Posts Tagged backpacking
Guerrilla Packs Airporter Carry-on Sized Backpack
This Airporter backpack from Guerrilla Packs carries a wide variety of belongings for a very reasonable price.It integrates a laptop sleeve and gadget pouches in a versatile piece of luggage.
I’m a big fan of bags that adhere to the TSA carry-on sizes but are lightweight and multi-functional. I love a wheelie bag as much as the next guy when my trip is only about airports, hotels, and taxis. But when that’s not the case, having something without wheels makes me a lot more mobile and shaves off several inches and pounds. (Think of it as a diet luggage.) With European budget airlines, African bush airlines, and Nature Air of Costa Rica charging you a hefty premium for anything over 20-30 pounds, weight is money.
So this backpack is quite useful in those cases and I’ve seen people on multi-month trips through the tropics carrying nothing but a bag this size: it holds 50 liters in the main compartment and another 10 in the small daypack. That’s just the start of it though. Guerrilla Packs bills their bags as the first ones designed for the modern tech-laden flashpacker and by that measure this is a terrific piece of luggage. It’s got a built-in detachable laptop sleeve, which is really cool. It’s large enough for a 13-inch laptop and it’s inside the main bag (hard for anyone else to get to). Also inside the main bag are two compartment bags: one sized for a smart phone, one for a point-and-shoot camera It’s got two zippered compartments on the outside, loops for hooking things on, sleeping bag or pad straps at the bottom, and two water bottle pockets on the side.
You can carry it like a suitcase with it all zipped up, with padded handles on both the top and side. That always makes me happy. Or you can unzip and tuck the back flap and carry it like a regular backpack, with a padded waist strap and sternum strap.
It comes with a detachable daypack too, which is pretty standard, but this one is small enough that you won’t feel like a dwarf jumped on your shoulder and is pulling you backwards if you actually use it. (The design lets you clip it onto the front of your body though if so.) It’s a good size for a day of sightseeing, with room for all the essentials, a key clip, a zippered mesh pocket, and internal flaps. There’s one large flap with a Velcro tab that’s ideal size for a tablet.
All the pack’s zippers have pull tabs on them but have big enough loops to accommodate regular locks or cable locks.
So is this the most rugged, heavy-duty backpack I’ve ever tried? No, but for a $129 list price, nobody should expect it to be. It’s a great pack for that price, loaded with useful features, and the ripstop nylon should hold up well through a few years of heavy travel. All Guerrilla packs come with a six-month warranty.They also sell a few larger packs for carrying more of your stuff. (You can win one this month if you’re following Perceptive Travel on Facebook.)
These are just getting out to physical retailers now, but you can buy the Airporter direct from the company or get it from Amazon.
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Posted by Tim L. in Travel Light on December 15th, 2011
An Alternative to Travel Silverware: Chopsticks!
I like the idea of portable silverware and sporks for long-term travel. You are helping the environment when throw-away utensils are the alternative. You know who washed what you’re eating with. You can avoid eating with your hands in places where washing up afterwards isn’t easy: like on an Indian train.
If you’re traveling through Asia though, carrying these might make the most sense: portable chopsticks from Grand Trunk Goods. Besides instantly making you look like a seasoned traveler, these utensils hardly take up any room.
These chopstick are in two pieces so they can pack up tighter and won’t get broken. The top part is stainless steel and the bottom is a durable hardwood with a screw mechanism at the top. (Grand Trunk’s description says Ebony, Amazon’s says Rosewood, but whatever…) You screw the parts together and have some very fancy-looking chopsticks at hand for your noodles or rice and veggies. These chopsticks feel as strong as Dumbledore’s wand, but only weigh an ounce.
Put together, each chopstick is 8.5 inches, but packed up is only about a finger and a half length. The pieces pack into a handy little nylon pouch with a Velcro closure. There’s a caribiner clasp too for hooking it onto the outside of your bag or the clip inside your bag so they’ll be easy to find.
There’s nothing complicated about these, which is the whole appeal of chopsticks themselves: simple items that help you eat like a civilized person. They can also help you avoid getting sick—or polluting the place where you traveled to in order to appreciate its beauty.
See more and buy them at the Grand Trunk Goods site, check your local retailer, or order your travel chopsticks from Amazon for about 15 bucks—a deal!
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Posted by Tim L. in Adventure Gear, General Gear, Travel Light on September 7th, 2011
Sleep Sacks with Coolmax and InsectShield
Besides a backpack, there’s one specific item separating the long-term shoestring traveler from the vacationing tourist: a sleep sack. Sometimes called a sleep sheet or travel sheet, it’s a staple of travelers who won’t be finding 600-thread-count Egyptian cotton draping the next bed where they will spend the night. When the place you bed down costs less than the guests at the luxury hotel tip their bellman, you need a sheet of your own that will come between you and the mattress you can’t fully trust.
I’ve been checking out two just-introduced sleep sacks that are leaps and bounds beyond what I carried with me on three trips around the world, however, Modern technology has transformed the lowly travel sheet into something as comfortable as it is functional. Here’s the rundown on ones from Cocoon and Sea to Summit. Either one is a great choice. You get something lightweight and easy to carry that is also comfortable. The big bonus though? Both have built-in InsectShield protection, so you can doze off in a cheap guesthouse without first slathering yourself in DEET.
Lightweight and Compact
The Sea to Summit Coolmax Adaptor with InsectShield weighs in at 8.6 ounces (244 grams) and stuffs into a slightly smaller pouch than the Cocoon InsectShield Safari sheet, which is 10.8 ounces 
(305 grams). The Cocoon one has slightly thicker fabric, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Each stuffs into its own little sack. After stuffing, the sack is like a Nerf football without the tapered parts at the end. The Sea to Summit sack has a little carrying or hanging handle, while the Cocoon one is vented on one side to allow moisture to escape. Both have a cinch strap at the top.
Coolmax Fabric
The fabric of these sheets is 100% CoolMax, the wonder stuff that wicks away moisture and stays cool against your body. You can sink wash it and know it will dry in a few hours. It feels like your favorite t-shirt or nightgown, but it won’t get soaked with sweat and stay that way. My daughter liked the Cocoon one so much she curled up on the couch with it and then took it to bed to sleep in as well for several nights. A good sign.
InsectShield Treatment
You can find a lot of sleep sheets and sleeping bag liners with those first two attributes. The real kicker with these new models, however, is the introduction of InsectShield. That’s the permethrin-based repellent that’s built right into the fabric. No smell, no fumes, no effect on your skin. But you can wash the fabric at least 35 times without it losing its effectiveness. I’ve used ExOfficio clothing with this stuff in it and have significantly reduced the amount of DEET I had to apply. Sleeping in this product would give you an added layer of protection in areas with lots of mosquitoes. There’s even a little hoodie flap you can pull over your head.
This is great all-around for long-term travelers and those staying in hostels, but naturally you could use it for camping trips too, either as the only thing you’re sleeping in or as a sleeping bag liner for an additional layer.
See more on the Sea to Summit Adaptor page and the Cocoon USA website. The first company’s model is easier to find than the latter, but both seem to still be in roll-out mode at retail. Expect to pay somewhere between $45 and $55 for these InsectShield versions, a bit less for a straight Coolmax one.
Search for the Sea to Summit sleep sack or REI.com or RockCreek.com
Posted by Tim L. in Adventure Gear, General Gear, Travel Light on June 17th, 2010
