Mega Gear Review

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Mega Gear Review

Postby ninjapuppet » Sun 01 May, 2011 9:59 pm

After a 2 week mountaineering course in Alaska and armed with some basic mountaineering skills, some mates and I decided to try our luck on Mt Aspiring NZ over the easter. We managed a successful summit bid after the crappy easter weather cleared. It was a great chance to test a lot of new gear and gear which we’ve had but havnt yet used. Heres some reviews and my thoughts on the gear.

Bivy = (Bibler hooped bivy / Bibler Tripod bivy / OR Aurora Bivy / Hunka bivy)
My ultralight Bozeman mountainworks 175g bivy would not be suitable in alpine conditions so it stayed home. My mate’s tripod bivy was abit over kill weighing in at over 1.2kg and had the largest pack size. My bibler bivy was 100g heavier than the aurora and packed slightly bigger, but both suffered severe condensation on the bottom side. As an emergency shelter, they all did their job well and kept rain off. I guess the winner here is the aurora bivy for being the lightest emergency shelter that did its job and comes seam taped. My bibler required seam sealing. I have just acquired a Hunka bivy which remains untested but all reviews appear positive for it to be used as a standalone alpine bivy at 420g and costing only 30 pounds.
http://www.alpkit.com/shop/cart.php?target=product&product_id=16312&category_id=253



Boots = (Millet Alpinist / Lasportiva Nepal Evo / Asolo blue plastic boots)
The Asolo plastic boots were double boots so I could sleep with the inners overnight. They were very easy to wear in because any friction caused was mostly between the inner/outer boots. My millets were single boots but were very warm (and heavy). For some reason my luggage was lost in transit when I was due to head to Aspiring, so I had to rent the Evos. Everyone in NZ seemed to wear the Nepal evos. Boots are a very foot-specific item, and my favourites certainly wont be someone else’s fav but I found the rented Nepal Evos more comfy than my Millets. My millets have started to rust at the lace hooks which isn’t reassuring. The plastic boots are probally more better suited to extreme cold below 10 degrees otherwise the winner here would be the Nepal Evos.

PACKS = (BD quantum / Mountain Hardwear South Col / Macpac Ascent)
The ascent is the classic gold standard, but is unstrippable, heavier and I didn’t feel was as innovate as the other 2 packs for a mountaineering specific pack. The south Col weighs similar to the quantum but feels much more robust. The Quantum developed small holes at the back when it was rested against some sharp rocks. The south col pack is 1.7kg but can strip right down to about 800g for the summit bid when required. Its got a lot of attachments for gear, but the attachments can be hidden away inside if you need a clean sleek pack. Its not as comfy as the new macpacs, but it still carries well.
Winner: Mountain hardwear South Col.

Sleeping bags = (WM antelope GWS / WM antelope microfiber / WM versalite)
It was the first time I used my antelope and was keen to see how it would go. Most of the time was spent in huts so these bags were just plain overkill. The microfiber antelope did appear to suffer a lot more down leakage than my GWS.

Sleeping mat = (Neoair Ridgerest Solar Vs Downmat 7 DLX)
The ridgerest solar was just plain too bulky, being significantly bigger than the standard ridgerest. I Did sleep on snow with it one night and slept well as a standalone mat down to -8C with my antelope. Tried my neoair with a emergency blanklet doubled up underneath, and another one doubled up on top of the neoair and it worked well most of the night but started getting very chilly towards 5am on a -6C night on snow. Didn’t get a chance to test the downmat but I’m sure that would have been the winner at a fraction the size of the solar. It does weigh more than double the solar, but I would rather it be compact & heavy, than super bulky and lighter.

Helmet = (Petzl elios Vs BD Half dome)
The petzl is slightly lighter and more stylish but I found the half dome much more comfy. The attachments on the petzl are superior and if you wear it with a beanie, the discomfort issue is negligible after a while when you don’t notice it on your head anymore.
Winner: Petzl elios.

