A quality, lightweight shelter that's easy to assemble, but does a condensation issue leave us all wet?

Tarptent, a California based company, manufactures the Moment. It is a simple tent with flooring, netting, and one entrance. It also includes one pole and two stakes. The entrance to the tent can be rolled back and secured with two nylon ribbons as seen in Fig. 1.

When the door is closed, it forms the vestibule where gear can be stored. The vestibule area has ample room at 6.6 ft² (see Fig.s 2-3). Also, there is a plastic clasp that can be secured that prevents the door from unzipping (see Fig. 2).

ARTICLE OUTLINE

• Introduction
• Specifications
• Quantitative Gear Rating
• Analysis and Testing
  • Analysis
  • Testing
• What I Disliked
• What I Liked
• Final Comments

# WORDS: 3020
# PHOTOS: 15

Attractive fully-featured multi-purpose insulated down garments, but are they warm enough for our backpacking needs?

This separate review provides additional descriptive and performance information on the GoLite Demaree Canyon Jacket and Anorak. Read our article Ultralight Three-Season Down Jackets State of the Market Report 2010 for a state-of-the-market analysis and comparative specifications and performance for a range of ultralight down jackets.

GoLite will be back in the three-season down jacket category in fall 2010 with the introduction of their new Demaree Canyon Jacket and Anorak. These new garments, in men's and women's versions, feature the new Pertex Microlight Eco shell fabric, which is 100% recycled polyester. They're sharp looking and eco-friendly, but how well suited are they for backpacking?

Description

When GoLite product designers created the new Demaree Canyon garments, it's clear that their primary goals were to make them attractive and eco-friendly. Men's and women's versions of both garments have a lot of stylistic quilting, and recycled fabrics made of polyester are preferentially used. The shell fabric on both garments is Pertex Microlight Eco, which is 1.4 oz/y² (47 g/m²) 100% recycled ripstop polyester with DWR.

ARTICLE OUTLINE

# WORDS: 1290
# PHOTOS: 10

A gem of MYOG: with an 11-ounce weight and 3500-cubic-inch volume, this pack is simple to make and elegant to behold.

• Weight: 11 ounces
• Volume: 3500 cubic inches, maybe 4000 if I really stuff it
• Carrying Capacity: 20 pounds, 25 pounds max
• Materials: silnylon body with 200D nylon reinforcement on back and bottom
• Hipbelt: None, but it would be easy to add
• Volume/Weight Ratio: 318 cubic inches/ounce (assuming 3500 ci)
• Carrying Weight/Pack Weight Ratio: 29 (assuming 20 pounds carrying weight)
• Project Difficulty: Fairly easy to make yourself.

The backpack is basically just a bag with straps.

My base weight is typically 12 pounds, and I have as much as 8 pounds of consumables making the total weight 20 pounds. When I carry more than 20 pounds, my shoulders get a little sore, so I adjust mileage accordingly.

ARTICLE OUTLINE

• Backpack Specifications
• Design Considerations
• Water, Water Everywhere
• Fabric and Pockets
• Materials
• Detailed Instructions
• Main Bag Construction
• Make the Back Panel
• Shoulder Straps
• Waterproofing the Back Panel
• Pole Pocket
• Pole Sleeve

# WORDS: 4720
# PHOTOS: 27

While not the lightest of tents, this shelter can handle such a wide range of multi-tasking to make it worth a closer look.

Multiple personality disorder is characterized by the presence of two or more distinct or split identities or personality states in a single individual. Espri 2P's parents, Nemo Equipment, referred her to me for review. What I found was a traditional two-person double-wall tent with a trail weight of 3.74 pounds (1.7 kg) that thinks she is also a fast and light dry-weather tent that has a trail weight of 3.48 pounds (1.58 kg), and yet also a luxury/wet weather tent coming in at 4.27 pounds (1.94 kg) of trail weight.

Amazingly, I determined that Espri 2P IS all three tents. As Nemo has waived the Patient Privacy Act in this case, feel free to peruse my findings.

ARTICLE OUTLINE

• Introduction
• Specifications
• Design and Features
• Performance
• Assessment
• Dare to Compare
• What's Good
• What's Not So Good

# WORDS: 3110
# PHOTOS: 7

Part 1: Backpackers are all over the map when it comes to answering the question... What should I pack?

The dripping of rain on our single-wall tent, the rhythm of which had soothed us to sleep the evening before, slowly awakened us with a sense of dread. It was our fourth night sleeping in the same pasture campsite inside the granite walls of Cochamó Valley, Chile. The non-stop rain had slowed our trek to Argentina, resulting in a quickly dwindling food supply. Today we faced a choice: move east, or hike back out and take an expensive, long bus ride over the Andes to the neighboring country, all the while admitting defeat.

According to locals, it was the wettest summer in memory with significant precipitation on twenty-three of the last twenty-seven days. Rain does not usually hinder us, but the record rainfall had turned the trail, which we shared with pack mules, into a knee-deep mud and feces slurry. Our pace was slowed by cautiously crossing gushing rivers waist-deep, taking gentle steps so the sticky mud did not steal our shoes, searching for the seldom traveled trail, or avoiding machete-cut bamboo (the stumps punched holes in our clothes or worse yet, our skin).

As we organized for our venture to Villa Villega, Argentina through Cochamó Valley, we did not have a detailed trail map or reliable estimates of how far we would hike, so we bought enough food for eight days. Not only were we carrying all the food and gear necessary for the trip, but our backpacks held all that we needed for our two-year, round-the-world adventure.


h2 Travelmoon - The Big Jump


As most Americans tightened their belts during the economic crisis of 2009, we decided to allocate most of our savings to travel the world ultralight for two years. Danny's contract at UC Davis Outdoor Adventures was ending just as I was graduating, so setting out on our world tour in September was a natural choice. In August, during a family reunion, we surprised our loved ones with a wedding under the Golden Gate Bridge. A few weeks later, we flew to Guatemala City, commencing our world-wide honeymoon.

In the seven months since that flight, we have traveled through Guatemala, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Uruguay, Colombia, and Ecuador. Whether we are changing buses in a bustling metropolis, backpacking through a granite canyon, camping on a tropical island beach, or summiting a snowy mountain, one fact remains the same: our packs are smaller and lighter than the packs of fellow backpackers that we have met along the way. Their jealous looks, and sometimes direct inquiries, prompted us to write this article.


h2 Prepared for Spontaneity

Our schedule allows us the freedom to stay in a place as long as we like, depending on our mood, the weather, or the ambiance of the place. From the beginning, Danny and I agreed that what we carried in our backpacks would never limit our explorations. The packs are light and mobile, yet contain our life essentials.

Before we departed on this extended vacation, we knew we wanted to travel the world, but had to limit our destinations by temperature and activity to ensure light packs. Although we are avid cyclists and backcountry skiers, we decided to forgo carrying this type of gear and focus on our first love, backpacking. Additionally, we prepared for snow on the ground, wet and windy storms, tropical forests, beaches, and deserts, but no tundra. Therefore, we can backpack through parks during all four seasons because our gear keeps us relatively comfortable in the heat and humidity, and warm while sleeping outside in temperatures just below freezing. Most importantly, we can carry our packs down crowded city blocks and onto small local buses.

ARTICLE OUTLINE

• Predictably Unpredictable Patagonia
• Gear Selection - Setting Parameters
• Sleep System - The Honeymoon Special

• Weighing Essentials
• Entertainment - Sometime It IS All Fun And Games
• The Gear List
• Onwards to Argentina

# WORDS: 3990
# PHOTOS: 15