Favorite Gear - Outdoor Research Chaos Jacket

A good puffy jacket is an essential piece of gear for mountaineering. Mine is kept in the top of my pack and goes on whenever I stop in cold weather and goes back in the pack once I start moving again. It’s also called upon to serve as an extra layer of warmth for unexpected storms or bivy’s.

Waterproofness is not usually a requirement for a puffy jacket because if it’s cold enough to need one any precipitation you might encounter will probably be in the form of snow rather than rain. The OR Chaos jacket has a water resistant shell that’s capable of shedding even warm slushy northwest snow. The filling is synthetic, which is my preference for use in the Cascades where it’s often wet. This works better than down which becomes a useless waterlogged sponge when wet.


There’s a large mesh pocket inside that’s sized to fit a 32oz Nalgene. This is great for keeping a waterbottle from freezing or defogging goggles. The fleece lined hand warmer pockets are cozy for warming bare hands.


My favorite feature of this jacket is the fit. The OR Chaos jacket was designed with climbers in mind, and as such is sized to fit a person with normal proportions, who happens to already be wearing climbing clothing.


In the past I’ve purchased jackets that were a size or two too big so that they would fit over my normal clothing. Typically the hoods are not large enough to accommodate a climbing helmet without stretching the jacket to the point you have to move your whole shoulders just to turn your head. The sleeves generally end up being a couple inches too long and the body often leaves me wondering who else I could get in the jacket with me.


When I put this jacket on over my normal fleece and Goretex the sleeves are just the right length, and there’s no extra maternity section in the front. The hood easily fits over a climbing helmet and still allows me to turn my head with normal motion.


The only downside I’ve found so far is that when I put this jacket on at rest breaks it’s often so cozy I just want to settle in for a long nap. : )

Pemmican Bar

Pemmican bars (a.k.a. Mealpack ® bars) are a high calorie energy bar. There’s ~400 caloies in each of these, which is more than some dehydrated backpacking meals and twice as much as the ubiquitous Cliff-Bar. They’re made of all natural ingredients with no preservatives.

I like to eat these for breakfast on the trail when I’m not up for preparing food. They are made by Bear Valley and can be purchased at REI or Whole Foods. My favorite flavor is the original Fruit ‘N Nut.

Favorite Gear - Osprey Atmos Series Packs

This is the most comfortable carrying pack I’ve owned to date. I own the 65 liter version which has a separate sleeping bag compartment in the bottom, and a secret zipper inside one of the outside pockets which allows you to access the main compartment without opening the lid.

The waist belt is nice and wide and conforms to the shape of your body so it distributes the weight well. This is the best fitting waist belt I’ve used. Other large packs I’ve worn rely on very thick dense padding, which leads to pressure points because it doesn’t conform well to your body. There are two mesh pouches on the waistband which are great for keeping snacks and other small items handy.

The mesh back is also nice for keeping your back cool in the summer. One thing I did not anticipate before I bought this pack is that the mesh back fills with snow if you use this pack in a blowing snowstorm. For technical terrain the durability of this mesh back would definitely be a problem. I’m sure it would not survive being drug up a cliff face on a haul line.

I don’t trust the bungees that are used to secure an ice-axe to the daisychain on the rear. I always clip a carabiner from the leash on my axe to the daisychain on the pack in case the bungees fail.

The curved frame makes these packs a challenge to pack, and limits the use of all available space, but they are light weight and carry very comfortably.

Favorite Gear - Jetboil PCS Stove

My trusty Jetboil has found a home in my pack as a light weight, versatile, convenient, fuel sipping cooking solution. This is the stove I find myself using most often.

There are better options for simmering or foods that require a skillet like pancakes, but for boil-in-a bag cooking, hot drinks, and even melting snow the Jetboil is fast, simple, and functional.

The small Jetboil fuel canisters fit inside the pot, but for economical reasons I prefer the standard large fuel canisters which have twice the fuel and only cost about $1 more. If you want to save weight or space the small canisters have enough fuel to last for a very long time.

This stove has rather poor stability, especially when using the small Jetboil fuel canisters. Like most backpacking stoves this one tends to turn into a ball of flames and shoots boiling water everywhere if you tip it over. The optional stability stand is really an essential if you don’t like this kind of excitement in camp. The stability stand is a small plastic tripod that snaps onto the bottom of the fuel canister to provide a stable base. In my opinion this should come standard with the stove. I know the Jetboil is popular to use as a hanging stove, perhaps this is how many users get around the stability problem. I’ve never found it necessary or convenient to hang mine.

I noticed on the REI website that they’ve just come out with a new version of this stove, the Jetboil Flash. This new version adds a translucent lid, and a “thermochromic temperature indicator” that makes it easier to tell when the water’s boiling without opening the lid.

This stove has always been targeted at the technosavy backpacker. Adding the term “thermocromic temperature indicator” to their marketing literature should definitely increase its appeal to this segment of the market. It also comes in cool new colors to appeal to those who are simply attracted to bright colors and shiny objects. : )