A significant storm is predicted to head this way tomorrow evening. If we had 2,356 more storms like this we ‘d be caught up for water…..
Here are some shots I did with the Hyperlight Mountain Gear square tarp this afternoon above Wrightwood, CA:
Had some hot food in low 40 deg F temps and explored the area before returning to ‘civilization’. Saw no ostensible Republicans.
Specifications: area=72 sq ft; weight with all guylines=c 10 oz incl 10 pre-cut 3mm lines and 50 ft of added 2.75mm Sterling Glo-Cord; shelter for 1-2 persons;2 internal, metal ring-hang loops; 16 dedicated perimeter guypoints; minimal fabric stretch; 100% waterproof and windproof
I’ve shown 2 of the 3 main rigging setups I plan to use: the ‘storm ‘ mode and ‘flying diamond’ mode. The other usual setup would be standard, ‘A frame’ mode.
I’m finding that rather than super UL (SUL) style, I seem to gravitate toward UL setups.
My most recent estimate of base carried pack weight is approximately 8 pounds, including the new addition of a Hyperlight Mountain Gear 8.5 oz 8.5×8.5 ft square cuben fiber tarp. I plan to post a comprehensive review of this shelter later this month.
Given this foundation, I ‘m usually taking about 12-13 pounds total weight including fuel, food and water.
In 2015, I may begin to explore packrafting to exploit river and lake travel as well as cooking over open fires. That way, no fuel to take…. but need to be very cautious in California about fire control and regulations these days. The same caution is justified regarding alcohol fuels in my opinion.
Happy holiday season, and here’s to many more.
I hope that this information will be of help to those who ‘d like to get in the ultralight backpacking game, and even stimulate discussion of other’s experiences and lists.
I didn’t include detailed discussion of options such as UL canister stoves from Soto and Snowpeak which I use as substitutes for alcohol stoves whe n they are prohibited by regulations (as is happening in some CA locales due to extreme drought conditions), and some other alternative gear I use at times. I didn’t include equipment for more comprehensive video in the backcountry, as much of that is mentioned incidentally in my separate gear list for alpine mountaineering.
Have fun out there- and vote anything but Republican (I mean, stay safe)!
This 1 pound, 10 oz friend has become my default carrier for many wilderness trips. The total weight of my setup for a 3 day outing as shown, including solo BearVault canister with Nikon Coolpix camera, food and c 1.5L water is approx 18 pounds.
I find that the belt pockets are not the easiest to open while hiking, and are smaller in capacity than I like- my clear preference is those on my Golite Jam 70- but this is a completely different category of pack.
It has 2 real, aluminum stays which are removable, but weighs about the same as the Jam 70 making it a great choice for using a bear canister—> wonderful for destinations such as the Sierra Nevada, CA where these are often mandatory. The canister can go inside or atop the pack, I really like the Y- yoke at the top which gives good stability. I find that this system is the most comfortable way I have ever seen, so far, for transporting my gear in the backcountry. The side pockets allow replacement of the Smartwater bottle without removing the pack. There is provision for both a mesh hydration reservoir holder and a covered hose port on one side.
Use of cuben fiber makes the pack very usable without a rain cover in many scenarios, especially if using good stuff sacks for internal down items.The price I paid at Nomad Ventures, Temecula, CA was $265. That’s nothing compared to a dialysis machine….
Upon arriving here, I recalled the words of William Clark as he and Meriweather Lewis’ 1805 expedition encountered the western terminus of their journey:
Ocean in view
Oh! the joy!
We are in view of the ocean
That great Pacific Ocean which we have so long been anxious to see
And the sound of the waves breaking on the rocky shores
Can be heard distinctly-
I wondered what the other William might say to me if he were here today…….my guess is that he’d wonder what kind of thing I was carrying on my back (Hyperlight Mountain Gear Windrider 2400, made of cuben fiber)
We camped initially at 4000′ in Ancient Bristlecone Campground (jct of 168 and 395) and 2 Belgian tourists had an auto accident directly in front of the site that evening. We attempted to help them on this very windy night, including trying to set up their huge dome tent which blew down… we were fine in my MSR E-Wing tarp.
