Walking Dead in a Winter wonderland (jacket review)

One day I will own this  Arc'teryx Alpha SV jacket . 

The Burberry of the outdoor world.

Until that day comes (the day I will spend $600 dollars on a jacket) I will have to be happy with.....

The North Face Leonidas jacket

 (and yes of course the fact that it was named after the leader in 300 made me want it more)

This jacket is a great 3 season jacket that "cost me around $200" (I actually returned an all-in-one ski jacket back to REI to pay for the Leonidus. I had bought the ski jacket with the intentions of skiing/snowboarding and then proceeded to never wear it. Gotta love REI's return policy)   


I had read a backpacker magazine review of the Leonidas and liked what they had to say. It wasn't in stock at my local REI but was available online. 


The Leonidas is waterproof/windproof.  In hotter conditions you can open up multiple vents on the jacket to cool down.  I like that I can wear the Leonidas as windbreaker as easily as I can use this as my outer shell as a part of layered cold weather clothing (Wicking Layer/Insulation/Leonidas). 


I had worn this jacket in the wind and rain. I still needed to see how it would work in the snow. 


If only a blizzard would come and blanket my city in snow...

OMG DECEMBER 5TH!

Oh nos zombie dog has spotted you

Zombie Dog charge!

Temperatures were in the single digits and wind was pretty minimal. Whenever these freak snowstorms roll into town our city is about half  shut down. Only the main roads are immediately salted/snow plowed which leaves the remaining neighborhoods....well see below.

The view to the left of my driveway

I decided to take a winter walk from my house to the local Twisters (amazing breakfast burrito place) to pick up a breakfast burrito for myself and one for Mr. Banjo.

Imagine covered in snow

The twisters is about 2.5 miles from my house. I trekked through a  large drainage ditch and then climbed an icy hill that was steep enough to ward off the kids with sleds.  (The trekking poles were a life saver on the icy snow hill-climbing) .

I wore my Vapor Trail 3600 to transport the burrito cargo and of course my Z-pole trekking poles to navigate the snow (on a side note the trekking poles currently do not have a snow basket available for them. It didnt make a difference for me but I might have to engineer a pair just in case).

On the way back I made a point to slide downhill through as much snow as possible and make sure to get snow all over the jacket.

Final verdict.

This jacket is pretty damn nice.

Price: 4 out of 5 (at $200 it makes for a pretty affordable and damn nice shell)
Durability: tentative 3 out of 5 (still too new to know)
Waterproofing: 5 out of 5 (once i got home and stripped down the only thing that was wet was my base layer with a little sweat)
Wind Protection: 4 out of 5 (I still need to test it against rough wind)\

Rating:  4 out of 5

Paracord Crafts (urban blue camo and desert digital)

Black Diamond Distance Z-Pole Trekking Poles (coincidence that z poles can also stand for zombie apocalypse poles? I think not!) (gear review)

Trekking poles are a must have item for me. I am surprised when I see survivalists of any kind not including them (or even one, or even a trekking staff) as a part of their bug out kit. As the trekking pole manufacturer Leki would put it: "Four legs are better than two".

I was first introduced to trekking poles three or four years ago. I liked them right away and had them with me on nearly every hike as well as about a half the time when walking my dog.

My first poles were a pair of black diamond ellliptic adjustable aluminum poles picked up from REI (that link is pretty much the newer version of the poles I had purchased).

The elliptical shape offered more stability and the adjustable height worked really well. Occasionally if I pushed the poles past what they were supposed to be doing (running with trekking poles through the foothills etc.) the  poles would slightly collapse and shift down. This happened pretty rarely and was fixed by tighting the locks that held the pole in position.

My newest poles are the :  Black Diamond Distance Z-Pole Trekking Poles

I saw the new z-pole series at REI and was intrigued by their design. I liked the fact that they were compact as adjustable poles but ridged like fixed poles. It was the best of both worlds!

Z-poles, Banjo "side mounted dog" (his leash was tethered to my belt), Vapor  Trail loaded up

To test these poles I went hiking through mixed terrain in the sandia mountains. The trail we picked would lead us over forest, mud, ice, rocks, dirt, tree mass etc. This was the first real test of the poles.

The hike covered about 4-5 miles. I am wearing my Granite Gear Vapor Trail loaded up with 25 lbs of beans and about 10 lbs of water.

Damnit Banjo

Price: 5 out of 5 (about $100 bucks)
Durability: Tentative 4 (I have only just gotten them, so far so good)
Cool Factor: 5 (the pole collapse assemble with a kevlar core...bad ass)

Final Verdict:
4.66 out of 5

Paracord Crafts

I attempted my first paracord bracelet tonight. I am happy with the results. I made the bracelet while watching the Cobert Report on Hulu. I followed these instructions on Instructables.

It is slightly too big for my wrist.

Ugh...Check yo Camelback

I almost missed this.

Yuck! Check yo camelbacks! (that's mold btw).

Backup/Training B.O.B: Vapor Trail (lightweight backpack review)

I imagine TEOTWAKI (the end of the world as we know it) aka The Zombie Apocalypse might happen very quickly and relatively unexpectedly.

Being forced to travel on foot carrying your bug out bag is something that you should be able to do.

I need to get in shape!

My ideal bug out bag weight is around 60-70lbs. This is the target weight that I will train to travel on foot with. I am a bit out of shape and need to get to this ideal weight eventually. My plan is to take this pack on weighted dog walks and weekend day hikes to build up my strength/fitness levels. 

Secondary B.O.B : Granite Gear Vapor Trail 3600

This pack was my first non-jansport backpack. As an outdoors noob I was immediately facinated with Ultra-light/Light-weight backpacking. I liked the user reviews on this pack and could buy it at my local REI. The pack cost me around 60-70$.

I have owned this pack for 3 or 4 years and I use it all the damn time. It can be compressed enough to take as carry-on and packs enough gear for weekend trips/Day hikes etc. It is light, simple, yet very sturdy. Good weight distribution.

I am beginning with 25lbs.

 If only I could find something that weighed 25lbs, was cheap, and could also add to my long term food storage...




(wait for it)

WOOT!

I picked these beans up at Costco. They fit the backpack perfectly. So far the weighted walks in the suburbia that I live have been pretty easy. I need to take this out into the mountains and start training on varied terrain.

The B.O.B. (primary backpack review)

Being relatively new to apocalypse preparedness my first project is : THE BUG OUT BAG

The bug out bag is  a badge of honor to me regarding overall preparedness and as such I am looking forward to working on it.

Primary B.O.B.: Osprey Argon 85

I had purchased this pack two or three years ago to take backpacking. At the time I only had small day packs and couldn't really do any kind of long term backpacking. I sought the advise of a friend who I ll refer to as the outdoors bad-ass. I told him that I wanted to get a good long term backpacking backpack and wanted get the best. He suggested The osprey Argon 85.

He had used the pack for a whole range of outdoors adventures and had taken this pack with him the majority of the time. "It is the best pack I have ever owned" were pretty close to his exact words.

The next day I drove to REI and checked the pack out. The REI employee measured my back for fit and loaded up the pack to see how it felt.

The pack felt great and I was a little amazed at how light so much weight could feel. The pack was pretty damn expensive (around 400$) so I waited to use one of the REI 20% off coupons.

The pack splits into these three parts (Main pack on left, fanny pack/top cover in upper right, minimalist hydration carrier on botton right). The belt is custom molded which was pretty nice.

Ideal packed weight is around 60-70lbs.