The Ultimate Pocket Camera? -- Sony RX100

The reviews are starting to come in and it appears that Sony may have hit one out of the park with the new Sony Cyber-Shot Rx100.  Small size, truly pocketable, big sensor, fast aperture, shoots raw, full HD video, ... The list goes on and on. 

For those of us weight weenies that are looking for an image making tool that we can have on us at all times​, hiking, biking, or strolling through towns, this could be an extremely exciting new camera.  Now that Sony is shipping units I am hoping to get a test body in my hands to give it a run through it's paces within the next week.

If you are already sold on the new camera, please consider using my Gear Store to make your purchase as it helps me to keep this site running and my belly full of Natural Peanut Butter

New UL kit coming together

I have been reworking my UL kit for the past month since everything I own has about 15K miles on it and was badly in need of replacing.  I will get some pics up this week but here are some teaser weights:​

• Warbonnet Hammock with whoopie sling suspension - 661g, complete​
• Hyperlite Mountain Gear Hammock Tarp - 281g​
• Easton stakes - 145g​
• Hyperlite Mountain Gear Pack - 807g​

My shelter setup comes in at 1087g, just shy of 2.3 pounds!!  OMG, that is incredible.  My complete cook kit is in at 738g (need to look at that) and my old Mountain Hardwear Sleeping bag (almost 4 years old and still going strong) is in at 893g.  That means my complete base weight is in at an astonishing 6 pounds!!  Fast and lite, there you go. 

Add Mukluk or Fargo, Kayak, a HMG pack, even a Alpacka packraft, some insulation clothing, water, food and fuel and you are off, well under 20 pounds.  I know that this kit can take me anywhere and in any conditions down to temps in the 30's.  Below that and I need to add an underquilt or pad for the hammock.​

Note: Those weights above include everything including stuff sacks.  There are no other items needed to venture forth, nothing else to add.  Everything was rigged for heading out so the weights are true.​

​Pictures later this week

Check out the HMG gear at: www.hyperlitemountaingear.com​

NDK Pilgrim Expedition

For those smaller paddlers looking for a great rough water or expedition kayak, be sure and check out the new NDK Pilgrim Expedition.  I had the opportunity to paddle the standard Pilgrim in Aglessey earlier this year, and finally got out in a Pilgrim Expedition earlier today.  It is really an amazing boat and one that could easily replace my trusty NDK Explorer. While I love the Explorer, for someone who is 5'7 or smaller, the Pilgrim Expedition offers a narrower beam with similar handling to the Explorer.  For me, the boat just fits and is a pleasure to paddle.

Check out the review at Ocean Paddler in this months issue or read the PDF file here.

UL Cook Kit

Here is a video highlighting the winter cook kit that I used on my bikepacking trip into the Chic Chocs.

350g Cook Kit

I am pretty excited to have gotten the weight of my cook kit down to 350g. This kit will represent my 3 season cook kit.  It is made up of a Snow Peak Ti pot; the Trangia Spirit Burner; the Trangia Triangle Wind Screen; and a home made Pot Stand.  Testing boil times yesterday with 20oz of refrigerator water did not deliver stellar boil times, somewhere in the neighborhood of 7-8 minutes.  For water that was at ambient temperature, I believe the times would have been in the 4-6 minutes, perfectly acceptable in my book.

The Trangia Spirit burner runs off of readily available denatured alchohol or one of the many other variants of accetpable fuel.  Winter camping is most likely the only time that I will not use this kit, especially for those scenarios where snow must be boiled.  Having spent the last 3 years using canister stoves, I am really anxious to go with a simpler, cheaper and more environmentally friendly way of cooking.  While I had delusions of going solely with wood, I will leave the Kelly Kettle for special outings.

In addition to the light weight, the total cost of this kit is quite small.  The Trangia Spirit burner cost me $20 and the triangle came in at $14.  I bought a $2 piece of steel rod to make my custom pot holder.  The Ti pot is the most expensive piece of kit, but that was provided to me by Snow Peak, and by no means is a Ti pot required.  Searches on the net reveal a whole host of DIY or inexpensive pots that do a perfectly fine job.

Advantages:

• Low cost
• Fuel readily available - Pharmacy, Hardware Stores, Gas Stations, etc.
• Approximately .8 ounces per 20 ounce boil, less if you cook with a cozy and just heat your water.
• No moving parts to break or foul
• Minimal waste

Disadvantages:

• Slower boil times
• Not suitable for extreme cold weather