May 2021 – Turigrinos

May 2021 Loot!

After a long purchasing hiatus it's time to get back into the swing of things. Here's what I've picked up this month: Pepto Bismol Liquicaps Digestive issues can cut outings short, and I've been rescued more than once by carrying a couple Pepto Bismol chewable tablets. However, they tend to leave a pink powdery residue all over my pill container and other pills. On a recent trip to the grocery store I noticed that they were now available in gel cap form. They are slightly more expensive at around $0.30 each vs $0.23 for the chewables. ($0.30 and 1.5g per [...]

By Person A|2021-05-31T02:48:32+00:00May 31st, 2021|

2021 Upgrades

As a new dad, I don't know how much backpacking, if any, I'll be able to pull off in 2021. As a substitute, I'm starting to look into trail running as a way to get out and see the sights without the time commitment of spending the night. However, I've still had my eye on a number of backpacking upgrades for theoretical future trips: The Zpacks Arc Air 50L backpack is 532g in size medium/medium and constructed from Dyneema. Not only is it a jaw-dropping 321 grams lighter than my Osprey Levity 60L, it uses pre-curved stays to arch the [...]

By Person A|2021-05-23T17:57:54+00:00May 23rd, 2021|

2020 Year In Review

Better late than never! Also, babies are really time consuming. 2020 By The Numbers Trips: 20Days: 33Nights: 13Miles: 264.9Elevation (new!): 55,086 feet Compared to 2019, that's almost double the number of trips with a similar number of days but a little over half the nights. It's almost double the number of miles as well. In other words, I did a ton of day trips and then a handful of much longer and more strenuous trips. Gear Lists We'll be comparing the following two lists: Q4 2020 gear listQ4 2019 gear list Overall, my base weight decreased from 16.61 pounds to [...]

By Person A|2021-05-18T03:53:46+00:00May 18th, 2021|

Experimenting With Esbit

Having tried canister and alcohol stoves, this evening I decided to broaden my horizons with a solid-fuel stove, specifically the Esbit pocket stove and Esbit-branded hexamine fuel tablets. Conditions were a 65F ambient temperature and 5mph winds gusting to 10mph. The goal was to bring two cups of water to a rolling boil inside the Evernew TI Mug Pot 500 with lid. Note that, having a relatively narrow base, this pot doesn't heat as efficiently as a wider-bottomed pot would. Weights Esbit pocket stove: 88gEsbit fuel tablet: 15g each Experiments The first round consisted of using the pocket stove itself [...]

By Person A|2021-05-18T03:02:33+00:00May 14th, 2021|

Black Diamond Traction

I was browsing clearance outdoor gear on DVOR (a sort of Drop [which has largely abandoned outdoor gear] for hunters run by OpticsPlanet) when I came across some really interesting winter traction options from Black Diamond, a brand I normally don't pay much attention to: First up is the Blitz, a minimalist device with spikes only in the front. The website claims that the weight of each device in size medium is 57g, but it also says that the weight of a medium pair is 45g per pair, so... Either way, my Snowline Chainsen Lights in size XL are 136g [...]

By Person A|2021-05-05T18:46:58+00:00May 5th, 2021|

Lunar Solo review updated: winter/snow performance

After some grueling backyard testing, in which I set up the tent and took pictures as snow piled up, I've updated my Lunar Solo review with a section on how it performs in the snow. As a result, I now feel comfortable using it year-round.

By Person A|2021-05-05T18:35:30+00:00May 5th, 2021|