Red Yeti's Blog

10 Jul, 2007

A non-Haute Route gear related post for a change. But if you’re in to making your camping kit lighter -read on…

Got hold of one of the “Gossamer Gear NightLight 3/4 Sleep Pads” (not to be confused with the smaller “Torso” Sleep Pad) and have been trying it out in South Wales for the last couple of weekends.

Summary

Pros

Very light Inexpensive

Cons

Big!

Overall: I plan to use it in future in place of my Prolite 3/4 length though this is just first impressions.

First impressions

I’ve always been a fan of Thermarests. The 3/4 length 2.5cm mat that I’ve carried for nearly ten years was only replaced last year by the latest version; the Prolite 3/4 length. They’re very comfy for the weight.

But, the stated 370 grams of the Prolite seems to be the lightest of the actual production examples that a recent OM thread could turn up. Mine weighs in at 436 grams.

So I thought I’d try the NightLight which is a sort of state-of-the-art version of a standard foam sleeping mat of the type carried by D of E groups in the British hills (most of whom seemed to be in the Black Mountain range of South Wales last weekend).

I always think you can spot a D of E group a mile off. They’re smaller than your average walker but are carrying packs the size of a VW Beetle. And strapped somewhere on the outside of the pack is a foam mat, looking like it’s trying to soak up all the rain that’s running off the pack just to add some extra weight.

Surely a foam mat is a step backwards?

Well, a stated weight of 7.8 to 8.2 oz (221 to 232 grams – mine is 222 grams) and a very comparable R value of 2.27 (the Prolite is 2.3) means the NightLight needs some serious consideration. Also it can’t puncture. Have you ever tried finding a Thermarest puncture? Even in the warmth of your own bathroom, bent over the bath looking for a stream of bubbles, it’s surprisingly tricky!

At £22 from Winwood Outdoor it’s also not going to break the bank (especially in the context of the amount I’ve spent on gear this year!).

My first thought when it arrived three weeks ago (after about a five week wait as the order came in from the USA) was: “Oh Hell… that’s enormous!”.

At 4\’11? (1.5m) it’s 3? (7.5cm) longer than the Prolite 3 but somehow manages to feel closer to full length. I can get my feet on it if I have my head on a rolled up fleece + duvet jacket. Meaning even with the fractionally lower R value it will provide insulation for almost your whole body whereas the Prolite 3/4 length won’t.

I didn’t relish the thought of strapping it to the outside as even though it’s closed cell foam and therefore shouldn’t soak up water, it would still be a big wet bit of unwelcome plastic in a dry tent at the end of a day’s walk.

Jamming it inside the bag seemed to allow almost no room for anything else (a mistake on my part – I should have known better – but see below!).

But the 214 grams weight saving tempted me.

So we took it and I slept on it the first night on flat, soft grass.

Very comfy. Comparable to the Prolite in fact. Trying them out side by side on a hard floor at home, the Prolite has the edge (just). But, and I’m not too sure of this yet, I have a feeling that if there was a stray point from a rock sticking up into your back, the Prolite would tend to let it “show through” whereas the more resilient foam of the Nightlight might try to “even it out” more. Giving a more rounded and perhaps therefore a less pointy and uncomfortable mat. This seemed to be true of where we camped on Saturday night in fact but as the title says, this is just first impressions here.

But I still couldn’t see how I could take the mat and still fit anything else into the bag!

So, I cut it in half and LB and I tried using one each as a torso mat.

It worked but our legs were on the floor of course. Although a waterproof jacket seems to be capable of providing enough insulation to stop condensation building up on the foot end of a sleeping bag overnight (good tip that) it’s not enough to stop your legs getting cold. “Use your rucksack” some would say. Well, it sounds good in theory but apart from them not being the most lump-free objects to sleep on, after a typical summer day in Wales a rucksack can be holding enough water to make a whole D of E group’s breakfast porridge and therefore isn’t a very welcome tent guest.

Meaning it’s got to be all the mat – or none of the mat. And it’s surely just too big?

But that 214 gram weight saving nagged at me.

And then, I realised that I was being stupid – just let the thing unroll as it wants to and use it to line the inside of the sack. I can’t believe I missed that considering I’ve even wondered about getting a frameless pack and that’s exactly how you give them the required stiffness.

