Hiking gear

[COUESAZ]

Well i am going to be in the market for some new hiking gear. So what do all you back pack hunters use right now. I am looking for a lite weight sleeping bag that will keep me warm enough. Also intrested in what kind of Tent you use for one or two people. What do you use for Sleeping pad. Like do you use a full pad or half pad and what brand you like the best.

 

Thanks evrything i have at this time is old and not what i am wanting anymore. I am all about lite weight and small sizes. I may use the big badlands pack for my pack. The one that has the three in one pack. I am keeping my badlands 2200 for my hunting.

[azcouesandelk]

Get in contact with cmc he did a pack in trip for his bear hunt and did a ton of research on the subject.

[COUESAZ]

Yes i will. I posted the same thing over on azsj so i am sure he will see this on one forum or the other. I went to his story again just to reread it.

[AZP&Y]

For a sleeping system, I'm using the Thermarest Prolite 3 and The Featherlight Go-lite 40 degree sleeping bag.

The pad weighs I believe 1.5 lbs and the sleeping bag is 1lb 10 ozs. The pad compacts to the size of Naglene water bottle.

With a light weight tarp or TYVEK (tarp material underneath it's plety of insulation and comfort for 3 season hunt/scout and camping. Every pound makes a difference when pushing the elevations and climate that Arizona has to offer.

 

Also I may suggest the MSR pocket rocket - iso butane stove and MSR titanium kettle. The stove "nests" in the kettle and also allows you to put a cannister of fuel in the kettle. It all weighs less than a pound and boils water in 3.5 minutes.

 

I log over a 100 miles of trail every year, so when I get back to my computer at home I'll send you a field test of items, weight and my reviews of what works and what doesn't.

 

Ultralight is the way to go, the packs and gear of YESTERYEAR are a thing of the past...

 

 

AzP&Y

[CouesWhitetail]

I also use the thermarest prolite and love it! For a sleeping bag I got a Montbell down superstretch bag rated to 0 degrees. I get cold easy, so I needed a good bag. I think it weighs about 2 lbs (but you can get a lighter version if you don't need a zero degree bag). It packs down very small and when you open it back up it fluffs up to like 7-10 inches of loft. Nice! It's called super stretch because it has elastic around parts of it that allow the bag to stay tighter around you when sleeping but also allow you to sit up cross-legged inside the bag since it stretches. I LOVE this bag.

 

here is a link to info on the bag. http://www.backcountrygear.com/catalog/bagdetail.cfm/MTB388

 

For a backpack tent I got a Big Agnes Sarvis 2 with event. This is a fine tent that weighs about 4 lbs. Big Agnes makes another similar model which is more popular called the Seedhouse2, but the floorspace of the Sarvis is a tad larger so I went with that. And it has the rain fly built in so you don't have to mess much with it. The only thing I don't like about this tent is that the midline pole has to be threaded through a nylon sleeve, which is fine when pushing it through, but pulling it back out to take it down is a bit touchy. (the seedhouse doesn't have that sleeve I think, so you might like that better, depends on how much room you want)

here is a link for info on the tent:

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/ba..._announced.html

 

 

For a stove I have used a Primus for probably the last 15 years. It's an awesome stove, but I don't remember the model name. It's lightweight and has a built in ignitor. I can screw it onto the little propane canisters and it fits in the palm of my hand.

 

here are some pics. This first pic shows my tent, sleeping bag and sleeping pad all rolled up. (they can pack a little smaller if you take more time packing them) There is a 13 inch ruler in the middle for scale. The tent with tarp and poles are in brown bags on left and then just right of ruler is my sleeping bag and then the pad. Stove shown in front.

 

 

 

And here is a better pic of the stove

 

 

And another of my tent setup, but sorry it doesn't show a side view.

[COUESAZ]

I bought the thermorest pad like you guys said above today. I went with a Kellty internal frame pack over the badlands this time. It was about the same thing for 200 less. I am only using it for pack camping and not hunting. I bought a kelty tent that is alot the same as the big agnes. I almost bought the big agnes but chose the kellty. I hope i do not regret it. I also bought the slumberjack sleeping bag. I have heard good reviews on it for the price. And as much as i will use it it should do me just fine. It is a 20 degree bag but i am a hot sleeper. Put me in a mummy bag like this and i am a much hotter sleeper. Any ways keep the info coming as i will still be open to any remarks and help on what else i need.

 

I will just used my head lamps and small LED lights for light. I have a small back pack lantern but do not want the extra weight for the small amount of light it puts out.

 

Amanda thanks for the photos they always help a bunch.

 

AZ P&Y please send some photos and info on your stuff as well.

[BRYCE CANYON]

Jade

We used this Pinnacle Pass tent by Eureka during our December hunt. It worked real well for us along with the Pocket Rocket stove that AZP&Y mentioned. We were down in the southern end of your home unit.