1. Bright White LED’s
2. Flashing Red LED’s if needed
3. Adjustable inclination
4. 55 hour battery life

The Good: At $20, the price is certainly the most appealing feature of this product to me.  I was fortunate enough to find it on sale for $10 and that is a price that is just tough to beat.  The battery life is decent at an advertised 55hrs on 3AAA batteries.

The Bad: You get what you pay for and this certainly feels like a cheap headlamp.  I don’t think I would want to have to rely on this lamp as my only source of light in the back country but it should serve well as a back up unit or in a low stress camping situation. The plastic construction doesn’t inspire confidence and I honestly question how well it would hold up in the rain.  The push button on it is also very small and difficult to depress if you are wearing gloves.

The Ugly: It would have to be pretty ugly for me to be that critical of a headlamp that I purchased for $10.  As I said before, you get what you pay for and in my opinion, it is worth every cent of my $10 purchase.

Final Verdict: As long as you understand what you are buying it for, this is a good little headlamp.  Personally, I purchased this for my daughter and she loves it.  I won’t be taking it on any overnighters in the woods but then again, that isn’t what I purchased it for.  To be honest, I kind of regret not purchasing another one while they were on sale.

(product link and location)

http://www.eddiebauer.com/catalog/product.jsp?ensembleId=34021

“Bright white LED’s light the way, or switch to flashing red LED’s to increase your visibility lowlight settings. The inclination is adjustable, letting you keep your head in a comfortable position. Operates up to 55 hours continuously on one set of AAA batteries (included)”

I was fortunate enough to learn the importance of a good sleeping pad first hand when I was camping in the snow.  The middle of the night in the middle of nowhere is not the ideal time to find out that your sleeping pad no longer inflates.  The freezing conditions provided an excellent illustration of how cold you can become if you are not properly insulated from the ground.

Inflatable vs Foam

There are basically two types of sleeping pads to choose from.  You have inflatable pads and closed cell foam pads.  There are pro’s and con’s to each style.

Pictured here is the Therm-a-Rest NeoAir Sleeping Pad, a basic example of an inflatable pad.  The pro’s of this style of pad are size and warmth.  The cons are primarily cost and reliability.

PRO’S

Size: Since these are able to be deflated, you get a lot of bang for your buck when backpacking.  It would take a much larger and heavier foam pad to offer the same comfort of a pad of this style.

Warmth: The engineering of the higher level inflatable pads offer a considerable amount of warmth.  The primary method of insulation is simply the air that ends up trapped between you and the ground though.  A general rule of thumb here is that the higher the R-Value, the more the unit will weigh.

CON’S

Cost: The unit in the picture sells for $170 at REI. (http://www.rei.com/product/781098).  Speaking as a relative cheapskate, it is difficult to justify spending that much money on a sleeping pad.  The ceiling for the cost on these is approximately $200.

Reliability: Just like any other inflatable item, these can eventually fail to inflate.  This failure can come from a simple puncture or a seal failure.  Personally, if I am going to spend $200 on a sleeping pad I would really hope that it is a one time purchase.  I have a Therm-a-Rest pad that is about 10 years old now and it no longer holds air.  Now 10 years is a long time but I still don’t look forward to replacing it.

Pictured here is the Therm-a-Rest Ridge Rest Deluxe Sleeping Pad.  It is the top model that REI offers and it can be purchased for $45.  The pro’s of this style of sleeping pad are mainly cost and reliability and the con’s are insulation and comfort.

PRO’S

Cost: As I mentioned previously, this pad is the nicest that REI offers and it can be purchased for under $50.  That is a price that I can justify.  You really have to be honest with yourself and determine if you really need the additional comfort that an inflatable pad provides and if it is really worth the additional cost..

Reliability: You don’t have to worry about these failing you.  You can not pop a foam pad and if you store it properly, this style of sleeping pad should be able to last you a lifetime.

CON’S

Warmth: Foam pads simply don’t offer the same insulation value as their inflatable counterparts.  If you want a foam pad with a high insulation value, you really end up with a large pad that would be difficult to lug around in the wilderness.

Comfort: Again, it is difficult for a foam pad to compete with an inflatable in terms of comfort.  It is simply something you have to balance, cost vs comfort.

In the end, the choice for me is the foam pad.  If money was no object though, I would probably buy one of each.

-NWW 1/29/2010

The Good:

Comfort.  These are some very comfortable socks.  I wore them on a 6 mile hike and I was impressed with how great they felt the entire time.  I realize that it wasn’t the most grueling test for these socks but all in all, I was very pleased.