So, I tried that and oddly I think it might be easier since it’s cut in half. I think that sticking the two “egg box” shaped faces together when flat and then rolling them into the bag makes the mat really want to spring open and therefore stick to the outside of the rucksack – giving the maximum room down the “core” of the pack. (The picture shows an XXS Exped Drybag containing my first aid kit at the bottom of the bag)

Which meant it fits in to the Granite Gear Vapor Trail I’ve just bought (only had it out this weekend – great – more on that some other time) along with all the other kit: PHD Minimus sleeping bag, 1 litre pot, MSR stove kit, Rab Drilium, Montane Atomic Pants, Montbell Thermawrap, Jack Wolfskin Gecko micro-fleece and to my amazement the Terra Nova Voyager Superlite tent! I already mentioned I’d spent some money on gear didn’t I?

The bag was a little “taller” than it would have been with the Prolite, but it was that extra 214 grams lighter at last.

LB will try it out next weekend but I think there may be another mat making its way from the USA soon…

(Pictured with a 6?/15cm steel rule for scale – the size of the gap in the middle stays the same all the way down inside the rucksack – it’s just perspective that makes it look like it gets smaller towards the bottom!)

13 Nov, 2007

When I had a pair of shoes suddenly need repair halfway through the Haute Route I was very glad that I’d got a good sewing kit with me. So I was pleased to find out that you can now buy Kevlar thread quite easily.

Using Kevlar means that you don’t need to use so much thread to repair whatever you’re repairing.

For example, using the polypropylene thread to repair my shoe I needed to hold the top lace in place for at least another week’s walking so I kept sewing until I’d built up a considerable thickness, about a 3mm gear cord’s worth I reckon. Each stitch had to be punched through the plastic lace-grip that had blown as well as the tough shoe material. I had to use a Swiss coin as a thimble and managed to badly bend a “leather” needle. Luckily I had a thick “darning” needle as well which finished the job.

Sewing for ages to get a strong repair is fine if you’re sat looking out over a nice view eating lunch. Which we were. But even then, after twenty five minutes of sewing, my fingers were sore and cold and everyone else was starting to shiver. Using Kevlar I know for a fact that I could, and would, have used far less thread and spent far less time doing it.

The fact that the leather needle bent surprised me but it wasn’t the sharpest thing I’ve ever used. So I also had a good search around for a strong and really sharp needle. The best I could find are Wenzel needles that come as a kit with some dyed linen thread for sewing leather. I got them from an ebay seller who currently isn’t trading but a search for “Wenzel thread” on ebay turned up several listings.

As for the Kevlar thread, I got mine from an ebayer in the USA: Primitive Originals were a pleasure to deal with and sell a set of five colours. FindingKing also sell just plain black Kevlar thread but the first one got ripped from the envelope by a sorting machine before it arrived. But they’ve since posted another one with no quibble at all.

Another supplier that I’ve found has a limited amount of thicker Kevlar thread. He has one huge reel and is selling it off a length at a time for a reasonable amount – but once it’s gone it’s gone. 50 metres would probably last a lifetime of gear repair but he will do any length you want. He also has a rather nice picture of it suspending a brick (tied to thicker polyester string) and reckons the breaking strain to be about 5.7kg.

Once I’d got the threads and needles I wanted I cut up a bit of card to spool some the Kevlar around. Add in the darning needle that saved the shoes and a curved upholstery needle that looks like if you need one nothing will substitute (both from a cheap sewing kit) plus a couple of safety pins and you’ve got a complete kit.

Finally, to hold it all I cut the corner from a plastic document wallet, with a spare flappy bit to fold over to make a closure. Taped the edge then covered the tape in Seam Grip (which wasn’t necessary! I was just repairing something else at the time). A piece of Magic Tape or Gaffer Tape over the flappy closure to hold it shut, chuck it in a waterproof bag and you’re done.

Total weight – just 4gms.

I reckon you could put a wheel back on a Land Rover with that.

02 Apr, 2008

I’ve been experimenting with alcohol stoves for a little while and to be honest, of the four I’ve tried, only one puts out enough heat for two people’s food: The White Box

Named for the white box that it comes in, it’s a very simple and robust little stove. There’s plenty of information about them on the Internet already so I’ll concentrate on how efficient they are and how I’ve been able to use mine down to -10 Celsius (14F). It’s often said that you can’t use an alcohol stove in freezing conditions, but with a little care, you can.

I’ve wanted to replace my old faithful MSR Whisperlite Internationale with a lightweight alcohol stove for a while but to be honest I’ve so many other things going on, I don’t have time to fiddle around making my own. Besides, from what I’d read, unless you get your design and build dead right, they can be rather inefficient. So I thought I’d buy a couple from people who make them all the time.

I tried a beautifully made Penny Stove from The AC Aircraft Company (Bill doesn’t seem to show them on his site now for some reason). But the heat output never managed to boil the 900 ml (about two pints) of water I want to use for porridge + tea in the morning or rehydrating buckwheat pasta + soup in the evening.

