Finding a nice drift log on the beach always makes for a nice spot to stop for lunch!
Well, tonight is my last night out on the beach for the year, hopefully. For the last 15 days, with a 2 day break in the middle, I have been hiking on the beach to start off my trail work on the California Coastal Trail. Each night I have been keeping regular trail notes in my journal, but I have also been jotting down notes about things I really enjoy about hiking on the beach and things I really do not enjoy about it.
I have one page of “enjoy” and three pages of “hate”… just to give you an idea of what I think about hiking on the beach.
Greetings all, time for a fun, non weight-specific, article sharing my thoughts on socks… nothing overtly exciting in this article.
After reading the excellent article by Erika Klimecky at SeattleBackpackersMagazine entitled “Socks for the Season“, I felt a bit of inspiration to share my thoughts about the socks that I have used this year.
For the last few years I have been extremely devoted to using Darn Tough Socks. They served me amazingly well as I progressed from being a heavy weight hiker and wearing boots, through the migration of being a LW and UL hiker wearing trail shoes, and even as a SUL/XUL hiker they have proven to be great using some of the lightest weight trail shoes on the market.
Things started to change for me though when I started making the migration to using (near)zero-incline shoes. When I started wearing VFF’s I went out and bought some Injinji toe socks. When I made the decision to try using sandals for hiking I ordered up the Teva Hurricane XLS’s and used them for a few months to get my feet conditioned to having open toe footwear. Recently I have started hiking in Luna Oso Sandals so I ordered up more Injinji socks as my feet are still getting conditioned to having straps.
Author and hiker, John Abela, wearing a ZPacks Arc Blast backpack.
Greetings Hikers, Runners, Alpinists, Adventure Racers, And Other Outdoor Fans!
Does your list-wish for a backpack include an external support frame, high volume capacities, super tough fabric, and be sub 20 ounces (566 grams)?
If so, the ZPacks Arc Blast backpack is going to be the backpack that you will want at the top of your list.
The “Arc Blast” from ZPacks LLC, based out of Florida USA, features a flat carbon fiber support system, three different volume capacities (45 Liters up to 60 liters [2,750 – 3650 cubic inches]), is made from a cuben fiber and nylon fabric, and starts off at a meer 454 grams (16 ounces) on the scale!
Two hiking seasons have passed, since the Arc Blast was released and it has been great to start seeing some reviews show up on the internet about this backpack, including an excellent write-up by Keith “Fozzie” Foskett, and I figured it was about time for me to write up my thoughts on this backpack.
I purchased my first Arc Blast in November of 2012. I have since ordered a second one with a few extra features, and even sent my second one back for some additional modifications – one of the truly great aspects of ZPacks LLC – and the Arc Blast has, unquestionably, become my go-to backpack when I need a pack with a lot of volume. As I head into the winter hiking season the Arc Blast will be the only backpack I will be using due to the need for extra room for a winter sleeping bag and winter garments.
Author and hiker, John Abela, wearing a Montbell Tachyon Wind Jacket, Montbell Dynamo Wind Pants, Headsweats Long Bill Hat, and ZPacks Arc Blast backpack.
Greetings Hikers, Runners, Alpinists, and Adventure Racers!
Here in the Redwoods of Northern California the summer hiking season is getting pretty close to being gone, and I am really looking forward to the shoulder/winter season so I can start putting to test all of the winter gear I have bought over the course of the year.
Over the last few years I have published ‘favorite gear of the year’ articles, typically in October or November, but as I am trying to get in some winter hiking this year I felt I would break this years favorite gear lists into two different lists, so here are the items that I have used over the course of the 2013 summer hiking season that have, in some way or another, really brought me pleasure and stood out to me.
The Mountain Laurel Designs LittleStar!!
The solo version of the MLD TrailStar!
Greetings All,
Here is something a lot of us have been waiting for… the Mountain Laurel Designs LittleStar – the solo version of the crazy popular MLD TrailStar!!
I know I am not alone when I say I am very excited to see shelter hit the market.
The Mountain Laurel Designs TrailStar has been one of, if not the, most desired and awarded cottage made shelter over the last few years. Its ability to handle horrific wind conditions has proven to hikers around the world that it is a shelter to be contended with.
For some of us though, we felt the original TrailStar just had to big of a footprint. I know I am not alone in that. Every time I have seen a TrailStar setup I just went “wow, that sucker is huge”. Those of us who have felt that way have been long waiting for MLD to release a smaller version of the shelter, and now they have done so.
Mountain Laurel Designs is stating that the LittleStar has a 15% smaller footprint.
They have also indicated that it “will handle wind as well or better than the larger TrailStar“, which of course makes sense as there is less material for the wind to sit and pound against, due to its 15% smaller size.
An entire new lineup of gloves from Black Rock Gear! The Fingerless Foldback Mitt, the Expedition Grade Liner Mitt, and the Hybrid Gauntlet Mitt.
Greetings All,
Super excited about this announcement!
One of my sponsors, specifically Black Rock Gear, based out of Seattle, Washington, has just introduced an entire line of winter season down gloves – and these are awesome looking!
Many of you that are BRG fans might remember that they previously had in their product lineup a very sweet pair of undermitts (which most of us have been buying/own) and earlier in 2013 they introduced a pair of gauntlet mitts which have apparently been huge sellers for them!
On August 30, 2013 they will be making available for purchase an entire new catalog of winter glove products for the 2013/2014 winter season – check them out at http://www.blackrockgear.com/mitt_splash.html
In addition to their existing gauntlet mitts, they are introducing a new Expedition Grade Liner Mitt, which they are indicating are the warmest mitts they have ever created, and a pair of Foldback Fingerless mitts, which feature a fingerbox that can be folded back to help you have quick access to your fingers without taking off the entire glove.
Being Black Rock Gear, quality, durability and attention to producing the lightest possible gear, are of course the mainstay of these new gloves.
Author and hiker, John Abela, wearing a Waterproof Breathable rain jacket made by ZPacks LLC in the Redwood forest of Northern California.
Photo Credit: Brian Doyle.
Greetings Hikers,
The topic today is the “waterproof breathable fabric” from Cuben Tech Corp.
The issue: that they have been using GE eVENT in their WP/B material.
Yes, that’s right… Cuben Tech Corp has been using eVENT inside of their breathable cuben fiber/laminate.
When I first learned about this information I have to say that I simply did not believe it. I thought the individual who told me about this was joking around with me. I quickly came to realize that my leg was not being pulled and I think my response was along the lines of “wow“. I sat stunned in my chair and it probably took me a good ten minutes to respond back to the person with that one-word response.
Why Is This Important, My Personal Thoughts:
This knowledge is important for a few reasons, and far more reasons than just what I plan to address today.
I believe this is an issue worth writing about, and the hiking community as a whole discussing, because for far too long there have been a lot of haters of the material that Cuben Tech produces. For some of these haters I believe they have total justification for having the opinions that they have, but for the vast majority of the ‘haters’ of the cuben fiber material it has all just been a bunch of puff and smoke with no real substance. It is not my goal here to change their minds, I might further validate some of their issues and I might further invalidate their issues, I have no idea and really it does not matter all that much, haters will be haters. But what I hope to do is to point out some facts that those of us who care a great deal about the gear we use, is that often times it seems that we, the end-users of gear, tend to be left in the dark about things and that sometimes can do more harm than it can do good.