The Bad:

Really, the price was the only downside to the socks.  They aren’t out of line for this particular market but at $16.00 per pair, they aren’t exactly cheap either.  I purchased these at my local REI, you can find them online here http://www.rei.com/product/638456 for $12.00 per.

The Ugly:

None yet.  They haven’t been thoroughly tested so there may be some ugly down the road but as of now, they are some nice socks.

-NWW – 01/25/2010

If you are stranded and need to build a shelter you will have various options available to you.  In the end, your imagination will be the only real limiting factor as to what type of shelter you can build, this article will cover the initial assessment that you should do before starting any shelter.

When I am looking to build a shelter the first thing I try to do is assess my situation by asking myself a few questions;

• What materials do I have on hand?
• What are the weather conditions that I am facing?
• Are there any dangers in the area where I intend to build?
• Is the ground level enough that I could actually sleep on it?
• Do I intend on sleeping lying down or will I be sitting all night?
• Is my shelter location close enough to firewood and shelter materials so that I won’t have to be lugging materials over large distances?
• How much daylight do I have?
• Will I need to acquire food and water?

Materials:

When assessing your materials, you should not only be assessing what you may have on you, but what materials can be found in the immediate area.  Some handy shelter building material to have on hand would be items like; Parachute Cord or other cordage material, a saw or a hatchet, a tarp or plastic sheeting….etc.

Materials to keep an eye out for in the immediate are as follows;  Non rotten wood that can be used as ridge poles, loose bark, an abundance of bow branches, ferns for bedding, rotten stumps for bedding, rocks that can be used for a fire pit and heat reflector, items that can aid in fire building like pitch or other dry tinder, enough non rotten wood that can be used for firewood.

Weather Conditions:

Ideally, you should always try to look at the forecast before you head outdoors so you can prepare for weather conditions that may not be apparent yet.  If you know that a winter storm is approaching, you need to take that into account when choosing your shelter site and method.  However, the ideal world is often different from the real world.  If you don’t have an accurate forecast to go off of, you need to use your best judgment.  Try to take note of any storm clouds and note the condition of the wind.  Always try to prepare yourself to survive the worst case scenario.  You don’t want to be surprised and unprepared by worse than expected weather conditions.

Dangers:

You want to take a good assessment of the area to ensure that you aren’t building a shelter in a dangerous area.  Things to look for are as follows;

• Widow makers: Make sure that any tree that you will be sheltering under doesn’t have any large dead branches that could fall on you if the wind picks up.
• Compromised Tree’s:  Keep an eye out for any tree’s that may be compromised and could blow over.  Often times you will find them resting against other trees so they appear to be standing on their own but in reality they could give way at any time.  When you find these tree’s, take note of which direction they will fall and also try to account for any kickback that may occur once the tree hits the ground.  Ideally, you should just try to avoid being close to any tree that you think may come down.
• Flash flood areas: Make sure that you are not building in an area that is susceptible to flash flooding.  Usually the signs of previous floods are fairly apparent if you are looking for them.  Try to avoid an low areas or areas that appear to be dry creek beds.
• Wild Animals: Try to take note of any animal feces or tracks in the area.  For example, if you find evidence of a lot of bear activity, you may want to consider finding a different location for shelter.

Slope of the ground:

It doesn’t sound like much and sometimes it simply can’t be avoided, but a level piece of ground comes in very handy when selecting an area for shelter.  You would be surprised at how difficult it can be to sleep on a slope of any kind.  Obviously the greater the slope, the more difficult it will be to sleep.  Another aspect of the slope of the ground is watching out for where water might pool up.  You don’t want to wake up soaking wet in a frigid puddle in the morning.  So try to ensure that you either have enough bedding material on hand that would keep you above any water accumulation or that you are on a piece of ground that won’t pool up water.

Do I want to lie down or not?

I think that everyone would want to lie down given the choice but sometimes it is an easier choice to simply plan on sitting.  Reasons that I would choose to sit instead of lying down are as follows:

• Not enough material to make a shelter large enough to lie down in.  It is a lot easier to build a shelter that will cover a sitting person than it is to build one to cover someone that is lying down.
• The slope of the ground would keep me from actually sleeping anyways, so it would be easier to lean against a tree and just nap sitting upright.
• Conditions require that I maintain a fire all night long.  A fire can be the difference between life and death and sometimes the situation dictates that you need to pay close attention to the fire.  You don’t want to find yourself in a situation where you have fallen asleep for a few hours and wake up to an extinguished fire in the middle of the night.

