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jspeigl wrote:The Mountain Hardwear Sub Zero Parka is overkill, at least for the Sierra Nevada.

Depends on the season. Though I must admit mine is relegated to duty on expedition or keepn the GF warm while winter car camping, as I have lighter options for winter outings in the Sierra.

Piece of gear I regret buying is a Black Diamond Anarchist 42L pack. Bought it for the integrated Avalung feature, but when loaded down for a winter splitboarding trip to Split Mtn. I found it to be the worst suspension I have ever used on a pack. It left me with visible bruising over my shoulders,, never had that experience before. Promptly removed the Avalung and sold the pack by itself. While I normally love BD gear, I won't be buying any of their packs in the future.

MSR Miox
Finicky pita

Petzl Ice Clipper (CARITOOL). One broke, cost me three screws. I switched to attaching a BD OvalWire biner to my gear loop with an o-ring, which is almost as easy to use and I know won't break. It also won't jab into my back like the ones one the swami belt do.

jspeigl wrote:The Mountain Hardwear Sub Zero Parka is overkill, at least for the Sierra Nevada. Its just too bulky and heavy. Even in 15 F, with wind and snow, it was still overkill. In the stuff sack, it is too big to make a good pillow. I'm hanging on to it in case I may one day go further north, but for the past year, it mostly stayed in the closet. For $300, it was not a good investment.

I don't exactly regret my purchase of mine because I got it for $80 on SAC, but I have the sub zero jacket without the hood and wish I would have bought a different jacket instead. I will not be buying another jacket without a hood ever! BTW to make a pillow of mine I stuff it in my sleeping back stuff sack rather than the really cubicle one that came with it.

Climbing shoes not made by Boreal (multiple times)

My first wedding ring. But that's another story!!

N

cbcbd wrote:MSR Miox
Finicky pita

I have never understood the MiOx. It literally produces bleach from a salt solution which then sterilizes the water. Why not just carry concentrated bleach and spend a fraction? Hell, even buying MSR's brand-name-bleach would be cheaper than the MiOx.

1) Precip jackets - I've got a precip plus jacket that looks great and works great around town. But bring it to the field and it's at least 100% worse than a campmor goretex shell I bought in 1988. I can't argue about the precip pants though due to lack of experience with them in the field. I have a full zip but haven't had to use it yet.

2) Triton 500 GPS - POS. I had trouble figuring out the user interface and was never comfortable with it. It finally failed and took out the memory card in the process. I returned it to REI.

3) MSR Pocket Rocket - this works very well as a stove, but it is very unstable due to the movement of the cookware support arms. Other similar stoves have more contact surface between the cookware and supports and appear to be more stable. Try centering a 1 liter pot of water on those three flexing contact points in a dark and cold wind and you'll see what I mean. Makes me want to risk losing another whisperlight to the airlines sometimes...

- Wisdom

Nigel Lewis wrote:My first wedding ring. But that's another story!!

N

I bought some Lowe Alpine Gore-Tex Pro pants. They are a weird cut and because it's Gore-Tex they don't stretch for shit. I haven't used them yet and unless it's atrocious weather outside I don't see myself using them over my much more comfortable softshell pants. I almost never make impulse purchases and try to use Summitpost and other places for research so I (generally) avoid disappointment.

REI Ultralight 0F down bag - less warm than my Marmot 15F one

Patagonia Torrentshell (Sucks, hood doesn't cover your head-not too good in a rain shell)
Sierra Designs Bivy shelter (Leaked during a rainstorm and soaked my down bag, had to hike out 5 miles to car in dark during a solo trip to pt reyes)
Jetboil (probably cool for general backpacking, but wouldn't start for me and then had SUPER poor performance at 10k ft on shasta. luckily my partner brought a whisperlite. I now have a reactor and am STOKED)

Large Metolius cam and some Forgd Friends in small sizes. The stems are almost larger than the cam lobes.

Omega Pacific D Solidgate carabiner. I'm sure there's a use for it, but I haven't found it. I'd rather rack on an oval. Not a locker. Ideas?

La Sportiva Nepal Extremes. Thought I would need them for the Cascades in winter. Found out that I liked climbing better in AT boots even if I am not skiing...


Oh well, at least I got them at the used boot rack at Next Adventure. Brand new, with tags, $150.