I then tried a Sith from Tinny at MiniBull Designs (his blog is always fascinating). It struggled to maintain enough heat in the presence of a cold pan of water to even stay alight. Tinny and I never did get to the bottom of this – it may be that “normal” methylated spirits in the UK haven’t got as high an alcohol content as something like Heet in the USA (I am just guessing here – anyone know for sure?). Even holding the pan above the stove a couple of centimetres never allowed the water to boil before the fuel ran dry.

So I ordered an Atomic from him. And with its pot-stand it managed to pack enough of a punch to get the water hot, but still not boiling.

At this point I gave up for a while. But listening to Bob on one of his podcasts singing the praises of the White Box made me decide that it was worth one last go.

And I’m very glad I did. The White Box is very small, tough and light; 68gms. 30 for the stove, 10 for the aluminium square it stands on and 28 for the wind-shield.

Critically, it can boil my required amount of 900ml of water in about nine minutes from sparking up to rolling boil. Slower than the MSR, but a lot less dangerous for cooking in the porch of a tent.

I’ve cooked in the porch with the MSR, but no matter how much the rain was falling and the wind blowing, I’ve always sparked up with the door wide open and only zipped back up once it’s settled to it’s usual fearsome jet of blue flame. LB has had to hold on to the sides of the tent to stop wind damage caused by leaving it wide open in a hooley a couple of times. (I know I could light it outside and carry it inside carefully – but where’s the fun in that?)

Great – so it works and it boils lots of water. But how do you get it working in the cold?

The critical point is to make sure that both the alcohol and the stove itself are warm by keeping them within one thin layer of your skin for about ten minutes.

I keep the alcohol in a small MiniBull Fuel Bottle (the AG fuel bottles that Winwood stock look very similar). It’s important to have a small amount so it’s easy to heat.

When I wake up, I grab the bottle from the tent pocket I put it in the night before and stuff it inside the sleeping bag but outside the silk liner. At -10C that’s a bit of a wake-up call but with a quick fumble you can keep it away from you whilst it warms-through enough to allow it to come closer to your skin.

Once I’ve got most of the cooking stuff together, but before I fill the pan with water and get out the porridge, I throw the stove itself inside the sleeping bag to let it warm-through as well. It doesn’t take as long since it’s a small hunk of aluminium.

In the evening it’s similar, keep it between your down jacket and your t-shirt. Though when wearing a 260 weight Icebreaker long sleeved T (expensive – but worth every penny) I have to finish by keeping it right next to the skin. Otherwise the merino just wouldn’t let it warm up enough.

Once you’re completely ready to start cooking, pan filled and fire-steel waiting, whip them both out, fill the stove and spark up.

Then, hold the pan of water (or ice slush if you have it) a couple of centimetres above the flame. That way you’re letting the stove prime as usual whilst also “priming” the pan of cold water. Otherwise, even though the stove might have blossomed to its beautiful chrysanthemum of flame, the cold pan can suck the life out of it.

Nine minutes or less later, a couple of pints of boiling water enthusiastically fills your porch with steam.

09 Apr, 2008

As a relatively recent convert to hydration systems, or platypi (it seems Platypus is to hydration what in British English, Hoover is to vacuum cleaner) I’ve had to learn how to look after them when they are not being lumped about in my pack.

It might sound strange that they need any “looking after” at all, but they do. Or else you end up sucking mildew flavoured water through a black spotted tube.

The usual handy hint to prevent that is simply to store them in a freezer. But in a small kitchen, with a very small freezer, the food has to get first priority. So no freezing for our platypi except in-use on the hill (for which a neoprene cover, that covers the bite-valve, combined with blowing back into the bag, works very well for preventing a freeze-up even at minus-a-lot Celsius).

So I’ve got in to a very simple routine for making sure they stay mould free:

When you get home, fill the bladder with really hot water from the tap. Not from a kettle. It might work, I’ve not tried it, but I have a feeling that boiling water would damage the bag (anyone know different?). But use very hot water never the less.

Hold the bag above the sink and squeeze the bite valve until a lot of really hot water has had a chance to clean out the tube. It needs to run for a good ten seconds I reckon, since the first run through the pipe will cool by the time it gets to the bite valve.

Then drain it out and shake out the excess drops of water.

The last trick relies on having a bite valve that will pop off easily, or at least dissemble without too much of a struggle (like the Source variety – whose bite-valves I favour) and a bag that opens at the opposite end from the tube (like a Platypus Big Zip or Source Widepac): Remove or dissemble the valve to get a good airflow up the tube, stick the tube out of a window (perhaps a second floor window, in case you forget its open and leave the house!) and prop open the bag with something.

