After a bunch of new gear came in the mail my buddy and I once again decided we should head out into state land and set up shop for a night.
I got to test the new superfly, hammock gear UQ, BRS-8 stove, some reflectix, and some dry bags and compression sacks.
I hung the superfly and it took about 30 minutes to get the guy lines attached.
For the four main tie outs I decided to use a shock cord attached to the tarp that had a prussic knot around line that went to the stake. For the doors I went with just a loop of shock cord.
I really liked this setup as the shock cord with the prussic really supplied a great deal of adjustability. Winds picked up around 4 or 5 in the morning and everything held nice and tight.
The HG UQ held up very well and it was the greatest thing coming from using a pad. For having never used a UQ before I had an easy time getting it set up and adjusted to where I thought I would need it. I never had to readjust it the entire night and pretty much forgot it was there.
Now for the BRS-8 Liquid Fuel Stove. I bought this stove off of dealextreme (it's also sold at a higher price at amazon) and had my concerns. If you don't know what dealextreme is, it is a china based company/website that sells all sorts of item for cheaper than dirt prices. Some items are knock offs, some items are the real deal. They offer free shipping on everything and if you're willing to wait the 1 month ship time and love cheap stuff this website is for you. So anyway - I picked up the stove for about $50 as I didn't really want to spend $100+ on an MSR product.
I was not disappointed at all. Everything worked the way it should and had 0 issues. I forgot to weigh it and I imagine it is heavier than it's MSR counterpart. But for $50 and flawless performance I'm not complaining about the weight.
The honorable mention on this trip was a plain ol roll of reflectix. This stuff is ultra handy. My friend and I each cut a 2'x2' piece off of the big roll and used them for everything the whole trip. They made great sit pads. I could sit directly on the snow with this stuff and I could feel the snow but it wasn't making me cold. When we weren't directly using them we used it as a layer to store gear on the snow.
I learned this trip that my boots weren't really that waterproof. My pants and my socks were soaked by mid day. I took the reflectix pieces and made a drying oven which worked brilliantly.
From here on out, I'm sold on the stuff. I plan on folding up a 2'x2' piece and packing it on all of my trips. It's too convenient and multipurpose to not have. My only qualm is that the reflective material on both sides rubs a bit too easily. By the end of the trip both of our sheets were pretty much just clear plastic bubble wrap.
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Originally Posted by cjayflo
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