Free gear!

Recently I used my REI dividend and some gift cards on a new backpack, sleeping pad, and a water filter, all for no money out of pocket! The pack is a Granite Gear Blaze A.C. 60. I've loaded it up with all my gear and walked around and it feels great. However, I may swap it for the Crown 60, a similar but lighter pack from Granite Gear.

My new pad is a NeoAir XLite Short, a 2.5 inch thick inflatable mattress weighing just 8 oz. I slept on it the other night and it's definitely a lot more comfortable than any of the other pads I've used. I toss and turn all night and wake up really sore on lesser pads. I should be able to get a good night of sleep and wake up feeling refreshed with this new one.

And lastly, I got a Sawyer Squeeze water filter. At 3 or 4 oz it's one of the lightest and easiest-to-use filters out there. No pumping or dealing with hoses. You just fill up a water bag, attach it to the filter, and squeeze, and out comes clean water ready to drink. Sounds easy enough, though I should say that I haven't actually tried it yet!

In other news, I seam sealed my tent yesterday. Sealing a tent is tedious enough in perfect conditions. Try doing it in 30-40 mph winds. Needless to say it wasn't much fun. To make matters worse I ran out of silicone with just one seam left, so I had to run to REI last night to get another tube. I finished the job today in the comfort of the basement.

Here's my home for the next five months.


By the way, this is my first time posting to my blog from my phone. I figured I should learn how to use the blogger app before I'm on the trail. Hopefully everything works.

15 more days!