Tuesday 3 November 2009

Odds and sods

My postie has been having a pretty busy time recently. Latest delivery to drop through the door was this package from Team IO. Team IO are worth a mention because as far as I'm aware they're the only American style cottage manufacturers in Britain (Let me know if I'm wrong!). I've been using their zero g guylines on my laser comp and as a lifter guy on the Gatewood- it's called zero g because apparently it doesn't register on digital scales! The mini linelocs which go with it are super good also. More interestingly I've been using one of their cuben fibre stuff sacks as a food/stove bag. I had a real purge of my stuff sacks a while back and now I only use three-one for my food, one for my torch and medical kit and one for my tent pegs. It makes sense to me that they weigh as little as possible and at 6g, the medium stuff sack seemed just the job. Compare that to my previous food bag- a trekmates silnylon at 25g. The only problem was that when I received it it resembled little more than a crystalised fart- beautifully made with bonded seams, a light static drawcord and a tiny cordlock but way to0 fragile for my purposes. Except it wasn't. I carried +3kg of food for the Rhinogs plus my stove and pot and didn't baby it and it's still looking as good as new. I've hung it by the cord, stuffed it in my pack and sat it on the ground and I'm very pleased with it. So I've decided to replace it. Why? For the crime of being too big and heavy! You get a lot of sack for your 6g-I can fit my head in it (remember my head isn't the biggest!) and with one night's food in it it's too big. The small stuff is 4g and for an overnighter it's all the sack I need. The only problem is it might be ever so slightly too small. The final item in the pack is a set of Vargo hi vis pegs. I love my Terra Nova carbon fibre pegs but they're beginning to break with monotonous regularity. I am taking a hit on the weight though- I foolishly assumed they were the same as the superlight stakes with a bit of paint on them. Still you live and learn.
Here is the picture of the Mountain Laurel poncho as a poncho- I seem to have assumed a Meechanesque thousand yard stare but really what expression do you use to model a huge tesco carrier bag? You can see just how see through it is in this picture.
Finally apologies to all those who have made comments which I failed to reply to- I hadn't realised I needed to moderate them-doh!

3 comments:

Martin Rye said...

I would stick with the Paramo myself but good on you for trying that light poncho. Nice blog by the way.

PhilT said...

I've been using cubne stuff sacks from ZPacks for a while and I'm stunned by how durable they are! You'll find that even if you manage to piece the cuben the cut won't spread due to the 'rip stop' nature of the spectra threads. I also can't get to grips with the drawcord not cutting through the fabric either...

Enjoying the blog by the way - that cuben poncho is fantastic! Glad you're a fellow Ron fan.

minimalgear said...

I've never fancied Paramo- I run fairly hot, so typically just wear a windshirt or at most a light fleece underneath for warmth even in the winter. I got some of Ron's cuben rain chaps and thrashed them through a lot of heather in the Rhinogs- there were two tiny holes in them by the end which I fixed with a spot of silnett. Good stuff!