ProBar Core Protein

March 21, 2013March 21, 2013 ~ John B. Abela (HikeLighter.Com) ~ 13 Comments

Greetings Hikers,

Never been a big fan of talking about trail food, but two years ago I learned a hard lesson while on a long hike: a high calorie trail diet is a good thing, but if you ignore protein intake, it can have consequences. This put me on the quest to learn as much as I could about protein and how to acquire it while out on the trail in manners that did not add significant weight to my already heavy food bag, or result in me taking food that would spoil easily. I enjoy cooking and I enjoy nutrition, so learning about foods that contain high levels of protein and trying to find ways to integrate them into my normal day to day trail life became yet another microquest in the life of hiking.

During the early part of the 2012 hiking season I started using the ProBar Meal bars as a way to add some extra calories to my daily nutrition. Anytime I could afford to buy a few cases I would pick up a box of the Superfruit Slam, Wholeberry Blast, Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip, Mint Chocolate, and recently the Oatmeal Raisin. They are all in the 370 – 390 calorie range, and average between 8 and 10 grams of protein. They are soft, not sticky, and not crumbly – three keys to what I feel makes a great bar to eat while you are on the go.

The ProBar Meals are 90 grams (3.17 oz) each, including the packaging which are 2 grams, making each bar average out to 88 grams (3.10 oz) of food substance.

So you are getting an average of 380 calories and 9 grams of protein for 88 grams of weight.

PROBAR Core Protein:

Enter: the new “Core Protein” bar from PROBAR. Whoever it was at PROBAR that decided to take on the task of building a high protein bar should get a raise. This is something the long distance hiking community needs. Continue reading “ProBar Core Protein” →

Snow Peak Ultra-light Umbrella

March 6, 2013February 16, 2016 ~ John B. Abela (HikeLighter.Com) ~ 16 Comments

Greetings Adventurers,

Ok, I feel kind of funny writing a review about an umbrella… just gotta say.

Over the years I have hiked with very few other hikers, probably less than 25 all put together, but the one constant piece of gear that every single hiker that I have hiked with has, is a good hiking umbrella.

My true love is, and probably always will be, the “GoLite Chrome Dome Trekking Umbrella”. It is one awesome all weather umbrella! It is the leader of the pack and by far the most used umbrella on most of the long distance trails here in the USA. But, it is also a heavy umbrella, at 230 grams (8.11 ounces).

As my readers well know, I spend a whole lot of money in order to save an ounce here and an ounce there as much as I can. So there are times when the necessity of the GoLite Chrome are just not warranted, and thus I am able to go out with a lighter weight umbrella. During the summer and shoulder season I have been fully committed to the GoLLite Chrome, but when I do not need the weight of that umbrella, when it is not hot and sunny outside, it offers me the ability to take the significantly lighter weight Snow Peak Ultra-Lite Umbrella.

Continue reading “Snow Peak Ultra-light Umbrella” →

Mountain Laurel Designs, eVENT Rain Mitts

February 26, 2013March 10, 2013 ~ John B. Abela (HikeLighter.Com) ~ 6 Comments

Greetings Hikers,

In the world of hiking rain mitts, there are very few that really stand out to me. Without a doubt the one at the very top of my list is the Mountain Laurel Designs, eVENT Rain Mitts.

I have been using these rain mitts from Mountain Laurel Designs for a few years and absolutely love them.

There are actually very few rain mittss on the list of UL/SUL rain mits these days. The ones off the top of my head are the Mountain Laurel Designs, eVENT Rain Mitts, the Black Rock Gear Overmitts, and the ZPacks WPBCF Rain Mitts. The Black Rock Gear ones are the lightest ones out there (13.6 grams) but also the ones most prone to suffering damage because of their use of 0.34 cuben fiber and they are also the least breathable ones. The ZPacks WPBCF Rain Mitts are mid-weight (23 grams), and are 100% made from WPB CF so their breathablity is better than the ones from Black Rock Gear, but nowhere near as good as the (36 gram) eVENT ones from Mountain Laurel Designs.

As I have written so many times over the last few years, it is always my goal to go as light as possible, yet also strike a balance between weight and usability. This is one of those times when the additional 10-20 grams of weight are put aside for the fact of usability – specifically breathablity.

Continue reading “Mountain Laurel Designs, eVENT Rain Mitts” →

Montbell Alpine Light Down Parka

February 26, 2013February 26, 2013 ~ John B. Abela (HikeLighter.Com) ~ 18 Comments

Just before the 2012/2013 winter season I placed an order for the Montbell Alpine Light Down Parka, one of the best ranked parka’s from gear reviewers that I have encountered in a very long time. It has been rated the #1 or #2 parka for a few years by just about everybody. For the last few years I have been using the Montbell U.L. Down Parka, and it is a great inner parka, but it started loosing its loft and I was looking for something a bit warmer, and the Alpine Light Down Parka really seemed to be the next best option out there.

A fellow hiker, gear reviewer, and friend, Stick, had one that he sent out to me with some other gear that I was wanting to trying (and at the same time, I had sent him a whole bunch of gear he wanted to test that I had) so I had a chance to put it on, give it a try, determine size and fit, and so forth. Here in the Redwoods of Northern California we only have one decent outdoor store and they are not able to do specialty gear such as what Montbell offers, so any chance I can get to try Montbell gear I take, and huge thanks to Stick for letting me try this/his jacket.

