The Kumo SuperLight backpack is for those who want a durable smaller volume frameless pack that is appropriate for a variety of uses.  It is a Murmur gone rugged and is constructed out of our all new 140d Dyneema GGridstop™.   The Kumo™ was named in honor of our great friends and customers in Japan as well as to describe the pack itself.  Kumo™ is Japanese for “Cloud”, and can also mean “Spider”.

Constructed largely of our custom 140d dyneema GGridstop™ nylon on the Murmur platform it is more durable and has added features. The features include a zippered top pocket, a 1.5″ webbing belt, a full hydration sleeve, a new compression/lashing system, and a new sternum strap assembly.  Unlike the Murmur the Kumo™ will be available in two sizes, medium and soon in large.  Weighing in at 14.5oz, the Kumo™ is designed for a wide range of activities including backpacking, travel, day hiking and would also make an excellent summit pack. A tough little pack with a rich feature set at home on the trail, the Camino de Santiago or in an airport.  Click Here to see the Product Page.

Welcome Benjamin Moryson to our Trail Ambassador Family!   Benjamin is a Germany based backpacker and outdoor blogger. In his youth he spent lots of time outside with hiking and playing in nature. As he got older the time for the hobbies was limited.  At the age of 24 he changed his mind and he went back to his hiking roots. He started his hiking career again with a 40 pound pack. After a couple of problems with health, Benjamin began to become interested in lightweight backpacking. Reducing the pack weight was a fantastic process for him and he still tries to save each gram. In that time he also started his blogging career to share the experiences with others. When he is not backpacking he is working in a foundry which is very exciting, but also exhausting or he spends time on his farm with three horses. In addition to backpacking he also likes mountainbiking and packrafting.  See more about Benjamin on his page…

Diane Soini, one of our Trail Ambassadors, sent us a few photos from one of her trips over the winter.  We thought it was funny that she actually followed a bear.  Heck, most of us go the other way!

Did a little overnighter in the Sespe Wilderness on the Piedra Blanca trail. More snow than expected. Here are pictures of me hiking in the snow with my G4. We found our way through the snow by following a bear.

Diane Soini

Glen-

I don’t know if you are still looking at ideas for packs to carry bear canisters but I had good luck last summer with the Mariposa+ with a bungee cord setup on top of the pack.  Worked better than my previous Mariposa because the grosgrain loops were symmetrical on each side of the pack. The earlier model did not have the grosgrain loops in the same place on each side of the pack and would pull the canister backwards.  I carry the food inside the pack in a stuff sack during the day and stick it in the can at night.  I put the shelter and down  jacket in the canister during the day and it carries much better that way.  Worked great.  We did 11 days wandering in the southern Sierra with that setup last summer and it was fine, including some nice cross country (actually carried 12 days of food but came out a day early.

We were stopped on the trail by folks who had trouble believing that we were in for twelve days with our setup.  I was wondering if you ever considered making up some Gossamer Gear stickers with the website address that could be handed out.  I told people the name and url but don’t know how many remember it.  Just an idea.

Robert

Please welcome Reuben to our Trail Ambassador family.  He is a survival instructor and minimalist in the purest sense.

Bio: Writer, photographer, adventurer, and martial arts trainer (Muay Thai), Reuben has spent 30 years hiking and backpacking through the wildernesses of California, Nevada, and Arizona: often with an air of extreme discipline towards his super Ultralight gear. He has traveled abroad in extreme environments, from the cold climate of Alaska and New Zealand to the desert heat of Egypt. He continues studying primitive techniques in survival and the construction and uses of knives and edged tools from places such as the South Pacific, Australia, New Zealand, South America, and numerous countries in Asia. Reuben has published many articles on knife use, Bushcraft, shelters, and remains a lifetime student of survival.  Read more here…

Gary and Kiki live in Gothic, Colorado and have been huge Gossamer Gear advocates for many years.  and care-take a backcountry hut during the winter.   They ski in and out carrying provisions (yes with their GG packs).  Summers are often devoted to some type of adventure, be it long-distance hiking or bike touring.

This summer, 2012, they are planning a 10-year anniversary hike of the Appalachian Trail.  Their favorite gear are the LT4 Lightrek Poles and the Mariposa Plus backpack.  Read more about them here….

