Cool feet and dry clothes

I'm hoping this will be the last post about the aquisition of gear, and that from here on out any 'gear' related posts will be in relation to actual usage. I've wrapped up a few more purchases as I inch closer to closing the bag, opening the door and walking through it. Originally I thought that I would take only the new Salomon (XA Pro 3D XCR) shoes and a pair of cheap flip-flops for walking around, however after testing out the Salomons a bit I decided to reconsider. Don't get me wrong, the Salomons are great, and I'm sure will prove to be worth every penny, but they do tend to get pretty warm after a bit of walking. As a result, I thought that it might be nice to take another pair of shoes that would allow me to still do a fair amount of walking, while keeping my feet cool in the process and so I decided to purchase a pair of Chaco ZX/2 'performance sandals'. I haven't been a huge fan of these in the past, but have several friends (mostly hippie extremists) that swear by them. Based on my limited experience, they should be perfect for the above stated goal.

Another item which I wasn't entirely sold on taking, but finally decided to order (thanks to some input from my buddy Adam) was a travel clothesline.

After trying on a couple dozen, I finally managed to find a hat that fits my oddly shaped, oblong head: the Mountain Hardwear Fast Pack Cap. I'm also happy to report that my Mountain Hardwear Compass Shirt long-sleeve finally arrived this week and it's great: fits well, is comfortable, fast dry, looks good (meaning normal).

Walking the Digital Tight-Rope

To square the electronics away and make sure I can take all the pictures possible, I picked up another 1GB SanDisk Memory stick, a second Camera Battery, and a travel charger. One obvious concern was running out of memory for my camera, since I'm only taking one 1GB stick and one 512MB stick. In order to overcome this problem, my plan is to upload all of my photos to Flickr, which will allow me to upload upto 2GB of photos per month, and essentially act as an online photo archive. To aid in this upload process I purchased a SanDisk MobileMate Memory Stick Reader.


Another 'digital' concern is the fact that while I will have internet access, I will almost exclusively be using internet Cafe's for access. Internet Cafe's certainly make things easier than having to carry my own laptop, etc, however the big downside is that any sites I visit, will store cached data on the local system which could be a problem if I'm accessing things such as my bank accounts. To help mitigate this risk I'm taking a 2GB A-Data Flash Drive, loaded with a suite of 'portable apps' for anything from email, web-browsing, watching/editing videos, editing images, etc, all of which can be found at PortableApps.com and the Portable Apps Wiki. The basic idea is that I can use these applications on the flash drive, and not have to leave behind any data on the Internet Cafe system, we'll see how well that works in practice. For one more level of security, all of my data on the flash drive will be encrypted using TrueCrypt, which provides encryption that is "automatic, real-time (on-the-fly) and transparent", so that if I lose the drive or it gets stolen, all of my data will be secure.

If anyone wants more info on the portable-apps, let me know.

Almost done with Gear

Every time I think I have all my gear, a few more things pop up, but im pretty confident that I'll be done after next week. This weekend brought a few more goodies. To help keep all my money and important docs safe and concealed I picked up the Eagle Creek Undercover Deluxe Security Belt. With coolmax and hi-tech anti-microbial material, we'll see how it holds up.

To help keep all of my soap, tooth-paste, pills, etc organized, I picked up the Nalgene Travel Bottle Kit. I've also done some research on soaps that would be easy to take, that could be used to wash my skin, hair and any clothes or dishes in a pinch. All of the soaps I've come across seem to be pretty much the same: concentrated enough to use on dishes/clothes, but 'sensitive' enough for skin, as well as biodegradable. The consensus so far seems to be that Campsuds is the standard.

I was wondering what to do for a watch/alarm clock, since I haven't really worn one for the last 4 years. Luckily my dad helped me solve this problem by graciously donating a watch he no longer needed, the La Crosse Technology K2-100; a super fancy watch with altimeter, thermometer, and barometer.

Gear: Few more things

My Pack arrived over the weekend, and I finally had a chance to pack everything up and see how it all fit. A bit to my surprise, the pack is pretty darned full with everything in it, but there is still a bit of breathing room. The biggest surprise however is that with everything (sans my sleeping bag and a few toiletries) the pack only weighs about 15lbs completely packed. Trekking is going to be easier than I thought. At this point, I think the only things left to pick up are toiletries (shampoo, deodrant, etc), medical stuff (advil, bandaids, etc), pen/journal, a few other odds and ends and we should be good to go.

To help keep things organized, I did pick up a few seperate stuff sacks (Outdoor Research Helium Compression Sack and Helium Ditty Bags) for: socks, underwear, shirts, pants, dirty clothes. Having everything seperated makes it a breeze to pack and unpack everything and find exactly what I'm looking for.