Harness = (Petzl adjama / Petzl calidris / BD couloir / BD momentum / BD momentum DS / BD momentum SA)
The 2 petzl above are heavy and its gear loops are inferior. After taking toilet dump, the hook at the back is difficult to reattach. If you rub your thighs together, they make an annoying sound.
I hate petzl harnesses. Full stop.
The basic momentum is cheap and works ok if you don’t go climbing often but the leg loops aren’t adjustable. The waist strap on the DS and SA are much better than the basic momentum. The SA (speed adjust) comes with a strong haul loop which the DS (dual speed) doesn’t. The DS is good to keep your belay loop centered with its 2 waist adjustments and is more accommodating if you don’t get the correct size because the next size up overlaps with the previous size by a lot.
Winner: BD momentum SA (provided you get the correct size that fits you)


General Crampons = (Grivel G10 / Grivel G12 / Petzl vasak / BD sabretooth Pro)
I love the grivel G12s but they appeared to rust a lot after each trip unless they are well oiled before packing away. The G10 not only have 2 points less than the G12, but the points are all shorter especially the front points. This makes them unsuitable for very steep snow but they do weigh 200g less. Petzl vasak appear thinner and lighter, but on the scales they are just as heavy as the BD and grivels. Their attachment is slightly more fickly and they rust just as bad as the Grivels.
BD sabrebooth are made of stainless steel instead of chromolly and I did find them to show a tiny bit of surface rust but they it wipe off very easily. I absolutely love them, Though they blunt more easily than the Grivels. BD also make the Neve which are half the weight and made of aluminium. Only really suited to snow-only terrain because it will blunt very quickly when any rock is involved.
Winner: Sabretooth Pro for steeper snow or Grivel G10 for less steep mixed rock/ice.

Ice axe = (Grivel Nepal SA vs BD Raven Pro Vs Raven Ultra)
I didn’t really like the Grivels. Made of carbon steel they are abit harder than stainless steel but you have to sharpen them yourself when you first buy them. It takes a while to sharpen this steel. The Black diamonds on the other hand come already sharp, but unlike the Grivels, Black diamond make you buy all the accessories separately like tip protectors, spike protectors and leashes which can add up costs very quickly. I don’t know enough about mountaineering to know all the ins and outs of each model, but I like the Raven ultra for its lightest weight and its orange colour matches my pack. The Raven Pro has a more comfortable head than the ultra when used as a walking stick and its spike is a separate piece of metal so it blunts less easily than the ultra. For my purposes, all did their job perfectly and I cant really complain about any of them but to pick a winner would probally be the Ultra.
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Clothing review

Postby ninjapuppet » Sun 01 May, 2011 10:00 pm

Sunnies = (julbo dogan vs julbo explorer cameleon)
Julbo pretty have this section of the market to themselves as there are very few other competitors that make glacier-specific sunnies. I found the cameleon more comfortable to wear on the snow and the arms can be bent to accommodate your head. I could mould them to accommodate when I had a helmet on, beanies, bandanna, etc. The cameleon are also photochromatic so when I walked into a forest, they lightened up unlike the dolgans which stayed dark. If you have a big head, then the dolgan are probally better. The dolgan can also be worn around town without looking like a dork. The neck strap attach more securely on the explorers. The dolgans come with a hardcase while the explorers come with a soft case. Unfortunately the cameleons cost 3x more than the dolgans but I would probally still pick them as the winner despite the cost.


Hardshell = (Macpac prophet XPD vs Millet golden axe stretch)
It seems unfair to compare a hardshell to a softshell but the Millet really does appear to be a hardshell and its waterproof rating of 10,000mm HH. Both of these jackets appear very similar.
My friends each had several mountaineering hardshells including the legendary Arc’tyrx Beta AR, but I only really know these 2 well. I like the Millet’s green more and Millets sizing is more true to size unlike the macpac’s sizing which appears 1.5 sizes too large.
My last review mentioned how I thought Macpac XPD’s hood system was innovative until I found out the Millet had exactly the same hood/visor system! Don’t know who copied who, but the Millets have been around for a very long time. Both are very similar jackets except macpac’s use of eVent.
Winner: inconclusive but I would imagine the eVent fabric to be more useful over the long run from reports I have read.

Storm pants (Macpac Prophet / Montane eVent / MH escape / MH beryllium)
These are all mine so I know them well. The macpac prophet pants only have 1 small pocket on the L which was annoying. The shoulder straps have a hard edge where the straps are burnt/singed off so they dig into my upper back. The montane are are great and lightweight with a good standard design. Both the Mountain hardwear pants appear to be the same design except the escape uses the older goretex performance and the beryllium uses the goretex pro which breaths better and is lighter. It developed a hole when I was practicing self arrest and a crampon made its way through the fabric above the gaitors. All these pants are very simlar but I would say I like the burly MH escape gets my pick.

Gloves = (BD guide / BD specialist / MH Bazuka / OR alti gloves)
The Bazuka are the most burliest gloves Ive ever seen. However They are a single layer glove and very thick. Designed to be used in extreme cold, it doesn’t make sense to me because once it gets wet, it stays wet. Its leather also becomes very heavy once wet. I prefer a layered approach of 1 or 2 liners with an outer. The specialist were perfect for the NZ autumn. I did experience –much colder temps in Alaska and found the guide gloves were perfect there. My mate also couldn’t complain about his alti gloves in the Alaskan snow in spring.

