Gear Review: Big Agnes Copper Spur Ultra Light Tent

OK, so this review is coming as a result of my stupidity. I had the good fortune of using Nick's tent due to me grabbing the wrong tent, but the right tent poles on for our backpacking trip last week. I was so excited to be using my new MSR Hubba Hubba backpacking tent, but was so disappointed when I opened my stuff sack to find my POS $30 Bivy tent (I had put this one in a stuff sack identical to my MSR tent in case my brother needed it). Total disappointment. The first night Caiden and I opted to just stuff ourselves inside the bivy tent (with no poles) and just sleep under the stars. We got a little cold that night, so the second night Nick offered this tent for me to use (he brought it "just in case") and I jumped at the chance. In lieu I offered to do a gear review on the tent.

First of all, you can't beat the fact that it's a 2 person tent and it only weighs 3 lbs 12 oz and that weight includes the footprint. This tent was packed in it's original case and the measurement was 6" in diameter by 18" long. I personally like to put the tent, rain fly, and footprint in a stuff sack and carry the poles externally on my pack, but I still had a ton of room left over in my Osprey Aether 60.

The tent sent up really quickly. I love the design of the new tents where you don't have to slide your poles through long tubes connected to the tent. The poles are pre-assembled; you just snap them into place, set the corners, then connect the tent hooks to the poles. The rainfly goes on equally as fast.



I like that they didn't waste any space wit this tent; since it's rated for two people it gives a good amount of "move around" space at the upper end (42") and at the foot (a cozy 22"). I comfortably fit two Big Agnes Insulated Air Core sleeping pads in the tent (20x72) with room to spare at the foot (or head).



Sleeping in the tent I'm sure would have been comfortable, however I had a terrible experience with my new sleeping bag that affected it. Still, the tent did seem to provide better protection from the elements and I could tell it kept heat in because there was a lot of condensation built up on the inside of the rain fly the next morning (we were camping in a desert, so the condensation was not from humidity in the air).



I think the only negative for this tent would be the tag price with a standard price of $400.00, however with Big Agnes, you always get what you pay for. They offer great quality-made products that hold up and last for a long time.

For more information on this tent and specs, visit this item's web site: Big Agnes Copper Spur UL 2

Gear Review: Kelty light trekker 20 degree down sleeping bag

I was able to get this bag out and use it for the first time this past weekend on our camping trip to the Capitol Reef/Escalante area. This was the first down sleeping bag I purchased and I was mostly excited about the possibility of having a down sleeping bag and getting one at an awesome price ($60 on sale), but I didn't think to look at he brand I'm dealing with.

Kelty does make some decent outdoor gear, but I think since they're owned by a private investment firm, their product quality has likely slipped over time to take a back seat to better brands out there (of which are also likely owned by other private investment firms, but their quality seems to not have slipped). However, I figured if it was truly a down sleeping bag that I'd enjoy it.

The first night I used it sleeping under the stars without my tent in about 40 degree weather outside Capitol Reef NP at Meeks Mesa. Being that the forecast only called for 40 degrees, I figured my 20 degree rated bag would be just fine, but I was pretty uncomfortable that evening. I went to bed wearing wool socks, jeans, and 3 layers of shirt (breathable tee shirt, long sleeved shirt, and a long-sleeved button-up shirt). I used my down jacket stuffed in a sack as a pillow (I can't sleep without a pillow) and I only recall being in and out of sleep all night long.

I tried really hard to be objective about my comfort level. Was it because I was sleeping without a tent (I would find out the next evening that wasn't it)? Was it because I was trying a new sleeping pad (gear review to come for that soon and I found this to not be the problem either)? Was it because I'm a larger guy trying to stuff myself into this mummy bag (I'm 5'11" and 225 lbs)? Maybe. Could it be that since US products aren't required to truly be rated at what they state, that my bag really wasn't a 20 degree rated bag? I'm thinking yes.

The second night we backpacked in starting at the Boulder Mail Trail near the Boulder air strip. That same evening I experienced the same cold discomfort. Keep in mind that it takes a lot to make me cold as I have plenty of insulation on my body (yes, it's all muscle), but on this evening I actually was in a tent, I added another layer inside my jeans of fleece PJ's, I wore my beenie, AND I ended up putting my 750 fill down jacket on. By then I was warm enough, however I was uncomfortable the rest of the evening because I didn't have any sort of pillow to prop my head on. I tried to blow up one of my dry sacks, but the air eventually leaked out. I'm blaming my lack of sleep both nights on the sleeping bag.

Positives:

Lightweight at only 2 lbs 8 oz
Stuffs into a small compression sack and takes up hardly any room in your backpack

Negatives

I have my doubts about it holding up to its 20 degree rating - This was the major issue with my discomfort.
A little too tight for my frame, but wasn't necessarily a major problem

As a comparison my son brought along our REI synthetic filled 25 degree bag and he had zero issues with being cold. In fact, at times he was half out the bag at night because he was so warm. I've used the same bag before and did not have any issues with being cold either, but the down side is that it's synthetic filled, is a couple of pounds heavier and takes up more space in your pack. I would have traded all that for a good nights sleep.

I'll have to keep my eye out on a good down bag deal. Anyone else have any suggestions for bags they really like? I'm talking more to the "larger", um, I mean, "MUSCULAR" crowd out there for advice on down bags.

Camping gear

As the camping season approaches, I'm really excited to get out and try out some new gear we recently purchased. I'm posting pictures and short descriptions of the gear I recently purchased and I'll later post reviews of this gear after I use it later this year. I'm also going to include a few pictures of some gear I've used in the past and brief reviews.