I've also started to test the gear out: the REI towel is pretty amazing, it soaks up water much better than the previous 'camping towel' I used and dries extremely fast. The camera is performing well, but there are still a lot of features to familiarize myself with. The socks and boxers and performing well, but I've yet to decide if they were worth the price.

Gear: Shirts and Pants

Little did I know how difficult it would be to find 2 pairs of pants and 2 shirts. Apparently, an unspoken rule of designing light weight/travel clothing made of quick-dry material is that if you are going to use those materials the clothes themselves either have to have some kind of hideous pattern (in the case of shirts) or (in the case of pants) be completely off the wall, ie. dozens of pockets, zippers, and mounds of excess material to make things excessively baggy. The trade off for finding any 'normal' pants/shirts that are quick-dry and pack light is that you have to pay twice the price as you would for the shirts/pants mentioned above. My experience and frustration comes from trying on about two plus dozen pants and shirts over the weekend, and luckily after all that I did manage to settle on two pants, one long sleeve shirt and one short sleeve shirt.

The first pair of pants comes from Patagonia, the Patagonia Sol Patrol Pant: light, wrinkle-free, quick drying, and very comfortable for hot weather. After wearing them around for a day, I've been pleasantly surprised at how comfortable they are. Pant number two is the Prana Traveler Pant, a very comfortable pair of mostly cotton pants, which packs light and is very functional.

As for shirts, we went with the Prana Bandana Print short-sleeve and the Mountain Hardwear Compass Shirt longsleeve. The Bandana Print shirt certainly falls outside the realm of my normal 'style', but after some outside consulting I decided to take the plunge. It's has a nice material blend, wears comfortably, and is a good color that won't show dirt too readily. One of the main reasons for going with the Prana shirt is that apparently most 'travel' shirts are made for a race of people where a small is considered to be 200lbs, meaning I was swimming in the excess of even the small sized shirts of most other brands. The Compass Shirt was actually a bit of a gamble...I ordered it without actually trying it on. Based on the other Mountain Hardwear shirt I tried on, the size and fit should be good, but we'll find out in a week or so I suppose.

Misc. Gear

Now that the big ticket items are all taken care of, it's time to start filling in the gaps with all of the small stuff. I snagged a nifty little spork, by Light My Fire, with a built in knife. Cheap, durable, knife, fork, spoon all in one utensil.

For post-shower dryoff I picked up an REI MultiTowel Lite: an ultralight, super absorbant, quick-drying towel made of microfiber. To organize all of my toiletries I picked up the REI Deluxe Shower Kit: compact, hook for hanging, mirror for shaving, mesh pockets for organization, and removable zippered pouch to carry a few items on short trips.

For the long desert jaunts in the middle of nowhere I've got the MSR Cloudliner Hydration Reservoir for sipping and the Nalgene Wide-Mouth Cantene for holding extra water if need be. Both are made of taste free plastic, and when empty pack down very small. To make sure the water doesn't kill me I'm taking the MSR MIOX Water Purifier, a purifier that uses and electrical current to kill 99% of viruses, bacteria, Giardia and Cryptosporidium.

Sleeping

Sleeping has been another tricky issue: to being a sleeping bag or just a liner? to bring a sleeping pad or no? to bring a bivy sack or no? So far I have decided to take a sleeping bag, liner, and pad, and while I'm leaning against not taking a bivy sack the jury is still out. For the sleeping bag, in keeping with the 'ultralight' theme, I ordered the Western Mountaineering Highlite. This bag is rated for 40 degrees, and amazingly only weighs 1lb. All indications are that this bag is perfect for this kind of trip: light, warm, small, and durable.

To provide some insulation, a little padding and overall make sleeping on the ground just a bit more enjoyable, I also picked up a 3/4 length sleeping pad. Originally I was intent on getting the Therm-a-Rest ProLite 3 due to its small pack size. At the counter however, I was convinced to give the REI Lite-Core a try instead. The Lite-Core is definately very comfortable, and as a bonus it comes with a stuff sack and repair kit, overall saving me ~$40 over the Therma-a-Rest. Unfortunately the Lite-Core is a bit heavier and more bulky to pack, a factor which I'm thinking may out weigh the cost savings and require a return. I'll give it a couple more days.

Shoes, Socks and Underwear

I ordered my shoes this week which should be here in the next few days; I went with the Salomon XA Pro 3D XCR trail-running shoes. I tried them on at the store and they fit like a glove, easily one of the most comfortable trail shoes I've ever tried. They have a very supportive yet flexible sole with deep heel cup that keeps the foot in place. One of the best features is the lacing system which just requires a pull in order to even tighten the laces along the whole shoe, for a snug, even fit. Another great feature is that the shoe is primarily made of Gore-Tex to allow breathability but keep water out. I think these are going to be great.

