Summit Sleeping Systems, Bags and Pads for your Next SOTA trip

Not too many treeless summits around here, though some do suffer from a patch of "male (summit?) pattern baldness". I'm familiar with Shug's work. The coldest I've camped in a hammock down into the upper teens at night, but the coldest I've "felt" is when we had some unseasonably cool weather last Sept when I was camping at Flagpole Knob in VA. It got into the 30s overnight and I while equipped for temps in the 50s. Luckily it got reasonably warm during the day and the next night wasn't as cold.

Chris

 

Let's see:

Hammocks: tempted, but not practical with my pampered trail dog. I use a tarptent rainshadow 3 (the original one) which is too big in many ways, but extremely lightweight and awesome. I would like to start using only a tarp though.

Bear can: Garcia's heavy black can always when in a tent. I have seen squirrels get into the best hanged food bags. Also, the can makes a great camp chair or table. The 3 pounds or so extra weight stinks though, and it is bulky for a lot of packs. Bears* will kick it around as well, so I am always happy it's still in its hiding place (and not down a river somewhere) in the morning.

*A note on bears: despite being a very active outdoors person in black bear country, I have never seen a bear in the wild. You don't have to believe me about the time I spend outside, just check my SOTA log alone (>40 summits since the end of 2019). I am to the point where I don't think bears actually exist, haha!

Guns: no comment.

Mindy

 

I used an 8x10' silnylon tarp on the CT. It worked fine, and didn't cost a lot.

Same experience on the CT; six weeks living on the trail, and never even saw a bear. I tried to select campsites away from watercourses, which is where they tend to congregate.

I've never heard any serious distance hikers (Andrew Skurka, Jennifer Pharr, etc) mention any interest in packing heat. Perhaps a difference between people that really do it and people that talk a lot.

And most only carry bear spray in certain areas (I never have, but in certain parts of Wyoming and Montana, I would certainly consider it).

https://andrewskurka.com/backpacking-gear-list-template-checklist-3-season/

 

It seems to be very locale-specific. As a kid and young adult, I did a lot of camping in the Smoky Mtns and saw bears fairly regularly (had a mother and cubs waltz through our campsite once). Later on in life, when I was spending more time in the Blue Ridge Mtns a few hours north, I didn't see them at all for more than a decade, but saw lots of sign. However, in the last few years, their numbers have exploded and it's not at all unusual to see them. I live in the DC Metro area and am about an hour from the Blue Ridge Mountains, yet we're getting bear sightings in this town (including in the mall parking lot last year). If I remember, I'll post some pics from the game cameras I set up in a WMA about an hour from here. I have over 100 bear pics from those cameras. I'd put them out a month or so before the season started to get an idea of what was out there for the upcoming season.

Outside of hunting, I've never carried a firearm for critters, but I'm *always* armed in town or in the woods. Human predators are a thing and don't stop at the town limits. I also carry a lot of other stuff the average person thinks is unnecessary on a day hike (don't have time for multi-day hikes as an employed person with a family).

Chris

 

Getting back to the subject at hand, a buddy and I are planning on a SOTA overnighter to coincide with the ARRL Sept VHF contest. We'll be camping at High Knob (W4V/HB-006) and running entirely via VHF/UHF on SSB, CW, and FM. I'm focusing on FM since I don't have any multimode VHF rigs, but my buddy will use his 818 on all modes. The summit is very VHF friendly, with the last 8 activations being on 2m FM. I'm planning on using two HTs with various antennas (6m EFHW, 2m/220/70cm slim jims, 2m Arrow Yagi).

Equipment-wise, it'll be a hammock camping trip as I've shown above. The weather should be cooler, with nighttime lows in the 50s (possibly lower!). Hike-wise, it's a short one, only a couple miles at most. Unlike our last VHF contest trip, we'll be able to have a campfire (no campfires in the Shenandoah NP), which will improve ambiance.

Chris

 

Sooooo...

I needed a new pack for my upcoming overnighter camping/hiking/SOTA/VHF trip. Last time I used a 29L pack, more of a glorified day pack really. I was able to get away with that because with the weather being warm, I didn't need such heavy sleeping bags, hammock underquilts, etc. This next trip in Sept could easily be chilly to cold overnight (my last trip to the region in Sept had overnight temps near freezing). I need moar pack!

Went to the local Cabelas because I had a gift card and found a pack that fit me very well and was plenty big: The Ascend Henneberry 65L.

It's a "women's backpack".
I'm a dude.
I guess I'm a crossdressing backpacker now.



Actually, it's a very nice pack, with lots of good features (at least to me, I'm kind of ignorant about the finer points of a pack). The best part though is when adjusted properly, it feels like an extension of my body, not something strapped to me. I will even be able to get my Arrow Yagi inside. I'll be taking all the antennas!

Chris

 

You can probably get away with it as long as you do not accessorize in a feminine way .
Skip the beauty salon hairdo, makeup, purse, jewelry and leave the 6" spiked "stiletto" heels at home

 

Apparently you've seen me on the trail.

Chris

 

@KI4POT
Did you just slickly turn this sleeping bag thread into a backpack thread?

I just looked up your pack. Looks like good value, but holy cow the weight!! 5.7 pounds??? It's more than the 891!!! It does have some really nice features.

Anyway, this is my newest *big* item winter pack. It is a MONSTER! It is essentially a garbage bag (made of dyneema) with straps. It's only "feature" are daisy chains. My only major issue -- and I knew this -- it does not have external water bottle holders.
It is 85L (!) and 3 pounds.

Hyperlite Mountain Gear Porter 5400

Any one else want to share their pack?

Mindy

 

I didn't mean to turn this into a backpack thread. I could have sworn packs were originally part of the discussion.

Yeah, it's not a lightweight pack, but that's about the going weight in that price and capacity range (at least where I was shopping). If I was able to get out and do multi-day long distance trips, I might have given weight more consideration, but most of my camping is 4x4-based and this upcoming trip is only my 2nd overnight backpacking trip this year (decade actually).

Your pack is half the weight but 3x the price. In a fully loaded pack, I don't think the 2.7lb difference will be noticeable (at least over the course of a short-to-medium trip). Water is going to be the bigger weight issue. There's no ground water where we typically go (being mountain tops and all), so we have to bring our own vs relying on filtration.

Chris

 

Fun video.. Ambient is one thing. Wind chill factor is another.. N6SPP/KL7, 2010-2015