Duo Mid,

A work of  art. The build and design are great. I’m not going to gush over this as there are enough details on the internet. I use it in A pole configuration, which give lots of room. I use a polycro groundsheet and place the bivy in the middle. I can then pitch the tent fairly high even in bad weather and keep the ventilation, and not get splashed. In wind I batten down the hatches a bit more.

Paramo,

Works well. Comfy, good ventilation. BUT is not a good combo with merino wool. Dunno why, and this doesn’t happen with my original first gen Paramo jacket, but with a merino base layer, the paramo doesn’t wick enough and the inside is permanently wet. I’m not cold, but I am wet. This DOESN’T happen with a synthetic base layer. I sweat a lot, I’m the type of guy who sweats sitting down if the room temp is 22deg C, so when I walk, the merino is wet after 10 mins, and it stays wet. My first gen jacket copes well with merino, but not the new one. So I’m looking for a synthetic top base layer. My merino longjohns work well, and I’ll keep those.

Aarn pack,

Heavy, (1.2kg)but worth it. Complicated to put on as there are a lot of straps and you feel as if it is some bizarre bondage gear (!) but, once on, I wouldn’t be without it. I can walk more upright, for longer an carry more. I need to carry all my water so this is important. For three days I’d take 6 litres – 2 in the main pack and 2 in each of the front pockets (there is room to spare). The pack is superbly balanced.

GG Caldera Keg (Esbit)

Works like a chalm, a keeper.

Terroc 330s.

Still not sure of these. I put a sorbothane foot bed in, which helps, but still not enough support for me. I like the uppers and sole a lot, but the comfort ain’t good.  On the downhills they really pound my feet, and my ankles seem to twist more in them. I’ll keep them until I wear them out, then look for something else. Just hope someone comes up with an aggressive soled trainer.

I’ll post some about Tim Marshalls quilt and bivy -  the quilt I love, the bivy I like too, but I made some mistakes in what I asked Tim for, but I’ll post more about these items with pics later.

The Mountain Magic 33 is a new pack due to be officially launched in March, but you can buy from the manufacturer. The specs are these:
Mountain Magic 44 32L + 12L 1156gm

The pockets are attached by what I’m taking to be aluminum stays to the hip belt. There is then an adjustable stability strap to the shoulder strap, but the weight is transferred directly to the hip belt by the stays, which in turn acts as a counterweight to the load on your back. AFAIK this is an arrangement that only the Aarn has and offers severe performance improvement over accessory pockets available on other packs. the whole system really IS a balanced, integrated system, where everything works together.

Aarn recommends putting something heavy like water in these balance pockets. Each pocket should hold a 1.5l bottle. The pockets are balanced, but you can fine-tune how close to your body they are.

There is a velcroed roll-top which opens the dri-bag inner, thus doing away with the need for a pack liner. There is a piece of alu running across the top from side to side which is joined to the main frame stay. This frame stay runs from halfway down the pack to over the top of the pack which then joins to the load lift system. When I first saw this I thought it was too complex, but having used it, the effect of this is that the load moves much more closely with you, and the centre of gravity doesn’t really shift as you lean forward, up or sideways. The load is very stable as the frame, the pack closure and the lifters are linked in a fluid way.

Packing is slightly different than a normal pack. Aarn advises that the heaviest items for the back go in first, with the quilt and lighter items at the top. The weight should be low, which keeps the fore/aft balance centralised. Heaviest items in the front pockets.

To put the pack on you loosen everything off. Do up the hip belt, fasten the chest cross strap, tighten the hip belt, tighten the shoulder straps, fasten the pocket buckle, tighten the two straps on each side of the pockets, by pulling the loop they make, sort out the load lifters if need be…. yeah, not the most intuitive, but once you get it all worked out, it becomes pretty simple.

The compression system works really well, and again, this integrates well into the load lifter and the top frame. Plenty of mesh around the outside for wet gear storage.

I’ve had an hour with it on the Elliptical Trainer in the gym, loaded up with 6 litres of water in the back padded out with a bed quilt, and two 2 litre bottles of water in the front pocket ( plus clothes to pad them out), in other words, more weight than I’d normally carry, and it was very stable and comfortable.

I’ll put some pics up in the next few days, but can’t find any charged batteries for the camera!

Time will tell, but it does leave the option open for a cuben pack for summer with an immediate huge weight saving!

Pics and more ramblings to follow…