Woohoo! New Gear!

A Nikon D850?

Okay, it's not a Nikon  D850 (at least not yet), but I'm getting some new gear to help motivate me to get out and take some photographs. At least that's the plan.

I've really lost the motivation to shoot this year. I shot a few photographs at Saguaro National Park on January 1, 2017 but haven't done anything since. Well, that's not quite true. I took a trip with my son in July to northern Arizona where I shot some snaps with my iPhone. But nothing to speak of with a DSLR since New Years Day. And that's including my first visit to Antelope Canyon!

So what is this new magically inspiring gear? I'm getting into backpacking. It's a whole new world and one that I hope will get me back out in the wilderness with my camera.

I know the rest of this blog isn't about cameras but I hope you find this somewhat interesting; my plan is to have backpacking equipment that will allow me to take photography gear to places I wouldn't normally get to. Places that are more than 20 steps away from a parking lot. And if it inspires me to just get back outdoors, that alone should also lead to some more photographs. Even if they're just of me and my trekking poles!

Backpacking Research

My Gregory Baltoro 65 and Black
Diamond Trail Ergo Cork Trekking Poles

I always enjoy researching the technical aspects of something once I get attracted to it. That includes woodworking, baseball, photography, and now backpacking. The interwebs certainly provide a lot of information and some of it is good and useful! I've found a lot of sites that I'm using to get an understanding of the backpacking gear as well as comparisons between manufacturers and models.

In backpacking they talk about the different major "systems" of your equipment: backpack, sleeping system, and shelter (I used to call it a tent) are the "big 3" systems. I have made my purchases of the big 3 along with a few of the smaller items.

For a backpack I selected the Gregory Baltoro 65. It seems like a good size, perhaps a bit overkill for weekend hikes, but I will be packing my full frame Nikon D610, maybe 4 or 5 lenses (I haven't figured out how to take the AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR lens yet). And, I also need to strap on a tripod! I won't have to carry film, however.

I was torn between this pack and the Osprey Atmos AG 65 but ended up going with the Gregory because of its "A3" suspension. Either of those packs are top of the line, although they aren't what is referred to as "ultra light" gear. I got the medium (after being properly fitted by the REI folks in Chandler, Arizona) which tips the scale at 5 pounds and 1 ounce. You quickly learn how important weight is when you start researching backpacking gear.

Sleeping on it

Enlightened Equipment
Revelation Quilt

I found a website that I like as a great starting place for comparing gear, called OutdoorGearlab.com. When researching a sleeping system - which means some sort of sleeping bag and an air mattress until you start using bigger terms for common articles - I decided to get a product from a company in Minnesota called Enlightened Equipment.

At Enlightened Equipment, you get to decide what options you want such as color, temperature rating, fill and weight, and then you order the item they make it for you and send it to you so it can take some weeks before you get it. I chose what is called a "quilt", their "Revelation" model and it's on order. It's a real custom quilt!

I ordered a regular length, extra width, 20 degree with 850 down quilt. I ordered Navy on the outside with red on the inside. It should weigh about 1 pound and 4 ounces. I can't wait to get it although I'm contemplating changing it to a 10 degree bag which they allow you to do if they haven't got it completed by the time you call them. How cool is that? I wish I could get a Nikon D850 with 2 XQD cards! Or with zero video capabilities!

With this type of sleeping "bag" you really need a decent air mattress. I've decided on the regular / wide REI Co-op Flash Insulated Air Sleeping Pad. It has an R factor (insulation property) of 3.7 which is pretty good, especially for the price. It weighs 1 pound and 3 ounces. Compare that to my other REI pad that I use in my Explorer - it weighs 6 pounds and 3 ounces! Almost 6 times as much!

Gimme some Shelter

Big Agnes Fly Creek HV UL2 

And for my shelter, I also was swayed a lot by the Outdoor Gearlabs sight. I got an inkling about this tent from that site and then found a lot of positive reviews from others that have the tent so I've got it on order: a Big Agnes Fly Creek HV UL2. This is what they call a 3 season tent, meaning it's not designe to handle heavy winter camping in the snow. It's also called a 2-person tent meaning it should sleep 2 people. I've seen videos where it takes a whopping 2 or 3 minutes to set the tent up! It bursts the scales at 1 pound and 15 ounces! I'm adding some titanium stakes to cut that down a bit...

I'm okay with this tent but I'm questioning it on the following two points and may end up going a different route...

1. My wife has decided that she wants to get involved and I've read a number of reviews that say it's cramped in this tent with 2 people.

2. I've found out about a tent I really kind of want but I'm having a hard time justifying the price right now. It's the Zpacks™ Duplex Ultralight Two Person Tent. This tent just seems amazing and it should for $600! It's made out of a tough material called "Dyneema Composite Fabric" (also known as "Cuben" fiber). The entire tent weighs in at 1 pound and 5 ounces! Part of the weight saving is due to it using trekking poles for supports instead of separate tent poles. Maybe someday I'll get it...

The Big 3

My total weight for the Big 3 is (or will be when I get it all) is 5 lb 1 oz for the pack, 1 lb 4 oz for the quilt, 1 lb 3 oz for the pad, and 1 lb 15 oz for the tent, for a total of 9 lb and 7 oz! Even I should be able to handle that! And, it helps make up for the camera gear weight!