Offseason gear upgrades

[OldRussian]

I busted out the CC again last night.

Ordered a set of the Kifaru pullouts, went with the small-XL set plus an additional medium. Should be nice for organizing my pack.

I needed some guy lines for my Gatewood Cape that is on order. I ordered Lawson Equipment 2mm line, 6 of their line locks and a 10 pack of 6.5" UL spikes. All made in USA, hopefully the quality is there.

 

[BackcountryBloodline]

I busted out the CC again last night.

Ordered a set of the Kifaru pullouts, went with the small-XL set plus an additional medium. Should be nice for organizing my pack.

I needed some guy lines for my Gatewood Cape that is on order. I ordered Lawson Equipment 2mm line, 6 of their line locks and a 10 pack of 6.5" UL spikes. All made in USA, hopefully the quality is there.

I picked up a sewing machine this year and went a bit crazy with the pullouts, was going through gear on the weekend and guess I didn't realize how many I had made practicing lol. Let me know how those UL stakes work out for you, I've bent my share of aluminum stakes in my rocky ass campsite.

 

[kjigou]

Definitely new 243 scope, the vortex DB I have mounted on needs to go.

 

[jakeller27]

I’m taking this off-season to improve my fitness first and foremost, then I’m going to use my new size as an excuse to move to some nicer technical apparel like First Lite or Kuiu. Sweat and sweat retention was a big issue for me this season and I had a hard time getting the balance of layering correct.

 

[i count eye guards]

I went on a little upgrade spree over the holidays.

Picked up a Sirui 1204 ET (?) Carbon fiber tripod to save some serious weight over the manfroto aluminum pod. I'm going to drill and tap a lightweight handle onto the included ball head to make it more useable. I can see the head being replaced with an Outdoorsman in the near future.

I also picked up the Ironwill Outfitters knife. This will be a replacement for my Buck skeleton knife. I wanted to upgrade to a blade with better edge retention.

Six Moon Design had a sale so I purchased their Gatewood cape. I've had my eye on it for a while. Can be used as a poncho, single person shelter and pack cover. Its super light too. I'm worried it won't hold up too good bush bashing, so my Arc'teryx shell might ride in the pack with it too.

I plan to get my EL's shipped to outdoorsman to have their stud pressed in. Anyone have a negative experience with this?

Very curious about the iron will knife

 

[i count eye guards]

Prana Zion pants are great for hiking in. If your push alot of prickly shit they are a little thin.

Blood washes out of them nicely. Quick drying.

They are a hippie company, so I just ordered online.

Prana is Columbia

 

[BackcountryBloodline]

I’m taking this off-season to improve my fitness first and foremost, then I’m going to use my new size as an excuse to move to some nicer technical apparel like First Lite or Kuiu. Sweat and sweat retention was a big issue for me this season and I had a hard time getting the balance of layering correct.

Best answer so far. I was in a car accident a couple years ago and still getting my strength back to where it was so I'm in the same boat...finally able to start pushing things a bit harder so it's go time! Also working on dialing in my own layering system, for what it's worth out of what I have from both brands so far I seem to prefer First Lite and plan to pick up a few more pieces during the tag soup sale...was eyeballing their sawbuck pants but I think I'll go with the zions this year just so I don't feel like a full on fanboy

 

[OldRussian]

@BackcountryBloodline I got all there gear I ordered in hand now. Those UL Stakes appear to be tough when I flex them. They are 1/8 diameter throughout.

Here is a glamour shot of the new haul.

 

[jfs82]

I'm also curious about trying out the zions for spring bear this year, are you guys running a base layer underneath them early season or next to skin?

I wear EB Guides or Zions pretty often when out hiking. Those with a lightweight merino base layer kept me perfectly fine down to 35 or so degress F (while moving) but i run hot in general.

 

[ridgefire]

I upgraded my rain gear to Sitka and also bought a Radrover bike. Can't wait for September.

 

[Scolfieldkid]

I bought the 18” Smith Cylinder stove that I still need to season. I am also looking to get the Seek outside Redcliff. I am tired of having to take my boots off when going into my tent or always having to crouch.

 

[BackcountryBloodline]

@BackcountryBloodline I got all there gear I ordered in hand now. Those UL Stakes appear to be tough when I flex them. They are 1/8 diameter throughout.

Here is a glamour shot of the new haul.View attachment 147769

Awesome gear porn man, how much weight did you shave with the tripod?

I upgraded my rain gear to Sitka and also bought a Radrover bike. Can't wait for September.

Man you guys always know how to make me feel better, here I am wishing April would hurry up already

I bought the 18” Smith Cylinder stove that I still need to season. I am also looking to get the Seek outside Redcliff. I am tired of having to take my boots off when going into my tent or always having to crouch.

If you haven't already done so the Lite Outdoors plateau 5 is worth looking into, with a carbon pole upgrade you're actually looking at a lighter weight, similar sized shelter at a significant cost reduction, just something I noticed when I was comparing specs!

 

[OldRussian]

@BackcountryBloodline old tripod with head and adapter plate was 5lb 11.7oz. New tripod with head and adapter plate is 3lbs 1oz. Saves 2lbs 10.7oz.

 

[Trevor73402]

@BackcountryBloodline old tripod with head and adapter plate was 5lb 11.7oz. New tripod with head and adapter plate is 3lbs 1oz. Saves 2lbs 10.7oz.

Does the ball head have a model # on it? I found that same tripod for a good price, but it doesn’t come with a head.

 

[*zap*]

Got me a Kifaru 26" duplex frame and a couple of Kifaru pack bodies to try out....

 

[bobinmi]

Wife bought me an electric meat grinder. Pretty nice upgrade over my old handcrank that Ive been using for 15 years.

 

[OldRussian]

Does the ball head have a model # on it? I found that same tripod for a good price, but it doesn’t come with a head.

I think it came with an E10 ball head. Didn't get to test it out. It isn't very high quality. I'm thinking about drilling and tapping it to install a small arm. Then we can use it with with the binos on another pod while one guy uses the spotter.

 

[archp625]

I upgraded scopes and tripod. I went last year to Wyoming to hunt antelope. I was successful but once i was in the field i realized really fast I didn't like the BDC reticle for longer shots. There was too much guessing for me. When i was practicing all year it was fine. Sold the scope and will be dialing from now on. To me much more precision.

I also took out a cheap caldwell bipod. It was their 6-9" version. The bipod didn't fail me it was just too shot to do anything with it. I decided I needed a taller one and pull the trigger on an Atlas CAL.

 

[BackcountryBloodline]

Got me a Kifaru 26" duplex frame and a couple of Kifaru pack bodies to try out....

Nice, which packs did you grab and what were you upgrading from? My son has really impressed me with his "backpack hunting" abilities over the past year and I wanted to get him into a bigger pack with a meat shelf for this spring...he's only 10 though and they don't make kifarus that fit him so I made a DIY downsized reckoning and I'm also working on a 20" duplex style frame for him right now, stay tuned for the DIY thread but here's a sneak peak of his gear upgrade of the season!

 

[*zap*]

Backcountry, I got an MMR and an AMR. I have an SG x-curve and Krux with a Sky 6200 and an MR Guide Lite with a mule but I have some good military bags that fit the Guide Lite. The plan is to use them all with various weights and figure out what is best for me....