Snow Peak Chopsticks
I bought these collapsible chopsticks from snow peak for a camping trip. I received a lot of flack from my wife and friends.
They all thought it was silly. I thought it was the coolest thing ever and what better to try them then out then a upcoming camping trip.
A 2 hour hike in the dark lit by head lamps with a 40lb+ pack crossing glacial rivers (no once… No I had to carry my wife and her pack on separate trips). By the time we reached camp we had to locate water. Not to had to find but hard to access. I ate instant mashed potatoes with curry noodles, utensil of choice? CHOPSTICKS!
I had hot chocolate after and my chopsticks doubled as a stir stick.
My only downfall was in the morning when I had Sunny Boy for breakfast. That’s when it became apparent that not everything could be eaten with chopsticks. Its not to say that I never tried but I eventually broke down and used my spoon… My Titanium Spork to be more precise.
So why did I like these chopsticks so much?
Well they are collapsible to only 4.5 inches and weigh in at 28g. The handles are stainless steel handle and the tips are made from Japanese birch wood.
Dr. Dre Beats Tour
I started to look at headphones and ideally wanted to avoid ear buds. But since I am a bike commuter I cannot ware monitor headphones with helmet. So I began to look at Shure, Bose, Sennheiser and Monster for headphones.
It was not new to me that Dr Dre has a set of headphones called Beats. When I compared the price of all four brands (about $160-200cnd) I found it hard to tell what would be a good fit for me.
I chose the Monster Beats for couple of reasons. I don’t need a mic which some only came with, and I wanted a cable that would not brake or get tangled. That said, they sound great. There noise cancellation is very good and when you take them out even with the volume cranked you can barely hear them.
Sierra Designs: Baku 2
Life is funny some times. I had bought this tent with the high hopes oh hiking with my wife. After searching all sorts of backpacking sites looking in camping stores. I finally settled on the Sierra Designs Baku2. I must say I’m impressed with it. It’s super light, cozy for two (smaller), many improvements over the old tent.
This tent wont break your back at a max weight of 5lb, its a single walled tent so it falls under the category of an ultralight hybrid. I set it up in the living room and for a new tent it only took 5 min to have up and ready.
My one recommendation is to purchase new tent pegs. the ones it comes with are cheap and frankly suck! I bought the V-Steaks they are strong, light and pack together nicely.
We meld the best aspects of single- and double-wall shelters, yielding our ultralight Baku series. Siliconized ends of the tent function as a single-wall shelter, staying weatherproof while being light. The double vestibules cover mesh doors, improving ventilation while providing plenty of area to store gear. In addition, two end vents increase ventilation across the tent, thwarting condensation, and keeping your cool. Tent Guard with Ultra Fresh extends the life of your Baku 2 by kicking mold/mildew to the curb booyah! Blue Ridge Outdoors magazine loved the Baku 2 so much they gave it an “Editors’ Choice” award, and we think you’ll dig it, too.
Features:
- Trail Weight: 4 lbs 1oz
- Packed Weight: 4 lbs 9 oz
- Packed Size: 21.5″x 5″
- Two Doors
- Interior Area: 28 sq. ft.
- Vestibule Area: 7 + 7 sq. ft.
- Peak Height: 40″
- Floor Material: 70D Taffeta Nylon, 1800mm
- Body Material: 40D Nylon Rip Stop
- Fly Material: 70D Nylon Rip Stop
- 3 Poles
- Swift Clips
- Poles: DAC Featherlite NSL, 9.0mm