Hi,

I’m attaching a photo for your September gear drawing. It’s of me backpacking with the GG Sit Pad. The location is Columbine Lake. This was part of a 5-day hike in July 2010 through the spectacular Mineral King area of Sequoia National Park. Note the spectacular blue color of the lake, the enormous cairn (typical of the area), and the happy swimmers in the background. The Sit Pad is essential for trips on the granite, as it keeps your bum warm when the granite cools off at night.

Hope you like the photo. Thanks!
Elizabeth Tracy

By Will Rietveld, Gossamer Gear Trail Ambassador

2012 marks the twentieth anniversary of the ultralight backpacking movement. Yep, 20 years old. Back in 1992 Ray Jardine first published his groundbreaking ideas in the “Pacific Crest Trail Hiker’s Handbook”, followed later by his more familiar title “Beyond Backpacking” in 2000. And since then, shall we say, the rest is history. A lot has happened since then, and is still happening.

I received a phone call alerting me of this landmark from Ron Moak, owner of Six Moon Designs, a small manufacturer of ultralight backpacking gear. Ron is writing a history of the ultralight movement entitled “Ultralight: State of the Revolution”, which chronicles from the “Ray-Way” beginning to the present state of the art. Ron’s article is now published on his website at www.sixmoondesigns.com.

Ron (“da Griz”) Moak is well-qualified to be the UL historian since he’s been involved in the UL movement from its beginning, and founded one of the first companies to produce UL gear. Ron and his wife hiked the entire Appalachian Trail in 1977, and Ron remembers it like it happened last year. Ron’s a hard-core thru-hiker, and even named his company from his long trail experience – it takes about six moons to hike the AT, thus the name Six Moon Designs, established in 2002.

I had the opportunity to read one part of his seven part article before it was published; its insightful and well-written. Here’s an excerpt: “Reading The PCT Hiker’s Handbook, it’s clear that Ray Jardine derived significant inspiration for his gear from Grandma Gatewood. Long a legend in the world of long distance backpacking, this Midwestern farmer’s wife, mother of eleven children, and grandmother first hiked the Appalachian Trail in 1955 at the age of 67. With her red Keds TM shoes, shower curtain tarp and a gunny sack over her shoulder, she eventually completed three complete hikes of the Appalachian Trail. By the time of her death in 1973, she had hiked many other long trails including the Oregon Trail, Long Trail, etc.

In his book, Ray writes ‘What set Grandma apart was her disdain of contemporary equipment.’ In this case it’s pretty clear that Ray is projecting his own distaste of traditional gear on Grandma. The reality is that when Grandma Gatewood first stepped foot on the Appalachian Trail, those manufactures that we call traditional today, didn’t even exist.”

Thanks Ron for all the effort you put into this.

To COMMENT ON THIS ARTICLE, click on the title and add your wisdom at the bottom of the article. Thanks!!

Dear Gossamer Gear,

Late in 2010 I took my GG trekking poles to New Zealand, and someone at GG asked if I could send any photos of my GG trekking poles in action in New Zealand. In response to that request, please find the attached photos. They were taken in late September of 2011 on my 3 night/4 days hike (“tramp” as we call hiking here in NZ) of the Cape Reinga Coastal Walkway. The tramp takes you right around a good chunk of the top of the north island of New Zealand.

The poles continue to work flawlessly, and my Kiwi tramping partners are amazed at how light they are.

Thanks for making a fantastic product at a reasonable price, and know that your products will continue to be used down here in NZ.

If the rich could hire other people to die for them, the poor could make a wonderful living. – Yiddish proverb

Sarah, Shelley and Trinity are las Tres Chicas (Locas).  They are currently on their adventure of a lifetime.  Thier goal is to walk, as much as possible, the entire length of South America.  They have been keeping a very active blog of their travels at eathikesleephike.blogspot.com.  What a great story!!

Their mission is “We will hike, as much as our guiding principles allow, from Ushuaia to the Columbian border over the course of a year.”

Their guiding principles are Safety and Health, Fun, Unity, Growth, Opportunity, Flexibility, Tranquility, Optimism, and The Other.