One of the things I've noticed, being a manufacture rep, is the difficult task of updating gear that seems to have reached it's 'improvement' limit. As you and I know, there is still much that can be done with most of the gear we use. I personally don't know of a 'perfect' piece of gear I own. There is still much that can be improved upon...

One thing that I have been impressed with as I've worked for Cascade Designs, is there dedication to making things lighter, but yet not compromising on strength. Two very recent examples (that aren't available yet mind you) are the Carbon Reflex 2 Tent and the NeoAir Pad. Both of these products represent a new trend that I think we will start seeing in the near future from us and other manufacturers (if the economy doesn't fall out from underneath us and we still have money to create new technologies). That trend is 'uncompromising' lightweight gear. That is gear that the user doesn't have to compromise on in terms of durability (if it's being used properly and taken care of), comfort, ease of set up, made environmentally conscious, providing a lifetime warranty on the item, packable, etc., etc.

The Carbon Reflex 2 Tent is weighing in at 2lbs., 13oz (minimum weight: fly, poles, and canopy). However, it has a 10,000mm coated floor (this means a one inch wide cylindrical tube filled with 10,000mm (32.8ft) of water resting on the material without the floor leaking, the same as our mountaineering tents); 20D, 330T fly with reinforced patches over the tie down points; re-designed UV resistant Easton Carbon Poles (field maintainable); and 20D no-see-um mesh. This tent will last as long as any MSR tent as long as it is maintained (ie. cleaned, zippers cleaned and waxed, kept out of excess sunlight for long periods of time, poles and tent packed properly, etc.). It has the same square footage as our Hubba Hubba tent (looks almost identical, but not freestanding), arguably one of the roomiest, lightest tents available.

The NeoAir pad is another example of uncompromising lightweight gear. I've spent roughly 2 1/2 weeks sleeping on this pad and have been extremely impressed. It is the most comfortable backpacking mattress I've ever used due to its horizontal baffles and 2.5 in thickness. It does require that I blow it up, but I can consistently do so with about 12-15 breaths. It is as puncture resistant as any Thermarest mattress and there is a new repair kit (Fast and Light Repair Kit) coming out in 2009 which will only require the user to pill of the patch and stick it over the hole, rubbing it for a few seconds which will give it a permanent repair (the patches are clear and proprietary to Cascade Designs). The pad packs up smaller than a 1L Nalgene bottle and weighs in at 14oz for the regular size. There will actually be four sizes available: Short (20" X 45", 9oz.), Medium (20" X 66", 13oz.), Regular (20 X 72", 14oz), and Large (25" X 78", 16oz). Oh yeah, did I mention that it has an R-Value of 2.5, better than the Prolite 3 pad WITHOUT using insulation. It took Cascade Designs 5 years to develop it.

You can expect other products to come from Cascade Designs with this same mantra. This is the challenge for every company. The only disadvantage is that both of these amazing innovations are not cheap. You should expect to pay about $500 for the tent and $150 for the pad. This is the sacrifice that must be made for this type of gear. As other manufacturers develop truly innovative, 'uncompromising' ultra-light gear, it won't be cheap either. You should also know that both of these items have with them a lifetime warranty, just like on all of our tents and pads. Therefore they should be looked at as an investment IMO. I can tell you there is much to be excited about coming from Cascade Designs...