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After a bone-chilling hike in a downpour @ 38 degrees a week and a few days ago, forcing me to throw my poles into my pack and bury my hands in my pockets, I immediately decided that I needed some lightweight shells to protect my hands in ultralight style! What better excuse, er reason, to send $45 on some new MLD eVent Rain Mitts! I recognize that I could have simply worn my possomdown gloves, letting them get absolutely soaked, but that would have required me to shed my pack, exhume my gear pouch, and sort through my all of my packed clothes!

As is typical for accessory purchases, I received my mitts in less than a week from Ron @ MLD, and received them prior to my next weekly 6am hike with McLovin! Constructed entirely of eVent fabric with an ergonomic shape to reduce seam strain when using poles, I was immediately impressed with the construction and weight (in size medium) of less than one ounce for a pair!

I wore them on a ~7 mile hike on Friday morning and found that they kept my hands really, really warm in ~40 degree weather. In fact, they kept me so warm that I shed them about half-way through the hike! As would be expected of eVent fabric, there was absolutely no condensation at all, even though I created quite a humid environment inside.

Items required for seam-sealing: McNett Seam Grip and Talcum Powder!

Seam Sealing:

Have I ever mentioned that I HATE seam sealing? If I didn’t, I meant to. To strengthen the seams and make the mitts fully waterproof, it is recommended to seal the seams of these mitts using McNett Seam Grip. To do this, you need to flatten the seams by packing the gloves from the inside out using paper towels, newspaper, cloths or anything that’s handy. I loaded the mitts with paper towels and tightened the cordlocks, preparing it for seam sealing. It’s a pain and nearly impossible to get totally flat seams, but it’s worth the effort otherwise it will be extremely to do even a moderately professional job.

Running a thin line of Seam Grip along the edge and thumb seams was difficult at best, but I was able to effectively seal them in a messy fashion. I threw out the idea of having a real professional look when I first opened the mailbag and saw the sealer . . .. Oh well, I was done and all that was left was to hang them overnight to dry.

Sealed and ready to go!

Got Baby Powder?:

Seam Grip, once dried, creates a very rubbery seal on the mitts that sticks to itself. This can cause the sealer to pull apart if the mitts are stored together, which I’ll note, is the only way to store items that are intended to be used together! To prevent this, all that’s required is to lightly dust the seams with talcum powder. This prevents the seams from sticking and completes the mitts for use!

Parting Thoughts:

• Yet another well thought-out and constructed product from Mountain Laurel Designs!
• They weigh an extremely light 1.25 oz when sealed, which is very light for a product that can replace gloves for most backpacking use. I’ll note that these are only a few tenths of an ounce lighter than possomdown gloves, so depending upon the weather can either be used by themselves or in conjuction with gloves for use in freezing conditions.
• Did I say that I HATE seam sealing?
• I highly recommend these mitts for backpacking use! They work very well in conjunction with hiking poles due to the ergonomic shape and it’s easy to tighten the cordlocks with the mitts on!

One of the cuben items purchased for this season is a Mountain Laurel Designs (MLD) Solo Pro Tarp. This, although I didn’t necessarily “need” a new tarp, was intended to be used in conjunction with my Super Mica jacket to replace my Gatewood Cape and wind shirt in my kit, shaving a couple of precious ounces and operating as a more versatile combination. 

I’ve ordered several items from Ron at MLD over the past couple of seasons and placed an order for a Solo Pro Tarp on March 19th. Surprisingly, I received my tarp in only just over a week, which is rare given that there’s typically a 6-8 week backlog in orders leading up to hiking season. My tarp, in its yellow silnylon stuff sack, weighed in at 5.0 ounces (including lines and linelocks). By replacing the silnylon sack with a Mini / Tarp Stuff Sack built by Joe at Zpacks, I reduced the total weight down to 4.75 ounces. Yeah, I could probably lose the stuff sack altogether, but I’m somewhat retentive in that regard.

Just a little stuffy. Stuff, stuff, stuffaroo!

Setup:

I found the setup to be as easy as any tarp. I anchored the rear corner tie-outs loosely and looped the front ridgeline tie-out around the front hiking pole in a triangular configuration, extending the line to the ground. I next setup the rear ridgeline tie-out, also looping it once around the pole. I next placed the front corner tie-outs and tightened all of the ridgelines using the linelocks for a taught pitch.

One single loop is all that's required for the ridgeline!

Ahhhh . . . catenary ridgeline!

There's a lot of space under the tarp for pack, bivy, etc.

 Initial Thoughts:

• The bonded ridgeline is really strong and I found it easy to get a taught pitch.
• There’s a lot of space under the tarp for all of one’s kit!
• At ONLY $159, this is the lowest priced cuben solo tarp around.
• Like all of MLD’s products, the tarp is extremely well made with excellent attention to detail.
• I will need to wrap some duct tape around my poles in a couple of places for alternative ridgeline heights, especially for grim weather.

I would recommend this tarp for anyone looking to lighten their shelter load. If you’re looking for the lightest solo shelter on the market, constructed entirely of cuben fiber, this should be your choice!

Introducing the Marmot Super Mica!

Prior to my purchase, I was intrigued with its manufacturing specifications, which fully met my needs:

The features are a significant upgrade over the prior generation, the Mica, in the areas of an upgraded hood with wire brim, reinforcements on the shoulder strap and hip belt areas, pit zips, and pockets that are placed above the hip belt area (that, I’ll note, also operate as additional vents).

One of the tests that I performed was to walk through a waterfall in the trail to determine whether any water would penetrate the pack. I’m happy to say that the jacket passed this test with flying colors and other than a cold rush of water between my pack and the jacket, I escaped unscathed!

On top of Camp Smokey . . ..

• This jacket is expensive @ $200, but is extremely light and fully-featured providing a ton of options without a significant weight penalty.
• It withstood significant pounding from the elements (rain, sleet, snow, wind) while keeping me completely dry.
• This provides a level of function that I wouldn’t have with a poncho-tarp combination and is similar weight when combined with a UL tarp (to be reviewed separately).
• The hood is very adjustable and keeps the elements OUT. The wire brim is flexible enough to be used without a lid or visor.
• The pockets are easily accessible when using a hip belt.
• The rear of the jacket is slightly longer than the front, keeping one’s “coin slot” under wraps (if only Franken would buy one of these . . ..)
• We’ll see how the reinforcements fare over time, but at this point there’s no apparent wear.

I’ll plan to perform significant additional testing over the coming months, but at this point, in spite of the number of miles that I’ve put on it, the jacket still looks brand new.

EDIT: Given a comment below, I’ve added an additional photo of the Super Mica when loosely rolled up for storage.

This is merely an addendum to Ploss’ post BPL STIX Mod: Aftermarket Tips from July 2009, which details how to properly add Leki aftermarket tips to these UL trekking poles. I’ve been resisting implementing this mod despite my fear of wrecking these apparent collector’s items (no longer offered from BPL as of February ’10) because, frankly, they were perfect – at 120cm they offered the sweet spot of length both uphill and down (McLovin is a hair over 6′ tall). Tough to mess with what’s not broken – yet!?

Reality was that the mod was much less punitive than I feared, both in added length and the completely negligible weight, and the process itself was as simple as Ploss suggested.

Length added: 3.8 cm exactly to 123.8 cm
Weight added: 0.2 oz. (5.7g) to 4.7 oz (per pole)

Before and After - er, After and Before (L to R)

This length will actually be closer to what I have used previously with my collapsible Black Diamond poles for use with the Gatewood Cape (shelter pole), and I’m looking forward to testing them on trail later this week. – MCL