Gossamer Gear recently participated in a clinic to help spread the lightweight  gospel at our local Boy Scout Chapter.  At this clinic, our own illustrious Grant Sible led a pack makeover.  This is part two of a two part video featuring him showing how one can reduce weight by merely leaving unneeded stuff behind.   Watch as Grant does a pack makeover of one of the clinics participants and reduces over 10 pounds!  Stay tuned for Part 2.

Gossamer Gear recently participated in a clinic to help spread the lightweight gospel at our local Boy Scout Chapter.  At this clinic, our own illustrious Grant Sible led a pack makeover.  This is part one of a two part video featuring him showing how one can reduce weight by merely leaving unneeded stuff behind.   Watch as Grant does a pack makeover of one of the clinics participants and reduces over 10 pounds!  Stay tuned for Part 2.

Here is a tip sent in from one of our customers, John Potter.  It is the deluxe version

“Here’s the “Deluxe” ($16) version of Will Rietveld’s Hooded Tyvek Rain Jacket.  I replaced the non-separating coverall zipper with a 30″ separating zipper and storm flap, and added inside pockets for
storing gloves, etc.  The donor Tyvek coveralls came from Lowe’s. 4.0 ounces before seam sealing”

If you want to make your own G4, there is a Yahoo Group specifically designed to help you do that.  You can find them at this link.  Join in on the conversation and go old school on the cheap.  Although we no longer have patterns or instructions available to do this, you can find them at Quest Outfitters at this link.  Good luck with your project!  Of course if you are not a do-it-yourselfer, we still sell the packs and it is our best deal and easiest way to get into backpacking the ultralight way!

By Will Rietveld and Janet Reichl, Gossamer Gear Trail Ambassadors

A common hiking affliction is Plantar fasciitis, heel pain that can be difficult to remedy. For some people, it takes months of therapy to get rid of Plantar fasciitis, and one can miss out on a lot of hiking in the meantime. My wife, who is an Occupational Therapist, recently helped me overcome Plantar fasciitis in my left foot in an amazingly short period of time.

According to Janet, the trigger points for Plantar fasciitis can be in your foot or your calf (she learned the latter from a triathlete friend). I found the latter hard to understand since it’s away from my foot, but that turned out to be exactly the case for me. I searched for a “knot” (sore spot), in my calf, and lo and behold I had a good one in both calves which I didn’t know I had.

Use a rolling muscle massager, like the Tiger Tail shown, on trigger points in the foot or calf to relieve Plantar fasciitis.

Use a rolling muscle massager, like the Tiger Tail shown, on trigger points in the foot or calf to relieve Plantar fasciitis.

The therapy is to roll the spot every day with any type of roller – a foot roller, a muscle massager as shown above, or a rolling pin. Yes it hurts, but the goal is to roll the spot to work the knot out. Let the pain be your guide to how hard to roll it; you want to be at the threshold of too much pain. For me, the knot (and the Plantar fasciitis) disappeared in only a week. Massaging out the “knot” relieved the pain.

This treatment may not work for everyone, but it worked for me, and there’s no harm in trying it.

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By Will Rietveld, Gossamer Gear Trail Ambassador

A high-end air permeable Gore-Tex or eVent waterproof-breathable jacket costs $350 or more, and it’s not ultralight; the lightest one is the Montane Spektr at 8 ounces. A polyurethane laminate rain jacket costs $150-$200 and is lightweight (down to about 6 ounces) and durable but not very breathable. Propore jackets are cheap but not very durable. In this article I will describe how to make a hooded Tyvek jacket plus chaps for under ten dollars, in a few minutes using a pair of scissors.

The finished Tyvek hooded rain jacket is extra long and weighs just 5.25 ounces. The chaps weigh 2.6 ounces. You may get some comments about the white color (like “where did you park your space ship?”), but it is actually quite functional because it stays cooler compared to a dark color.

Tyvek is a spunbonded  nonwoven olefin fabric that is made up of millions of polyethylene fibers. “Disposable” Tyvek clothing”, made of type 1443R soft Tyvek is cheap, waterproof, somewhat breathable, lightweight, and highly resistant to tears and punctures. The fabric weight is about the same as silnylon (1.3 ounces per square yard).

You can use an available Tyvek lab coat as a rain jacket or windshirt, but it has snaps on the front closure and no hood, which make it less than ideal. So, the only way to get a hooded jacket with a front zipper is to purchase Tyvek coveralls and cut them off below the zipper.

The ideal Tyvek coveralls are DuPont “white disposable coveralls with hood”, style number TY127SWH. These are made of soft 1443R Tyvek without extra coatings, so it’s lighter weight and more breathable. Disposable ProShield Tyvek (and similar Tyvek from other companies) coveralls have a smooth coating on the outside, which makes it look like DriDucks fabric, and it weighs a little more. The challenge is purchasing a single coverall or two; most cleaning supply stores sell them by the case of 25. The easiest way to purchase a single coverall is from Home Depot, but they are the slightly heavier ones with a smooth outside coating.

Sizing is important; to get a jacket and chaps with long enough sleeves and legs, and enough room to layer over other clothing, you need to use coveralls that are two sizes larger than your normal size. I normally wear a size Large, so I get a 2XL Tyvek coverall. The larger size also provides extra length so the jacket and chaps overlap. If you only want to make a jacket you can go with your normal size or one size larger; note that the sleeves run a little short for a taller person.

