ZPacks Zip Pouches, Two Year Usage Review

~ John B. Abela (HikeLighter.Com) ~ 10 Comments
ZPacks Zip Pouch
ZPacks Zip Pouch

Update: Please see my 2000+ days update of this article!

I think it was in early 2013 that ZPacks introduced a set of neat little zippered pouches designed to hold things, such as glasses, passports, wallet content, and so forth. I ordered a few and over the last two years have used most of them at one time or another – and have used one of them every day as my primary wallet.

I did not expect for it to become my daily wallet, but over time it just proved to be the perfect size and meet the requirements I obviously wanted, but did not know I wanted, in an enclosed wallet – my first enclosed wallet in my life.

Earlier this year I upgraded to an iPhone 6 Plus and it does not fit into the ZPacks Pouch I have been using – my iPhone 5 did fit – and now, thankfully, ZPacks has released a new zippered pouch called the ‘ZPacks, Phablet Zip Pouch‘ which is suppose to fit an iPhone6+, so I just bought one of those. I just hope that it is big enough as I have a Mophie iPhone 6 Plus Juice Pack attached to my iPhone6+

Ok… seriously, how much can be said about a zippered pouch? Some I suppose could say a lot, but I am not one of them, so, moving on, here are some photos of the pouch I have used for around 800 days, to show how amazingly well it has held up, both out on the trail and at home / around town.

Continue reading “ZPacks Zip Pouches, Two Year Usage Review” →

Klymit Static V Luxe – Finally, a worthy WIDE sleeping pad!

~ John B. Abela (HikeLighter.Com) ~ 7 Comments
Klymit Static V Luxe, stock photo.
Klymit Static V Luxe, stock photo.
(I cannot find the photos I already took, and it is dark outside right now. I will shoot some more photos and get them added to the article as soon as I can get the chance to do so)

Greetings all,

Over the last few years I have written a number of reviews on Klymit gear, including the Klymit Static V sleeping pad, the Klymit Double Diamond Vest, and the Klymit Motion 35 backpack, as well as reviews of other Klymit gear that has been published at other websites. Suffice to say, I have been a fan of Klymit for many a years. Great gear, great people.

In October of 2014 during an email conversation with my friends over at Klymit, I asked if they could make me a shortened version of the Klymit Static V Luxe.

Now, I know what you are thinking… “What in the world would Abela be using one of those heavy things for?!?!“… I know… I know… but hear me out here.

If you have followed my articles here at HikeLighter.Com and my rather active facebook page, you know that I have been looking for an extra wide sleeping pad for a rather long time. But nothing has come along. I even came up with, and submitted to Klymit, my purposed (and rather comical) “Klymit Wing” idea. So, it has been no secret that I have been after a wide sleeping pad, and that is what drove me to the Static V Luxe.

At 30-inches (76.2 cm) wide, the Klymit Static V Luxe is a pretty big boy in the world of sleeping pads.

But at 76-inches (193 cm) long, it was just too long for my needs, so, I asked if they could shorten it up for me, they said yes, so I ordered one from their website and about a week later a 52-inch (132 cm) when inflated Static V Luxe showed up!

I pulled it out of the box, took it outside, inflated it, and tossed it on the ground, got on it, and started rolling over from side to side… and guess what… I didn’t fall off my sleeping pad!!! Weehooo!!

Continue reading “Klymit Static V Luxe – Finally, a worthy WIDE sleeping pad!” →

Wind Jackets, Take 2

~ John B. Abela (HikeLighter.Com) ~ 15 Comments

Greetings all,

So a few weeks ago, on February 18, 2015, I published an article entitled ‘Wind Jackets: Montbell Tachyon, Patagonia Houdini, ZPacks Wind Shell‘ and it appears it caused a bit of ruckus around the world.

It seems to have done so for for a few reasons:

  1. because the results where not what people wanted to hear about their favorite wind jacket
  2. because some of the results did not make sense
  3. because some of the data used was, at best, guesses due to incomplete testing
  4. because I am a horrible writer and cannot properly explain things

Now which of these issues people seemed to have issues with, or heck, all of them, the facts are the facts:

  1. Yes, some of the fabrics were not tested (specific this mysterious ‘Ventum’ fabric that zpacks is using – and I have no idea if zpacks make up that name or if the manufacturer did)
  2. Yes, some of what I explained did not make sense (and I suspect some of it will continue to not make sense – except for those who understand the crazy ways and terms that fabrics are tested – I will admit, some of it still makes me go “huh?!”)

