Last month I bought almost everything my winter backpacking heart desired… except socks. My decade-old Darn Toughs had almost worn through in a couple places so I thought a replacement might be in order. It’s only day one and I’ve got four purchases to share (and future purchases for the month will be added to this post, as always):
REI Coolmax EcoMade Liner Socks
After debating between silk, wool, and toe liner socks I decided to stick with tried-and-true synthetics. They’ve got a killer combination of durability, thinness, and low cost that’s hard to beat. I like my trail runners loose but thin socks are almost always a better bet when it comes to layering.
($7.95 per pair, 16g per sock in size large)
REI Coolmax EcoMade Ultralight Tech Crew Socks
Thin, synthetic, and taller than the liner socks. Don’t need anything fancy.
($15.95 per pair, 39g per sock in size large)
REI Snow Stakes
Spotted these in a bin as I was walking by, much narrower than my gigantic snow stakes of yore.
($2.95, 26.5g)
DexShell Ultra Thin Crew Waterproof Socks
These. Are. Bonkers. A quarter of the weight of my old SealSkins and much more comfortable to boot!
($30 per pair, 34g per sock)
Hampton Adams Phala Tape
I was going to order some Leukotape off Amazon when I spotted an ad for this tape and decided to give it a whirl. So far it’s softer and less adhesive than Leukotape which in my mind are big positives (assuming the edges don’t curl up). I’m hoping to put some heavy miles on this tape in the next couple weeks to see what it can do.
($4.99, 113g)
Water Wizard For River Runners Sediment Remover and Clarifier
I’m heading down to southern Utah at the end of April and I thought this might be a fun thing to try out on the dirty river water there. According to my calculations:
- One 1 mL syringe of Water Wizard treats 5 gallons of water
- 5 gallons is about 19 liters
- 1/19th of 1 mL is 0.053 mL
- So, 0.053 mL of Water Wizard treats 1 liter of water
- 1 drop is 0.05 mL
- So, about 1 drop per liter!
($16.99, 83g bottle with two 6g syringes)
Glacier Glove Ascension Bay Sun Gloves
My beloved Mountain Hardwear Fingerless Bandito Gloves have some summertime competition! The Ascension Bays offer sun protection with highly breathable backs and abrasion-resistant synthetic leather palms. They’re also fingerless for dexterity but lack wind resistance or the ability to convert into mitts. I see them as more for scrambling and bushwhacking specifically during mid to late summer. I only typically wear gloves when it’s cold so I’m wondering if the breathability might be enough to get into the habit of just always wearing gloves?
($15 per pair, 19g per glove in size large)
Aqua Mira Frontier Series Pro III Ultralight Water Filter
Rumor has it that the pre-filters on these are thread-compatible with Sawyer filters. Most of my water sources are relatively clean but I’d like to have something on hand in case I need to filter something nasty.
($27.21)
Oboz Arete Low Hiking Shoe
Oboz finally has a TPU/mesh-top entry in their lineup! I’ve been using the original Sawtooth Lows for the past few years because their burly tread and excellent insole makes them great for serious off-trail work as well as scrambling. However, the abundance of leather and padding means they don’t dry worth a damn. These aren’t marketed as trail runners so I guess I’d call them “ultralight hikers”. After taking them out on a 25-mile weekender with piles of basalt scrambling and even some sand dunes I’m absolutely thrilled with their performance.
($125, 358g per shoe and 33g per insole in size 10)
Litesmith Micro Carabiner
These are a replacement for my current Zpacks mini-D carabiners whose round gate tends to deflect attempts to open it. The wire gate on the Litesmiths presents a flat surface which makes it incredibly easy to open. Yes, I realize this is an incredibly trivial thing to fuss over but just the process of switching them out on my pack reinforced that this was the right move.
($1.95, 3g)
Raidlight Desert Gaiters
Q: What’s a foolproof way to keep sand out of your mesh-y shoes?
A: Looking like a complete dork.
These are full-coverage gaiters intended for desert marathons. I have absolutely no intention of gluing a strip of velcro all the way around the outsides of my shoes as the instructions indicate so I’m exploring modifications.
($40 per pair, 45g per gaiter in size large)
Trail Designs Evernew 900mL Short Pot and Sidewinder Ti-Tri Bundle
As a requirement for an upcoming trip I need a larger pot that I can actually cook food in (my current Evernew 500mL mug pot is only good for boiling at most 2 cups of water at a time). The newer Sidewinder cone is a paper-thin titanium (as opposed to the Caldera cone’s aluminum) so the new system only incurs a 22 gram weight penalty. Not bad! Of course it takes up way more space but the alleged benefit of the Sidewinder systems and short wide pots is that the cone rolls up and stores inside the pot. We’ll see if it’s more of a hassle than it’s worth or whether I’ll end up flue-taping the cone in place and hanging it off the top of my trekking pole on the side of my pack.
($127.91, 79g pot, 29g lid, 10g stuff sack, 35g cone)