The tailoring is so simple that anyone (including me!) can do it. Here’s the stepwise process:

1. Lay the coveralls out flat on a table, front side up.
2. Make a mark about 2 inches below the bottom of the zipper.
3. Use a pin or other sharp object to puncture the coveralls all the way through to the backside.
4. Carefully turn the coverall over and mark the exit point on the backside seam.
5. Put the coveralls on and make a mark on one side about 4-5 inches below your waist.
6. Take the coveralls off, fold them over, and mark the other side so the two sides are even.
7. Draw a smooth concave curve from the center point to side marks on both sides of the coveralls (see photo below, four places total). This will give you a dropped front and tail for the jacket, and raised sides for the chaps.
8. Use a sharp scissors to cut on the line all the way around. No hemming is needed since Tyvek does not unravel.
9. To make the chaps, cut two pieces of lightweight flat braided cord 30 inches long, then sew the middle of each cord under the folded top edge of each leg of the chaps.

After making marks on the coverall for the bottom and sides as described above, draw a smooth line and cut on the line with scissors. This yields a tall jacket and a pair of chaps. My wife added tie cords at the top of the chaps to tie them to belt loops, and a couple of pleats on the backside to make them fit better.

Note that since the front zipper does not separate at the bottom, the rain jacket needs to be put on as a pullover. To make the garments completely waterproof, coat the seams with Roo Glue or diluted silicone. If you wish, you can add a storm flap over the front zipper.

My Tyvek rain jacket made from the Home Depot Tyvek coveralls weighs 4.25 ounces, and the chaps weigh 2.6 ounces. A rain jacket made from the lightest soft Tyvek (style number TY127SWH) in size XL weighs 3.15 ounces. Although you get a pair of chaps from this project, my personal preference is to purchase a pair of Tyvek pants, which I will discuss in a future blog article. You can also wear very lightweight nylon rain pants, like the new Montbell Versalite Pant which weighs only 4 ounces.

You are probably wondering how waterproof and how breathable a Tyvek rainsuit is. I wore the jacket in the shower at home with 30 pounds of water pressure and it only leaked a little through the front zipper. As far as breathability, check out the following graph; I just happen to have that data from a previous project on waterproof-breathable jackets.

Comparative jacket breathability in terms of accumulated humidity inside the jacket during a sustained 2.25 mile steady uphill hike and reverse downhill hike. Jackets were completely zipped up throughout the hike. Note that the Tyvek jacket and DriDucks jacket perform about the same; they both reach 100% humidity inside after about 35 minutes and stay steamed up. The lightweight Marmot Essence Jacket (polyurethane laminate) performed slightly better, about the same as a traditional Gore-Tex jacket (Montbell Thunderhead Jacket). The more breathable eVent Montane Spektr Smock (lowest curve) was clearly more breathable than all of the other jackets.

Overall, a Tyvek rain jacket is very easy to make, very inexpensive, and very durable. Its breathability is about the same as DriDucks, and not that different from Gore-Tex, which is actually not very breathable. The white color actually makes a lot of sense since it will be cooler to wear in the summertime. Happy hiking!

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

Since I prefer to eat vegan and hike hard, I’ve been looking for a way to get a little extra protein into my dinners, to help muscle recovery.  What better way than to have a protein bar for dessert?  So I bought a bunch of protein bars from a variety of sources, and tasted them over the last few months.  The main parameters I was interested in were:

1. Caloric Efficiency – since I don’t want to carry any more food weight than necessary.
2. Protein Density – since the goal is to get some extra protein, what percentage of the bar weight is protein?
3. Taste – at the end of a hard day, it has to taste good.

This was a completely unscientific test, and reflects my personal taste, but you are welcome to check out the spreadsheet. A couple of observations:

• The bars I found tastier tended to have a lower % protein
• The bars that were generally more ‘wholesome’ tended to have a lower % protein
• Eating peanuts (or almonds) does a pretty good job in terms of extra protein

Those of you that eat protein bars, do you have a favorite I’ve missed?  Any other supplemental protein strategies not involving animal products?

Steve Burgess helped us put together this poetic and informative short video on our trek poles.  He covers the basics of selection, care and use.  He adds his own flare and we are most grateful for his efforts.  He is an expert on the Wonderland Trail and an innovator of ultralight gear.  If you want to see more, check out his blog.

The most amazing part of this video, is that he had neck surgery just one week before!!  Now this is what  we call a dedicated DIYer.  Thanks Don!  Read more of his post here…

Post by Will Rietveld, Gossamer Gear Trail Ambassador

The biggest wear problem I have with hiking shoes and boots is seam failure.

I like to bushwhack and explore, and things like sliderock are hard on boots, especially any exposed seams in the lateral (outside) metatarsal head region. That region is subjected to heavy abrasion, which wears through the stitching, causing the seam to open. The first photo shows what I mean.

Unfortunately, shoes and boots with seams in that region are fairly common. My first piece of advice is to avoid purchasing footwear that has exposed seams on the sides of the shoe or boot. An example is shown in the next photo.

However, we purchase footwear based on fit, support, and traction (mainly fit), so it’s not always possible to find the ideal shoe or boot without exposed outside seams. In that case you can greatly extend the life of hiking footwear by coating the stitching in the exposed area with McNett SeamGrip or FreeSole, which is available in most outdoor stores.

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