I'm Steven, another RU-vid backpacker with a mild obsession for all things gear-related. On this channel, I delve into the world of backpacking gear, offering invaluable insights, tips, and tricks. Whether you're looking for beginner backpacker tips, tests on the newest cutting-edge technology, ultralight setups, or more traditional load-outs, I've got you covered. Join me as I put real gear to the test, recount epic trips, and share what it’s really like to make a career from RU-vid.
A bit about me: I'm a 40-year-old, happily married father of four. I started YouTubing full-time in November 2021 to share my love for the great outdoors, helping people get out and explore the outdoors just as much as I do. If you ever have questions or thoughts, don't hesitate to reach out. You can drop a comment on any of my videos, or send an email to info@mylifeoutdoors.com.
Join my email list for exclusive content about gear, RU-vid success, monthly newsletters, and more. Link Below
I have a Patagonia rain jacket thats less than $200 and it's great! But most of the time in my country it's so hot & humid so actually ponchos would work better. Now I use that jacket more during motorcycle rides haha
Interesting review and certainly entertaining. If you put styrofoam panels on the side of the pad, then you would insulate these areas from the cold, no? Try it again, and let us know?...
i was waiting for this! "There are only two things i eat with a spoon soup and P****" i was so disappointed that i didnt get to hear something nonsensical...
Recently, I was caught in the rain while on my morning walk and wearing my Columbia "waterproof" jacket. It took me about 25 minutes to get home and I was soaked to the skin. I'll never buy Columbia again.
Last year I bought a named “Gortex” jacket in which to walk my dog! Some fanciful stats on the label confirmed I would stay dry! BS! I discovered it was as useful as a tissue, got wet from both the inside and outside. The best rainwear I have is a rubberised jacket and trousers which cost a sixth of the price of the “Gortex”!
Please people, if you mean more than one, DON’T use an apostrophe. Save a character and time. Dogs=more than one dog. Dog’s= belonging to the dog AND NOT PLURAL. dog’s tail or owner. Dogs’= plural belonging to more than one dog. The dogs’ owners had to separate them. Notice in mentioning owners there is no apostrophe, because this is plural. Also if you use an apostrophe that word must be followed by something that can be owned.
As a runner gore tex isn't perfect but certainly works better than the cheaper variants, just try running in a $5 jacket. gore tex works best when cycling though probably due to the fact it's only hot days you really build up a sweat, also there is greater wind chill factor in cycling that you don't get when running.
Well said - "do I really need THE BEST?" There is always something more to buy and at some point, you just gotta get out there and enjoy the outdoors with what you have at the time. If you are looking for perfect comfort, backpacking and camping isn't for you. :D
Gortex isn't a perfect brand but they took the PFAS out back in 2021. One day all fabrics will be perfectly biodegradable but lets acknowledge the progress that has been made =)
And why are you sure that this time there are no health concerns? Dupont knew their stuff was toxic and kept it secret for decades. Even some scientists working on it didn't know so how can layman? Fabrics won't be biodegradable as long as there's profit to be made. For the rich profit will always be more important and they lobby the government to agree
I’ve never had a goretex jacket that was waterproof! I know a guy who worked at gore for many years, he was completely brain-washed about its waterproof qualities, we had many heated debates about it!🙄
I have a pair of Helly Hansen commercial fishing rain gear that I bought new in 1989 and still going strong. Always in my boat here in Alaska. I also like Grundens commercial fishing rain gear. For active work in the rain, I like SIMMS as they make breathable waders and their raingear is half the price of Sitka, Kuiu, First Lite, etc.
I purchased a very warm Harkila Kodiak GorTex jacket for extreme weather it was over $650 AUD or about $420USD great for wind and cold, good for water protection until you start sweating, you are spot on, they cant do both.
I camp in my tent about 35+ nights a year, so my tent does see use and is now over 12 years old. I do use a footprint and it has saved my floor from an eager varmin that chewed through the footprint in 2 spots. Otherwise, the primary reason I use the footprint is for cleanliness. A lot of times, I am setting up on bare ground and if water gets under the tent the mud is on the footprint which is much easier to clean up at home than to clean the whole tent.
Love the rain and really bad weather. Makes me happily angry. As a kid playing on the Nintendo, it would rain and I'd instantly drop the controller and start running outside.
I wouldn't use it on my hiking backpack but rather the one I use on my fixed gear bike cuz these packs usually have a hard back with just a little bit of foam on it and that's kind annoying if you arrive anywhere you're sweaty
Your Information is outdated. GoreTex abandoned their formula in the 2000s for the one the knock-offs used. It works as well as the original formula but the teflon in the original is not only bad for the Environment but also expensive.
this is much like why i had a bead seat on my motorbike... and why taxi drivers seem to always have them... ten hours or more on a motorbike everyday as a courier...
Between 1996 to 2001, I was on this camping hiking binge in Oregon. I fell in love with the PCT and camping at the high mountain lakes. I had two stoves that were my go to. The main one was a $20.00 white gas stove. When it got fired up, It ran like a champion. I carried a spare red bottle of fuel. My second stove was a butchered and burnt to the point of discoloring it's steel tomato soup can. I moved back to the mid-west in 2001, and wilderness camping was a bit tougher to find. That said, I went through a bunch of gear in 2011 when I bought my house, I did not want to move a lot of junk. I found the white fuel stove, and it fired right up.
The whisperlite burning white gas is a workhorse of a stove. It’s the only real survivalist stove you tested. It will burn gasoline in a pinch. It works in -40c weather. The startup process intimidates women and effeminate bearded RU-vidrs alike. It’s the perfect stove.
I don't think they ever said they did both at the same time. They just listed the things it could do. Think it was one of those situations where people just started thinking it did both. I would rather this than carrying excess equipment that I had to put away or take out depending on rain.
Dirt supposedly reduces waterproofness over time, and I don't like it on the bottom of my tent anyway, so I usually use some form of groundsheet. Mine is usually smaller than the tent floor itself, and just covers under my sleeping pad, which is where I find moisture accumulates most, and combines with the dirt to get really "ground" into the tent fabric. My go-to groundsheet right now is a cut-open trash compactor bag.
I have a northface jacket and the thing blocks the rain but humidity passes and i always end up wet, also because of sweat, also, last year i bought some merrell outdoor shoes that have that gore tex thing, but the other day walked in wet grass and the water went through like nothing lol, they resist some rain tho, at least