Favorite new piece of gear?

[grizzled]

Geeze, I'm still using a Dragon Fly also. Bought it the year they came out and have no complaints-works great and will burn just about anything. Silence is golden when it's turned off but that's no different than any other pack stove I've used and it's the only one I've had that actually has a real simmer available.

The only new gear I have gotten recently was spending the REI dividend this spring on a North Face Hightail 3S down bag. I've had it out 3 times now and am pleased with the purchase. About a lb lighter than what I was using.

[CountryRD]

Just picked up one of the Klymit Motion 35 backpacks. Small, but nice. Used it this past weekend. It road very nicely! The pack is a front loader and uses the Klymit inflatable support system. I had up to 16 pounds in it with extra water for a dry campsite and did not even notice the extra 3 pounds. Weight is a bit high for a 35 Liter pack at 25 ounces. The klymit site has the pack listed as 1.29 pounds, but the pack I have is 1.53 pounds, so they may have redesigned a bit to lighten it up. I am looking forward to using this pack for lightweight summer hikes.

[tetonkasey]

I really like my Osprey Kestrel 28 that I picked up in the spring. It holds enough for a day's outing and compresses down into a narrow load on the back that's very comfortable and non-obstructive. I have a longer torso and Ospray's adjustability in such a smaller volume daypack makes it a joy to wear all day long.

[Bobo Uzala]

I'm enjoying the Osprey Escapist, it looks to be sold as a pack for bikers, but it works great as a med/large sized daypack and could probably have no problem doing an overnighter. Great suspension, pocket and strap design. I like the waist belt pockets and there's even an eyeglass pocket on the left shoulder strap. One of the best features is the built in raincover, did Osprey start that design? That's a revolutionary feature for any pack and saves you $40 on a purchase.

[Bobo Uzala]

Although not a new piece of gear, if you're a pocket junkie, ScotteVest makes some incredible jackets with all kinds of pockets. I purchased the fleece jacket that converts to a vest, it's my goto fleece in the winter.

Edited August 8, 2014 by Bobo Uzala

[bagging14ers]

I recently picked up a Kickr IV solar charger form EnerPlex and I love it. They're thin film panels are very good at picking up diffuse light and my Go Pro still charged fairly quickly even though there were scattered clouds and it was slightly overcast. Check them out here: http://www.goenerplex.com. They had some really cool new products at their booth at Outdoor Retailer as well!

I also picked up a 40th anniversary Therm-a-rest sleeping pad that I absolutely love. I got it on closeout for around $70 and its is basically the same as the Prolite Plus. It is much more comfortable and lighter than my old pad, has a r value of 4.0, and the bottom has a nice sticky coating to keep it from sliding around. I prefer these self-inflating style pads over the air pads because I feel that they are softer and they are quieter (I sometimes roll around a lot).

Edited August 22, 2014 by bagging14ers

[Bobo Uzala]

I recently picked up a Kickr IV solar charger form EnerPlex and I love it. They're thin film panels are very good at picking up diffuse light and my Go Pro still charged fairly quickly even though there were scattered clouds and it was slightly overcast. Check them out here: http://www.goenerplex.com. They had some really cool new products at their booth at Outdoor Retailer as well!

[ATTACH=CONFIG]2603[/ATTACH]

I checked out the Enerplex products, thanks for the link! So you've tried the Kickr in the field and it solar charges well? I have a Solio Classic and it flunks at solar charging unless it's sitting stationary in direct sunlight, so I basically charge it up at home and use it to recharge my gear out on the trail. I'm interested to hear more about your experiences with Enerplex. Thanks!

[bagging14ers]

I checked out the Enerplex products, thanks for the link! So you've tried the Kickr in the field and it solar charges well? I have a Solio Classic and it flunks at solar charging unless it's sitting stationary in direct sunlight, so I basically charge it up at home and use it to recharge my gear out on the trail. I'm interested to hear more about your experiences with Enerplex. Thanks!

I bring the Kickr IV with me anytime I am outside for an extended period of time. I have used it backpacking and car camping, I even brought it with me on the lake this past weekend. I tend to just strap it to a tree or the hood of my car and forget about it for a while, it is nice to come back to a charged battery. It works well even when the light isn't perfect, cause if I had to constantly adjust the angle to the sun I would probably never use it. The only real downside is that iOS devices do not like it when there is a drop in the voltage caused by a cloud/dog/human casting a shadow on the panel, and in order to get it to start charging again you must unplug and plug your phone back in. This problem is caused by the device and not the panel and I am sure other panels that do not have a built in battery would have the same problem. I remedy this by charging my Jumpr Slate 10K battery off of the panel and then charging my phone off of the battery, it also keeps me from having to leave my phone in the sun all day. I will take post some pics of the Jumpr Slate if I can ever get it back from my girlfriend. EnerPlex has a kiosk in the mall near my house and I am hoping to grab one of their Generatr power banks once they have them in stock, they look perfect for car camping and tailgating.

Edited August 25, 2014 by bagging14ers

[Dogwood]

Not really new as I've used them before but I thought a new pr of Hanz WP socks worked ideally on the sometimes wet, muddy, and chilly BRT and SHT hikes. In fall temps with daytime highs about 65* and nighttime lows around 32-35* these WP socks kept my feet TOTALLY DRY ande WARM BUT NOT HOT the entire hike. More importantly my feet never felt clammy or sweaty. I thought these socks breathed extremly well in these conditions unlike some of the WP GoreTex socks I've used in the past. Combined with a 1/2 size larger than normal non WP light wt trail runner and the occasional Smartwool Merino wool shortie ankle sock under neath the Hanz sock on the coldest wettest days was the ticket for warm dry feet. I will be using them on my next snow covered hike.

http://hanzusa.com/products/waterproof/

Here's what I used. They aren't extremely tall socks. http://hanzusa.com/products/waterproof/socks/crew/

[PaulGS]

I'm hoping my new backpack turns out to be my favorite new piece of gear. My current pack, a Mountain Equipment Co-op 60 liter pack, weighs 6.5 lbs. It's very tough and has served me well to get into backpacking, but in my quest to lighten my load, I wanted a new pack. There was a great sale on Osprey packs here and I bought the Osprey Volt 60 for $139. It appears to be far better designed with a much more sophisticated suspension and hip belt system. Best of all, at 3 lbs 13 oz, it is 2 3/4 lbs lighter then my MEC pack!