But, as my long time readers know, I strive to make things right.

Continue reading “Wind Jackets, Take 2” →

Greenbelly Meal Bars

~ John B. Abela (HikeLighter.Com) ~ 4 Comments
Greenbelly Meal Bars
Greenbelly Meal Bars

Greetings,

Today I want to take a moment to talk about the Greenbelly Meal Bars.

In a market that is already flooded, one really needs to ask the question, “do we really need another bar to pick from?”  — and the answer to that is, uhh, yes!!!

It seems as if the meal/bar business is just booming these days. We have companies making bars for crazy niche markets. Buffalo bars, paleo bars, vegan and gluten free bars, protein bars, and the list could go on all day.

I first heard about the Greenbelly Bars from, I think either Chad or BBB. I remember checking them out at the time but I already had a massive supply of the bars I typically eat, and the $50 price tag just to give them a try was a bit more than I wanted to spend. If they had an option to buy a trial option that was just one pack of each, I probably would have, but buying four packages of each flavor, as a ‘trial’ was just beyond what I was willing to try. If they sucked, I’d have a whole bunch of packages left over, eh. Hopefully this is something that Greenbelly can offer in the future. Gratefully they sent me a sample package that was just one package of each flavor, so I have gotten the chance to give them a try. And, if I did not like them, I would not be writing about them!

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ZPacks Duplex Tent

~ John B. Abela (HikeLighter.Com) ~ 43 Comments
ZPacks Duplex - Redbeard (AT - Island Pond Mountain NY)
ZPacks Duplex on the AT (Island Pond Mountain, NY) Photograph courtesy Will (Redbeard) Wood

Greetings All,

Time to talk about the ZPacks Duplex Tent.

In September of 2013 ZPacks introduced the “Duplex“, a 2-person version of their 1-person “SolPlex” (now the Plexamid) shelter. It has since gone on to be used by multiple thru-hikers and has gained some serious love by hikers around the world. I finally saved up the cash to buy a Duplex and have been exclusively using it ever since.

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ZPacks Carbon Fiber Staff

~ John B. Abela (HikeLighter.Com) ~ 13 Comments
ZPacks Carbon Fiber Staff & wearing the ZPacks Challenger Rain Jacket
ZPacks Carbon Fiber Staff & wearing the ZPacks Challenger Rain Jacket

Greetings all,

Today I would like to share my thoughts on the ZPacks Carbon Fiber Staff.

I, like I suspect a fair number of people, have been through a number of hiking poles over the years. I think my first pair of hiking poles was the GGLT4’s. They caused me too much frustration, so I switched to the Komperdell Vario 4 poles. They were too flimsy so I switched to the Black Diamond Alpine Carbon Cork poles. They are really heavy but they are the best trekking poles I have ever encountered. Along the way I tried switching away from using poles, and back to using them, and back to not using them.

I know some hikers that have to use them. I know other hikers that cannot use them. I know hikers that swear they refuse to hit the trail without them, and hikers that have hiked tens of thousands of miles and never used them. In the world of hiking they really are a HYOH piece of gear.

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Wind Jackets: Montbell Tachyon, Patagonia Houdini, ZPacks Wind Shell

~ John B. Abela (HikeLighter.Com) ~ 30 Comments
Hike and author, John Abela, wearing the Montbell Dynamo Wind Pants and Montbell Tachyon Wind Jacket.
Hiker and author, John Abela, wearing the Montbell Tachyon Wind Jacket, Montbell Dynamo Wind Pants, and ZPacks Arc Blast backpack.

Greetings All,

So there has been a LOT of discussion the last few months on the differences between the the “Montbell Tachyon“, the “Patagonia Houdini“, and the “ZPacks Wind Shell“.

I have gotten dozens of people asking me about which one they should buy, if there are any real-world differences between the fabrics – both for breathability and water resistance – and all those type of questions.

From a usage perspective the only one of these wind jackets that I have personally used is the Montbell Tachyon – something I have extensively used, put to the test, and reviewed.

For help with this article I have contacted a fellow by the name of Richard Nisley who is widely known and very well respected within the BPL community. He has the tools and resources to test fabrics at a level few of us have. I have often cited his research in my whitepapers and publications.

I asked him the following questions:

Continue reading “Wind Jackets: Montbell Tachyon, Patagonia Houdini, ZPacks Wind Shell” →