Besides a lot of cuben fiber shelters, what is the latest or greatest gear to come out? Was RJ right about cottage industry stagnation? Sleeping,cooking,hydration,clothing,packing and the 10 essentials-where are the game breakers or thinking out of the box?

What area do you think still needs the most development? I'm curious as to what new fabrics are coming.

The gear for our pursuit is rather simple on purpose. Only so many ways to shape a tent. Packs still have to fit the human form. Sack with straps. Cooking has gone full circle with many here extolling the virtues of cooking over a fire. We are wearing wool again too. Paleo diet. Barefoot hiking.

Maybe going into the forest with a knife and skins will be the next big thing.

Edited by kthompson on 07/24/2012 19:15:04 MDT.

Ken how about the sleeping bags, 10 essentials or trekking poles? I just want to get excited about a new piece of gear. My base weight is around 11 LBS for 3 seasons and I just want to keep getting lighter. I will find something soon-- Maybe a new esbit tab or like you said- material/fabrics for clothes or sleeping bags.

Edited by Creachen on 07/23/2012 23:35:45 MDT.

but im about done with collecting gear (just waiting on my cuben solomid), but i am still wanting for & would pay good money for a light, re-fillable gas stove cannister, if it needs to be titanium for strength, then so be it

Is your UL winter outfit all dialed in? There's a whole other opportunity to spend a bunch of money on that stuff!

if you are struggling to get a gear fix, how bout re focusing, instead of new gear, start looking for a new where. im sure there are heaps of countries with out of it places just waiting to see you & your existing gear (who cares if 6 months old & out dated)

the game breaker is going out and using what you haver more and more, over and over again ;)

I used to love buying "new gear" now I use what I have and spend the money on going places, must admit though new gear is always fun to have :)

Here's a few gear Ideas for you:

1) WestComb Focus LT (rain jacket) - At 7oz, it's lighter than your GoLite Bark rain jacket and it uses eVent so you're going to get better breathing as well. Available in a month or two. This is made possible through a new 2.5 layer eVent called eVent DVL (or something like that). Looks super nice.

2) Your Yama Bug Shelter 2.0 may be nice and spacious, but 15.8oz is a lot for an inner net tent.....kinda weird to have your inner net then weigh almost triple what your tarp does. Grab your self a new 1.5 man inner with a 1.0oz cuben floor and shed 5-6oz.

3) If you want to make the switch, you could get a quilt that is as light as your WM bag for about 14oz, or you could score a much warmer quilt for the same weight.

4) Can you get a pole jack to use your LT3 poles with your shelter instead of using the 3oz Ruta Locura pole?

5) There's some really neat packs out these days if you want to try something else. Your Exodus might be a bit big anyways. A Zpacks Arc Blast or Exo could support more weight than your frameless pack while weighing 4 ounces less.

Edited by dandydan on 07/24/2012 22:08:58 MDT.

Great ideas Dan!--I will look into some of your suggestions. I love my Yama 2.0 bug shelter it allows me to sleep under stars if the tarp is not needed and my wife or son can share it with me if need be. I like the quilt idea. What about solar chargers/panels on your hat?

Katabatic, EnLIGHTened Equipment and Zpacks all make really nice quilts. The EE ones are smokin deals. The Zpacks ones are the lightest and the Katabatic ones look the very professionally made. I've got a 30F Zpacks 'sleeping bag' but without the zipper so it's a quilt, except I had joe put a zipper in the footbox so I can open it right up light a blanket on hot nights. It's 15.4oz and it would be a little light if you didn't have the zipper in the footbox, but I like this option. You could probably get a 40F one for 12-13oz. I use my 30F one for nearly 4 season use, by wearing other warm clothing inside if need be.

Solar panels are really cool. The concept appeals to me, but the math just doesn't add up. For trips up to probably a month without resupply, it would be more weight efficient to just bring more batteries than a solar charger. Maybe the math would add up better if you had a ton of electrical gadgets and a really good solar charger + nice weather, but at this point I think it's more of a gimmick still.