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February 17, 2006

SnowClaw Snow Shovel

Tired of lugging around a heavy aluminum snow shovel? So are we, and that's why the SnowClaw is such a great new tool. The SnowClaw is a 6.1oz snow eating monster, capable of throwing snow at obscene volumes. The unique shape and two handle operation allows for quick shelter building or digging out of an avalanche situation. Made of an almost indestructible high impact copolymer, The Claw is flexible and crack resistant to -20°F (-29°C). Not only does it devour snow by the foot, it's a multifunction survival tool. With the use of a couple of straps, it transforms into a snow anchor, dinner plate, sled or emergency splint.

The SnowClaw comes in three styles, the Guide, the Racer and Pro Series. The guide is 6.1oz, Racer is 5.75oz and the Pro Series clocks in at 11.8oz and is made of 6000 series aluminum for ultra-rigidity but loses the multifunction properties of the Guide and Racer.

Available from REI at $15 for the Guide and $24.95 for the Pro Series.

More information can be had at SnowClaw.com.

Posted by Jesse Gunderson at 8:20 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Friday Headlines

This site is a member of the travel blog network at Blogads, a group of some of the best independent travel blogs on the web. Check out some of this week’s headlines from other travel blogs in the network:

Gay Guanajuato and San Miguel de Allende (Travel Blogs)

"The Office" guide to New York City (NewYorkology)

Snapshots: Vitriolica's Portugal (Shortcut)

Posted by Jesse Gunderson at 7:10 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

February 15, 2006

Wikilicious

I've setup the Treknologies Adventure Travel Wiki to serve as a clearinghouse for information pertaining to adventure travel. I've been inspired by sites like Horizons Unlimited, which solicits information from visitors on topics such as border crossings, road conditions, and country information. Unlike them, however, we'd like to give the power to anyone who cares enough to edit, organize, or add new information to the site.

That's where the wiki comes in: any viewer can edit any page. It's pretty barren at the moment but I hope that soon it will become a valuable resource for adventure travellers worldwide.

Posted by Beau Gunderson at 8:20 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Gorillapod Camera TriPod

While checking out SimpleHiker, I saw a cool new piece of technology for positioning your camera in weird places or at angles not otherwise possible with a standard tripod. The Gorillapod by Joby has three legs like a standard tripod, however, each leg is crafted of a series of 360 degree flexible joints allowing it to bend and twist around virtually any object. Weighing in at less than two ounces, even the weight conscious crowd can appreciate this handy utility.

From the source:

The gorillapod firmly secures your compact digital camera to just about anything...anywhere and everywhere. Unlike traditional tripods, the gorillapod doesn't require an elevated flat surface for you to take the perfect shot.

Available for $29.95 from Joby.

Posted by Jesse Gunderson at 7:21 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

February 14, 2006

Review: Mountain House Pro-Pak Freeze Dried Meals

Doing the Coleman F1 UltraLight review allowed me to heat up a variety of backpacking foods that I needed to try for testing. During that review I had the pleasure of trying out the Mountain House Pro-Pak line of backpacker foods. For those who have tried freeze dried meals in the past and didn't like how they tasted, it's time to try again using the Mountain House products. Mountain House is the #1 backpacking food on the market, and has won the Gold Taste Award the last 3 years in a row.

New Features
I specifically tried the new Pro-Pak line, as they've added a couple new features to the product in this series. The Pro-Pak's come in a new vacuum sealed pouch that won't expand in high elevations, while just generally taking up less space. The other bonus of this is that you don't need to worry about gear puncturing your food packaging with this new design; always a threat with the old packaging. The serving size in the Pro-Pak's has also increased, from the standard 10 oz meals to the new 16 oz servings. As for the menu selection, Mountain House has taken the top 8 best selling entrees and reproduced them in the new Pro-Pak series from pasta primavera to spaghetti with meat sauce.

Meal Preparation
Preparation couldn't be easier with the Pro-Paks. Bring two cups of water to boil, tear open the pouch and pour boiling water in the top. Then seal it up using the included zipper and wait about 8 minutes. The meals require no plates or bowls; simply eat directly from the pouch and save the weight of carrying excess gear. When you're done you can reseal the pouch and pack it back out with you to discard of later.

