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My wife and I did 20 miles in Harriman State Park this weekend, staying at the Big Hill shelter with it's view of the NYC skyline. We had a great time, and enjoyed ourselves, but at the same time we learned quite a bit, so this is more of a gear sharing and review than a trip report. In the pic of the shelter, 2 Luci solar lights are employed, and you can see they are doing a good job of illuminating the shelter. We also used them to take a night walk down the ridge and look at the bright lights of the big apple in the distance. Fascinating, to us rural folk. This week, I had some questions concerning an addition I had built, but did not do the ducting for. The ducts were insulated with Reflectix and I had to do some research to get some answers. What I found is that, though I knew its radiant properties, the R-value is all over the place, depending on how and where it's employed and the key factor- how much air space is created in the application. With that knowledge in hand, after reading some technical documents and potential class action suits, I cut 2 72"x18" pcs. for each of our neo-air x-lite pads. We used them on top and bottom of our inflated pads, held together with some light elastic straps we use to hold the pads together in the tent. The results were excellent. I'm guessing, but the warmth radiating up from the pads far exceeded my Thermarest Luxury Camp which is R-7. The 2 pieces of Reflectix weigh in at 11 oz.; add that to the 12 oz. Neo-Air x-lite and you have a 23 oz. pad that is VERY winter worthy. We spend as many bag nights in the winter as we do the rest of the year and spend a lot of nights in single digits or below, so I feel my experience level is fairly good, especially as I've been winter camping for 45 years. . The temps were in the mid-teens with strong winds only partially abated by the shelter. Warmest night we've had!. We used a 15 degree and a zero degree bag thrown over us like a quilt. We've already spent a few nights this winter at the same temp range with these bags, but this was the best result by far. We haven't had a chance to get out below zero yet, but later this winter may provide opportunities.
Last week , I was trying to adjust my Granite Gear AC Blaze 60, which has a lot of miles on it, and the plastic back panel broke as I tried to flex it into place. As I felt the shoulder harness and the hip belt was in need of replacement anyway, I decided to quickly do some shopping. I had been looking and trying out some Osprey Atmos AG 50 packs and finally loaded one up, adjusted it properly, and decided to buy. Glad I did! Carried very well, was ridiculously comfortable, was great for rock scrambles (Twice through the Lemon Squeezer, for you Harriman fans) had more good features, including pole storage on the fly and easy access to water bottles in the side pockets, than I can list. I can haul water in the Grand Canyon easily now, instead of having a pack that just wasn't up to the task. It'll also haul my raft and assorted gear into some remote brook trout ponds this spring/summer. A learning trip is a good trip.