The Gearguy

Everything old is new

I encourage anyone who hasn’t seen it yet to see the Gearguy article on soft-shells in the on-line version of the July-August-September issue of Trail & Timberline. You can read it at: www.cmc.org/cmc/tnt/978/index.html. Among other things, it details my search last winter for a winter-weight soft-shell jacket - a timely topic for winter.

“Everything old is new again” is a prominent song from one of my favorite movies, but it could also be the theme song for a number of gear offerings from major manufacturers over the last two years. The “go light” craze combined with new space-age materials has brought us updated versions of gear long since relegated to unlamented history. Tarps instead of tents, nylon instead of Goretex, and frameless backpacks have all made re-appearances in subtly changed form. Some of these are indeed improvements. However, in some cases as George Santayana said: “those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Over the next few articles, I’ll be talking about some of these new takes on old gear.

So, what works
and what doesn’t?

Silicone-coated/impregnated rip-stop nylon is the latest hot material for all things waterproof--from rain-jackets to tents and tarps to stuff sacks. On the up-side, it is very light, stuffable, and waterproof. It is also very water and vapor proof, so it breathes less than an asthmatic (being one myself) at a cigar convention. Consequently, it must be used with due consideration for its limitations. Like many good ideas, it works great in some applications and not at all in others.

What works   Integral Designs’ sil-tarps and silstuff-sacks. Integral Designs is a small up-and-coming company from Canada. I was first turned-on to their tarps by some Canadian guides last summer. Their basic Siltarp (5'x 8', 7 oz., $60) and Siltarp 2 (8' x 10', 14 oz, $120) are convenient, compact, and lightweight shelters that weigh little and take up less space in your pack. They make a great emergency shelter for a small group and have sufficient grommets to be pitched in any number of configurations.

Integral Designs also makes a wide range of upgraded shelter tarps for everything from backcountry skiing to big-wall climbing. All are of high quality. One of my favorites in the enhanced tarp category is the Silshelter. This is a 16 oz. tarp that can be set up as a forty square foot, two-person tent using one or two trekking poles. I’ve never been a tarp fan, but this rig is the cat’s pj’s. Combine it with a light sleeping bag and a bivy sack (if you want protection from insects) and you’ve got a bomb- proof shelter set-up that’s lighter than virtually anything else and that will work in almost any conditions: spring through fall; above or below treeline. When properly staked, there’s plenty of ventilation to avoid condensation, yet it’s warm too. I used one of these for a bivy below the Uto-Sir Donald col near Roger’s Pass, Canada this summer in combination with Integral Designs’ South Col bivy sacks (also recommended) and remained toasty warm and dry. This versatility comes at a price ($150), but consider: what’s a sturdy 2-person shelter that weighs a pound and fits in the palm of your hand worth in terms of peace of mind (or comfort of back)?

Integral Designs also makes a line of silicone-coated nylon stuff sacks, compression and regular. These are spendy ($8 -16 for the regular ones and $30 - 40 for the compression sacks), but they are noticeably lighter than nylon sacks and very water resistant. You won’t believe how much easier it is to pack using stuff-sacks that slide easily past each other. For one high peak climb this summer, I squeezed my rain gear, light puffy jacket (Wild Things EP hooded jacket - highly recommended) and a twenty degree down sleeping bag into one of their compression sacks. When compressed, all this bulky gear took up less space than a volley ball. Everyone on the trip commented on how small my pack was and this was one of the reasons.

Integral Designs gear is available at Neptune Mountaineering in Boulder or by mail order though their website: www.integraldesigns.com.

Another outstanding use of the new siliconized nylon is in the rain-fly of the Hilleberg line of tents. Hand-made in Sweden, these are almost certainly the lightest double-wall and four season tents in the world. Hilleberg’s tents have similar area and weight to top-of-the-line single wall tents. Not surprisingly, this comes at a price similar to top-of-the-line single wall tents, too. Hilleberg understands the importance of a roomy vestibule, and all of their tent designs reflect this. Their “GT” series tents have vestibules large enough for an expedition team meeting. I used their one-person Akto tent this summer and it’s the best design I’ve seen. It’s got a huge vestibule (large enough for another person, so storing your pack and other gear or cooking in it is a breeze), is very comfy, and super sturdy. Check them out at Neptune’s or at www.hilleberg.com.

Most of their tents are of the hoop design. I used to think this was a big deal until I realized that I’ve never been somewhere that I couldn’t guy out a tent. Hilleberg’s guying and staking system is very easy to use and produces a very taut pitch. They’re on the pricey side, but I can imagine using one for a lifetime.

What doesn’t work  I’m sad to report that the new Waypoint tents from Mountain Hardwear, while combining new materials with innovative design, fall far short of being a practical tent. The chief problem comes down to one word: condensation.

In preparing for a week-long trip to the Grenadiers to climb Wham ridge, I was looking to cut as much pack weight as possible. The approach is long and quite steep, plus we would be carrying technical rock gear, so weight was definitely at a premium. While perusing a gear catalog, I spied the Mountain Hardwear Waypoint 2 tent: almost thirty square feet of space at just over three pounds. Since this was a single-wall tent made of non-breathable material, the issue of condensation entered my mind. But hey, this was Mountain Hardwear; they wouldn’t sell a tent that had bad condensation problems, right? Riiiight.

So, we were off to Silverton to catch the train with our fancy new lightweight tent. One of our companions was packing the Waypoint 1, the one-person version of the same tent. The first day, we didn’t get all the way to Vestal Basin and ended up camping near the beaver ponds at around 10,000 feet.

The next morning we awoke to soaked sleeping bags. At the time, we figured that we had blocked the mesh vents around the perimeter of the tent floor with our gear and spare clothes etc. We wouldn’t make that mistake again. So we were off to Vestal Basin. That night we were careful to keep the vents clear. Next morning? Soaked down sleeping bags. Well at least we were in the San Juans; it never rains there in July, right? Riiight. At this point I felt pretty stupid since I had broken one of my cardinal rules: never take new gear on a big trip. We had set the tent up in the yard and sprayed it with the hose to verify its waterproofness, but hadn’t tested it for condensation.

The other “feature” of this tent was the “solar-still” effect. We came back to camp each afternoon to a puddle in the middle of the tent. After ruling out marmot-pee and leaky water bottles, we finally deduced that moisture from the ground under the tent eaves had evaporated, condensed on the canopy and dripped on the floor. So now we had wet sleeping pads, too. To make a long story short, we lucked out and had dry weather for the entire trip. I shudder to think what might have happened otherwise.

I understand from a friend who attended the big outdoor gear show in Salt Lake City that Mountain Hardwear is coming out with several new tents based on the same design. Caveat emptor. P

Next issue: I’ll review alpine climbing packs aka “Ode to My Wild Things Andinista” plus some other picks & pans.