Gear Testing...

H:

With a newly minted backpack needing a trail test you couldn't have asked for a more perfect day.  Today's high was somewhere around 50 degrees with lots of sun and a bit of a breeze.  How do you test a backpack, well, you pack it full of stuff and see what happens.  I grabbed half of our sleeping bag and stuffed it into the bottom of the pack.  On top of that I put in a spare pair of shoes, just for weight, and then a vest just in case I wanted extra warmth while we were hiking.  Next we loaded in snacks, extra water, and just for good measure we tossed in a 5 pound dumbbell.  With all that inside the total weight was close to 15 pounds.  The backpack was ready for a base weight test.  Our goal for gear is this 15 pound range (and we’re talking +/- a pound kind of range).

Next we decided to test out some clothing.  We already own various “workout” clothes and are going for synthetic lightweight clothes for our trip.  This kind of gear can be insanely expensive so using what we already have is one goal.  Especially because most of what we own I buy off out of season clearance racks.

While digging through the clothing we already own I found a pair "Layer 8" brand spandex/polyester pants that Dave wore when we were on our bicycling trip.  They were a loose fitting straight leg cut when we bought them but I took up the side seams from the knee down to keep them out of the bicycling gears and chain.  Under those Dave donned a pair of “Wickers” brand under shorts.  We use these under our motorcycling gear.  They are true to their name and wick away moisture very nicely.  They cost us about $16 a pair and are polyester with a bit of spandex.  The nice thing about the Wickers is that they have a cotton feel without the cotton.

For my lower limbs I pulled out a pair of "Spyder" brand polyester pants I bought a half dozen years ago on clearance at Dick’s sporting goods.  I think I paid about $9, and they retail for around $70.  These were my spare pair of pants on our bike trip.  They’re quite chewed up with several snags and I will need to take up the waist band if I keep wearing them because they do like to sag a bit.

My shirt was another clearance find, an "XTEK" wicking shirt I bought at Menards last spring.  The package showed several people skiing and I imagined that the long sleeve shirt would offer a little warmth with the wicking action.  I quickly found out that is not the case.  I put them on and actually get a bit of an instant chill which means they wick awesome!  However, as soon as I put on a windbreaker or rain jacket I grow very warm.  Wicking layer, check.

Dave’s shirt today was a short sleeve "Cougar" brand 100% polyester shirt I bought at Meijer a few years back for a couple dollars, again a clearance deal.

I wore a hat that I made for Dave.  It’s also from my own handspun yarn.  I’m not sure the breed of the sheep but by using a technique called “long draw” you’re able to make a fluffy yarn that provides added warmth.  This hat is nicely warm but unfortunately just a bit too scratchy for Dave’s head.  It’s a little too big on me so I will need to reknit the hat to fit my head.

Close up of Dave's hat.

On the way to the trail head I wove in the ends of a brand new hat for Dave.  It’s a wool/silk/alpaca blend luxury yarn that is very soft and warm.  Dave’s bald head needs a nice warm hat and this will be what he uses on the Trail.  Part way through today’s hike the hat came off so I know that it is warm enough.

We both wore our Keen sneaker/boots.  Dave wore a pair of cotton socks because that’s all he has at the moment.  I wore a pair of my own hand knit socks.

For our outer layer we wore very beat up rain jackets we bought around 8 years ago.  Again, this is something that was used on our bike trip, but they’re going to need replaced for the hike.  They’re somewhat heavy and all the water proofing tape has peeled off the seams.  A lot of the plastic pulls have dry rotted from sun exposure and they smell funky.

With loaded pack we drove to a nearby trail that is used for mountain biking and horses as well as hiking.  Loading up my backpack I noticed a group leaving the trail.  They were wearing street clothes and navigating a remote controlled car alongside them.  They were dressed in street clothes and were muddy from the mid-shin down.  One guy looked at us and said: “You going hiking in there?”  I refrained from the “here’s your sign” line that jumped into my head because Dave beat me to it with a simple “yes”.  The stranger assured us that it was quite muddy and we might want to reconsider.  Dave’s response was “We’re going to have to get used to it because we’re hiking the Appalachian Trail this year.”  At that the stranger directed us to the far side of the park where a waist high mud puddle was to be found.

We started walking along a mud and gravel running path that was quite saturated with snow melt and ground thaw.  After about half a mile we crossed into the woods and found the trails were from squishy to boggy.  We slogged through for about a half hour before we reconnected to the running path and took a snack break.

We took turn wearing the pack while we were out today and while we have been conditioning our hearts and legs at the Y… the shoulders sighed in relief when I took the pack off and it only had 15 pounds in it!  Our max weight limit goal including consumables is 25 pounds.  Dave told me I’d get used to it.

All in all the gear tests worked great today.  The pack did awesome and I have the final placement for the sternum strap.  Another test will be needed before I finalize the shoulder straps.  Our shoes kept our feet dry despite the puddle stomping we did.

Our plan is to not renew at the Y when our membership expires this month and just start walking outside as much as possible.  I’m sure going to miss the whirlpool after workouts but it had to come sooner or later.