Posted by: BarryP
Updates on gear I’ve bought and tried this year: - 05/19/09 12:12 PM
Neoair:
This is just a bunch of rambled thoughts: I bought the short. 9.1oz; More comfy than I expected. I’m an air mattress skeptic. I hurt when I sleep on them; even with ½ the air let out. However, this neoair gave me good back support; better than any other pad. It takes me 15 full breaths to get it rock solid. Or it takes me 14 breaths to give it a little cush and support all my back curves when sleeping on the back. I put a sit pad at my feet. I do not need a pillow when lying on the back. I fell asleep on my back and stayed on my back all night--- which is rare. It does not work for me at all when sleeping on my stomach; my back bends at weird angles. When side sleeping, it is tricky: I felt like I’m on a waterbed. I will tip over if my body is not balanced right. In fact, my leak test consists of putting a 5 gallon bucket of water on the pad overnight. I could not do it on the Neoair because I could not steady the bucket.
No air leaked with me anyway. I used it in 50-60F nights. The first time out of the box it smelled like old paint. I don’t know what that was. Outdoors it smelled fine. I would give it a 5 star for back sleepers and 1 star for stomach sleepers. I would give it a 4 star for side sleepers though it might approach the 3. However, the light weight outweighs the side-sleeping balancing act because it is livable and still comfy and that’s why I would give it a side-sleeping 4. The pad never slid in my GG Classic Squall. I slept under a Jacks R Better Stealth quilt. I sleep in silk pajamas. When I tried to turn on the Neoair, it grabbed my pajamas. So I had to exhibit a little more dexterity when moving on my Neoair.
-----------
Zebralight H501 Headlamp http://www.zebralight.com/index.php?main...2ahukfclkpjlj91
I bought from their site and it took 4 weeks to come in. Now that’s an amazing light.
I did a runtime test w/ a 2500mA AA rechargeable on Medium. My meter batteries went out at 15 hours. So maybe their claim of 19 hours is accurate. However, my graph for that 15 hours showed rock solid flat light intensity as the battery went down. That’s a nice voltage stepper circuit.
The beam is stunning for camp. There are no hotspots. Medium- lights up a whole picnic table; enough for 8 people to play cards. One time I turned my headlamp on and one of my buddies looked up and said “I didn’t know there was a street light out here!”. While he was looking for this streetlight, I pointed out that the ‘light’ was coming from my head.
The light easily turns on with the press of a button. I was worried it would come on in my pack. But it never did. Maybe it was the way I packed it. The light comes with a glow-in-the-dark holder. It glows for about 8.5 hours. It would make it easy to find your light in the dark tent. However, I didn’t use it because the light turned too loosely in it. I used the black holder; it does a very good job holding the light where you point it. Also it has a belt clip. I haven’t tried it yet.
On low, I can still read a book. I never did use it on high backpacking. Medium was perfect for around camp. I cannot feel it on my head. I have not backpacked in the dark with this (yet) but if I did, I would use it on high. It is very easy to change the single AA cell. I would give this light a 5 star.
I will admit, I still take my fenix L1D. I am a flashaholic. I love spotting things far away in the dark. The H501 won’t do that.
-------------
GG Murmer backpack
I didn’t know if I could get 3 days of stuff in this 8oz backpack but I did. With 1L of water, my trusty filter, food and fuel, it weighed 17.5 lbs. I was worried about such thin waist straps. But it was soooo comfortable. I used the GG Sitpad for the frame. I had a 2oz car-wash towel tucked with the sitpad to absorb my sweat. The bottom of the pack has nice tough material. I have a 32” waist and it says it should fit up to a 42” waist. I don’t know how that is possible since I was almost at the end of the straps. So I better not gain any weight
.
The pack performs its function beautifully; low cost, low weight, comfortable. That combination gets a 5 star by me.
Just thinking out loud…
-Barry
This is just a bunch of rambled thoughts: I bought the short. 9.1oz; More comfy than I expected. I’m an air mattress skeptic. I hurt when I sleep on them; even with ½ the air let out. However, this neoair gave me good back support; better than any other pad. It takes me 15 full breaths to get it rock solid. Or it takes me 14 breaths to give it a little cush and support all my back curves when sleeping on the back. I put a sit pad at my feet. I do not need a pillow when lying on the back. I fell asleep on my back and stayed on my back all night--- which is rare. It does not work for me at all when sleeping on my stomach; my back bends at weird angles. When side sleeping, it is tricky: I felt like I’m on a waterbed. I will tip over if my body is not balanced right. In fact, my leak test consists of putting a 5 gallon bucket of water on the pad overnight. I could not do it on the Neoair because I could not steady the bucket.
No air leaked with me anyway. I used it in 50-60F nights. The first time out of the box it smelled like old paint. I don’t know what that was. Outdoors it smelled fine. I would give it a 5 star for back sleepers and 1 star for stomach sleepers. I would give it a 4 star for side sleepers though it might approach the 3. However, the light weight outweighs the side-sleeping balancing act because it is livable and still comfy and that’s why I would give it a side-sleeping 4. The pad never slid in my GG Classic Squall. I slept under a Jacks R Better Stealth quilt. I sleep in silk pajamas. When I tried to turn on the Neoair, it grabbed my pajamas. So I had to exhibit a little more dexterity when moving on my Neoair.
-----------
Zebralight H501 Headlamp http://www.zebralight.com/index.php?main...2ahukfclkpjlj91
I bought from their site and it took 4 weeks to come in. Now that’s an amazing light.
I did a runtime test w/ a 2500mA AA rechargeable on Medium. My meter batteries went out at 15 hours. So maybe their claim of 19 hours is accurate. However, my graph for that 15 hours showed rock solid flat light intensity as the battery went down. That’s a nice voltage stepper circuit.
The beam is stunning for camp. There are no hotspots. Medium- lights up a whole picnic table; enough for 8 people to play cards. One time I turned my headlamp on and one of my buddies looked up and said “I didn’t know there was a street light out here!”. While he was looking for this streetlight, I pointed out that the ‘light’ was coming from my head.
The light easily turns on with the press of a button. I was worried it would come on in my pack. But it never did. Maybe it was the way I packed it. The light comes with a glow-in-the-dark holder. It glows for about 8.5 hours. It would make it easy to find your light in the dark tent. However, I didn’t use it because the light turned too loosely in it. I used the black holder; it does a very good job holding the light where you point it. Also it has a belt clip. I haven’t tried it yet.
On low, I can still read a book. I never did use it on high backpacking. Medium was perfect for around camp. I cannot feel it on my head. I have not backpacked in the dark with this (yet) but if I did, I would use it on high. It is very easy to change the single AA cell. I would give this light a 5 star.
I will admit, I still take my fenix L1D. I am a flashaholic. I love spotting things far away in the dark. The H501 won’t do that.
-------------
GG Murmer backpack
I didn’t know if I could get 3 days of stuff in this 8oz backpack but I did. With 1L of water, my trusty filter, food and fuel, it weighed 17.5 lbs. I was worried about such thin waist straps. But it was soooo comfortable. I used the GG Sitpad for the frame. I had a 2oz car-wash towel tucked with the sitpad to absorb my sweat. The bottom of the pack has nice tough material. I have a 32” waist and it says it should fit up to a 42” waist. I don’t know how that is possible since I was almost at the end of the straps. So I better not gain any weight
.The pack performs its function beautifully; low cost, low weight, comfortable. That combination gets a 5 star by me.
Just thinking out loud…
-Barry
Must be the twice weekly jogging a couple miles.