Snow gaitors (OR expedition crocs)
All of us had these gaiters and none developed holes or rips by the end of the 2 trips. Mine still have fang marks from a previous snake bite, but all 4 gaiters came back in perfect condition. Highly recommended.
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Misc Gear

Postby ninjapuppet » Sun 01 May, 2011 10:01 pm

Knives = (Kershaw carabiner knife vs buck flashpoint knife / Petzl spatha)
The Kershaw knife is absolute rubbish. The idea is great but its quality is severly lacking. The petzl spatha is advertised as a mountaineering knife but I found it exterely difficult to open 1-handed.
Winner: buck flashpoint knife The only times I needed it was to cut cheese for lunch, and chop up my apple for breakfast. My mate did also used it to cut off excess leash from his ice axe because it was dangling abit.

Water bottles
Nalgene canteens. All 4 of us had one, and all 4 leaked! Maybe the ice formed inside and cut pinholes into the canteens but let this be a lesson to all of you not to use it in subzero temps.
We also had Nalgene 1L bottles which none leaked. I put mine in an outdoor research bottle parka and it worked great.

Lighter (silva helios)
Rubbish. As soon as I hit 2000m altitude, it would only work once in every 10 times. The good ol bic was fine most the time but the trusty firesteel spark worked 100% of the time. When I came back down to sea level, the helios worked perfectly again.

Weather meter = (adc pro / Kestrel 4500NV)
Both showed exactly the same measurements for temp, altitude and wind so I deem them both accurate. The kestrel’s night vision is ok to see in daylight and probally abit more professional. Last year my adcpro leaked in the rain so I wasn’t willing to test it again in the water, so winner is probally the kestrel. Tho, if you’re on a budget, the ADCPro is equaly accurate at a fraction of the cost. My casio protrek watch is totally inacuurate compared to these weather instruments.

PLB Vs spot2
Get this guys: my friend’s spot 2 malfunctioned!!!!!!
Ok, its lighter and its great when it works, but it kept emitting 3 flashes of red. Changed to fresh lithium batteries and same thing happened. Called up hotline in US, then the UK, and finally helpdesk concluded there was a malfunction in the unit! Sent the unit in and they agreed to replace it for free, but had we required its usage, we would have been cactus. I already put my PLB to the test last November and had it replaced to a new unit and I am 100% confident it will work when the manure hits the fan.

IMG_2038.JPG


Helmet camera = (gopro HD 1080 / Contour 1080 HD / cheapo ebay one)
Had 2 days rafting some alaskan white water so we got these headcams. Still quite new to them but heres a quick summary.
The cheapo ebay one was $80 and produced surprisingly good results! In essence, the video / sound quality produced from these were equally on par.
The gopro is not waterproof so a casing was required. it comes with a headband easily attches to my helmet. Being in a waterproof casing, its sound is muffled so in general sound was more poor. Theres only 2 buttons so its much harder to use than the contour because you have to go thru its menu system. It can take photos while the contour cant - That’s real bummer for me with the contour.
Its video format is mpeg so its easier to edit for me than contour’s quicktime however mpeg files generated are much larger (18gb vs 5gb for similar video footage). It looks clumsy and stupid compared to the contour’s sleek looks. It uses SD card rather than the contour’s MicroSD. Battery life appears to be similar for both but the gopro’s battery is impossible to remove without a screwdriver or tools. The contour’s control compartment has a better design so spare batteries were easily replaced in the field. To record on the contour, you simply slide the button forward. The casing on the gopro requires you to press very firmly for it to record, so some of our crazy actions rafting down mini-waterfalls were missed on the gopro.
Contour is water resistant and our splashes and dips into the water were survived all fine. To go diving with it however you will need a casing which I didn’t buy.
IMG_2036.JPG
Last edited by ninjapuppet on Sun 01 May, 2011 10:39 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Tent Review

Postby ninjapuppet » Sun 01 May, 2011 10:09 pm

Shangrila 3 Vs Duomid cuben fibre
This was a docile 2 day fishing trip along a river bank. No winds, no snow. Only -5 degree weather.
Setup was much easier in the rectangular duomid compared to the pentagonic shape of the SL3.
I forgot to bring my trekking poles so for the Duomid so I just used a tree branch which worked really well. There were lots of condensation early in the night which all ran down the sides of the duomid, but the SL3 did drip some. By midnight, all the condensation had froze so it was no longer a problem.
Duomid has 1 vent compared to SL3’s 3 vents and door opening at the top so duomid did have slightly more condensation. Winner: inconclusive. More testing needs to be done but I really do like the duomid due to its light weight and probally be the one I would take along more often. 3 people can fit inside a duomid more easily than 2 people fit in some so-called “2 man tents”