Yesterday, we got into our second camp at 11,600′ near Paiute Lake in the Sierra. It snowed almost all day and night. We returned to the car at mid-day today, enjoyed Bishop, CA and returned to the LA area this evening.
Canon 5DIII, 70D cameras with Zoom H6 DAR and backup Tascam DR-60D (need 3 XLR inputs if possible, for 2 wired lav mics and a boomed shotgun).
The Manfrotto 2 camera rail makes it easy to shoot with both cameras from nearly the same vantage point on one tripod. Be sure to crank the mounts so they don’t rotate!!
I could also attach other items to the rig with Mafer clamps, for example, instead of using an articulated arm to mount the digital audio recorder.
This setup allows use of 4×4″ Tiffen ND filters, I have a 3-stop and a 4-stop which fit into the matte box for preserving wide lens apertures. That way, shallow DOF is covered for EFP and occasional ENG applications.Of course, all the other benefits of the matte box apply such as making lens changes fast and easy, and virtually eliminating flare.
The configuration is compact, secure, and very adjustable along the medium-length carbon fiber rails. Critical focus in bright light is achieved with the Hoodman Custom Finder.
As an option, I can add the Manfrotto DSLR remote controller for rack focus and faster ergonomics in starting and ending clips.
The Benro components are much better suited to this kind of arrangement on a monopod than my RedRock Micro components, especially the baseplate assembly. The RRM lacks screw threads for connection to the QR fo the monopod.
Functionally, it’s a little imbalanced from frontloading and the tilt is not as smooth as the pan, but overall I feel that the versatility of the rig more than compensates for these considerations.
It also travels relatively well, because the matte box can be broken down further for packing.
This is not going to yield the degree of camera movement possible with a shoulder rig, but I find it much better for longer ENG recordings since the monopod, and not my arms, support the system. It’s also easy to combine both, if a multicam shoot is desired.
After a period of use with and without my other DAR (Zoom H4N) employed as a stereo microphone source, I have more comments about the Tascam recorder. The key words I ‘d use to describe my experience with it are EASY and INTUITIVE.
It’s much easier to access the SD media card than with the Zoom model, because of the simple rubber cover which also reveals the AC adapter/USB port.
Ability to easily and rapidly isolate and monitor whichever channel I wish with headphones, or a mix, or CAMERA IN, and to lock the XLR cables to the inputs, are welcome changes from the H4N.
I use the rapid, intuitive ‘delete recording file’ process routinely, and this is much easier to do than with the H4N- yet another example of using dedicated buttons instead of submenus to make the recorder user-friendly. These buttons are very quiet to operate, and I so far don’t see a need for getting its remote control unit.
The DR-60 is very compact, and lighter than the H4N; I can easily carry it all day and it mounts well onto rigs and monopods/tripods with option to mount cameras directly atop it. The bracket for camera attachment is easily removed if the location on a rig suggests it to be necessary.
The real-time Equalizer function is very helpful to preview the treble/bass mix of a track and therefore, evaluate the outputs of various microphones relative to this recorder. It’s a simple matter to avoid proximity effect with shotguns, for example using this method (this is of course not an issue with omnidirectional mics).
I’ve found that the sound quality is very good using the H4N as a stereo mic input into the 3.5mm Ch3/4 input or as an XLR connection. So both recorders can very effectively be used together, even if there are no stand-alone microphones available.
What do I wish the DR-60 could have or do? First and foremost: at least one more dedicated XLR input, even if it were requiring a slightly larger recorder.
Second, I ‘ll use the H4N for most multitrack recording because of its additional capability in this mode compared to the Tascam.
And it will be used as an audio interface to my Cubase LE6 digital audio workstation on my notebook-a feature not offered by this unit.
William Hooks
maximpactphotography 