Thursday, April 9, 2015

12 Days to Trail - Last Minute Gear

Hello Connecticut!  And the final 12 days of packing out!  I have been getting my last bits of gear together, phew, and am almost all set.  I'm really excited for a Costco shopping spree next week!

The three big pieces of gear are getting upgraded now. That's my pack, my sleeping bag, and my sleeping pad.  What happened?  Well, my old pack got weighed this morning and it's a whopping 6 lbs without ANYTHING IN IT!  My new pack is too small.  I think I was in denial because I really didn't want to invest in another pack.  The new pack wasn't meant for trail actually, just for day trips and city living.  I got it before I decided to do a thru hike.  I got a little freaked out because I leave in 12 days, but I called ULA Equipment to ask about the shipping time on the pack I want and they said if I place my order in the next 2 hours it'll ship out today and get to me in CT mid next week! Perfect! Done. (edited to add: OMG Email confirmed it just shipped!)  Here she is, what should I name her??  Suggestions welcome!!
The Circuit! 2.5 lbs of awesome

Then there is my Thermarest, which I have been trying to get back for months from our cabin in upstate NY.  It was not picked up when requested and so I found myself without a sleeping pad. Oops.  Which means, I get to invest in a newer, lighter weight one. At first I wasn't sure I wanted to get this bad boy because it crinkles a lot when you move on it, but all I hear is awesome stuff about it. The sleeping bag rubbing on fabric makes noise anyway, so I don't think I'll notice it as much as I'm worried about.  Also my anxiety insomnia goes away when I'm on trail so I shouldn't be as sensitive to noise as I am now.  Here it is.  I got the short one because I'm short and it's cheaper!  Yay being short.  Not in ANY stores though.  So it's also gotta be shipped.
Thermarest NeoAir XLite

Also, after extensive research, I discovered that the reason my sleeping bag did NOT keep me warm in Alaska is because the loft died.  Well the fluffiness, to be less technical, has been worn down. Also it's a 20F bag, which is just NOT warm enough for me.  I am pretty much always cold unless it is in the 80's.  I sleep best in the high 70's.  I know I'm crazy.  It's weird because my body temp is actually lower than average, but my blood pressure is low and so I think it's a circulation thing.  When I was studying in Switzerland, my doctor told me I should increase my salt and red wine consumption to help!  Maybe I'll dehydrate some red wine?  Anywhoozelbees, I've been exceptionally overwhelmed with the price tag on sleeping bags.  Rather, on good sleeping bags.  REI didn't come through in their selection, but EMS, our east coast outdoors store potentially did.  I'm still undecided and may have to put in an order online because I'm still short.

Western Mountaineering has the bag I really want, the Versalite at 10F, but at $545 I don't know that I can do that... Maybe next year? or in another 10 years?

EDITED:  I got this one!  EMS is clearing them out and they are super low on Women's and have a 20% discount on top of the clearance, so bam!
EMS Mountain Lite 15 Women's - sorry no link.  They don't sell them online anymore

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