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What is your favorite new piece of gear?

Shorty NeoAir, without a doubt.

Cheers,

Several, but the only gadget involved is my Petzl e+light. I'm still trying to figure out how to turn it on by feel when it's on my head, though.

Long Neoair, although I don't consider it to be a gadget.

My favorite gear...

supercat stove, whitebox stove
my hammock
coolmax buff

The shorty, eh? I've been looking at the neo-air as a possible gift for my wife, but my immediate reaction to anything less than a full-length one is that it's so thick there would be a distinct, fairly major drop-off feeling where the pad ends and your legs keep going.

What do you do about this, or does it just not bother you?

Hi Brian,

I weaned myself from full-length pads a long time ago (except for the dead of winter). I use a pillow of clothing to support my head, so the top of the pad is at my shoulders. Then, if I need something beneath my feet, I put a jacket, pack, etc. down there. Most nights I don't need anything.

The NeoAir differs from other air mattresses in not needing as much inflation, so there's surprisingly minimal transition from the pad edge to the ground or pillow. I'm not sure why this is so, it may be because the tubes run crossways and not lengthwise. The BA and POE mattresses, by contrast, require more inflation so the edges are more pronounced.

Certinly there's no reason to not buy full length, but the short packs so tiny it has to be seen to be believed.

FWIW I'm six feet tall.

Cheers,

Rick

Probably my hammock, just because I love hammock camping. I am in the market for a lighter weight model...any suggestions?

We need to know what you have in order to offer suggestions.

Have you checked out www.hammockforums.net?

There is a forum for several different brands.

Tango

I have a beast of a hammock made out of cotton that probably weighs a couple pounds. It's great for your backyard...not for the trail. I will check out that forum when I have more time.

Thanks.

Start here:

http://www.imrisk.com/testhammock/testhammock.htm

you can add a ridgeline and a bugnet to that without too much difficulty.

if you can make that, a bit more sewing will make you a homemade Speer hammock, which is what I use.

A Hennesey can be had in many outdoor stores, and is also a good option.

A few lucky souls here have warbonnet blackbirds - they are heavier, but seriously nice - even with a shelf in them.

A lot of people really like that neoair mattress, but I haven't tried it yet. I'm making my gear christmas list.