Enlightened Equipment ‘Enigma APEX’ Quilt

~ John B. Abela (HikeLighter.Com) ~ 5 Comments

Enlightened Equipment 'Enigma APEX' Quilt

The Enlightened Equipment ‘Enigma APEX‘ quilt is a sewn-closed footbox + Climashield APEX synthetic insulated quilt being made by one of the biggest cottage quilt manufacture in America, Enlightened Equipment.

The ‘Enigma APEX‘ is a quilt that I have been using on and off for the last eight months. As a 100% synthetic hiker (no animal down products) getting the chance to acquire and use this quilt has been really great and it has impressed me in many ways!

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[Massdrop] Zpacks Nero Backpack

~ John B. Abela (HikeLighter.Com) ~ Leave a comment

Hey everybody,

Our good friends over at Zpacks teamed up with our good friends at Massdrop to bring the Zpacks ‘Nero’ Backpack to the Massdrop website, at a rather nice discount.

As any of you Zpacks fans know, Zpacks almost never offers deals on their gear. Every few years they sometimes do a Christmas/holiday discount, but even that has been rare.

Over the last year Zpacks has worked with Massdrop on a few different Drops/Deals, including the Duplex, but this time around it is the new Nero backpack.

You can join this Massdrop drop at:

https://www.massdrop.com/buy/zpacks-nero-backpack/

The normal price for the Nero is $199.00 USD.

The discount price that Massdrop has been able to offer is: $174.99

That is discount of $24.01 for the mathematically inclined.

The Nero is available in army green, azure blue, black, or gray. The azure blue and army green are in my photo attached to this article.

You can read my initial thoughts/insights into the new Nero backpack within this article of mine.

Peak to Plateau, Kailash 1/4 Zip

~ John B. Abela (HikeLighter.Com) ~ 4 Comments

Peak to Plateau, Kailash Quarter Zip - Front

Back in November of 2016 I posted over on my facebook page about a kickstarter project for a Yak wool baselayer, from the company Peak to Plateau, called the ‘Kailash 1/4 Zip‘.

Being one of the few people in the long distance hiking community, it seems, that has really invested time and money into putting to the test Yak wool garments, it was hard for me to not back this project.

Earlier today the garment showed up. As anybody that has done kickstarter knows, any non-digital kickstarter that shows up, is a good thing, and at five months past the Kickstarter estimated date of delivery, that is something that does not bother me all that much. Small start up companies, trying to get all the cogs in order, working with products (in this case, yak wool) outside the normality, well, they deserve some leniency.

So to get into the specs of this garment…

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[Deal] Zpacks Bear Bags

~ John B. Abela (HikeLighter.Com) ~ Leave a comment
massdrop-zpacks-bear-bag
The Zpacks Bear Bag kit includes… the bag, cordage, a carabiner, and a cute little rocksack.

It is not all that often that I share about price deals via my website, I think the last one was when I reviewed and offered a coupon for the Solumbra BodyShade Tshirt (which I now have 500+ days of wearing, and hope to have a follow-up review out soon), and as all of you know, Zpacks pretty much never offers deals (sometimes for the holidays they do), but every so often they work out a deal with my good friends over at Massdrop — Yep, I am a huge fan of Massdrop, check out my MD profile if you want to follow me over there.

Anyway, right now there is a Massdrop deal for the Zpacks bear bags, what has pretty much become one of the de facto bear bags for thru-hikers.

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Mountain Laurel Designs (MLD) ‘Core’ Backpack

~ John B. Abela (HikeLighter.Com) ~ 4 Comments
Getting ready to unpack my MLD Core 22l backpack.

Greetings Adventurers!

Back in February of 2016 I ordered a Mountain Laurel Designs ‘Core 22L’ backpack for use as my primary summer backpack – it was my first backpack from MLD and it will not be my last – quickly fell in love with this backpack!

The MLD Core is offered in two different volumes, a 22L (1300ci) and a 28L (1700ci) volume – I went with the 22L knowing that I could get all of my gear into it and about three days worth of food. YMMV.

One really has to ask themselves what the targeted market is for a backpack as simple as the MLD Core. Let me try to share my thoughts on that.

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Zpacks ‘Solplex’ Flex Tent (free standing) Upgrade

~ John B. Abela (HikeLighter.Com) ~ 10 Comments
Zpacks Solplex Flex (free standing)
The new ‘Flex’ (free standing) option for the Zpacks ‘Solplex’ shelter. A view of the back side of the shelter, showing the Flex pole system.

Greetings Adventurers,

Zpacks has released their Flex, free-standing pole system, previously only available on their Duplex shelter, for their solo ‘Solplex’ shelter, and is being called the Zpacks Solplex Flex Tent Upgrade.

For a bit of background, the Zpacks Solplex was released on November 12, 2014, if my records are correct.

It currently sits at the #3 spot on my Lightest Fully Enclosed Solo Shelters Comparison chart, which is crazy impressive, only being beaten out by the MLD Patrol and the Zpacks Hexamid.

At 439 grams (15.48 ounces / 0.96 pounds) the Solplex offers the most weather protection of any sub one pound shelter on the market.

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[Released] Zpacks ‘Nero’ Backpack

~ John B. Abela (HikeLighter.Com) ~ 3 Comments
zpacks-nero.png

Greetings Adventurers!

Update: September 2019: Zpacks has updated the Nero with a new buckle system for the roll-top and other minor issues. See this post for further information.

The sub 2268 hiking world went a little berserk back in January (2017) when they noticed that the Zpacks Zero and XS-Zero backpacks were no longer being offered.

Today, Zpacks has unveiled the reason: the brand new Zpacks Nero backpack!

In the words of Zpacks:

If you can’t take a Zero take a Nero! The Nero is an ultralight frameless backpack stripped down to only the most popular features. This compact backpack has no frame aside from a closed cell foam sit-pad for cushioning. It is best suited for hardcore long distance hikers with base weights around 5-6 lbs (2.5 kg) and maximum loads up to 20 lbs (9 kg).

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