The breeze blowing through the window will get pushed up the tube, and usually dries the bag in a few hours even on a still day.

With a bone-dry bag, there’s nowhere for the black mould to grow – and you get a happy, healthy platy.

24 Apr, 2008

LB, Chris and I caught the last of the snow this weekend in Snowdonia. At least I expect it to be the last of the snow we catch but I’ve expected it to end for the last couple of weekends away and it just keeps on coming.

We did a nice route up across Carnedd Dafydd but were beaten back from the ridge leading to Carnedd Llewelyn by a fifty mile an hour blast of snow that occasionally hit sixty-five (according to the Kestrel). We dropped into the cwm and camped at the foot of the Black Ladders. It was beautiful with the brilliant snow covering parts of the black rock forming the massive amphitheatre of Cwmglas Mawr.

Sunday saw the usual long slog out of a cwm. This time all the way to the top of Carnedd Llewelyn and back along the ridge to Dafydd. With the wind doing the same sort of speeds as the day before.

But what of the bionic legs?

Chris has super-human, bionic legs. He out-walks everybody. Whenever you walk with him, he disappears off into the distance and sits on a rock waiting for half an hour whilst everyone else catches up. Except for this time. This time we were ahead of Chris at almost every step. We couldn’t understand it.

We asked a couple of times if he was okay and he said he was fine but just finding it heavy going. It took a while to realize that of course Chris was wearing full winter boots, a B2 crampon fitting. Whereas we were carrying Kahtoola crampons and therefore we are able to wear lighter footwear. Mid-height approach shoes in my case and summer leather boots for LB.

So although we never actually had the crampons out, we didn’t need to carry as much weight in the pack. Also, critically, we had very little weight on our feet compared to Chris. And post-holing your way up the side of Llewelyn in those boots is just plain painful.

Intuitively it’s obvious, but to see such a graphic demonstration of the enormous difference that lightweight footwear really does make was very interesting (and quite gratifying, after spending the money!).

We just have to make sure Chris doesn’t get any for next season…

19 Jun, 2008

One thing I seem to get asked about a lot is sleeping bags. I suppose that’s inevitable, I’m a well known kit-junkie and apart from a tent and a pack they’re the most expensive items most people carry.

The trouble is, for that same reason, I’ve not got that many! Well okay technically I have four. But for ten years of buying proper bags it’s quite restrained (I’m discounting ones bought for LB and of course all the earlier ones as not worth thinking about!)

So, more than any other posting this is “in my opinion” and it’s one that I’m hoping won’t cause a ruckus…

So, if I was buying a bag, what would I buy?

PHD, Peter Hutchinson Designs. As far as I’m concerned they make the best bags. Others are very, very comparable. Rab look excellent. I hear very good things indeed about Western Mountaineering and Montbell. There are others that you may think even better (that’s what the comments section is for!). But from what I’ve actually seen and used it’s PHD for me.

The Hispar range for winter (LB has one of the 800 fill power ones they used to make before getting the amazing 900FP down) and the minimus for summer.

We both have minimus bags. They worked fine with it just above freezing on a weekend in snowy Snowdonia as long was we wore duvet jackets and extra clothes (I have a PHD minimus – top class jacket). The bags certainly wouldn’t have been enough on their own. The alternative was to take LB’s Hispar and my ME Iceline. They are both wonderfully warm (rated to -30C) but they’re also bulky and quite heavy so we were very glad that particular experiment worked out.

If money is an issue – try the Alpkit Pipedreams. But for me, not the Skyehigh range – less lofty down makes them heavy. In fact beware of any down below 750 fill power – it’s false economy in my opinion (more on that below).

Okay so here’s the potentially controversial bit: I reckon with Alpkit you get a good 90% of what you’ll see from PHD. I feel rather sad to see PHD so undercut but maybe I’m being silly about that and I should just accept that it’s the commercial reality of the situation. I’d better make clear that I do like Alpkit and have a lot of respect for the guys that run it. And I know of at least five bags bought from them as a result of my recommendation! And for balance; I know of at least that many from PHD too.

So, Alpkit, very good but I’d always go for the PHD option for the main summer and winter bags.

Bear in mind that a down bag has an expected life of around 25 years+ so any expense now can be amortised across that time. Conversely any expense spared now you’ll pay for in terms of weight carried for many, many, many days. In ten years will you really look back and think “I’m glad I saved that £100″?

Of course, with technology improving all the time, who’s to say we won’t all be using helium filled synthetic bags weighing a few tens of grams in ten years? For now, I’m assuming not.

There are tons of others out there – you can spend days making a sleeping bag choice! These are just the ones that I’d consider personally.