As for the taste? My personal favorite was the lasagna with meat sauce. Everything was as you would expect from lasagna; good smell, lots of cheeses and great texture. Despite what every instinct told me as I added the two cups of water to the meal, it was most certainly not a lasagna soup. It turned out perfect, not too "wet" and defiantly not dry and crunchy like many freeze dried meals I’ve tasted prior. It was a good experience; beats a "nature bar" any day of the week.

Verdict
Fast, easy, no clean-up, great taste and good menu selection

The Pro-Pak line of freeze dried meals is a great choice for anyone looking for a solid quality meal out in the field; a superior choice to the weight and size of a military MRE, or for a quick lunch on day hike. With the Mountain House Flameless Heating Unit you can forego the stove heating all together if you need to be ultra light in your travels.

REI carries the full line of Mountain House products in both Pro-Pak and standard varieties for about $5.

For more information on Mountain House the company, as well as other products, you can check out their site here.

Posted by Jesse Gunderson at 7:10 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

February 13, 2006

Review: Coleman F1 UltraLight Backpacking Stove

The Coleman F1 UltraLight Stove is one of my new favorite backpacking tools. Designed as an ultra light, high output burner for the serious backpacker; I had high hopes for the F1. When I first opened the box, however, and took the unit out I was a little concerned. It was very small, almost fragile looking. Being as light as it was, it was hard to believe the performance claims that this little unit touted. Despite my cynicism, I was thrown into the realms of a believer soon enough.

The Specs:
Coleman F1 UltraLight Stove
Stove Weight - 2.7 oz
Adjustable heat up to 16,400 BTU's
2 min. 56 sec./1 quart boil time
3 min. 40 sec./1 liter boil time
220 g cartridge will last up to 0.83 hours on high / 2 hours on low
Serrated Pan Supports fold flat
Burns butane/propane cartridge
Lifetime Warranty

Assembly
The F1 comes in a small card board retail display box about the size of a closed fist. Upon opening the package, you'll see a small instruction book, the F1 itself and a nice quality little carrying pouch. After taking the F1 from the carrying pouch, you'll simply unscrew the burner head unit a few turns, adjust the three serrated pan supports into their even-spaced predefined positions and then tighten down the head unit to lock it all in place. Once everything is locked into place you simply secure it to your desired butane/propane mix cartridge. In this case I used a larger MSR cartridge instead of the Coleman 350g unit to ensure I had lots of fuel for testing. It assembles from storage to cooking in about 15 seconds and couldn't be easier, even with frozen fingers.

Burn Time
The F1 UltraLight has a very easy to use fuel adjustment knob on the side, just below the burner. It consists of large rubber knob, with a metal "turn key" loop, almost like small carabineer. Just as I stated in the assembly, it's like everything is designed to be big and easy to operate with numb fingers. After closing the fuel vale I connected my MSR fuel cartridge to the F1; it connected very smoothly with just a few rotations. Crack the fuel adjustment knob back open just a hair; apply some flame and presto, the unit sprung to life.

And sprung to life it certainly did. Even on the lowest possible setting I could adjust to, it was a deep rich blue flame, ready to scorch anything in its path. As the heat was now on, I filled my titanium pot with water to boil and quickly placed it on the tri-pod style pan supports. Any fears I had of the weakness of this 2.7 oz power house was washed away. This was no small pot, yet the pan supports didn't so much as creek as I set it atop the F1. If anything, the ensemble became more stable with the added weight.

With the water coming to temperature, I began to play with the fuel adjustments. The flame has a wide adjustable range, from the minimal simmer used to keep hot a pot of stew or brew of coffee, to a roaring butane devouring blue beast at full throttle. The F1 puts out some considerable heat and noise, much of it waste heat at full tilt. Personally I don't see the need to use this stove, or any other, at full throttle. It simply devours butane and the time savings you'll achieve at full throttle versus low heat is minimal. If you're running through the woods being chased by a crazed band of blood thirsty wolves, yet need to stop for a quick snack, then I could see cooking at full throttle. Otherwise keep the fuel adjustment on low and enjoy the silent efficient heat of the F1 UltraLight.