DSC05369.JPG
branch used to prop tent up
DSC05369.JPG (102.56 KiB) Viewed 15911 times


DSC05379.JPG
Duomid Vs Shangri-La 3
DSC05379.JPG (123.09 KiB) Viewed 15911 times


Tint (aussies say tent) (Hilleberg jannu Vs Brooks Range Rocket)
This was the one I was waiting for. A shootout between my 2 mountaineering tents. We were told not to bring tents as huts were to be used, but I saw it as a cool opportunity to put them to the test. It was a burden to carry them, but all worth it in the end. One weighs 1kg while the Hilleberg weighs 3x as much and costs abit more.
There was a strong gale force warning over the easter Saturday and we had already bunkered down into the new colin todd hut for 5 days due to bad weather. It was only refurbished in January this year. Once the rain reduced enough for us to get out of the hut, we used all the mountaineering gear we had at our disposal to rig up the tents near the hut. Colin Todd hut was chosen for its location to be as windy as possible so that snow wouldn’t build up. Ice anchors, snow pickets, cams, quickdraws, nuts, ice screws – everything! The wind already registered 108kph gusts while we were setting up the tent. We ran back inside the hut and started to prey that we wouldn’t loose our rack to the wind. That night the winds picked up even more and blew so hard that the hut walls were banging against my head as was leaning against the wall. Non stop howling of the wind all night which died down in the morning. Got out at 7am Easter Sunday and it was relatively calm, -9C and skies were actually clear for the first time in 5 days. Relieved to see both tents still there, but then to my horror, 2 of my Jannu tent poles broke!!!! Ran over to the rocket which was set up with Leki trekking poles, and it was still in perfect condition! All anchors heldfast.
Winner: rocket tent. I was actually really disappointed with the jannu, but to be fair, winds were the strongest Ive ever experienced in my life and the jannu could have been doubled up with 2 sets of poles. All this does, is confirm my confidence in the Rocket, and I am sure Hilleberg will only be happy to hear about my story and offer replacement poles.
Last edited by ninjapuppet on Sun 01 May, 2011 10:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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web issues

Postby ninjapuppet » Sun 01 May, 2011 10:25 pm

For some reason I cant upload any photos???

is everyone else having this problem?
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Re: Mega Gear Review

Postby sef » Sun 01 May, 2011 11:03 pm

Fantastic reviews. Congrats on the summit-- been a quiet season up there I gather.
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Re: Mega Gear Review

Postby cams » Mon 02 May, 2011 11:14 am

Great reviews. Just wondering what you look for in a mountaineering pack as opposed to a standard lightweight hiking pack? More robust? Needs to carry heavier loads?
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Re: Mega Gear Review

Postby ninjapuppet » Mon 02 May, 2011 11:47 am

Most lightweight packs dont have enough attachments eg for crampons.
I iniitally used my One Planet McMillan for mountaineering but during the mountaineering course found it was abit too wide and probally a tad big at 85L. Mountaineering specific packs tend to be around 65-75l range with a slimmer profile.
My mountaineering loads tend to be around 20kg, rather than the 35kg which the mcmillan can handle.

http://www.mountainhardwear.com/South-Col%E2%84%A2-70/OU4058,default,pd.html
The South col pack's ice tool attachments allow a faster clip on/clip off of ice tools than traditional attachments. Mountaineers often only carry 1 trekking pole so the pack only has 1 holder for the trek pole. its got a separate strap to cinch down the climbing rope, and got a helmet holder.
Theres 2 pockets at the bottom to hold skiis and a nice daisy chain to attach heaps of other climbing gear if required.

Then when you are ready for the summit bid, you remove the top of the pack, remove the internal frame and change the thick waist belt for a simple strap to half its weight down to 800g. The quantum pack can also dissasemble like this method too http://www.sierradescents.com/reviews/packs/black-diamond/quantum-04a.jpg
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Mega Gear Review

Postby ULWalkingPhil » Mon 02 May, 2011 12:45 pm

Thanks for the great reviews, I read your report on the Jannu with the snapped poles, I believe the Jannu is made of the Kerlon 1200 material, I wonder if a tent with the Kerlon 1800 and the more heavy-duty poles supplied with the Kerlon 1800 tents would have held up in that storm, would have been interesting to see if a Kerlon 1800 tent would have held up in that storm. You could always double pole with the Jannu or any of the Hilleberg tents.