Proximity to materials:

You want to ensure that you build a shelter in a location that is close enough to where you plan on finding the bulk of your building and fire materials.  You may have to compromise on your location if it cuts down on how far you have to drag your material.  This can significantly reduce the amount of energy it will take you to build and maintain your shelter and fire and will pay dividends in the end.

How much daylight do I have left?

It is very important to have a good idea of how much daylight you have available before you start your shelter.  If time becomes an issue, you will need to prioritize your work.  Depending on weather conditions, you may find it to be a more effective use of time to simply acquire your materials as daylight fades and do all of your construction by firelight after you have everything on hand.  If you don’t have any other means of light, then you should probably prioritize any of the more technical work to be done before it gets dark.  The technical things that come to mind are things like tying up your support poles or tracking down dry wood, which is easier for me when I can actually see.

Food and water?

You need to assess your situation to determine if you will need to track down food and water.  Sometimes a shelter is only an overnight requirement and you know that you will be back at your vehicle in the morning.  Other times, the shelter will need to support you for an indefinite period of time at which point food and water become a necessity.  So when assessing your shelter situation, food and water need to be on your mind and you need to plan accordingly.

Once my initial assessment is complete, I try to come up with a decent plan.  I will cover the planning stage in another article.

-NWW – 01/24/2010

“Leaves of three, leave them be.”  These are words to live by around here.  If not properly heeded, this can turn a wonderful camping trip into a nightmare for the whole family.  If you plan on hiking or camping in the Northwest and you aren’t 100% sure what Poison Oak looks like, please take some time to familiarize yourself.  A decent place to look would be here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxicodendron_diversilobum.

Some common sense tips when dealing with Poison Oak:

• Do not use Poison Oak as improvised toilet paper.  Seriously, some people have learned this the hard way.
• Do not use Poison Oak in your campfire.  The smoke alone can cause you to break out.
• Do not choose a campsite that is close to any Poison Oak.  Wandering around at night could lead to some accidental encounters with the plant and nobody wants that.
• Do not pet your dog if it has walked through Poison Oak.  The oil from the Poison Oak will spread from your dogs fur to you.
• Do not let your dog in your tent if you suspect that it has been exposed.  If by some evil act of fate, you accidentally get poison oak oil inside your sleeping bag, you will be in for a very uncomfortable near future.
• Dead Poison Oak can still spread if you make contact with it.
• Do not use eating utensils to scratch your rash.  You would think this is common sense, but it has happened.  Now you aren’t guaranteed to get a secondary infection this way, but if there is still any oil on or around the rash, you don’t want that anywhere close to something that you plan on putting in your mouth.
• If you have been hiking through an area with Poison Oak, do not get into your sleeping bag with the same clothes on.

So remember, please do a little bit of research if you aren’t familiar with the plant.  If five minutes of research can save you from days of agony, then it is five minutes well spent if you ask me.

-NWW – 01/24/2010

Oakley S.I. Assault Boot (Black)

The Good:

In a word, comfort.  The boots feel like you are wearing tennis shoes.  The souls are strong enough to support you even when weighed down by a pack yet flexible enough to give you plenty of freedom of movement.  They are also very light weight which is nice on a long hike.

The Bad:

I found the traction on the boot to be fairly suspect, which is strange considering the traction is one of Oakley’s marketing bullets for the boot.  “The vulcanized rubber sole includes directional lug geometry and provides wet/dry traction on both smooth and rough terrain.” In my experience, if you are walking on a dry, hard surface the tread is fantastic.  I can certainly see where these would be ideal for a tactical urban environment.  I have primarily been wearing them while hiking in the wilderness though and loose gravel is my nemesis while wearing these.  I have little confidence in my footing if I am descending a mountain in dirt or loose gravel.  I have only completely lost my footing a few times, resulting in bloody palms, but personally I think that is a few times too many.  Trying to climb a smooth rock with wet soles is also quite an undertaking.

The Ugly:

The manufacturing quality of the boot doesn’t inspire confidence.  I have already had the stitching on the shoelace restraint on the tongue break while tightening the laces.  The quality of the leather (I don’t think it is actually leather) also feels pretty cheap and I question how long they would last in regular use.

Final Word:

I think this is a decent boot.  Not fantastic, but decent.  If someone had $175 to spend on a pair of boots that they intended to take into the wilderness, I wouldn’t recommend the S.I. Assaults.  For that price, you can find several alternatives that offer much better traction and a more durable feel.  Now, I certainly don’t plan on throwing my S.I. Assaults away anytime soon and I will gladly wear them on my less demanding hikes.  I just think if you plan on challenging hikes, you should purchase something with better tread.

