Tag Archives: patagonia

Jotunheimen gear lists

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Here comes mine and Jon’s gear lists. This is what we have packed for our 5 day trip in Jotunheimen. Below every picture you’ll find a link to our gear lists (Excel files). If you have any improvements or comments please drop them below. I don’t think we have time to make large adjustments but it’s always nice to get feedback.

As you’ll find in the spreadsheets we’ve shared some gear between each other like the sleeping- and cooking system. My list will be complete with all the stuff I use if I were to go on a solo trip.

The real interesting thing is that last year on our longest trip, 4 days, we carried packs that weighed in at 22-24kg each including water… As you can see below, things have changed my friends!

My list – 8.9kg

Joutunheimen_packning_2014-07-23_20-57-16_IMG_3613

Click for larger picture! (rain jacket is missing in the picture)

  • Granite Gear Crown V.C 60
  • HMG Ultamid 2 cuben fiber tent
  • Patagonia jackets and sweaters
  • Arc’Teryx Palisade pants
  • Inov-8 TrailRoc 245 shoes

Link to spreadsheet.

Jon’s list – 7.4kg

IMG_3830

Click for larger picture!

  • Gossamer Gear Kumo
  • 2x Zpacks Pertex Quantum Bivy
  • Trail Designs Sidewinder + Inferno Cone, Ti Tri, w. Evernew 0.9l pot
  • Houdini Motion Light pants
  • Salomon Fellraiser shoes

Link to spreadsheet.

Bonus picture

Bonus picture

Patagonia R1 Pullover

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I bought a Patagonia R1 Pullover on sale the other day, 58% discount isn’t too bad on something that cost 1300SEK at the store. The only thing was that they only had two colors and two sizes left. Fortunately for me they had one in size small. But as I’ve mentioned before, Patagonia’s size charts are not to be trusted. As for the R1 Pullover it’s a slim fit model and that could mean that it would be to small over my chest but I got it anyway and if it didn’t fit I’d just return it.

Technical proficiency merges with simplicity: A beautiful line, your climbing partner, a rope and a rack. Start at the bottom and climb to the top. Our R1 Pullover maintains the same alpine-style elegance. Its finely tuned high/low interior grid polyester fabric (Polartec® Power Dry®) stretches, breathes, moves moisture and insulates. It squashes down to practically nothing, has a terrific feel and its technical fit accommodates light underlayers or works as a stand-alone top. Minimalist zippers reduce bulk, while lightweight micro-grid stretch polyester at the cuffs and armpits enhance breathability and dry times. A soft, kissing-welt zipper garage at the chin gives next-to-skin comfort. With a smooth, microfiber face for easy layering, offset shoulder seams for pack-wearing comfort and a zippered chest pocket.

Details

  • Versatile R1 fleece, with its high/low grid pattern, provides excellent stretch, warmth, fast wicking and great breathability in a variety of temperatures
  • A lighter weight, micro-grid fabric on inner collar, underarm gusset and Variable Conditions Cuff improves breathability and dry times where you need it most
  • Refined technical fit with offset seams for comfort under outerwear and packs
  • Center-front Slim Zip with soft, kissing-welt zipper garage and chin flap for next-to-skin comfort
  • One left chest pocket has Slim Zip install and clean finished zipper garage
  • 6.8-oz Polartec® Power Dry® 93% polyester (41% recycled)/7% spandex. Inner collar, underarms and cuffs: 5.4-oz Polartec® Power Dry® 92% polyester (54% recycled)/8% spandex
  • 333 g (11.8 oz)
  • Made in Colombia.

Well it came in my mailbox today and guess what – they’ve done it again! The size chart says that I should have a size medium but the that would have been too big. Just look at the photos below and judge for yourselves.

The fleece is really nice and warm. Wore it over my Smartwool t-shirt inside and I had to take it of just after moving around the house for a bit. The grid fleece system looks to be well thought through and provide you with that extra warmth without any unnecessary weight.

The size small weighs in at only 277g and the size medium weight is in the product description above. I saved 39g (haha) with this one over my older Craghopper Vector fleece but that was in size medium. Even though the R1 weighs in at only 277g it feels really sturdy and thick in a thin way (was that weird?).

I haven’t tested it outside yet but I think I’ll do that this weekend, but from the unboxing I’m really happy with my choice.

I just noticed now that almost my entire layering system consist out of Patagonia stuff. That might be because it’s my preferred brand! Great gear that’s lightweight, durable and has a small environmental impact.

Out hiking Friday to Saturday

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This Wednesday I started wanted to go on a short hike this weekend and I asked Jon if he was interested. At the time he didn’t know if he could make it or not but on Thursday evening we decided it was a go.

I was browsing a few folders that I had laying around the house for some time that I’d taken home with me from different information stands around town. About a year or so ago I made an x-mark next to all the different trails that I was interested in and this particular one was more interesting than all others.

As we were short on time because we had to go as soon as I came off work I wanted something close to home. We moved about 6 months ago and when I’ve been out running I’ve seen different trail markings but not given that much thought to it as I’ve never ever seen anyone come down one of them before. But now it was prefect, we could simply just walk out of my backyard and on to that trail!

The trail, Södra Vätterleden, stretches pretty far and we opted for the non-city route, stage two to stage one. Map links are here below in the order we walked. We started down south of marker 15 by the lake.

Stage Two, part two
Stage Two, part one
Stage One

As usual I did’t think I needed to print more than the stage two parts because I thought we wouldn’t get that far in the short amount of time we had… But, we tend to walk much farther than expected every time we’re out and about so I guess I’ll have to get used to that 🙂

On the trail

On the trail

We started walking around 5.30pm and didn’t stop until 11.30pm and at that point we’d covered roughly 25km and found a really good camp site too. We made camp due north-east of marker 2, stage two, part one map. When we arrived it was almost pitch black so without our headlamps on we wouldn’t have been able to pitch the tent in such a good spot as we did. And luckily enough we pitched it right before the rain came down on us. I slept like a baby the whole night but Jon said it rained so heavily that he was worried that we would have water flowing in under the tent and get wet as we didn’t have a bathtub floor.

Coffee break in the woods. It was really warm weather, rain was expected but we only got a few drops under 5 minutes.

Coffee break in the woods. It was really warm. Rain was expected but we only got a few drops during 5 minutes.

Day two started just as good as when we started the day before. We woke up around 7 and broke camp around 8.

Lake Stråken where we camped.

Lake Stråken where we camped.

We had a deadline for our pickup and that was around noon. We started walking and covered some ground quite fast even though our legs were sore from yesterday. Jon had new shoes on, his Salomon Fellraisers and that was his curse with blisters and all. Even though I have walked quite a bit in my Inov-8 Roclite 295’s I’d never walked this far in them before so I guess that was what got me. Also the higher pace due to the fact that we both used trekking poles surely made an impact on our muscles and feet.

Lunch break by marker 14.

Lunch break by marker 14, stage one map. Mashed potatoes with soy-stuff in taco mix was on the menu. The freeze bag recipes are coming together quite nicely!

Backpacks, Granite Gear Crown V.C 60 and Üla Circuit.

Backpacks – Granite Gear Crown V.C 60 and ULA Circuit. We could most definitely go with smaller packs as we have downsized our gear so much. Jon packs his Z-lite pad inside the pack and still got a lot of room left. I had to put my Z-lite pad on top of the pack to have the internal frame covered.

This was the first time I had the opportunity to try out my new Crown V.C 60 backpack and the HMG Ultamid 2 tent and I liked them a lot! Also my new Patagonia Houdini jacket was really good keeping me warm when the wind was blowing. One thing that will be changed are my pants. My Fjällräven Vidda Pro’s will be put in storage for those moments when bush-wacking is a must. They will be replace by a pair of Arc’Teryx Palisade lightweight pants. Also the sleeping pad will be swapped out and replaced with another Therm-a-Rest pad, the X-Lite. I think that both the Z- and X-Lite will do very good as a combo for really cold winter nights. I hope to get both of these things before next weekend and maybe even the new innernet as bug season is around the corner.

All in all during this hike we covered about 38km. We didn’t have time to complete the last bit of the stage as we ran out of time. We ended the hike at marker 11 where a narrow bridge crosses Stråken. I guesstimate that we had roughly and hour to go from where we stopped to reach Mullsjö, the starting point of stage one. But that part was mostly asphalt anyways so I don’t really think we missed anything 🙂

Patagonia Houdini Jacket – my new windbreaker

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Received my new windbreaker jacket yesterday. I got a Patagonia Houdini Jacket in the color electric orange. Basically what it is and what the label says it is a featherweight, slim fit, running jacket. And its very much slim fit and featherweight.

Details

  • Featherweight 100% nylon ripstop, with a DWR (durable water repellent) finish
  • Zippered chest pocket converts to stuffsack with a reinforced carabiner clip-in loop
  • Hood adjusts in one pull, won’t block peripheral vision
  • Durable half-elastic cuffs; drawcord hem
  • Reflective logo on left chest and center-back neck
  • Can be worn over baselayers and light midlayers
  • 1.2-oz 10-denier 100% nylon ripstop with a DWR (durable water repellent) finish
  • 113 g (4 oz)

I called Patagonia’s customer service before buying the Torrentshell asking wether or not it would fit my Nano Puff  under it if I got the size small for the Torrentshell too. They said yes, shouldn’t be a problem, and it isn’t but I don’t have that much extra space. But arm length is ok and everything fits as it should. But if you’re more of a size small muscular guy I’d go for a medium instead. Same thing goes for the Houdini.

For reference I’m 179cm, 67kg, chest ca 100cm (39,4″). Sure the size chart says that the chest size for a small is 36-38″ and medium is 39-41″ but my Nano Puff size small is all right.

Another good thing is that the jacket stuffs in to it’s own pocket just as with the Torrentshell jacket. I did find it a little fiddly to get it all in the pocket and it could most definitely have been just a tad bit deeper. It has a double zippered pocket so closing it is “easy” and it also has a loop for attaching it to a carabiner which is nice.

Can’t wait to get out an try this jacket out – I’ve heard nothing but good things about it!

My different layers for three season use right now are;

  • Helly Hansen Half-Zip baselayer
  • Patagonia Houdini jacket
  • Craghopper Half-Zip fleece
  • Patagonia Nano Puff jacket
  • Patagonia Torrentshell jacket/pants

Patagonia – Worn Wear

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banner-worn-wear

Worn Wear – a Film About the Stories We Wear 
Presented by Patagonia
Directed by the Keith, Lauren, Chris, and Dan Malloy

Worn Wear is an exploration of quality – in the things we own and the lives we live. This short film takes you to an off-the-grid surf camp in Baja, Mexico; a family’s maple syrup harvest in Contoocook, Vermont; an organic farm in Ojai, California; and into the lives of a champion skier, a National Geographic photographer, and a legendary alpinist. It also features exclusive interviews with Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard.

Released as an antidote to the Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping frenzy, Worn Wear is an invitation to celebrate the stuff you already own

All this gets you thinking don’t it?

Arc’Teryx DRAC Jacket & Tactician AR Glove in the rain

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Was out walking with my kids yesterday and when I left home I had a good feeling it would start to rain but we went anyways. Planed time for the walk, 1 hour. I didn’t bring any rain gear for me or my older son and as for my daughter she’s got all the rain protection she need sleeping in the stroller. I did this because I wanted to try how much rain my Arc’Teryx clothes and gloves would take before getting soaked and the same for my sons soft-shell jacket.

I was wearing a Arc’Teryx DRAC Jacket and a pair of Arc’Teryx Tactician AR Gloves. Under this I had my trustworthy Patagonia Nano Puff Down Jacket and a Helly Hansen base layer. Waist down, TAD Gear Force 10 Cargo Pants and a pair of Haglöfs Vertigo shoes.

After like 10 minutes it started to drizzle and I put the rain cover over the stroller. Another 10 minutes passes by and the rain starts to intensify, nothing much by now. The Arc’Teryx jacket looks good, filled with water drops that stays on top of fabric of the jacket. If you pull the fabric all the drops will fall of the fabric – all good! The Tactician AR Gloves are starting to get a little dark around the knuckles.

15 minutes later the sky really opens up, it’s now poring down. The jacket is still doing it’s job after 20 minutes into this heavy rain, no dark spots on the fabric telling me that I’m not gonna get wet anytime soon. The gloves however is now really dark on the back of my hands and I can feel that the tips of my fingers are getting a little damp from holding the stroller. My TAD Gear pants are now soaked on the front of my thighs and on the back of my calfs.

Another 5 minutes later my gloves are getting damp all over but I’m not wet. The jacket shows some dark spots on the most exposed parts, the shoulders. Pants are still soaked… I should have treated them with some of that special fabric stuff that you put in the washing machine, lesson learned.

Coming up on the hour after pausing in a small bus shelter when the rain was the most intense I finally arrives at the store where my fiancé is picking us up. The gloves are damp on the top of my hand, the palm shows nothing but the leather is still darkened. The tips of my fingers are now wet. The jacket is now darker on the shoulders and on the arms but no worries here. The inside of the jacket is a little moist/damp but nothing of this shows on my Patagonia down jacket which normally shows if it’s the slightest of rain outside buy getting darker quite fast.

Here are a few pictures that I took when arriving at the store.

All in all I’m once again very impressed with the quality of the Arc’Teryx DRAC Jacket. I’ve had it now for over a year wearing it out in the woods whole weekends in the cold winter and in the summer etc. It’s a very versatile jacket and it has replaced my cold weather issued GoreTex jacket (US Army) as it has proven it’s weather resistance time and time again and a important fact, it’s much smaller than your standard cold weather jacket. The soft-shell really closes out the elements and at the same time you have good ventilations through the front pockets with mesh inside and pit sips.

The Tactician AR Gloves I bought primarily as a part of my cold weather kit but I must say that they are more at home than with me. I often carry them to/from work in the colder months, driving my car. I had hope them to be warmer but when it starts getting close to 0 degrees Celsius they aren’t really up for the task (Note, I always get my hands cold when I’m out and about and I’ve struggled to find good gloves). But in the fall/spring they’re great. I would just like to get a tip what to treat them with to get better weather resistance.

So if you’re in the market for a new soft-shell jacket the Arc’Teryx DRAC Jacket is definitely the way to go!

Latest Acquisitions

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Patagonia Torrentshell jacket & pants. Underneath I have my Patagonia Nano Puff jacket that I’ve had for some time – it’s a great jacket! Buy it now 🙂

Both of the jackets are in size small even though all the charts says I should have a medium. Got the pants in medium even though I could have gotten the small but because in general I have more bulky pants than my sweater/jacket I went with the medium and I think it was a good choice.

The Torrentshell jacket stows away in the left hand side pocket making it really easy to pack.

The color of the jacket is Classic Tan that I think that you can’t really buy anymore. It’s listed as a ‘sale product’ at patagonia.com but that was the one that I wanted.

Before I went with this set I was very close to buy the Marmot Precip set but the fact that the guys at the store said it couldn’t be stowed in it’s own pocket and that the hood doesn’t have a draw cord to cinch it down I went with the Patagonia (The Precip has got a velcro closure that people have complained about, not working well). The Marmot Precip is also a tad bit cheaper.

raingear

Details

  • H2No® Performance Standard shell with waterproof/breathable 2.5-layer nylon ripstop
  • 2-way-adjustable hood with a laminated visor rolls down and stows
  • Microfleece-lined neck provides comfort and protects waterproof/ breathable barrier
  • Center-front zipper features minimal welt storm flap that creates a zipper-garage chin guard
  • Pockets: two zippered handwarmers and venting pit zips; all with welted exterior storm flaps and DWR-treated zippers
  • Self-fabric hook-and-loop cuff closures and adjustable drawcord hem seal out elements
  • Stows in self-stuff handwarmer pocket with carabiner clip-in loop
  • H2No® Performance Standard shell: 2.5-layer, 2.6-oz 50-denier 100% nylon ripstop with a waterproof/breathable barrier and a Deluge® DWR (durable water repellent) finish
  • 346 g (12.2 oz)
  • Made in Vietnam.