[pct-l] Homemade Gear Contest

["Reynolds, WT" <reynolds@ilan.com>]

This contest had 27 entrants! Never, anywhere, have I seen such a display of
human ingenuity. 

A through hike is essentially an engineering problem that is impossible to
solve. Tell any "reasonable man" that you plan to walk 2700 miles through
America's highest mountains, wettest forests and hottest deserts with only
10 pounds of gear and you'll be told -- It's Impossible!! 

Yet tell the same "reasonable man" that you MADE a stove that weighs .8
ounce and a pack that weighs 1 pound, complete with padded hip belt, a
sleeping bag for two weighing 1 pound and a headlamp weighing 1/4
ounce...and he'll say that's impossible also. Yet here they are.

All entrants were judged in four categories [Creativity, weight savings,
personal comfort, other] by three judges. After adding the scores the
contest was sooooo close that it was virtually impossible to pick a winner.
Ultimately we picked a winner in three categories "Backpack", "Tent/Tarp"
and "Other". Finalists were:

Backpack
1-Ron Moak -- Spectra Pack [17 ounces]
http://www.fastpack.com/adz2000/IMAGE007.jpg
2-Rosemarie Karon --Spectra Pack, lots of features
http://www.fastpack.com/adz2000/IMAGE014.jpg
3-BushPilot-"No Hip belt" Backpack with forehead strap and front pocket
http://www.fastpack.com/adz2000/IMAGE013.jpg

Special mention to Peet Duffy for a supurbly crafted backpack
http://www.fastpack.com/adz2000/IMAGE001.jpg and Dawn Reinhart for cleverly
adding a stay [arrow shaft] to her homemade GV4 design
http://www.fastpack.com/adz2000/IMAGE002.jpg

Look at the photos. You pick a winner

Tent/Tarp
1-Tripod-A two person Nomad design using an arrow shaft to spread the two
hiking sticks acting as poles 2 1/2 pounds for a two person tent.
2-Brendon Perry-Tarp Tent 1#10oz with stakes and bug screen!
3-Time to Fly-Tarp tent for FIVE, 5# with bug net
4-SKID-No floor PUP tent for 2 20 ounces
http://www.fastpack.com/adz2000/IMAGE011.jpg
5-Marge "old girl" Protman"-Poncho that doubles as tarp 5 ounces
http://www.fastpack.com/adz2000/IMAGE003.jpg
6-Lee Wilson 2 person 2/3 # with floor
http://www.fastpack.com/adz2000/IMAGE004.jpg

Other
1-Heather Duffy -Quilt for two 1# ONE POUND!!!
http://www.fastpack.com/adz2000/IMAGE010.jpg 
2-"H"- Headlamp [H used Velcro to fasten a 1/4 oz brutality on the brim of
his hat. Walla!!!! A headlamp and reading light for 1/4 ounce. 

And the winners.....

Backpack. 
Ultimately we chose Ron Moaks lightweight simplicity over Rosemarie's and
BushPilot's creativity. Since a key criteria in this contest was light
weight I guess it made sense. Looking back I don't know why. Both Rosemarie
and BushPilot had eminently marketable products. Fortunately we had lots of
beer and White Zin to help us.

Tarp Tent
Bottom line. We liked tents over tarps at the same weight. We chose the 2
person Nomad over SKID's 20 ounce no floor pup tent. Although the Nomad for
2 was somewhat rickety Tripod had added some tie downs to help with wind
stability. Ultimately we wanted a bug screen window [as opposed to no
window] and a floor and were willing to carry the extra pound for it.

Other
We chose the quilt for two. While the idea of velcroing the 1/4 ounce pizeo
light on the bill of you hiking hat is a trick that everybody will adopt, it
only saved 2 ounces. The quilt was straight out of Jardine EXCEPT it had 1)
A flap between the two persons to close a draft hole, 2) a Bug Net that
covered the top 1/2 of the bag, 3) a loop and button arrangement that
prevented one partner from pulling the covers off the other. This design
saves pounds....

And the Winner is:
Quilt for Two-Heather Duffy who won $100 CASH.

* From the PCT-L |  Need help? http://www.backcountry.net/faq.html  *

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