You can purchase these boots online here http://www.oakley.com/catalog/products/s-i-assault-boot-6-inch

-NWW – 1/24/2010

http://www.oregonstateparks.org/park_255.php

L.L Stub Stewart State Park is a campsite located about 1/2 hour outside of Portland.  It is a relatively new park and has a lot of nice features.  It has some less than desirable features as well though.  This is a quick review of the park from my experiences there.

Generally speaking, new things are better than old things.  This doesn’t really apply to L.L Stub Stewart though.  Sure it has new features like nice bathrooms, a playground for the kids, a museum, heck it even has wi-fi.  What it doesn’t have is privacy or shade.

I can’t really speak for other people but one of the main reasons I like to go camping is to get away from people for a while and I was a little disappointed to find that L.L Stub Stewart is so open that you can see every single person in each particular campground.  There isn’t a single barrier to offer an ounce of privacy from your neighbors.  This is offset slightly by the fact that the campgrounds don’t seem to fill up as quickly as other state parks.

As I said earlier, it isn’t all bad though.  There are some nice modern amenities.  This summer, I stayed in one of their cabins for a few days with my family.  The rates are very reasonable to stay in the cabin and the cabins are actually pretty nice.  The cabin we stayed in had a table and chairs, a bunk bed and an additional futon.  It had several electrical outlets, a heater and a ceiling fan as well. Again, there isn’t any real privacy between cabins but that falls in line with the rest of the park.

Aside from the cabins and the campsites, there are some other features of this state park that are noteworthy.  The park has several walking / horse paths that go through the woods and meet up with the Banks Vernonia trail.  This is great if you are looking to take a walk or get a little exercise.  People with horses can stay at the horse campground at the top of the park that appears to be very well laid out for the equestrian crowd.

In my opinion, the absolute best thing that L.L Stub Stewart State Park has to offer is the views, particularly the views of the night sky.  If the weather cooperates and you are fortunate enough to have clear skies at night during your trip, you will get to do some really amazing stargazing.  It is particularly nice for city dwellers like myself who are subjected to light pollution and don’t get to see a nice starry sky every night.  We were fortunate enough to book our cabin during a meteor shower and it was really very impressive.

In summary, if you are just looking for a quick and easy camping trip with a great view of the night sky, then L.L Stub Stewart State Park is the place for you.  If you value privacy and want a more rustic, outdoor experience, then you should probably look elsewhere.

-NWW – 1/24/2010

Gerber Exchange A Blade Saw:

The Good:

The price point of this foldable saw is one of the things that make it attractive.  For about $20 you get a decent saw with 2 blades and a nice carrying case.

The Bad:

The quality of craftsmanship is pretty low on the unit that I used.  Initially, I was very impressed.  It was lightweight and really seemed to get the job done.  The first time that I had to cut something a little bit larger was when I began to get disappointed.  As soon as the blade warms up while sawing, it will easily warp.  Once the blade is warped, it becomes very aggravating to saw anything of any real size because the warped blade will get jammed quite easily.

The Ugly:

I am relying on this blade to build a shelter in the freezing snow.  In the first hour, the stitching on the case comes undone and the saw falls off of my pack.  Luckily I found it or my shelter building would have been much more difficult.  On the first log that I had to cut, the blade warped causing it to jam and become seriously less useful.  Finally on day 3, the retaining screw for the blade fell out and almost rendered the saw completely useless.  Fortunately, I was able to find the screw in the snow but it was a close call.

-NWW -1/24/2010

Elk

Distance: 8.5 Miles

Difficulty: Moderate to Extreme

Bonus: Vistas

Finding the Trail

Finding the trail was easy.  It would have been nice if the Elk Creek Campground actually came up on a google maps search but other than that, it is an easy find.  As I mentioned, the trailhead is in the parking lot for the Elk Creek Campground.  This is located 23.7 miles down HWY 6 towards Tillamook.  Once in the parking lot, the trailhead is very clearly marked and easy to find.

The Hike

The hike is rated as “Extremely Difficult” to “Most Difficult”.  While it was challenging at times, I don’t think it should be classified as extremely difficult.  The first 2.5 miles of the hike are pretty much vertical.  You gain about 2000 feet of elevation on your way to the summit.