To go along with the shoes, I picked a few pairs of new socks. I've been trying out the SmartWool Adrenaline and I must say that they are some of the most comfortable socks I've used; they fit snug, stay in place, wick moisture. We'll have to see how good the odor resistance is. I also picked up the SmartWool Ultra Light, which is very similar to the Adrenaline but a bit thinner and cooler for those extra hot days. Overall my feet are going to be extremely comfortable (hopefully) on this trip.

Finally, I picked up some super high-tech underwear: the Ex Officio and REI MTS boxers. They are both made of new fangled fibers and what not that help wick away moisture, resist odor and bacteria, pack small and dry quick. Comfort is key.

Packs

I finally took the plunge and ordered the pack that will essentially house my life for the next year. After much deliberation and 'analysis paralysis' I decided to go with the Osprey Atmos 50, the Outside Magazine 2005 Backpack of the Year. My primary concern and cause for deliberation when trying to pick a bag was that I want to be able to use it as a carry-on, and not have to check it when I fly. At ~25in long, the Atmos 50 is slightly larger than the official carry on dimensions of 22"x14"x9"; this was the primary sticking point, but I think that there are a couple ways to reduce the size enough to pass it as a carry-on. We'll find out soon enough I guess.

The primary reaons I decided on the Atmos were it's ultralight design and construction, pocket placement and strap arrangement, all mesh back panel. For full details, see the official Osprey site.

The other pack that I looked at was the Deuter Futura, which came second place among Outside Magazine's backpack choices. What I liked about the Futura was the fact that in addition to top loading, it also allowed access to the bottom compartment direcly, which is a big plus. Its slightly smaller size was another nice factor, but I think it was a tad too small.

What ultimately disuaded me from this pack was that after trying it out fully loaded, I determined that the side and back (primarily) pockets were largely useless when the pack was full. A full pack also made it very hard to open and close the zipper to the bottom compartment. Finally, it lacked the number and configuration of straps available on the Atmos. I still think this is a great pack, just not for this trip.

A Little More Gear

Another little piece of gadget sweetness that I forgot to mention is the Joby GorillaPod: a tripod with a twist/bend/wrap. This little sucker, little being the operative word, has these great legs that are made of rubberized articulating joints that can work as your average/typical tripod or be manipulated into almost any position you can think of. Its great for wrapping around a door knob, fence post, wine bottle, or balanceing on uneven surfaces when a flat surface fails to present itself. Unfortunately, for the time being they only have a model that works with ultra compact cameras, but there is apparently a SLR version in the works. Its about $25 retail, and can be ordered from the Joby Website, and as a bonus they'll knock off $5 if you order the 'unpackaged' version. Happy snapping!

Gear: Round 1

So...I have yet to find out exactly when I will be set free, and while I should be told sometime next week there are rumored 'developments' that indicate some additional people may be kept on, 'detained' if you will. Needless to say I hoping and praying to NOT be one of those unlucky individuals. We'll know in a week I guess.

In the meantime, I've done so much research on where to go, what to do, what to take, etc. that several things are happening: since my options are reasonably limitless and there are so many choices, 'analysis paralysis' keeps trying to creep in; despite not knowing exactly when I'll be going, I have started to accumulate the things that I will be using and taking with me.

One of the big questions that I wrangled with for many months was whether to take a nice, new, bulky dSLR (Nikon d70s) that would be harder to carry around but take amazing photos, or to get a very compact digital camera which might not match the dSLR in picture quality but would be much easier to carry in my pocket anywhere I went, thus allowing for more photo ops. I ultimately decided on the Sony DSC-T9. While I'm still not 100% satisfied with my decision ('analysis paralysis'), I decided that the features, form factor, and price were all right. Time will tell.

Another recent aquisition is the REI Flash UL Pack, which is a 1000cc 'day pack' that turns inside out to become a stuff sack. It has an internal sleeve to hold a hydration resevoir, is made of 'silicone-infused' nylon, and weighing in at only 10oz I figure it will come in pretty handy. The other option was the Marmot Kompressor.

Next on the list: main pack, clothes, tickets, visas, shots. Under the 'Links' section, I've compiled a list of links to some of the gear, travel sites, and other online resources that I've come across during my planning. By far the best source I've found is the 'Travel Independent' site which has a very comprehensive, some might say exhaustive, break down of 'what to pack', 'where to go', 'before you go', 'county summaries', and 'on the road'. I would certainly recommend it to anyone planning any kind of short or long term minimalist/backpacker travel. If anyone has any other resource recommendations please let me know.