Some people thought it was a bit a overkill owning a Hilleberg Kerlon 1800 tent in QLD, a lot of you probably never been in a tropical storm we get in QLD. After owning my Hilleberg tent for only 2 months I've already encountered some very wild weather that I wonder if a Kerlon 1200 would still be standing,
at one recent camp, I was the only camper that woke up dry one morning after a storm during the night and one of very few tents still standing.
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Cooking gear

Postby ninjapuppet » Thu 05 May, 2011 8:09 am

jetboil Vs MSR reactor


My friends preferrred the jetboil while I preferred reactor (obviously we are biassed) so there was no clear winner among our concensus.
But here are some objective observations:

At moderate temperatures and low elevations at our backpackers, the reactor was only abit faster than the jetboil at boiling 500ml.
However at altitudes above 2000m, reactor KICKS *&%$#!! it toally outperformed the jetboil in times.
Cooking outside with abit of wind, and reactor again kicks *&%$#!. Reactor has a built in windshield but wind affected the jetboil a fair bit because we didnt bring a windsheild.
When the weather cooled down to minus 8C there was no noticable drop in reactor's performance while the jetboil really took a lot longer. Actually I set up the jetboil, and started lighting a fire. I managed to get a fire going with subborn wet wood even before the jetboil managed to boil 800mL (~ 10 minutes).
We used identical canisters and when the gas canisters started getting low, the jetboil would weaken considerably while the reactor kept going till empty (its regulated). However the new jetboil Sol is also regulated so this problem is moot in the newer models.

The reactor weighs 491g + a gas cylinder at 365g = 856g
I didnt get a chance to weigh my friends jetboil, but it was surely lighter and more compact at 1L compared to reactor's 1.7L.

another thing annoying for me was that the jetboil required you to place it on the stove and give it a twist to lock in for it to seat properly. I found this very fiddly. My friends found my reactor unsafe when you just seat it on the stove from any direction but i find this to be more of a convenience since I am mindful of not knocking my stove over.


Winner: you decide because we couldnt agree which was better.
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Re: Mega Gear Review

Postby icemancometh » Thu 15 Dec, 2011 9:47 am

The Quantum is way burlier than the South Col.

So far the better production climbing packs are made by small craft companies in the States and Europe. Blue Ice and Cilogear come to mind among others.
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Re: Mega Gear Review

Postby ninjapuppet » Fri 16 Dec, 2011 8:46 am

I have heard good things about cilogear and got one of Graham's 30:30 worksack waiting to be tested in the mountains next month
http://www.cilogear.com/

I did really like my Quantum's design, but it developed holes from normal usage. I find that unacceptable.
It seems to have been taken off the market by black diamond in march this year from too many complaints similar to mine.
A quick internet search can see how common this problem is, for example: http://www.backcountry.com/black-diamond-quantum-65-pack-3845-3967cu-in

My South col now looks hell dirty, but is 100% intact. The model has had a few cosmetic changes for 2011 and is still on the market.
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Re: Mega Gear Review

Postby jeremy089786 » Thu 29 Dec, 2011 3:33 pm

Wow, sweet reviews!!! Seems like you have been busy!

Which gear did you choose for the 10 peaks trip in the snowy's? How did it turn out?
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Re: Mega Gear Review

Postby icemancometh » Sat 07 Jan, 2012 9:30 pm

Cool, be keen to see what you think of the 30:30. I've owned both the South Col and Quantum and didn't like either to be honest. Nor the Ascent. Size/weight/attachment/lids among other things for climbing. That being said I have the Quantum for sale if anyone is keen.

RE the other poster's Q: not as wide a pack for climbing/smaller in size/more ease in stripping the pack(making it lighter)/removeable lid/hip belt/less padding/ice tool-ski attachments/weight.
Look at Cold Cold World or Hyper Lite Mountain Gear for an idea of what cool stuff has caught my eye for when I'm, ready to buy a new pack

Re the mat, I'm very surprised you went Downmat over the RidgeRest. The latter is bombproof and idiotproof. Maybe get the lighter/thinner one in a shorter length? and attach it where you would normally put your crampons. Seen way too many uncomfortable Downmats get returned for warranties to ever go somewhere cold with them. I've still got the old RidgeRest and use that whenever my climbing partners aren't stealing it.
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