How to Pitch a TarpTent

Tarp Tents offer a great weight savings. With a little practice, you can pitch them as quickly as any other tent and combat condensation at the same time!

Useful Links

• Six Moon Designs. Great ultra light tents, excellent customer service (no, unfortunately, they're not paying me to say this).
• These extremely light (0.2oz) titanium tent stakes are also very affordable. We used these smaller stakes on the four corners.

• We used 2 of these stronger V-Shaped titanium stakes for the lines coming off the ridge. 
• When you order a TarpTent, it costs extra to have it seam sealed. You can do it yourself, but make sure you use the right stuff! I used SilNet, and it has worked extremely well for two seasons of heavy use!

Thru Hiking Gear

After hiking over 1100 miles on the PCT, the John Muir Trail and the Wonderland trail, I've learned a thing or two about what I like for long distance backpacking gear! You can find a video overview below along with links and detail on the gear.

1. Sleeping Bag

The Enlightened Equipment Revelation Quilt. Many options for size, color and fill. Much of this depends on your build and whether you sleep "cold". I found a 20 degree bag worked well for me. 

Backpacking Toothbrush: How to Make the Light and Compact Burner Sporkbrush

Links to Products Used

• Kydex Sheet Purchase the 12x12 sheet with a thickness of 0.028 inches.
• Loctite All Purpose Epoxy High strength + Safe for potable water.
  
  

How to Make Powdered Eggs

Links to Products Used 

(all links direct you to the product on Amazon, where portion of any sale supports this blog)

• Silica Gel Desiccant Used to keep the eggs dry. These are the "Do Not Eat" packets. 
• Seal-a-Meal Vacuum Sealer Cheap, effective vacuum sealer used in the video.
• Vacuum Sealer Rolls--Commercial Grade
  
  
  
  

The ESEE Candiru: My Light Backpacking Knife

I finally decided on a lightweight backpacking knife for my upcoming PCT thru-hike! I chose ESEE Candiru for its light weight and its tough 1095 steel. At 1.3oz (on my scale), it was lighter than many pocket knives. Unfortunately, it came with a bulky sheath that added 0.6oz, so I set about creating a lightweight Kydex sheath for my Candiru.

Solar Charging System for dSLR Batteries

Finally! I have a solar charging system for backpacking that actually charges anything, including the big batteries on my Canon full frame dSLR! It's tricky because many camera batteries are 7.4V or 7.2V far more than the 5V of most USB devices. The good news: once I found something that could charge at 7.4V, it had no trouble with my phone, AA and AAA batteries and all other 5V USB devices!

The First Pitch: Six Moon Designs Haven Tarp and Net Tent

Useful Links

• Six Moon Designs is a small company that makes and sells UL gear directly to backpackers from their website. They have a clear emphasis on long distance trails like the PCT and the AT.
• The Haven Tarp Tent sells for about $200 and weighs 19.4 oz by my scale.
• The Haven Net Tent sells for about $150 and weighs 14 oz both by my scale and Six Moon. It fits into the Haven Tarp.