MSR Hubba Hubba 2 person tent

This tent is classified as an lightweight backpacking tent weighing just 4 lbs 5 oz, which includes the tent, poles, rain fly, and footprint (basically a tarp that is designed to fit exactly under your tent). This tent is great because if you want to ditch another 2 lbs from your pack you can just use the tent mat, rain fly, and poles (poles/rain fly connect to the mat). Of course you'll be a bit exposed at the sides of the tent along the bottom, but it still provides adequate shelter.



With a compression stuff sack I can get the tent, rain fly, and footprint compressed down really tight to fit in my pack



Hoping to try this out on our trip to CA in April

Kelty Light Trekker 20 degree down filled sleeping bag

We had a couple of synthetic filled lightweight sleeping bags, but they were still limited at how small you could compress them to fit in your backpack. The down-filled sleeping bags are truly ultralight and compress amazingly, while also holding in some serious warmth. We should be trying these out in at least by our trip in April



Big Agnes Insulated Air Core sleeping pads - 20"x72"

I'm really excited at the chance to sleep on these. After blowing one up in my house and resting on it I wanted to fall asleep right there. The fact that these are insulated is a huge perk as they'll keep us warm off the ground. We had previously been using some cheap, HEAVY pads from walmart, along with a couple of Alps Mountaineering pads, neither of which are designed for backpacking. I'm excited for these because they compress up to the size of a 32 ounce nalgene bottle.



Jetboil Zip

When I first heard about the Jetboil brand of stoves I was pretty stoked about the chance to get my water boiling a lot faster than my old stove. I have an ultralight MSR Simmerlite stove, which I love for how small it is, but it takes FOREVER to boil water. Comparatively my large car-camping stove takes about just as long. I have not fired this bad boy up yet, but I'm anxious to see what it can do



Sea to Summit compression dry sacks

When I had some extra money to spend at REI on a gift card Bill suggested some compression dry sacks. They're expensive, but as he pointed out, worth it because you can obviously get a lot of gear compressed in it, but it will also stay dry if you get in a wet situation. I picked up two of these 35 Liter sacks. I'l be using these in April as well.



Steripen Adventurer

I'm not sure when I'll actually get to test this out, but a little technology along the trail never hurt anyone. This thing emits UV light into the water, guaranteeing to kill off 99.9% of all bacteria in the water. I'll always plan to have my filter system with me, but I'll use this as an extra kick to ensure everything is killed off.



Osprey Ace 48 Backpack

Bill was able to use a pro deal to get me this pack and it's GREATLY appreciated. I have a 12 year old that is super tall, but not super strong (yet) and it was looking like he was going to have to use the 4500 (see below) for our up-coming trip until I was able to pull this off. As you can see from the picture we loaded his sleeping bag, pad, and 2 person tent into it and we still have room for his clothes, some food, and a few misc. items he may want to bring (the top is pulled down tight over the pack, so you can't really tell, but there is room). His pack weight will be around 20 lbs, which is a bit big for his 105 lbs frame, but he's about 5'3" right now so I think he'll be OK.



Kelty Camp Hauler 2

I got this as a gift because I lucked out (again) with Bill having the honor of being my santa at this year's family christmas. Of course he's going to hook me up with something cool. This will be great for storing our gear, etc. when we're car camping. Right now we've been using a huge storage bin that at times takes up too much room. This will force us to get rid of stuff we don't really need to bring and take up much less space in the car.




Here is a bit of my existing gear that I'll be using this year

Kelty Redcloud 6500

This is a HUGE pack and I bought this back when I thought you had to have a TON of room in your backpack (and back when I actually NEEDED a ton of room because all my gear was so big). This is a great pack, but I'm thinking I won't be using it much now that I have a lot of light gear. I did a test load and put both mine and Alene's sleeping bags and mini-pillows, our tent/stakes, 2 sleeping pads, the jetboil, fuel, cookset, 2.2 liters of water, multitool, shovel, and spare clothing and my pack was only at 30.5 lbs. I still have to add food, but other than that I'm set AND my pack was only 3/4 full.



Ketly Coyote 4500

We had purchased this one with the intention of it being Alene's pack since it was smaller. I'm almost wondering if I should start using this one. We'll give it a test on our trip to CA since Alene won't be using it, to see if I should take it or not. I used it once on a snowshoeing trip up to the Uintas about 5 years ago and it worked out great.



Northface Tera 30

This is a day pack mostly, but could be used as an ultralight backpacking pack I think. I have it designed as our canyoneering backpack (notice the grommets I placed at the bottom of the pack to allow water to spill out). It's a great pack and fits well. I'm a little curious to see how it would stuff for a 1-2 night packpacking trip.



Last but not least.....

My "Hose Protection"

People always laugh at me when I bring this along on trips, but once they see the damage it can do they understand why I bring it. I came up with this idea when my dogs chewed through my heavy duty hose in my backyard. I was really pissed off (because it was expensive) and I had grabbed this leftover end piece and smashed it against a piece of wood. When I noticed the dent it left in the wood and the amount of force I came down on it with, I realized this could be a decent piece of defense equipment against a person, or a small to medium sized animal if need be. One crack on the skull and I'm POSITIVE it will make the attacker think twice. I do have a handgun I'd consider carrying, but for an average hike and when I don't want all that extra weight, this is perfect. I recently purchased a galvanized cap that I've screwed on top of this now. I plan to fill it with a bit more lead to give it a bit of solidness. The flexibility of the tough hose gives the weapon a great kick as you bring it down on its target (like a whip, but with a metal object at the end). People laugh, but if I ever need it, I know it will work



Here is a link to a set of pictures of all my camping gear if you're interested

http://www.flickr.com/photos/root_family/sets/72157629403100327/with/6907289055/