Basically, if your retailer doesn't have the WM bag in stock, have them get an estimate from WM with regards to delivery timing. Add 1-month. If this doesn't meet your needs, shop around. Check their dealer list. I'd also call the Bivouac, as they stock a lot of bags and are known to have 20% off sales. As a final note, if you're going to special order your bag, keep in mind that you can, for an additional charge, customize bags by requesting additional amounts of down or size adjustments as needed. Truely, Western Mountaineering is a customer oriented company.
Weight: 25 oz. reg./26 oz. long
Retail: 280.00 reg./295.00 long (USD)
Photon Micro-Light II LED flashlight
When it comes to lighting the way at night, Photon LED lights stand alone. I'm so pleased by these little lights that I no longer carry any other flashlights/headlamps into the back-country. Why carry the extra weight of something I won't use anyway?
These little lights are amazing. You can use them for primary lights in camp or while night hiking, or just have one stashed at the bottom of your pack for emergency purposes.
Personally, I have experience with just two colors, Red and Turquoise.
The Turquoise is my main "night hiking" light. I can easily see rocks, tree limbs... all the usual obsticals that can cause injury. There's no need to scan in a side-to-side motion with this light... everything is lit up due to the extremely wide arc of light that's thrown from the tiny LED. When I turn the light off I don't experience the usual momentary blindness as my eyes adjust to the darkness. It's great.
If you're already wide awake, the Turqoise light is fine for night applications. However, if you wake up in the middle of the night needing a quick light to find your bearings and get to the nearest tree, it can be a little overwhelming (not to mention it will wake up your hiking partners). Turning on the Red Photon simply allows you to see at night... there's no "retina shock" involved. Also, as the Red LED gets 120 hrs of battery life, you know you've got a dependable source of light should the battery drain on any other light sources you may be carrying.
I've used the Red Photon for a 6-mile test night-hike through the woods of Michigan on a moonless spring night. As the Red LED did not cast as bright, nor as wide, a beam as my Turqoise Photon, I couldn't run through the woods. However, I didn't feel as if I was at a handicap to a traditional flashlight. While the lit area was smaller than what I could get with a flashlight, I had much better "nightvision" when looking at what was actually illuminated. It was cool how all the wildflowers growing on the sides of the trail were turned "white" by the light... it was like having my own personal runway in the woods.
Negative points???
- The "on/off" switch was "tight" when I initially received the LED - I had to slide it against my teeth to turn it on and off. This "tightness" went away after the first few uses though, and I only experienced it with the Red light (the Turqoise light was fine). If I wasn't such a nail-biter, maybe this wouldn't have even been that big of a deal.
- Changing batteries can be a hassle on the Series I and II if you don't have a precision screw driver... the screws are very small. The Series-III, however, is supposed to have a "quick change" feature engineered into it's case to resolve this issue.
- The Photon is not waterproof. However, it is water resistant and I haven't had any moisture-related problems after using the photon in the rain. For nit-pickers, or hikers slogging through swamps and rivers, water "resistant" may not be good enough.
For those wanting to use the Photon-II in a "hands free" mode, simply attach velcro to the brim of your hat and the LED - Instant headlamp.
In case you're wondering, there are Photon I's available but they don't have an "on/off" switch. You have to "pinch" them on, and hold the "pinch" for as long as you want the light to stay on... what a pain. Also on the Photon product list is the Photon III, which allows you to select from a number of beam intensities (high, medium, low) and strobes (fast, medium, slow). There's also a one-minute auto-shutoff mode. If someone wanted to read a book at night, I could see the advantage of being able to regulate the brightness of the beam. For my application, however, the Series-II works fine.
Photon also makes a headlamp (the Photon Fusion ) and a "Rav 'N Party Light (I won't stoop to include a link).
Am I sorry I bought the Zipka??? Yeah - at least for hiking purposes. My Zipka has now been demoted as a headlamp used to work around the house and for use as a "loaner" piece of gear when taking newbies on the trail with me.
The Photon II's are available in nine different colors, with varying levels of battery life:
Color Batt Life Red 120 hrs Orange 120 hrs Yellow 120 hrs Green 20 hrs Turquoise 12 hrs Blue 12 hrs White 12 hrs Infrared ??? Ultraviolet ??? Weight: 0.25 oz. w/o keyring/0.3 oz. with keyring attached, verified.
Retail: 19.95 (USD)
Finally... a story describing a recent experience with a Maglite Solitude (AAA-model), the Zipka, and the Photon II's:
I recently went to the Grand Canyon with my friend Chris. I lent him a Maglite Solitude, and packed my Zipka for myself - As it was Chris' first backpacking trip ever, I didn't want to feak him out by only packing the Photons. In fact, I kept the Photons a secret as Chris had mentioned that the Solitude was "the smallest flashlight I have ever seen."
