|
|
Shortcuts » |
| Crampons | Top of Page |
 Grivel G-10 crampons |
These are ten-point crampons. You might have read something in Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills to the effect of, "All modern crampons have twelve points. Don't buy crampons with anything less." OK, we bought these crampons last year (2000) and used them on very hard snow on Mount Ritter without any trouble. The weight/bulk advantage of 10-pointers over 12-pointers is minimal. If you really want to go light, 4-point crampons are made, but I would not recommend these except for emergencies. One complaint I have with these (possibly all Grivel crampons) is that the crampon did not expand easily out to my boot size (13). The G-10 is not a step-in crampon, but rather a "Scottish-style" crampon with a strap which you must secure around your foot. The step-in crampons are easier to get on and off, and some might say more secure. Of course, they also require stiff mountaineering boots. If you are climbing a big, serious peak like Mount Rainier, with nasty weather conditions and lots of mixed rock/ice climbing, you should go with step-in crampons. If you are just day-hiking a less serious peak in good weather conditions and with a single, moderate ice field, go with the Scottish-style crampons. |
| Helmet | Top of Page |
 Black Diamond Half Dome Helmet |
I don't know much to say about helmets except get one. While the threat of rockfall makes a helmet mandatory for alpine climbs, I've heard enough stories of people being injured on sport climbs, while bouldering, even at the climbing gym. I tried on a few helmets, and of those, the BD Half Dome was by far the most comfortable on my head. I have worn it on long, hot trips and it is cool and comfortable throughout the day. Price-wise, it is mid-range. |
| Ice Axe | Top of Page |
 Hugh Banner Glacier Ice Axe |
A good starter axe. In most catalogs that sell this axe, it is the cheapest of all. No fancy designs, and all metal, rather than composite, so it is relatively heavy. Composites achieve the same stregth as metals with a much lower weight, but ask anyone who has closed a graphite fishing rod in the tailgate of a truck (I have done this three times), and they will tell you that composites are quite brittle. Realistic impacts (dropping 20 feet onto a sharp rock) which might shatter a graphite-shaft axe might only dent a metal-shaft axe. Something to think about if you're taking your axe on a long trip where your life depends on it. |
| Backpack | Top of Page |
 Arc'Teryx Bora 95 backpack |
Make no mistake, this is a huge pack. I got it because I am huge guy. You probably have heard the old adage that if you have the pack space, you will fill it. In my experience this is unfortunately true, and I have started some trips with utterly absurd pack weights. But let's face it, sometimes you need serious pack space. Like if you're taking a week-long backcountry ski excursion. This pack has a lot of features. Fully ski compatible (Arc'teryx is based in Canada). The top pouch doubles as a detachable hip pack, which is very convenient for taking dayhikes after you've set up camp. In my experience, this pack is as comfortable as any I have tried, though with a 75-pound load, all packs will hurt! The biggest downside is the weight: a beefy 7.75 pounds. When you hear stories of ultralight backpackers doing the entire John Muir Trail with a pack weight of less than 20 pounds, rest assured they are not using this pack. Cost-wise, the Bora 95 is fairly expensive but not the most expensive I've seen. Kim uses the Bora 80, a lighter, smaller, and cheaper cousin of the Bora 95. Personally, we would not have spent as much as we did, but the packs were wedding gifts...and neither one of us is complaining. |
| Boots | Top of Page |
 Vasque Gore-Tex Sundowner MX2 |
Hands-down, your boots are the most important gear choice you can make. For most people, prerogative #1 is blister avoidance. Since 1993 I have hiked in two pairs of Vasque boots. The first pair, a non-leather Gore-tex version, the name of which I cannot recall, served me for seven years and many miles, without producing a single blister! I retired those boots reluctantly in 1999, and replaced them with the Sundowner, probably Vasque's best-selling model. At first, I got minor heel blisters, but I don't believe it was due to the boots: since I learned to tighten the boots after they warm up in the morning, I have not gotten a single blister in two seasons of hiking. These boots are a bit heavy, but surprisingly supple. They are not step-in crampon compatible, though they performed adequately with our strap-on Grivel G-10's on Mount Ritter. |
| Headlamp | Top of Page |
 Petzl Zipka LED Headlamp |
Headlamps are great. If you do overnight backpacking trips, ditch that stupid old flashlight and buy a headlamp. In the world of headlamps, the Petzl Zipka, and other LED headlamps have created quite a stir. An LED lamp will not be quite as bright as a normal halogen lamp, but it will last anywhere from 3-10 times as long on a single set of batteries, and will generally weigh considerably less. The Zipka is the lightest, most compact headlamp I've ever seen, and it puts out sufficient light for 95% of my backcountry uses. When do you need more? Under low temperature conditions (20 degrees F and colder, in my experience), current just won't flow from the batteries through the bulb. In those cases, some headlamps (Petzl Arctic, for example) have detachable battery packs, which you can keep close to the warmth of your body. |
| Tent | Top of Page |
 Marmot Swallow Tent |
If you backpack exclusively in the Sierra Nevada during the summer, the Marmot Swallow is not for you! This is a 3/4-season tent, not a 3-season tent. 3+ season tents have more poles for greater stability, more complicated venting options to control temperature and condensation during the winter, and a beefier rain fly. What's the catch? Weight. This puppy weighs in at nearly 8 pounds, double the weight of some dedicated lightweight tents of the same size. You may recall my musings about the 8-pound weight of my Arc'teryx Bora 95 backpack. Tent + pack = 16 pounds for me, which is the total pack weight of some ultralight backpackers. Additionally, even without the fly, I sometimes find this tent a bit hot during the summer. Now for the good news: this tent has weathered multiple extended Canadian summer rainstorms with nary a drop inside. We've snow-camped with the Swallow, and even with outdoor temperatures well below 20 degrees, the temperature inside remained a balmy 40. This tent is an excellent winter choice for the West Coast, where an expedition tent is unreasonable due to the relatively high temperature and humidity. |
|
Department of Geophysics Stanford University |
|