ProLite Gear exists because we love the outdoors. We know that finding the best equipment enhances the mountain experience, and that marketing spin makes it difficult to tell the good from the bad. Our job is to take cutting edge gear and put it through extensive independent evaluation and field testing to find which items will serve you best for active pursuits in wild environments.
Craig started skiing at age 3, backpacking at age 6, and mountain climbing in the Beartooth Mountain Range at age 9. He is paying that forward by introducing his own children to numerous outdoor activities, and then trying to keep up with them.
Prior to founding ProLite Gear in 2003 Craig worked in technical and management positions for leading companies like Red Hat, Visio, and Microsoft and remains active in the software industry. Craig was also an Industrial Engineer for Boeing, and a member of the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace.
A quick tip on the Mystery ranch packs, with larger elk quarters you can bypass the lower bar on the frame pack and go right to the buckles. This allows those of us with smaller frames to get the weight up high enough to not be riding on our butts. This also seems to keep the pack riding a bit better on the iliac crests.
What do you mean the Neoshell is “slightly more permeable”???? It is clearly twice a permeable from your machine. I’m fact I have been a devotee of gore Tex for nearly 40 years and have always bought it for their guarantee, which I have had to use once, 30 years ago. 5 years ago I thought I would try Neoshell, as the breathability was rated extremely high. I decided to by a day to day rain jacket and was VERY impressed by the dramatically better breathability and lack one condensation build up inside the jacket. In addition it did not leak and I was convinced that from now on I was going to switch to Neoshell, as it was more comfortable. However after about 4 years, I started noticing that the inside was getting wet and put it down to the breathability being compromised, and me having been sweating more than usual. However these damp patches on the insides of the shoulders became more and more regular until in one heavy storm I got soaked. There were no obvious tears in the fabric or erosion of the inner membrane however I was soaked and the jacket was leaking badly. I was very disappointed, having thought I had found a better gore Tex substitute. Sadly because of the membrane deteriorating after about four and a bit years, I have now lost confidence in the waterproofness of Neoshell, even though it’s breathability was superb. Sadly I have gone back to Gore-Tex and hope the pro version I recently bought, will breath annoys as well as Neoshell.
The pressure in these canisters almost instantly increases to very usable pressures just by taking them out of the freezer. It would be a better test to keep the canister submerged in ice and water (32°F) to better simulate a cold weather situation.
Hi guys I know this is an old video and I didn’t know if your channel is still going but this is really useful content. Do you think the wax coating on the treated down would make it prone to clumping, especially when exposed to higher temps when the down is compressed (between your back and a backpack or backpack straps for example)
Thanks guys. My dog ruined my brand new bath mat by scratching it open & you're what I found on the internet as a solution. Gonna do needle & thread plus seam seal. Cool to learn about Tenacious Tape even as a homemaker!
Thanks for the great video on a subject I know absolutely nothing about. Making a basket to hold my dog on my kayak, so very low tech. Have some ripstop sitting around that I'm going to use, so I was concerned about which products would bond that material. You've answered every question that I had. Gonna give it a go.
I have a camping hammock the underside has a small dime size spot the nylon protecting coating got wore off. The nylon isn't ripped, jus the coating has been scraped off. Suggestions for best way to permanently fix it?
Be interested to know how several manufacturers’ utilisation of hydrophobic treated down, higher feather to down plume ratios & more sophisticated(trapezoidal, box-wall) baffle construction techniques have modified your recommendations over the intervening decade? Kudos on an insightful & thought provoking video. Regards.
Very good video! Short, straitgh to the point and very well explained. I was using Scarpa Maestrale with diffrenet Alpine bindings and they fit with all standard alpine bindings, but safety release might not be optimal.
ty for explaining from a more scientific approach, I was very skeptical about the claim of merino keeping you warm when wet. Most marketing claims make it sound like the merino can be completely drenched and still keep you warm, but this explanation helps clear up the reality of what it can and can't do
1/2 an hour using 1/2 an ounce is what I can live with using a smaller pot NOT CUP a 500ml-600ml or a 700ml to simmer cooking rice (& beans or with chicken) or heating up frozen TV dinners! Real cooking & maybe breakfast (eggs, pancake & bacon) that’s what some people should look at & not the boiling water for rehydration of foods Thanks for the insight I took as POSITIVE for MY needs!
A piece of JUNK of a stove! My DIY fancy feast stove take 45 seconds FLAT and put your pot & you’re already off to the races! One minute and over for priming takes just way too long!
Therm-a-Rest NeoAir XTherm Leaks out the WingLock Valve /// I got a new one and does the same! slow leak.. Test your Valve by using a bowl or pool or anything that you can get the Valve underwater, test closed and open and see if your mat does leak before you go on the trail.. I even pop the top off and i was surprised it does not seat down to the rubber gasket! This would be easy fix for them, they just need the inside of the cap to have the round plastic under the cap to set more into the Tube around the rubber seal.. wwjd
Thanks for the tips. I want to secure the edges of one layer of rip stop over another layer of rip stop - sort of like a permanent tent fly. Do you think small grommets/eyelets will hold in the ripstop?