Specs:

I ordered my Montbell Alpine Light Down Parka from Moontrail.Com in size Large.

It is 470 grams (16.57 ounces / 1.036 pounds) total.

The parka itself is 453 grams (15.97 ounces / 0.998 pounds), and the stuff sack is 17 grams.

It uses 30-denier Ballistic nylon material on both the inside and the outside.

It has a wonderful micro-fleece lined collar – a feature I have read other hikers did not like, but I really found this to be nice.

It has the standard hem draw cords for adjustment, which are hidden in the pockets. You can really tighten up this jacket to keep 99.9% of the wind from getting in.

The medium size has 4.3 oz (121 g) of down fill, so I am going to guess that the large that I bought has around 4.5 ounces of down – I just do not know, as Monbell does not seem to include this information anywhere I have looked.

Continue reading “Montbell Alpine Light Down Parka” →

SteriPEN Ultra — The New & Heavier SteriPEN

February 25, 2013February 25, 2013 ~ John B. Abela (HikeLighter.Com) ~ 7 Comments

Greetings Hikers,

SteriPEN has recently released a new version of their UV water filter called the “Ultra“, which is being claimed as “the most advanced UV water purifer in the world” – SteriPEN Ultra

I have to admit that I have been a fan, supporter, and user of the SteriPEN UV filters.

I know a fair amount of long distance hikers that have hated them. I also know a fair share of long distance hikers that have over 3000 miles of use with a SteriPEN and continue to love them. Inevitability articles about the SteriPEN turn into a whole bunch of hyperbole, so if we can keep those type of comments to a minimum, that would be awesome.

What I wanted to write about today was to present to all of the hikers that follow me the “new” and, oddly, heavier, new SteriPEN and to discuss the merits of this new UV Water filter by SteriPEN.

Now, by heavier, I do not just mean, ‘heavier’… I mean “heavier”… as in the second heaviest SteriPEN that they have ever made.

SteriPEN Specs:

Product	Grams	Batteries	Treatments	MSRP
SteriPEN Freedom	74	Internal	200	$119.95
SteriPEN Protector	103	CR123	100	$149.95
SteriPEN Traveler mini	105	CR123	100	n/a
SteriPEN Adventurer	108	CR123	100	$89.95
SteriPEN Journey LCD	128	CR123	100	$99.95
SteriPEN Ultra	140	Internal	100	$99.95
SteriPEN Traveler	162	AA	200	$49.95
SteriPEN Classic	162	AA	200	$69.95
SteriPEN Defender	162	AA	200	$129.95
SteriPEN Emergency	162	AA	200	$49.95

treatment based on 16oz Continue reading “SteriPEN Ultra — The New & Heavier SteriPEN” →

Suluk46 Titanium Trowel

January 29, 2013August 14, 2017 ~ John B. Abela (HikeLighter.Com) ~ 20 Comments

Greetings Hikers,

please note: the Suluk46 Ti Trowel has been updated since the below article was published in January 2013. It is now slightly more durable, does not have holes (talked them into removing them, the saved weight was not worth having dirt/mud fill up the holes) and I personally recommend the ‘large’ size of the new trowel, especially for long distance hikers.

Does the hiking world need another trowel – or even a bigger question is: does it need another titanium trowel?

Not anymore!

I recently ordered up the Suluk46 Titanium Trowel to replace my previous Ti towel, from another company, that I gave away to an inbound hiker that I knew when I was outbound on the same trail.

On my calibrated scale it is 14.7 grams and it is a pure work of art.

For a piece of titanium it is extremely strong – as strong as those heavy plastic ones most of us probably started using when we first got into hiking.

I always felt like my other trowels where a novelty item – they worked but they just never felt like they had what it took to make it into my backpack for the long haul.

I am extremely happy with this Suluk46 Titanium Trowel and it will hopefully be the last one I have to buy – and this one I have no intentions of ever giving away.

Anyway, there is not a whole lot to say about a trowel, so just going to leave it at that and here is a video of it in use:

1.66 gram esbit tray

January 11, 2013January 11, 2013 ~ John B. Abela (HikeLighter.Com) ~ 16 Comments

Photo Oct 29, 4 10 36 PM — A 1.66 gram esbit tray made by Brian Green from http://www.briangreen.net

Greetings Hikers,

Every so often a group of hikers get together, and through the course of experimentation and sharing of information, find a way to make something that is already really great at what it does, and they turn it into something even better!

For a fairly long time the Gram Cracker by Trail Designs has been the de facto go-to try for ultralight esbit users. It has held a special place in the lives of a whole lot of hikers for a rather long time now. I have used one since I became an esbit user a number of years ago. I still use the original one I bought and it has thousands of miles of use and has had probably 2000+ esbit cubes burned on it and made countless meals and cups of tea and coffee for me.

Back in mid to late 2011 a few esbit users started playing around with some MYOG ideas regarding an esbit try. Honestly I have no idea if they had never used the Gram Cracker and had no idea if it even existed, or if they set out to make a better one, or if they were just playing around and come up with an idea that worked for them. What is worthy of taking note of is that over the course of the end of 2011, it went from one or two people playing around with an idea to a few more people playing around with the idea. In the end, I think it was Brian Green who brought it all together. Continue reading “1.66 gram esbit tray” →