When we arrived, it was a foggy, overcast day.  We hit the trail at about 8am which gave us plenty of time to complete this 8 1/2 mile hike.  The trail immediately takes you up the mountain at a decent incline.  It didn’t take long before I was really appreciating the nice cool temperatures.  Climbing that mountain in the heat of the day would be a pretty strenuous task.

The first 2 1/2 miles of the hike are really pretty relentless.  You just keep going up and up.  At one point, we made it to what we thought was the summit.  There was a nice level spot and it even had an elevation marker showing 2500 feet.  While I was proud for making it to the top, I was a little confused at the elevation.  The map we were going off of said that the summit was at 2950 feet.  It was a tad bit perplexing, so I decided I had better reference the map again.

As it turns out, we were at the “false summit”, which at the time reminded me far too much of “false hope”.  The trail continued on from there and actually dropped down a few hundred feet before we came to the final climb up to the actual summit.  The remaining climb was not any more difficult than the previous climb had been, so it wasn’t that bad.  We were rewarded with some very impressive views at the same time.

As we were making the final push toward the summit, the fog was starting to clear at the top.  It is very refreshing to walk through the fog at the top of the mountain.  Being covered with sweat, it is a wonderful feeling to have the mist from the fog blow by.  Once we got to the summit, the fog had completely cleared at our elevation but it still blanketed the valleys below like a sea of cotton.

The Summit

The summit itself offers some breathtaking views.  As I mentioned earlier, we went on a foggy day so our views were certainly altered but not any less beautiful.  All around you could see mountaintops poking out of the sea of fog with stunning clear blue skies above.  It was very impressive and served to be an excellent time to take a quick snack break.  The summit is large enough for plenty of people to drop their packs, stretch out, and serves as an excellent time to take some photos.

The Descent Part I

After we had caught our breath, taken a few pictures and had a bite to eat, we made our way off summit.  The trail leading down the summit isn’t nearly as steep as the trail leading up.  The problem is that it is covered in very loose gravel.  If you don’t have some very industrial strength tread on your hiking boots, you could be in for a fall.

After about 100 feet, the trail begins to get very narrow.  The brush has grown up over the left side of the trail giving you a false sense of width.  You need to be very careful with where you step on this leg of the trail or you could step off the side and fall as my hiking partner did.  He survived the fall with nothing but an increased heart rate, but the potential is there for someone to slide down much further under the right circumstances.  It didn’t take long before I was the next to fall.

It was probably about another 100 feet before the trail turned and became a little bit steeper in its decline.  This is where the loose gravel got me.  A few times my feet started to come out from under me but I was able to catch myself.  The final time, I was not so lucky.  Fortunately for me, it was nothing catastrophic although, I did cut my palm open when I caught myself.  Thankfully, I brought a decent first aid kit on the hike so I was able to quickly address it.

After cleaning up my cut, we continued on with the hike.  The trail started to get very thin, so thin that we began to question if we were even still on the trail.  We did a bit of back tracking to make sure that we didn’t miss a turn off somewhere and ended up satisfied that we were still on the trail.  The heavy wind storms last winter really did a lot of damage to the landscape and that is what made that portion of the trail difficult to find.  Once we got our bearings, we were able to continue on the hike.

The hike leveled off as the trail became more defined.  Then to my dismay, it began to steadily ascend again.  I didn’t expect it to ascend for long but after a few switch backs, we ended up as high as 3000 feet.  This required another quick check of the map just to make sure we hadn’t actually gotten off track at our moment of uncertainty.  Thankfully, the map showed that we were still on the correct trail.  It wasn’t long before we came across the intersection for the Kings Mountain trail, which leads to the summit, a hike for another day.

The Descent Part II

The rest of the hike was a steady descent back down to the parking lot.  The loop had another 4.5 miles to go and it didn’t level off until about the last .5 miles of it.  It is a beautiful walk down an abandoned logging road.  It is very gratifying to be away from the hustle and bustle of mankind for a bit and when you stopped back there, you couldn’t hear any evidence of man anywhere. 

As the hike wound down, we walked across several portions of the trail that the winter storms had washed out.  I am grateful for the volunteers that have gone in and repaired the trail.  All of the trees that had washed across the trail have been cut and removed.  The trail has been reinforced where the water had eroded it.  On a dry day, it is very easy to navigate.

We finally came to the end which drops you right along Elk Creek.  We went ahead and climbed down to the creek to have another bite to eat and relax before we made our way back to civilization, a rewarding finish to a wonderful hike.

-NWW – 1/24/2010