Wet feet suck! and other notes

A few notes from the weekend -

I finally succumbed and bought a decent dry bag for my Hydrogen - A Sea to Summit Ultra Sil Dry Sack (medium). It is 8L (6.5" x 15" with a round bottom) and weighs 1.1 oz. It should fit my bag just fine.

Running is going just fine. I ran 8.5 miles today, most of it in a mild rain or a mist. On that note, I recently gave my wind parka (Marmot Ion) some tender loving care - I washed it with Nikwax TechWash and hit it with their TX Direct, a spray-on DWR. I ran with the jacket on today, and I was pleasantly surprised.

First, I know it is not a real rain jacket. For anything more than a quick passing mist, I should put on my rain coat. But the coat held its own for about 3.5 miles of mild misting. Water beaded up on the fabric very, very well. There are a few spots I need to hit again, but that's much better than when I got the coat. The fabric did eventually wet-out once the rain came harder. Even soaked, it kept wind out.

When I bought my new shoes, I tried them on at REI while wearing a pair of SmartWool mini-crew adrenaline hikers. These socks are low cut (not for above-ankle boots), and they have padding where it is needed and a thin layer of wool, almost like a mesh, where padding is not needed (top of the foot, for example).

I bought two pairs and tested one of them out today on the run. I got one small blister (the size of a pinhead) at the end of one of my toenails. This should be corrected by trimming the nail slightly. The socks are definitely quality, and I will take two pair with me on the SHT.

This hiking trip presents a first for me - this is my first well-thought-out backpacking trip. Last year's SHT could count for that except we carried too much food.

This year, I'm prepped for a finish. I'm trying to dial-in everything. I will be in shape. I will carry the appropriate amount of clothing (two shirts or one? I'm leaning toward one long-sleeve). There are many, many more. Maybe someday, I'll post questions this trip has developed in my brain. Certainly I'll do so before I leave.

All of these determinations involve eternal struggles for me - struggles that can only meted out on the trail, out in the woods.

A while ago, I conceeded to a good hiking buddy of mine that running shoes (a la Jardine) were better for hiking in than waterproof boots. I made this determination after running on a day when meltwater was flowing off the cornfields behind my apartment. I purposely got me feet soaked and kept going. The water was cold - it probably was barely above freezing, and definitely no more that 40 degrees F. But after a while, my feet warmed back up. They were fine.

The new running shoes are designed to hold a minimal amount of water. However, they will get wet, and until the rain stops, they will stay wet. This is my worry. I hate having wet feet, even if my feet are warm. But what happens when you stop for the day and it is still raining? Your feet are still wet. If you change into your second (last) pair of socks, you will soak them too.

It is for this reason that I may just bring my Keen Targhee II boots. These shoes do not rise very far (they are billed as trail runners, but they are too heavy and too clunky for that), but they do have an eVent lining.

Another slight problem - I bought the shoes when I thought I would wear X-Static socks with them, and that alone. After last year's run-ins with foot-stabbing talus trails, I need more cushion. This is were the socks come in, but the shoes are tight for that. They are 8.5, and with Keens, I may need a 9. I bought the boots at REI, but morally, I cannot take them back.

And here comes the eternal struggle - The Keens will probably be too warm for the daytime without rain, but the Salomans will be too wet if it does rain. I won't carry two pairs of shoes. (interestingly, Saloman makes a version of my running shoe with an XCR liner in there. It's $120, but I don't want to but another shoe.)

And this brings up the issue gaiters. I'm looking at three options for gaiters. First, a shortie gaiter similar to the REI Mistrals or Simblissity LevaGaiters. Second, waterproof gaiters a la Integral Designs eVent shortie Gaiters. Third, none at all.

The idea is simple - I need something to keep crap out of my shoe. I'm mostly concerned with mud. If I go with the keens, the gaiters are mandatory because without gaiters, the rainwater off my pants will run into my shoes.

If I go with the Salomans, gaiters are not essential and I probably will not bring them. I haven't needed them in the past, and until something shows me I need them, I'm skipping them.

And so, what to do? I'm probably going with the Salomans, even though rain sucks. The trick is that it eventually quits.

Bag design all-but finished; now to order

I have been running the numbers and have updated the bag design. The top piece will be 20" wide at t, and will taper down to 10". I also completed a hood design, figured out total volume of down (~8800 in^3) and picked up elastic chock cord for the hood and toggles for the same.

All that is left is to figure out what fabrics I'm going to use and where to get them; after that I'll calculate projected weight and sew it all together.

I'll order the tarp material with the sleeping bag materials, so I'll have a couple of projects going at once. The tarp should take an hour or so. All that is required is to hem the edges, sew on the guyline attachments (including reenforcements) and figure out how the ridgeline attachments will work. I still need to get grommets, the appropriate webbing and the Kelty Triptease. That's all for now.

Bag prototype 1 finished

Well, the first design of the bag is finished, sans hood. Because I don't have pictures to show, here's a rough estimate of what it looks like.

The top and bottom are 6-sided shapes and look like someone put the long ends of two trapezoids together. The lower (and larger piece) is 60" high, 24" wide at the top and 12" wide at the bottom. The top trapezoid has a width of 24" at the bottom, 12" at the top and a height of 5".

The bag is about 18" at my hips and is about 5" taller than my height (at my shoulders). The design is styled to wrap around my shoulders. I will be making an insulated jacket-hood for the bag. The sides ares 10" high and ~75" long. They go from the bottom of the long side of the shell around to the top of the smaller trapezoid, leaving a 12" space open for the hood. The footbox piece is a rectangle 10"x 12".

Without the hood, the bag will require ~6600 in^3 of down @ 2.5 inches of insulation. That's approximately 9 oz of 800 fp down. It is also a rating of at least 20 degrees, my goal. According to jardine measurements, it is an effective temp rating of o degrees, which I skeptically view as generous. Anywho, I need the bag to be able to handle sub-freezing temps but I don't expect to take it on a winter expeditions. It is going to be a tough, workhorse 3-season+ bag.

How much clothes?

Another issue is clothing. Traditionally, I have carried the following:

[links are to same or similar products]

fleece skullcap
power stretch fleece gloves
Wool shirt (old REI sweater)
wicking shirt
Poly pro top&bottom
Spandex shorts
Pants /w zip off legs
3x liner socks
1x SmartWool medium cushion hiking socks
Precip Jacket
Precip Pants (mid-calf zip)
Keen Targhee II (low top) eVENT boots

Some recent additions are questioning portions of the above.

First, I picked up a Marmot Ion windshirt (5 oz, reasonably breathable) that one amazing piece of gear. It is a size small, one size less than it probably should be, but is is a snug fit moves well. Marmot's website says it is designed to be worn over a base layer or minimal insulation (think 100 or 200 wgt fleece). My testing (running /w base layer top) has confirmed this. The fabric appears water-resistant, but the seams are not sealed. My only test was in a heavy downpour during a 15 bike ride. The sleeves filled with water, but the water stayed there. It must have been leaking in from the seams.

I am going to carry this, even though it is additional weight, because it is annoying to wear a full-on raincoat/hardshell (Marmot Precip jacket) when the wind picks up but there is no rain. In comes the jacket. I have also found that if I do not wear a long-sleeve shirt, the fabric will hug my skin and make my forearms cold. The jacket also stuffs to apple size.

Second, I acquired a 200 wgt polartech fleece vest from REI (on sale for $10, normally $30). It is incredibly soft and sweet. I'm thinking about dropping the wool shirt in favor of this vest. It weighs less and takes up less room in the pack. My only worry is if it will be cold on the forearms at night.

I'm going to say no to that one. I'll be moving during the day, and I generate and retain a lot of body heat, especially if I wear hat/gloves. Wind and/or rain is covered by the marmot coats. At night, I'll be cooking under the tarp, and can lay sleeping bag whilst my dinner cooks.

I'm going to design the sleeping bag this weekend. The first prototype should be done by Sunday sometime. As I said earlier, it will be a snug fit and have a jacket-like hood a-la Sierra Designs bags. example

I'm not sure which insulation I'm going to use. I'd like to go with down on this one, but is is quite a bit more expensive than Climashield XP or Combat. (XP @ 5.0 oz/yd^2 /w 1.2" loft and 0.82 CLO is $13.95 or so per linear yard (36"x60"). I would need at least two yards, maybe four. Down is $25.95/3 oz. Just with rough calculations (36" x 72" x 2" = 5184 in^3)/800 in^3/oz I need at least 6 oz, and I bet I'll need much more than that, at least another 3 oz package.

I'm aiming for about 20 deg F with the bag. I'm making it with no insulation on the bottom (like Big Agnes and Stephenson Warmlite bags) and a full two-way separating zipper. The goal is to keep it under 32 oz (2 lb).

Tarp update - I'm definitely going to go with a tarp, a 5'x9' one at that. I will be bringing the tent (Tarptent Double Rainbow by Henry Shires ) in the car and will take it if the weather looks really nasty for the week. I'll be using 1.1 oz silicon impregnated ripstop nylon. It comes in at ~1.3 oz/yd^2 after the impregnation. The tarp (6.5 oz) /w 6 stakes (2.1 oz), 50' of Kelty Triptease (1 oz), 6 webbing loops ( .5 oz) and a 40" x 72" Tyvek groundsheet (~5?) should come in at about 14-16 oz (it's a guesstimate, mostly on the Tyvek).

I would use the .7 SpinnTex (.88 after impregnation), but it comes in rolls of 54" wide, and I need all of the width I can get. It would save me about 2 oz. I'll take the protection.

I'm going to also make a pot cozy out of close-cell foam. It will weigh may an ounce or two and allow me to get away with two fuel canisters instead of three (4 oz canister, 8 oz of fuel per bottle). I am planning to use the stove only for supper.

I'll try and post some pics of the design this weekend.