Post-cooking Impressions
After cooking my lasagna with beef, noodles, and cheese smothered in a Italian tomato sauce, I decided to examine the unit for any stress or heat related damage. With the lifetime warranty I expected none, and aside from a normal slight discoloring of the burner surface, I wasn't disappointed. The unit cooled off extremely quick and disassembled just as fast as it was put together. The unit is small enough to be placed in virtually any nook or cranny of your pack, or even in a pants pocket. At 2.7oz, you'll never know it's there.

Verdict
Small, light weight, yet extremely powerful. Aggressively priced solution for emergencies, weekend trips or even day trips.

With the compact size and weight of this unit, I'm personally not settling for a cold sandwich at the top of my local mountain peaks anymore. There is no reason to not cook a hot meal in just a few minutes with a product like this. The only potential down side is that the stove burns on butane/propane, which doesn't perform well in below freezing temperatures. Isobutane fuels (like the MSR used in this test) tend to perform slightly better, however do now except performance or even functionality at near 0 F.

The Coleman F1 UltraLight deserves every bit of praise I've bestowed upon it, and is now marked as a Treknologies Essential Resource.

Available direct from Coleman, REI, or your local camping supply store.

Posted by Jesse Gunderson at 7:02 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

February 10, 2006

HighGear Trail Pilot 2 Compass

I require a compass, as everyone should have, and have been looking for a basic solution to fill that need. My requirements were something cheap; it had to have a carabineer clip, and adjustable declination. If I found a solution that had slightly more than this with-out going crazy while still qualifying as "cheap", that was fine too. My search ended pretty quickly actually, when I came across the Highgear Trail Pilot 2.

This handy little unit weighs in at only 1.5oz and is actually built as part of the carabineer itself. It's small enough so that it doesn't get in the way, but is still very handy thanks to clipping onto just about anything with the carabineer. Just as I needed it has an easy to adjust declination setting, and with a bonus feature of a digital thermometer with both Fahrenheit and Celsius scales it just fit the bill.

You can pick one of these up at Amazon.com for $26.99 or REI for $30.

Posted by Jesse Gunderson at 3:12 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

February 8, 2006

Global Flyer Underway

Last year Virgin Atlantic assembled a team of individuals and technical power houses, including Scaled Composites, to perform the first solo, first jet-propelled, non-stop circumnavigation in history. Now they've upped the stakes and want to do it again, only at an even more impressive distance. Virgin Atlantic now intends to set a record by performing a non-stop, solo 26,000 mile journey. This is compared to last years 22,877 mile jaunt.

After fixing a fuel leakage problem that grounded a previous attempt, the team observed conditions acceptable to launch the Global Flyer from the Kennedy Space Centre at 7:22am local time. The aircraft is slightly past the mid-way point across the Atlantic Ocean on the first leg of the circumnavigation. Piloting the Global Flyer is Steve Fossett, who will forego sleep for up to 80 hours while flying the 26,000 mile minimum required for circumnavigating the world and holding the record for the longest solo flight ever.

Visit the Global Flyer Flight Tracker to view his current progress, updated every five minutes.

Also be sure and check out his live current and cumulative radiation dose via Solar Metrics.

Posted by Jesse Gunderson at 10:11 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

February 7, 2006

Travel Tips from Walkabout Travel Gear

I was looking around for information recently on foreign travel, stumbling upon a great site in the process. Walkabout Travel Gear has an amazing resource up in which various world travelers have submitted extremely useful tips; assembled all on one page with-out any flashy graphics or page layout. Most "tips" pages I've traversed contain a measly ten or so tips, typically of the "Don't drink the water" type. I assure you this is not that kind of information. Jump over to Walkabout Travel Gear and take a read.

Posted by Jesse Gunderson at 6:21 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

February 4, 2006

Nighthawk Microlight Map Light

Many of the travelers and adventurers that read our site traverse the planet at night. This makes navigation and map reading difficult for many, particularly those that are traveling by motorcycle, boat, plane or need to make midnight repairs to equipment.

Nighthawk comes to our aid with the Nighthawk Microlight Map Light. The Nighthawk is a small 9,000 candela led light that can mount to your finger via the Velcro straps, or using the detachable clip, mount to your hat for viewing maps or making small repairs or gear adjustments during the dark hours. The Nighthawk weighs in at less than half an ounce, and is also weatherproof and impact resistant. The LED comes in green, red or amber for night work as well as the traditional white light. For the size and weight of this unit, you'll wonder why you never had one of these in your pack before.

