VRider75
04-03-2010, 04:17 PM
Well... here's my first product reviews... I'll be traveling cross country on a 18 day excursion from Los Angeles to Savannah, GA to the Hudson Valley of NY. Leaving in a day or 2, I'll be camping, hopefully the whole way, but I'm sure I'll stay in a hotel on the rainy days as I'm just getting back into the camping thing... I've ridden cross country 3 1/2 times on a heavy cruiser, but this time I'm taking a V-Strom 1000.
I started with a Big Agnes Encampment +15* Regular with a 5'10" length and a 72" x 20" BA insulated inflatable pad.
http://www.rei.com/product/763891
I liked the extra girth coming in at 70" and the warmth worked well on a night in Joshua Tree Nat Preserve where the temps were in the 40s. That being said, I felt it was a little tight for me in the shoulders as I change positions frequently throughout the night (I'm 5'10"; 240 lbs) and my feet hit the bottom of the bag and were cold at one point during the night. I then exchanged it (gotta love REI) for the Big Agnes Hog Park +20* with an 80" girth and a 6'6" length and a 78"x25" BA insulate inflatable pad. The extra 5" inches on the pad was a definite plus, although the 20" worked fine.
http://www.rei.com/product/775919
I was concerned that it may be too long for me but the length worked as I could touch the bottom of the bag if I stretched. I definitely like the bigger bag as it gave me enough room to comfortably roll over without binding. I chose the left side zipper as I am right handed and feel zipping a right sided zipper is awkward for me. I'm re-thinking that one as I usually sleep on my right side which makes the zipper at my back and necessitates rolling over to get out of the bag. I tested it last night with temps in the mid 40s. I started with boxers, socks, and a t-shirt. Within 30 minutes I was down to boxers and venting the heat as it was way too warm. All in all, it seems the test was a success and I'm looking forward to the next couple of weeks traveling.
I'm also using the new REI Half Dome 2 plus which is 98"x 56"
http://www.rei.com/product/794296
my first impression is that they changed the zippered doors on the tent and the rain-fly from the Half Dome 2HC. The old style was a single pull half round on the tent and a center pull up the middle of the rain-fly. The new version has 2 zippers for the tent; one along the bottom and one along the top that curves to the center. They both start at the bottom corner and zip to the center. This means to open the door, you need to pull 2 zippers individually to get into the tent. I don't know why they changed from one curved pulled to 2 separate pulls to enter but hey... I also don't like the zippers being in the lower corner as it seems small animals may be able to nose their way into the zipper. The older style you could zip from top to bottom or bottom to top, which put the zipper pulls at the top and off the ground. The rain-fly also starts at the lower corner and zips up. I liked the center zipper of the previous version, but this isn't a big deal at this point.
Well, I'm still trying to figure a way to post campsite reviews from the road as I'm only bringing a blackberry and a SPOT tracker... happy trails...
I started with a Big Agnes Encampment +15* Regular with a 5'10" length and a 72" x 20" BA insulated inflatable pad.
http://www.rei.com/product/763891
I liked the extra girth coming in at 70" and the warmth worked well on a night in Joshua Tree Nat Preserve where the temps were in the 40s. That being said, I felt it was a little tight for me in the shoulders as I change positions frequently throughout the night (I'm 5'10"; 240 lbs) and my feet hit the bottom of the bag and were cold at one point during the night. I then exchanged it (gotta love REI) for the Big Agnes Hog Park +20* with an 80" girth and a 6'6" length and a 78"x25" BA insulate inflatable pad. The extra 5" inches on the pad was a definite plus, although the 20" worked fine.
http://www.rei.com/product/775919
I was concerned that it may be too long for me but the length worked as I could touch the bottom of the bag if I stretched. I definitely like the bigger bag as it gave me enough room to comfortably roll over without binding. I chose the left side zipper as I am right handed and feel zipping a right sided zipper is awkward for me. I'm re-thinking that one as I usually sleep on my right side which makes the zipper at my back and necessitates rolling over to get out of the bag. I tested it last night with temps in the mid 40s. I started with boxers, socks, and a t-shirt. Within 30 minutes I was down to boxers and venting the heat as it was way too warm. All in all, it seems the test was a success and I'm looking forward to the next couple of weeks traveling.
I'm also using the new REI Half Dome 2 plus which is 98"x 56"
http://www.rei.com/product/794296
my first impression is that they changed the zippered doors on the tent and the rain-fly from the Half Dome 2HC. The old style was a single pull half round on the tent and a center pull up the middle of the rain-fly. The new version has 2 zippers for the tent; one along the bottom and one along the top that curves to the center. They both start at the bottom corner and zip to the center. This means to open the door, you need to pull 2 zippers individually to get into the tent. I don't know why they changed from one curved pulled to 2 separate pulls to enter but hey... I also don't like the zippers being in the lower corner as it seems small animals may be able to nose their way into the zipper. The older style you could zip from top to bottom or bottom to top, which put the zipper pulls at the top and off the ground. The rain-fly also starts at the lower corner and zips up. I liked the center zipper of the previous version, but this isn't a big deal at this point.
Well, I'm still trying to figure a way to post campsite reviews from the road as I'm only bringing a blackberry and a SPOT tracker... happy trails...