Gear-Reviews – Introduction

 

 

 

On this page you will find:

Quick links to our gear review categories:

Sleeping StuffTent / BivyFlashlights Batteries StovesFoodWater & FiltrationCutleryPhotographyFootwearBackpacksMiscellaneous

 Let's start with:

"Don't follow our advice!"

Here's what we mean by that: use our advice as a guide only!
The reviewing process remains subjective, even when trying to be objective. Some hikers have 'personal favourites' that might seem just okay to one person, might be ideal to another, and completely unnecessary to others. It would be a sad day if on any given trip, one encounters every hiker with the exact same equipment. Diversity is what makes us unique people.

How far does the ultralight hiker go? My wedding ring weighs approximately 4.0 grams (0.14 oz). Do I take this extra weight on a hike? Sure I do! 

So, use the reviews as a guide, or as supplementary information to make your choices. And if you think we are correct in our evaluation, that's okay too.

We're always willing to listen to your comment on a particular product, and will gladly correct or modify our reviews if necessary, hey; we might change our own mind one day and change the rating on a product if we suddenly feel differently.

Click here to go back to top of this page.

 

 

 How to reduce your weight

If you have an item you want to carry on a hike, check the weight of it. For example, you want to take some binoculars. Here's a run down of what we mean:

Normal weight, hmm, say 640 gr (22.5 oz) for your average 8 x 32 binoculars. This would be too heavy for ultralight hiking. But before you discard the idea of magnificent magnification completely — do some research!
Before long you will find smaller, lighter models; you will soon discover there are 8 x 20 binoculars weighing about
200 gr (7 oz). This is still quite heavy, but it's getting there.
And you might settle for a Zeiss Mini Quick monocular with a 5 x 10, weighing only 22.5 grams (0.8 oz).
So, check the weight for the item, and compare it to your essentials! If you come to the conclusion that the item now is too small to be effective, you might want to consider not bringing it at all. Otherwise, choose a light weight product that still does the job!

Click here to go back to top of this page.

 

 

 Gear weight vs. volume

Ahh, the difference between light and small!
A lighter item is not necessarily better than a smaller item. Look at the sleeping pad for instance. A Thermarest ultralight ¾ is heavier than a z-rest ¾, 15 oz vs. 9 oz. But: the Thermarest is smaller in volume. And, if both units were to go in the backpack; the backpack with the lighter but larger z-rest would have to be bigger and therefore heavier. Having said this, the argument could be even more complex in the example shown, because one could argue, that the virtually indestructible z-rest could be strapped on the outside of the pack; but the relatively puncture prone Thermarest has to be protected inside the pack. So, as we see, many factors come into play when choosing the equipment. Weight is one important factor, but not the only one.

Click here to go back to top of this page.

 

 

 What you need to take...

Your gear should be made up of (almost) everything you need to take you safely from your starting point to the ending point in your journey, including some unforeseen mishaps on the way. For overnight trips, your gear to stay warm and dry at night will most likely be the heaviest portion of the gear and take up some 30% to even 50% of total equipment weight. (Check it out, ).

The backpack itself is really only a tool to allow you to carry all of your gear; with the one job to keep it dry and to carry it comfortably while hiking. Secondary tasks would be to have an easy access to certain items such as drink, emergency supplies, etc. Commonly the backpack is way too heavy for the task that it fulfils. Remember, it serves no other purpose than to carry your essential equipment. So, –really– the backpack itself almost digresses to a non-essential item, since one could, for instance, rap all of the gear in the sleeping bag, and stuff it into a garbage bag with some straps to carry it. Here the garbage bag would become the backpack, weighing some 1 oz instead of the 'normal' 100 oz. To show you how much 'waste-weight' the backpack is .

(we're working on this section, especially on a 'basic packlist' with all the essentials. Estimated completion date: June 2004)

Click here to go back to top of this page.

 

 

 How these pages work...

Click on the menu to the left to get to the different categories.
The quick ratings are based on:

 4 to 5 points

 =

 2½ to 3¾ points

 =

 0 to 2¼ points

 =

If you disagree with our ratings, please give us some feedback and tell us. Just go ahead. We can take it. Really. We can. Yeah, sure, we spend hours on this website, trying our best, and then you come along and disagree just like that! Yep, not a problem!.......Oh, we got carried away there a bit....

Some pages have detailed and extensive tables with additional of info, where you can really compare the items; click on the image where available.

 

Quick links to our gear review categories: Sleeping StuffTent / BivyFlashlights Batteries StovesFoodWater & FiltrationCutleryPhotographyFootwearBackpacksMiscellaneous

 

Click here to go back to top of this page.

HomeHikingGear ReviewsShoppingPicturesLinksFeedback

TERMS OF USE
Copyright ©1998-2003, FJORDLAND Entertainment
All rights reserved
Last updated: 4 September 2003