You can pick one up at Brigade Quartermasters for $12.99.

Posted by Jesse Gunderson at 3:30 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

February 3, 2006

PocketPower - Portable Power Source

Some of us have more electronics on us than a Tokyo electronics store, most of which have an insatiable thirst for more power. Being trekkers we're often far from an outlet and don't always lug around solar panels for field charging our electronics. The PocketPower from Gear4.com can help us. This ultra-small device is built for portable power. It features an integrated power pack for source power and recharges via any USB device. The PocketPower is capable of charging virtually all USB devices via the integrated retractable USB cable. Additionally you can charge up to four AAA batteries (included) at a time for other non-USB devices. Gear4.com says the PocketPower is capable of supplying enough juice to power an iPod for an additional 8 hours.

If you need extra juice for an iPod, camera or phone in the field, look no further than the PocketPower from Gear4.com

Thanks goes to Gizmodo for the lead.

Posted by Jesse Gunderson at 9:40 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Global Solar Oven

Preserve the planet, use no fuel and cook anywhere the sun shines; all while baking a batch of cookies with the Global Sun Oven. The oven can reach temperatures of 360 to 400 degrees Fahrenheit using nothing but the power of the sun. The unit is about as large as a small suit case; unfolding the solar mirrors into place makes it about as large as a heftier camping grill.

Used in over 126 countries around the world in all four seasons, the Solar Oven is a work horse in clean renewable energy for cooking on the move.

From the Sunoven.com FAQ page:

Can I use a GLOBAL SUN OVEN in the winter?
Yes. The most important factor in using a GLOBAL SUN OVEN is the brightness of the day, NOT the outside air temperature. Often, a 40-degree, clear, low-humidity day will allow food to cook faster than a 100-degree day with high humidity. The GLOBAL SUN OVEN has been used very successfully at the base camp of a Mt. Everest expedition where the temperatures are often well below zero. There are, however, more cooking hours available in the summer than in the winter. In the early summer, it is not unusual to cook from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM, whereas during the early winter, effective cooking is limited to 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM.

Available at SunOven.com for $189.00 with a 30-day money back guarantee.

Posted by Jesse Gunderson at 6:55 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Friday Headlines

This site is a member of the travel blog network at Blogads, a group of the best independent travel blogs on the web. Check out some of this week's headlines from other travel blogs in the network:

Romance Along the S.C. Coast (S.C. Tourist)
Greetings from Hanoi and Ha Long Bay (Travel Blogs)
$850,000 Valentine's Day package at Ritz-Carlton (NewYorkology)
amsterdam:fashion, fashion, fashion (Shortcut)

Posted by Jesse Gunderson at 5:30 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

February 1, 2006

Orikaso Fold Flat Dishes and Cups

We've mentioned titanium camping gear for cooking here a few times. While the benefits of titanium will never go unnoticed, I've recently discovered a new product that's both fun to use, and exceptionally light and compact. It's made by Orikaso, and it's a line of fold flat dishes. They offer a simple and efficient line-up of bowls, dishes and cups; all able to fold completely flat, down to mere millimeters in size when not in use.

Simply unpack the Orikaso dish from your bag, click the appropriate snaps together and serve. All the dishes assemble in seconds, and breakdown back to their flat shape even faster. Clean-up is a snap; unfold the dishes and rinse them off with clean water. Manufactured from polypropylene makes the fold flat dishes a naturally non-stick material, and thus easy to clean-up.

Orikaso are completely water proof when folded into their proper shape; they will hold any liquid. All of the dishes are capable of holding liquids sustaining temperatures of over 120 C (248 F). The heaviest of the three products, the Orikaso Dish, weighs only 1.5 ounces; lighter than any similar titanium product. Overall an innovative product that deserves a place in any packers' line-up.

Check out Orikaso.com for more information.

Available individually at REI for $3-$6.
A "picnic set" of 2 cups, 2 bowls and 2 dishes for $24.99 is available at Amazon.com.

Posted by Jesse Gunderson at 11:30 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack