REI Sale 5/15/15-5/25/15

Yet again REI tempts me with things I want, at a significant discount.

Mind you, want is the operative word here. I've got most everything I need but there's plenty I still want to get.

To take full advantage of this, first you'll need a Membership. Totally worth the $20 to join, especially because you get a 20% off any one full-price item, and any one outlet item. But after that, here are some of the things I'm tempted to get myself.

ENO Singlenest Hammock $41.89  - Down from $59 As Seen Here my current hammock is one of my least favorite pieces of gear. The nylon part of the hammock has yet to fail me, but it annoys me a little how eagerly it swallows me up, since the 302 is designed for 2 people. the singlenest would be a solo hammock and less likely to gobble me up. If I succumb to this temptation, I'm going for the Orange/Gray one.

100 fl oz camelbak $26.19 - Down from $35. Love my camelbak, not unhappy with it in the slightest. Except for capacity. I can drain the 50 fl oz bladder pretty easily, so a 100 fl oz upgrade has a lot of appeal. Only downside? this would be even more of a pain to get in/out of my baltoro. Would definitely have to filter-in-bag to refill that.

Passage 2 Footprint - Not discounted, going for $23.50. Using my discount coupon would knock that down to $18.80. I like having the footprint for my Base Camp tent, so I'm tempted to get the Passage 2's. Especially since you can combine fly, poles and footprint to make an ultralight tent solution.

Some other things that I myself am not buying (because I already have them or something that fills the role) but you might want to consider:

Snow Peak 900 Cookset - Same one you see me using quite often on here! Not discounted, but a good target for your member's 20% off!

Backpacks - Sale like this is an excellent time to pick up a pack, the only better time is potentially their garage sales.

Tents - Same for tents! these sales are great for picking up a portable piece of shelter.

Wish List: Inexpensive Canister Lantern

Now, I'm not certain how useful it'd be, or if it'd be worth it's space and weight... Likely, I suspect that I'll be better off calling it an early night, using my headlamp if I need to be active in the dark, and that my fuel is better off used for cooking than illumination... but there's something about this Canister Lantern that appeals to me. Car camping I'm accustomed to having my coleman stove and my coleman lantern. backpacking, I have several stove options that you've already seen my reviews of... but no real lantern options. I've seen some battery lanterns, even little LED ones that'd take up very little space... but they just don't call out to me the way this does.

I found this on Amazon when I got curious if there were any such devices after writing my Coleman Lantern Review. REI has a Snow Peak (same people who made my titanium pot!) Canister Lantern for $75. Which is surprisingly expensive. Even the less expensive Amazon Option is pricy at $20 relative to the stove I picked up for $6. But I'll take $20 over $75, no questions asked. The reviews seem to indicate that it's as much a radiant heater as a lantern, which makes me think this might be more worthwhile in adverse conditions/colder weather than something I'd need on a summer hike. Unsurprisingly, it indicates they're a bit of a fuel hog too. 

Probably not NECESSARY gear, but it'd be neat to have and try out at least. For now, I've got better things to drop $20 on. For now.

Wish List: MSR Groundhog Stakes, 100oz Camelbak Reservoir.

When I bought my used Passage 2 tent, it came with a bunch of aluminum J stakes ... but not enough of them. All told, it needs 8 stakes to fully raise the tent and guy out the rain fly. Sadly, it only came with 6 of the necessary 8. For testing purposes I just borrowed some of the steel stakes that came with my Base Camp 6. Those are a bit heavier than I like for a backpacking tent though. I'm not the most confident in the j stakes that the tent came with either. They seemed decent enough in optimal conditions, but I suspect the reason there are only 6 may lie in two of the originals breaking.

So, I did some reading, and the MSR Groundhog stakes come pretty well reviewed. Lighter than the steel stakes, even if they are heavier than the J stakes, they look like something that's worth the added weight. I have a lot more confidence in their design, particularly in sub-optimal conditions, than I do in the simple aluminum stakes. If I recall correctly, Bob's old LL Bean backpacking tent could use a couple stakes (I'm pretty sure it was one or two short there at flint ridge and we had to improvise with local materials) and what I might do is anchor the main tent with 4 Groundhog stakes, and use 4 of the J stakes for the Rainfly.

Additionally, I'd like a bigger hydration reservoir. My first Camelbak was actually purchased for use while skiing. Just a 50 ounce reservoir in a bag large enough to only hold it and nothing else. Kept it warm enough not to freeze, and on one or two occasions, served as an impromptu sled. More than once I'd fallen and landed on my back, my skis popped off, and a full reservoir served to elevate me off the ground and let me slide halfway down a run. It was one of their older model bags though, and when I broke my leg, we forgot to drain it for a few months. It picked up an indelible funk that I still haven't managed to purge, even with multiple dilute bleach, vinegar and denture cleaner rinses (not all at once, each one seperate). I'm thinking of using it as a Dirty Bag for a filter system. Might be able to salvage it that way. Because it's an older model bag, it doesn't have the quick-lock coupling system that my replacement has.

Speaking of that replacement (one of their modern Antidote model bags), since I wanted to be able to put it in the same sno bowl pack that my first one went in, I picked up another 50oz. Now that I'm getting out on the trails, I'm finding 50 ounces a little lacking. I want to grab a 100oz Antidote reservoir and leave it in the hydration pouch on my Gregory Baltoro. I'll just have to remember to send a bit of the Sweetwater drops down the tube before I pump into the bag.