Life in a tree house

Found this interesting video via Alastair Humphrey's blog. It's a short presentation by a guy named Nick Weston who built his own tree house in the woods and lived off the land for 6 months.

How to hank cordage

I guess most of us have experienced a mess of tangled up guylines after not doing a tidy job of packing down a tarp or tent. A way of preventing this is to "hank cordage", creating nice bundles that can be quickly released. There are several ways to do this - the method I'm using is the one demonstrated in the "Tarp DVD" by backpackinglight.co.uk.

Recently there was a thread about this at hammockforums.net and I contributed by making this short video to demonstrate how I do it:



How do you guys do it?

Spending money where it makes a difference

Most of the time I think spending extra to buy light and high quality stuff is a wise move, but sometimes I see products that are just ridiculously priced and with no real benefit or advantage compared to a lower priced one.

Case in point, I stopped by the sports store XXL today to buy some shoes and while standing in line I remembered needing a long handled spoon, and having seen one earlier in the hiking/backpacking setion of the store. I had planned to get one from BPL, but I don't think they'll ever get back in stock? Well, I went to find it and the first thing I saw was a "STS Titan long spoon" from Sea to Summit with a price tag of 239 norwegian kroner! (40 USD). I was thinking "ah, ok, that sort of explains why I haven't picked one up earlier", and was about to leave when I saw a similar model from the same manufacturer made out of "ultralight hard anodised aircraft alloy" at a price of 89 kroner (15 USD), and it looked just as great and I of course bought it.

Why on earth would I want to spend 25 USD extra on the ti version to save 5 grams in weight? The aircraft alloy (aluminium) version will of course be just as durable and the weight difference is miniscule. I really hope people don't buy invest in this stuff and instead spend their money one one of the big three (shelter, pack, sleeping bag) to get their base weight down.

Well, anyhow, rant over. I really like the spoon and I think it will make it a lot easier to get the last good bits out of the "Real Turmat" bags. Oh, and I like the small carabiner that comes with it. Probably smart to use it to clip the spoon to the pack or something so it won't be lost, or to use for other purposes, for instance hanging stuff from a tarp ridgeline.

Warm, but not very durable

I first heard of Possumdown when reading about the often mentioned Possumdown gloves + MLD event rain mitts combo. It's been recommended by many hikers, including Andrew Skurka, and claimed to be good for four season use. That made me curious so I of course had to try them out.

I haven't had the chance to try the MLD rain mitts, but the Possumdown gloves have been used during the winter, mostly as an everyday glove to and from work etc. The short story is that I find them warm, but with some serious durability issues when worn alone. I've been forced to repair some of the fingertips with some zig zags, and that has been sufficient, but new ones keep appearing. So, not something you would want to choose for a long thru-hike.

On the positive side - these are warm, light and comfortable gloves! They're quite affordable too. I got my pair via ebay for 22.95 dollars including shipping to Norway, and I didn't have to pay customs either since the amount was below 35 dollars.

Possumdown is actually a blend of NZ possum fur and merino wool. The thing is that the Possum was brought to New Zealand by settlers for economic reasons - they wanted to start a fur industry. Unfortunately they multiplied at such a rate things got out of hand and the trees and wildlife started to suffer. Nowadays they're seen as a national pest. I remember reading on the label that I was helping to preserve the NZ wildlife by buying the gloves. I've got mixed emotions about that since I care a lot about animals - I know it's probably wise to try to reduce its numbers, but it is sad to see animals hunted solely for their fur, and by sometimes cruel means (traps etc.).

Well, back to the review. Merino wool is well known for its ability to be warm even when wet, and for resisting bacterial growth. Possum fur is even warmer since the fibres are hollow and retain more warmth. The gloves I've got has 10% nylon as well. I remember being a bit surprised that they weren't 100% possum fur, but when you study the gloves closely you'll see that the possum fur is very fluffy while being a bit stiff. I don't think it would work well, something they probably quickly found out and created the blend "Possumdown". Below is a closeup picture of possumdown that I found at backpackinglight.com.

So, to conclude this short review of the Possumdown gloves:

Positive:
- warm
- comfortable
- relatively affordable

Negative
- a bit short on the wrist (the model I bought)
- poor durability / abrasion resistance

Wish I had more time to write a more comprehensive review, but there you have it.

Take care.

And the stuff sack goes to

#8 "HappyCamperWV".

Congrats! Shoot me an e-mail (thomas.gauperaa-at-getmail.no) with your address and I'll ship it to you tomorrow.

DIY micro tarp

Found a link to a cool DIY micro tarp project this morning on www.backpacking-lite.co.uk. This kind of tarp is meant to be used in combination with a waterproof-breathable bivy and is a barebones solution for the hardcore SUL enthusiast. I think it would be nice to have in a day pack too, to give shelter while eating or taking a short nap out of the baking sun or chilling wind. Be sure to check you rest the rest of the DIY section on that site.

If you don't want to one yourself, then you might want to take a look at one offered by www.backpackinglight.co.uk.

Making stuffsacks - want one?

I've been making some stuffsacks lately for my brother and myself, and for one of you readers :). If you want the spinnaker stuff sack pictured below, then just leave a comment saying what you'll put in it if you win it. I'll draw a winner with random.org in about a week.

The spinnaker stuff sack pictured is the last one I made. It is 16 by 8 inches, weighing in at a respectable 11 grams, or 0.39 ounces. It's not a perfect piece as I'm still stuggling a bit to sew straight on the slippery spinnaker, but quite servicable - just don't expect MLD quality and a warranty to boot :). I followed the instructions at thru-hiker.com, deviating slightly by not making a 1/4 inch hem before folding over and making the channel. Frankly I didn't see the point in stiching that. I also made the channel wider to make it easier to use the drawstring for opening and closing. The first one I made had a narrower channel which when tightening the drawstring would provide to much friction.

Here are some pictures from the construction.

 

 

Take care!