[at-l] New Gear for '99

["Peter Nyberg" <pnyberg@pipeline.com>]

Some of you may recall my whining a few months back about not being able to
find a light-weight parabolic tarp to use in conjunction with my hammock.

The tarp I've been using is a 9x9 coated nylon flat-cut tarp from Campmor.
Having pitched it on one occasion in moderate breezes, I had significant
reservations about it being able to handle heavy weather.  In addition,
though advertised at 23 oz, in fact it weighs 27 oz.

Way back, someone suggested the Kelty Noah 9x9, also available from Campmor.
The size was right, and it had the parabolic cut I was looking for, but the
catalog weight was 27 oz.  From my previous experience, I figured that meant
that the tarp probably weighed 2 lbs., so I kept looking, but never found
anything.  Friday, I succumbed to temptation and ordered it.

It arrived yesterday ( that was quick, thank you U.S. Mail ).  Doing what
any good ounce weenie would do, I freed the item from its voluminous
packaging and put it on my scale.  Lo and behold, 23-1/2 oz.  I guess the
catalog weight included the guylines and stuff sack that came with the tarp.
And, there's a bunch ( 11 ) of extra tie-out loops that I don't think I need
that I could remove, saving perhaps another ounce or two.

I also ordered a little camera tripod called the Ultrapod.  It's catalog
weight is 2 oz, but my scale says 1-1/2 oz.

I think I'm on a roll.

    Peter

Visit my Backpacking Web Site at
http://www.pipeline.com/~pnyberg/Hiking/Hiking.html

* From the Appalachian Trail Mailing List |  http://www.backcountry.net  *

==============================================================================