The best piece of gear I've bought this year

[themappist]

Best piece of gear for 2014 is a custom (12" tall) Bearikade. Due to be bonded this Friday and delivered early next week. Can't wait to load it up for our Matterhorn Canyon Trip.

Just got one of these in the mail last week! 12" custom. Upgrade from my 5 year old weekender which I managed to offload for virtually the same price I paid 5 years ago. Now wondering if we are on the verge of seeing Ursak approved in the Sierras and I made a bad purchase.

[gary c.]

Maiathebee, I'm sending the link you posted to my wife and the other woman that backpack with us. I'm not sure which ones might be interested but I know that my wife sure gets tired of keeping track of little Ziploc baggies with soiled paper in them on extended trips.

Also, I have heard of thru hikers carrying bandanas for just this use. That was the big warning, if you find a bandana on the trail don't tie it around your neck!!

[JWreno]

My wife has a SpongeBob Squarepants bandana we call SpongeBob PeePants. She just gives it a bear can wash out each day. I appreciate the great savings in use of tissue.

[austex]

My wife has a SpongeBob Squarepants bandana we call SpongeBob PeePants. She just gives it a bear can wash out each day. I appreciate the great savings in use of tissue.

I guess we just missed national "Talk like a pirate day"

[oldranger]

Supai pack raft. I honestly believe that it does not add to the number of fish I catch but it adds to the enjoyment of fishing by eliminating the need to climb over cliffs and negotiate talus while fishing from shore. For the first time I was able to fish Edna Lake in Yosemite without wearing myself out. The raft adds about 2 lbs to my load (including paddles but I have managed to loose a little weight from other items so the net gain is about 1 lb. The paddle/hiking pole combo from Alpaca nicely complements the raft. Managed to land 18 inch rb from Edna and 19 1/2 " cut from Edna (Sawtooths in Idaho) from the raft this year--two of the 4 largest fish I have caught in the backcountry.

Mike

for russ

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Edna can be kind of fickle so we kept first two fish we caught and placed in snow while we caught and released the rest of the day.

No pic of the cut because I released it and I don't take a camera on the raft.

[AlmostThere]

Best purchase of the year award goes to my Hammock Gear 0 degree Burrow top quilt. Four inches of lofty Dri down - come on, snowy winter!

[longri]

I didn't buy much this year. But I did get one of those little coin battery keychain type LED lights. The technology has improved with LEDs so much that this tiny thing (12g) puts out as much light as my old-school Tikka headlamp. For typical summer trips where I rarely need a light this is perfect.

An effortless and inexpensive way to shave a couple of ounces from my pack.

[Bluewater]

I finally surrendered to a full size inflatable pad this year; TAR Xlite size L. It seems like I've tried almost everything else to save weight but this pad always delivers a good nights sleep.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[maverick]

Bluewater wrote:
TAR Xlite

TAR?

[TahoeJeff]

Therm A Rest