My Alaska Top 10 Gear List

I biked more than a 1,000 miles during the winter of 2013 in Alaska on roads, trails, beaches, ice and more ice, glaciers, and anything else that I could run my 45Nrth Husker Du's across. My Ti Mukluk took me wherever I asked, and did so with style, grace and incredible endurance.  It is without a doubt the finest bike I have ever owned, period, end of story....

During this trip I encountered sunshine, rain, sleet, snow, more snow, and lots of snow, along with  temperatures that ranged from a low of -36 to a high of 45 degrees.  Planning and executing a self supported bike trip that spans those types of conditions is challenging to say the least. 

As part of my ongoing attempt to pull together and share my thoughts and my lessons learned, I have come up with my top 10 pieces of gear (non bike related); a few honorable mentions; and a short list of what dissapointed me the most.  In the coming days I will add some more detail to why I chose what I did and why the gear that worked, really worked.

Grand Prize: My Prototype Hyperlite Mountain Gear Mid

Top 10:

1. Patagonia Houdini
2. Patagonia Cap 4 Hoody
3. NeoAir X Pad
4. Bryjne Wool Fishnet top
5. RBH VBL Socks
6. Wool Buff
7. Sea to Summit UL Sil Backpack
8. MSR Universal Stove
9. RBH Gloves
10. Exotac Tool

Honorable Mention:

1. Goal Zero Guide 10 Plus packs
2. Apple Ipad Mini
3. Princeton Tec Light
4. O/R Insulated Sleeves

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Fatbike festival, Homer AK

Most Dissapointing:

1. Mammut Ultimate Hoody
2. Nokia Lumia 920
3. Swedish Fire Steel
4. Delorme InReach

More details on why stuff worked and why it didn't.  I love the fact that the two top pieces of gear on my list cost me less than $200 combined and were worn more than 90% of the ENTIRE trip.  They are without a doubt two of the most amazing pieces of clothing available to the outdoor enthusiast.

Photographic Gear:

• Nikon D800E - Still the greatest camera I have ever owned
• Zeiss Makro Planar 50/2 - My goto lens
• Zeiss Distagon 21/2,8 - An unbelievalbe wide angle lens
• Zeiss Makro Planar 100/1,4 - One of Zeiss's best pieces of glass ever!
• Sony NEX-7 with Sony 50/1,4 - This was my goto grab camera while on the bike

The kit worked brilliantly, albeit a little large for a bike tour.  However, I knew that with two months in Alaska I was going to encounter stunning scenery and I wanted absolutely the best gear possible for that trip. 

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Note: The links above are to the products on BHPhoto, my preferred source for photography kit.  Purchasing using these links provides me a small commission and costs you nothing.  These small commissions help me to pay for the web site and the exposure site where I share my stories and images.

Nikon D600

Nikon has finally release what is sure to be a best seller, the new Nikon D600.  The D600 is an entry level FF DSLR that is sure to be a great transition for those looking to move up from  APS-C ​bodies.  The new 24.3 MP CMOS sensor will undoubtedly provide outstanding low light capabilities traditionally found in Nikon's FF bodies along with the enhanced Depth of Field associated with FF sensors. 

From my standpoint to major items are of interest to the traveling photographer.  First is the outstanding price-point, with an MSRP of $2099  which is almost $1K cheaper than the D800. Secondly will be access to all of the amazing wide angle glass that is available for Nikon F mount cameras.  The world of wide angle lenses has been the achiles heal of the APS-C cameras, and now with the D600, shooters will be able to really take advantage of all that spectacular glass.

A full review of the camera is available at DPreview.com​

The D600 is now available for pre-order at Amazon.​

Fast Full Frame Primes

If you are an adventure traveler at all concerned with the two conflicting goals of taking high quality images and carrying lightweight gear, then you will be excited to hear about some new lens developments.  Voigtlander has recently begun announcing and releasing some beautiful full frame primes for Nikon F mount cameras.  What does this mean for you?  Well all of a sudden the difference between taking a P&S or even high end mirrorless camera and that full frame D700/D800 becomes much smaller.​

Voigtlander Color Skopar 28 2,8​

The newly announced Voigtlander 28 2.8 wide angle lens weighs in at less than 200g, which means that paired with a Nikon D800 you have a full frame system weighing right around 3 pounds.  That is certainly a number that I can work with.  The new Fuji x1-pro weighs in at 2 pounds, so you can see that with a few small primes, that Nikon camera is no longer the beast that it was before.  ​

Rumor has it that Voiglander has a few more primes on the way and I have even heard talk that Nikon itself will be entering into this pancake market.  Out on the trail, where weight reigns supreme, I would willingly give up on AF in return for lightweight primes that would allow me to take a FF Nikon body.  Oh, how happy Galen would be!​

More on the Voigtlander announcement here.​

Hard Drives on the Road

One of the challenges of being a photographer and an adventure traveller, is how to safely store your electronic media.  Over the past 3 years I have tried numerous solutions, and while some have worked, some have been catastrophic.  The most damaging incident to date was a complete failure of 3 waterproof items as I was paddling up the Atlantic Coast.

First, my dry bulk head on my kayak failed, filling with water.  Next up, the two dry bags that stored my computer and external hard drive both failed. The end result was a dead computer and dead hard drives, both irreparably lost.  From that point on I have been searching for some form of solution that would provide me with adequate protection of both my gear and my data.

500gb drive next to pen w/cableEarlier this year I discovered a company called IoSafe, a relatively new company that makes ruggedized hard drives.  I was very impressed with the details and reviews, and after locating a good deal on Amazon, I was able to acquire several of their 500gb drives.  These drives are brilliant, built out of a solid block of Aluminum they offer the following:

• Crush proof
• Drop protection
• Immersion protection !!
• Multiple data connectors, USB 2.0, FireWire 800
• Data Recovery Service

Three drives stacked. Pen and small NEX lens for scaleThe drives are not light as standard 500GB external drives, but are clearly designed to take abuse.  The moment you pick them up you will not worry about how you treat these drives, safe in the knowledge that they are incredibly rugged and durable. The drives come standard with a data recovery package that you activate once you put them into operation.  This is another worthwhile item for those of us entrusting our hard drives to safe guard our digital media.

I have now had my 3 drives for 3 months and am able to say they work fantastically.  The drives use a standard Micro-B USB cable for connection purposes.  My 3 have worked as advertised, seem relatively fast, with no issues to date.  I noticed that they now have a 500gb version with a FireWire interface which will make them even faster for users requiring maximum speed.

One last thing to note about these great drives.  On one occasion I needed to contact IoSafe about some questions I had.  Much to my surprise, the person that chose to respond to me was the CEO of the company.  I was taken back by this personal response; something that is sorely missing in today's modern 'out-sourced' world.  Thinking I was getting some form of automated response, I began a dialogue that proved I was indeed speaking with the CEO.  To prove this was not a single instance, I had some questions last week that I addressed directly to the CEO, and once again, my questions were answered near instantaneously. 

These events have nothing to do with the ruggedness or durability of the drives but they do certainly speak to the commitment of a small company trying to produce an excellent product.  I could have written about these drives when I first purchased them, but I wanted to actually use and evaluate them before sharing my thoughts.  The drives and the company have not let me down and I highly recommend the products.

You can purchase them directly through IoSafe or through my Amazon link, ioSafe Rugged Portable 500 GB USB 3.0 External Hard Drive (PA50500U1YR) .