While eating at the Bright Angel campground one night, a Ringtail jumped up on the table and grabbed a Ziploc containing a peanut butter sandwich. I thought I knocked the Ziploc over myself while vigorously cutting into the Summer Sausage - Neither myself nor Chris felt anything "hairy". Anyway, I leaned over, while wearing the Zipka, to see what "fell" under the table and that's when I saw the amber eyes of the Ringtail staring back at me.
As soon as the Ringtail saw that I had made him he ran down to the bank of Bright Angel Creek, Ziploc in tow. He stayed in the area, pacing back and forth through the brush looking for an opportunity to strike again.
My 3-LED Petzl Zipka threw light out wide enough that you could quickly find his eyes staring back from any one of his numerous stake-out positions. Chris used his Maglite Solitude to bring a narrow beam of light onto the Ringtail for a more detailed view.
Needless to say, niether light was a one-shot solution. The Zipka couldn't focus a narrow beam on the critter and the Solitude, when set to a wide beam, just didn't have the power given the distance to the Ringtail.
Then, for kicks, I pulled out my Photon II, single LED, Torquoise light. This one light was so bright that it turned the area in front of us into "daylight". You couldn't see the light from the Maglite or the Petzl due to the Photon's intensity. Also, the Ringtail (a nocturnal animal) no longer felt safe to lurk in the shadows - What shadows???... it was "High Noon" baby. The Ringtail took off as fast as he could and I went down to retrieve my still in-tact Ziploc. He never did get to eat any sandwich.
Black Diamond's Megamid is an extremely flexible, roomy, floorless "Tepee" tent that can easily be used as a snow shelter.
The base tent weighs just 42.1 ounces and delivers a whopping 81 square feet of floor space. Add another couple ounces, for guy line and a tree-to-tree support line to hold up the roof, and the entire package still weighs under 3-pounds. Not bad for a 4-man tent, or a 2-man/1-dog and enclosed kitchen shelter.
If you don't want to suspend the Megamid from a line, it comes with it's own 4-piece center pole that stands at 65-inches tall. At this height, the Megamid's sides can be pitched flush with the ground. The top section of the center pole has an additional length of conduit within it that lets you set the roof as high as 79-inches. That's enough to stand under, and with the sides pitched 10-inches off the ground, provides pleanty of cross-ventilation. If you decide to pack the pole, you'll add another 12.9 ounces to your load.
For use in snow, the 1.8 oz ripstop polyester blocks the fridged wind nicely. The tepee shape ensures that the foot of fresh snowfall won't have you sucking nylon in the morning. There are loops to accomodate a clothes-line or attic near the ceiling. If you're worried about the center pole sinking into the snow, either hang the Megamid off a line or pack along a plastic frisbee (a great mini-shovel) to distribute the weight across a wider area. Because the Megamid is floorless, you don't have to worry about the mess your boots and other gear will make inside or melting the floor while you cook your dinner.
To pitch the Megamid, simply stake out the four corners, unzip the door, and insert the pole between the ground and the apex of the tent.
Also included with the tent is a stuff sack (1.5 oz) and 8-stakes (4 oz). If there's enough snow on the ground, you can leave the stakes home and just deadman a few old sticks instead.
For those who camp with partners that insist on a floor, there's a clip-in "bathtub-style" floor that's available for another $75. The floor will add another 1lb. 8oz. to your load. Seriously - Consider using snow-camping as a "first step" to breaking your friends of the need for a floor. Dig a "Snow Pit" in the area that will be the inside of your tent. Erect the Megamid (the walls will level off above the ground, depending on how deep the "Pit" is), and pile some snow around the outside walls - This will keep the wind and what few critters are out there at bay (remember, there are no mosquitos, flies, etc. around when it's cold enough to snow). In spring, your friends will be ready to graduate to a simple tarp and save the party a few pounds of pack-weight. By the time summer bug season hits, they'll be engineering ways to "rig" the tarp to be bug-free rather than going back to that old tent.
Packed Size: 6 x 14" loosly packed (minus pole) Pole: 4-connected, 18", segments
Weight: 42.1 oz. w/o Pole/55 oz. with Pole, verified.
Retail: 178.00/129.97 Campmor, cosmetic seconds (USD)
I recently picked up a cosmetic second from Campmor - The "Mustard color ran into the grey panels." - If it's there, I can't find it... maybe, someday, someone will point out the "slight" imperfection to me.
Base Kamp