Saturday, March 10, 2012

Money bags... not any more.

I THINK I have purchased the last of the gear I will be needing for this big trek north. In the last month I have purchased, all from ZPacks, one each of their cuben fiber rain chap set (2.0 oz), cuben fiber poncho (4.8 oz.)  a 20 degree down quilt in its stuff sack weighing in at 16.1 oz, with lots of little notions for sewing up my own stuff. In true multiple use fashion I can use the poncho as my ground cloth when I have to go to ground and as an under quilt/rain splash protector when I'm in the hammock. All this is in addition to its function as rain gear! The chaps are good for protection from flying insects and cold winds, as well as trail side Poison Oak and Poodle Dog Bush. I checked and they can be washed in warm water as long as they are air dried afterwards.

I didn't have the time today to get all set-up for photos but here you can get the idea of the poncho.
And here are the chaps. They can be tightened at the bottom and simply clip onto my pants/shorts at the waist.  The material looks freaky, does it not? Sadly it makes a crinkling sound and because of this I won't be able to sneak up on anyone while hiking the trail...

2 comments:

  1. Be sure to keep a close eye on your core temperature as you trudge through the rain with the poncho. Being a non vapor barrier its going to build up heat really fast inside of that poncho. But for the few times you will probably use it in Washington it will hopefully be cold enough to not be too much of a problem.

    As much as I love ZPacks gear I cannot find any logic in how a 20 degree sleeping bag can reach the 20 degree range with 10 or so ounces of down - nearly half of what most other top end 20 degree bags have. The numbers just do not make sense.

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    1. Good thoughts John. I hike really hot so the chaps are mostly for really cold rain/wind, etc. The same for the poncho. I carry an umbrella for all other precipitation. As for the quilt? Only time will tell.

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