More Gear Thoughts

There are still a few things I look forward to upgrading. I'm not doing it now because they are things for cold weather, and now is not the cold time of year.

I have three pairs of long underwear. One is a set of black REI branded polypro. I think they are at least 15 years old. They have seen a tremendous amount of usage, and are in poor shape. The second is a set of grey Patagonia Capillene. They are probably around 10 years old and aside from some serious sweat stains are still in good shape. The third pair is a set of very heavy military long underwear that has only been worn minimally and is in no need of replacement.

What I want is a set of Smartwool microweight long underwear, and possibly a set of Smartwool midweight long underwear. Book-reading tells me that the Smartwool will outperform the synthetics in every way.

I want a new OR bivouac sack. My OR Advanced Bivy is still in fine shape, but a smaller and lighter sack would be a bit more pleasant to carry around. The cheapest OR bivy is $129, and seems like it would work well for what I would use it for. Actually, this might be a Summer sort of purchase.

I have fantastic memories of just car camping with SAR. Sleeping out in the cold, and getting up to make breakfast. Through a SAR midnight hike I lost my Coleman big green box white gas stove. I've never replaced it, but I'm thinking I should. Another great item for camp is a Coleman white gas dual mantel lantern. Those are warm and bright. For the summer I plan to avoid any cooking due to fire hazards, so these can wait until the Fall.

Overall, things seem squared away on the gear front. I don't feel like I'll be at a disadvantage from a lack of equipment. I need to reacquire a lot of skill again I'm sure. And endurance. I'm not in good enough shape to just trek off on a ten mile hike at a moments notice.