2Heeldrive - Walk it off Wimp!

OutDoor Fair, FRIEDRICHSHAFEN, GERMANY, July 17th, 2008 — NeoAir™ mattress offers warmth, comfort and stability in ultra-light, compact package  -look for it to hit stores for the late 2008 or early 2009 season

OutDoor Fair, FRIEDRICHSHAFEN, GERMANY – Cascade Designs, Inc., the Seattle-based industry leader in the design and manufacture of premier outdoor equipment, today announced the April 2009 release of the Therm-a-Rest NeoAir mattress as part of the brand’s Fast & Light® series. The ultralight NeoAir mattress is a compact air mattress designed with patent-pending technologies that make it warm and comfortable when inflated for sleeping in the outdoors.

The Therm-a-Rest NeoAir mattress packs to the size of a one liter bottle and weighs only 14 ounces for a regular size, making it the perfect choice for people with strict weight and space limitations. When inflated, the NeoAir mattress is warm to sleep on, thanks to a patent-pending Reflective Barrier that reflects heat back to the user’s body and blocks cold from the ground. A second patent-pending technology, the Triangular Core Matrix, contributes to the warmth by creating a multitude of air cells that minimize air movement and convective cooling. This matrix also creates an internal truss system that virtually eliminates the instability generally found on large tube-based air mattresses and assures that the user will shift less while resting comfortably on a 2.5 inch-thick mattress. Since thermal efficiency is achieved without the aid of down or fiber insulation, the NeoAir mattress can be blown up directly, without the added weight of an air pump or having to worry about exhalation moisture wetting insulation and decreasing performance.

“Nearly forty years of hands-on mattress-building experience has been utilized to create the NeoAir mattress,” said Doug Jacot, Therm-a-Rest Business Manager. “That experience has been key in engineering the unique design and manufacturing process it takes to make this truly innovative air mattress.”

The Therm-a-Rest NeoAir mattress will be available in four sizes, ranging in retail price from $119.95 to $169.95 USD.

In addition to the Therm-a-Rest NeoAir mattress, the entire Therm-a-Rest Fast & Light series of mattresses and accessories are new, re-designed or updated. New products include the Therm-a-Rest Compack Chair, the lightest and most compact chair sleeve available for regular-width Therm-a-Rest mattresses, and the Therm-a-Rest SimplyDry Sack, an ultralight and waterproof roll top stuff sack for all Therm-a-Rest mattresses and accessories. The Therm-a-Rest ProLite 4 mattress is redesigned—now called the Therm-a-Rest ProLite Plus™—the mattress features innovative die-cut foam, making it 20% warmer than the original four-season ProLite 4 of the same weight. The Therm-a-Rest ProLite 3 mattress is also redesigned—now called the Therm-a-Rest ProLite™—the mattress features a new streamlined shape along with lighter fabric and foam, making it even lighter than the original Therm-a-Rest ProLite 3 mattress.

About the Therm-a-Rest® Brand

Therm-a-Rest, the original brand of Seattle-based Cascade Designs, Inc., has been the market leader in premium outdoor comfort for more than 35 years, designing the finest portable outdoor sleeping and seating solutions available. The brand’s commitment to quality manufacturing and innovation ensures that every product offers unrivaled comfort and reliability. All Therm-a-Rest mattresses are made in the Seattle, U.S.A. and Midleton, Ireland manufacturing facilities. For more information on Therm-a-Rest, visit www.thermarest.com.

Before you laugh, yes the name is silly, but this fleece is warm. My only complaint is that it’s not wind resistant. If you need a lightweight fleece that performs well, this is a good one. If your after a wind shell, this is not going to cut it. I have used this in light rain and stayed warm while moving and even after I stopped it kept off the chill. Once the wind blows, things change dramatically.

Here is what Mountain Hardware has to say.

When you are traveling light, this is the fleece to have. Monkey Phur is made from Polartec® Thermal Pro®, a fleece with extremely high warmth-to-weight ratio. You get outstanding warmth and extreme breathability for very little weight. The fabric also dries rapidly. Monkey Phur features Power Stretch® at the cuffs and lower hem to help seal the fit, and Power Stretch wrist panels that make it easy to push up the sleeves. The panels also reduce the bulk in these areas for use under hip belt, harness or gloves. There is a large front, Power Stretch patch pocket for an energy bar, a tube of lip balm, a pair of sunglasses or whatever else is in your light-and-fast travel kit.

Specifications:

Monkey Phur! A unique fuzzy fleece. Weight. 14oz.

• Fabric: Polartec Thermal Pro / Polartec Power Stretch
• Outstanding warmth without the weight
• Two front zip hand pockets
• Highly breathable
• Sealing Power Stretch cuffs, wrist panel and waist
• Chest pocket

This little stove is awesome! I have put it to the test in a variety of conditions except for high extreme altitude. It has traveled from Mt. Rainier to Eagle Cap Wilderness, to Mt. Adams and beyond. Over the past 3 yrs, it has performed very well and the piezo igniter has never failed to spark, not even once. Boil time is around 4.5 minutes for 1 liter.

I know there are lots of choices in stoves these days, and others have had mixed reviews with this one, but for me it has worked out very well. Not sure how plentiful they are these days, but you might just give it a go and see for yourself.

Specifications

I love these snowshoes, despite their price. This is the third winter I’ve used them. The winter season is ending so look for these snowshoes on clearance. These snowshoes come in two sizes, 22 and 25 inch. Everything is a compromise and snowshoe size is no exception. In many parts of the country the snow can be wet and heavy and these snowshoes excel in those conditions. If you travel in deep powder often then you would probably want the longer model.

I’ve used several brands of snowshoes, including rawhide snowshoes, which have an aesthetic appeal. I’ve made my own snowshoes out of pvc pipe and inner tubes for the do-it-yourself appeal.

I have the 25″ model and the actual weight is 3# 4.5 oz. In contrast, I have a 30″ pair of Yakima snowshoes that weigh 5# 3 oz.

I look for snowshoes to be rugged and reliable. Pay close attention to snowshoe bindings. If any one part of the binding breaks or fails, can you still make the binding serviceable? Are there enough straps so that if one breaks can you still walk back out to the trailhead? The MSR snowshoes are well constructed and thought out. The binding is the best I’ve seen on the market. With winter gloves on, you can get in and out of the bindings. You can also undo the two bootstraps and step out of them then later step back into them without having to readjust the heel strap. The bindings are sturdy and wet snow doesn’t stick to the bindings and decking.

These snowshoes offer great traction on almost any surface. You’ll appreciate the small amount of snow the tails kick up as you walk. As with any snowshoe, care should be taken when walking over rocks because that will dull the points. The points on these showshoes can be easily sharpened with some filing.

Weight is an important factor if you intend to walk more than a couple of miles a day. Think of strapping a can of green beans to your feet and walking around all day. Now think about two cans of green beans on each foot. That can be the difference between brands of showshoes. Lighter is supremely better.

When you strap your feet in, they stay where you put them and don’t slip sideways in the bindings. The binding pivot is limited enough so you can step backwards, but you do have to pick your feet up a lot. The snowshoes are sturdy enough you can jump off across ditches without warping the snowshoes.

These bindings also allow you to side-hill without your foot twisting or the snowshoe trying to match the angle of the slope. The teeth all around the snowshoe hold fast in all but loose snow on steep hills. The aluminum and synthetic decking material combine to provide a fairly quiet backcountry experience. Compare these to snowshoes with plastic decking on icy snow for noise level. Also beware of bindings that may squeak during use.

The only wear I can see is the exterior paint finish is chipping off in places but this doesn’t decrease the functionality of this snowshoe.

Switchback Steve

HISTORY

The Gear Weight Calculator (GWC) started out as a project to help members of the BackpackingLight (BPL) group at YahooGroups. There had been several discussions regarding how to use various spreadsheets, databases, etc. in an attempt to quickly calculate the weights of items taken on a backpacking trip.

I wanted to develop a simple application that would allow backpackers to create a list of all their gear, and then see at a glance the effect on pack weight of choosing one item over another. Thus, Version 1 of the GWC was born.

I was overwhelmed by the nice comments and suggestions I received from the BPL members! In fact, it was entirely due to their encouragement, suggestions, and support that the following versions were added. Several members of the group volunteered to act as “guinea pigs” to test new versions before I uploaded them to my web site (http://www.chrisibbeson.com/).

It still blows me away, when I think of the email I have received from backpackers all over the world who tell me they are using this application! I’m happy I’ve been able to make a small contribution to help other backpackers reduce pack weight, or just inventory their gear.

WHAT IT IS

A tool for inventorying gear and for helping to reduce pack weight.

The Gear Weight Calculator is a little application I wrote to easily see the total weight of backpacking gear that you will carry in your pack. It allows you to enter descriptions and weights of your gear, then select various items and see the total overall weight, and weights by categories.

You may print your gear list, export it to a text file, a comma-delimited file (for importing into spreadsheets and databases), or even e-mail your gear list to a friend who can then view their friend’s list in the application.

There are a few customizable options such as colors, printing fonts, etc.

TUTORIAL and INSTRUCTIONS

There is a tutorial for the application at the following link:

Gear Weight Calculator Tutorial

DOWNLOAD the GEAR WEIGHT CALCULATOR
You may download the GWC to your computer by clicking on this link:
Download the Gear Weight Calculator

Upon clicking the link, you will see a dialoque box with several choices. Choose “Save File” and then choose the location on your own hard drive to where you would like to save the GWC. Press “Enter” and wait a minute or so. Once it is saved to your machine, you can simply double-click on the “BPWeights.EXE” file and it should run.
Happy Gear-Weight Calculating !!

Chris Ibbeson