Gear Review

Okay, I am sure that the vast majority of you will not care too much about what we think of the gear we brought along our vacation, but for the few of you that do we will discuss a few of the things that have really impressed us during our travels. I mean, after all, we did spend countless hours over 6 months scrutinizing every choice, as Dave was a ounce Nazi and therefore very reluctant to bring anything we didn't have to. So, here we are with CD Honeymoon's "Editor's Choice Awards."

(as with any picture in this blog, click on the individual photos to get a close-up of what we are discussing).

Westcombe Synchro Pants

Carrie wore these for 30 days straight in South America without washing them. Instead of being a punchline, it's instead a testament to the Nanotechnology-derived Synchro's. These pants actively shed dirt and stains, and Carrie even spilled a glass of red wine of these pants during this stretch, and it simple beaded up and rolled off. Also, these pants are very water and wind resistant, and drape very well and look much, much cooler than any other technical pant we've seen (Go back and check out of S.A. photos for countless shots in use). These pants are hard to get your hands on, as we had to order ours directly from Westcombe themselves (in British Columbia). I think these pants might end up being the MVP of the trip despite the fact we haven't worn them once in Thailand (it's always 90 degrees here). They are quite pricey at $190 a pop, but if you can only take one pair of pants somewhere, these are your babies. They are still in fine shape, so they will also serve as our camping/rafting pants for hopefully the foreseeable future.

Video I-Pod with Belkin Battery pack and speakers

We went back and forth on bringing our video I-Pod before we left, as I wasn't sure about bringing along the weight while being always pressed to keep it charged. That all changed when Carrie discovered the Belkin Battery Pack online, which gives 10-14 hours of video per 4 AA batteries (normally you get maybe 2 hours of video with the rechargeable battery). After uploading several seasons of TV shows to the Ipod via Itunes, we finally had our answer to the many long plane flights and bus rides on our trip. The video on the Ipod is surprisingly great, considering the small screen. Also, the Belkin pack saved our hash when the internal battery got fried during an attempted logon on a Thailand computer, as we've continued to use the Ipod regularly via the Belkin despite the the fried internal battery. If we didn't have the Belkin, we'd have been SOL until we got home to replace the battery.

Merrill Shoes With Superfeet and Dr. Scholls Ankle Braces

So, I had a hell of a time deciding on my shoes choice for this trip. My big feet mean that my shoes are generally the heaviest thing in my pack, so I needed to try and minimize what I was bringing along, despite the fact we were jumping from beach to city to jungle to river and back again. Plus, I knew that the Inca Trail (and its 2000 consecutive Inca steps) be rough on my ankles. I finally decided against my boots though, as I knew they would be weighing me down the other 90% of our trip. Then, one day at the local outdoor store I saw the pair of shoes I'd been waiting for; a pair of all-leather, low-top hikers with Gore-tex XCR and a Vibram sole.

Carrie and I already owned 8 or 9 pairs of Merrill's, and we've been happy with each. These are basically the leather version of Carrie's shoe, which she has loved over the past 2 year. The secret was the pair of Dr. Scholls ankle supports (the nice $12.99 version with stays), which combined with the shoe to give me the perfect amount of support on the trail while being pounds lighter overall than my boots. Also, with the help of gaiters, my feet were never wet. The final piece of the puzzle were my Superfeet (TM) insoles, which were definitely the best insoles I have ever used. They are a bit pricey, but I promise they will change your walking life.

At this point, I would be hard pressed to wear my boots again while backpacking, and I love my boots. Additionally, these were hip enough to be my city shoes when worn with pants, so they combined with my Chaco sandals to provide all the footwear I needed for the trip.

Eagle Creek Vagabond Purse

This Vagabond "shoulder bag" from Eagle Creek served as the perfect travel purse for Carrie. It's tall enough to zip in tickets without folding them, so she was the constant ticket and documents holder throughout our adventures. It's big enough to hold a large travel guide, glasses, and a camera, but it's not so big that you can't wear it all day or carry it as a more formal purse. It has several different pockets for organizing, including a very secure zippered pocket under the main flap (which buckles), an outside zipper pocket close the body and easier to access but hidden, the big main pouch with big zipper pulls to access your guide book at every corner, then a couple small pockets under the flap to organize little things like chap stick, keys, and business cards for your hotel. The strap is very strong, not easily slashed by thieves, and also has an adjustable mesh pad so it doesn't dig into your shoulder and vents well. Overall it was the perfect size when we didn't need to carry a backpack, but we needed something to carry the guide book, camera, sunglasses, sunscreen, bug spray, tickets, and wallet. It traveled well and looks as new as the day Carrie bought it.

SteriPen

This little gadget came in very handy for providing us safe drinking water on our adventures. You basically stick it in a Nalgene bottle for 45 seconds, and viola, it kills bacteria AND viruses. Pretty damn handy when you are travelling in places where drinking the water normally makes you sick for several days. The whole rig can process about 120 quarts of water on 4 AA batteries.

Sony HandyCam Video Camera

Another heavily debated item. Carrie really wanted video of our trip, but Dave didn't want to carry the extra weight of the camera, charger, case, and batteries. Luckily, we found last year's model of the HandyCam on sale at the local Camera World. As you can see, it is quite small, which answered the weight issue in addition to alleviating Dave's theft concerns by not having to carry around a big camera bag around town. It uses mini-tapes, which provide 60 minutes of video per tape. It is not cinema quality, but it is more that adequate for subjecting our friends and family to home movies of our adventures for years to come.

Osprey Waypoint 60 (Dave) and Departure 60 (Carrie)

These packs finished a close 2nd to the synchro pants, but are probably the true MVP's of the trip. They swallowed all of our gear for the entire trip while showing little wear despite the many, many flights, transfers, ferries, and treks that we have put them through. Both packs feature detachable daypacks (on the back for the Waypoint, and in the front for the Departure), with the Departure's being a whopping 1600 Cubic Inches (compared to the 600 for the Waypoint). The size difference in the daypacks meant that we had multiple packing options for whatever activities the day threw at us. As one final bonus, both packs have the ability to hide their straps and belts away for when we checked them at the airport. Used in conjunction with our Eagle Creek packing cubes, our clothes stayed mostly wrinkle free for the entire trip. (BTW, Carrie's pack looks bigger only because she was packing the light, bulky stuff (down jackets, etc.) while Dave had all the electronics, etc.

Patagonia Super Guide Softshell

For those of you that don't know, a softshell is basically a new hybrid that trys to combine the protection of a rain shell with the comfort of a fleece. Look back at our pics from South America, and you'll see Dave wearing this jacket in almost every shot. It became part of his official uniform based on it total comfort and ability to meet the needs of any of the weather situations we faced due its breathibility and water and wind resistance. It also looked good in the process, which meant that Dave couldn't take it off regardless of whether we were on the trail or in the city. FYI, we recommend any Patagonia product to those of you out there that don't own any. It is generally pricey, but you can find sales on the internet if you look.

Montbell UltraLite Down Jacket

Another great jacket, and the final piece of our insulation puzzle. These jackets provide instant warmth despite weighing only an amazing 5 oz.! They packed down to absolutely nothing, yet expanded almost exponentially to also serve as our travel pillows (when combined with the pictured fleece pillow cover). This was quite handy, as many of the "pillows" given to us at the various places we stayed sucked, not to mention it was very convenient to have nice down pillows for all of our plane flights and bus rides. These jackets were also thin enough to fit under any of our outer layers. Essentially, their warmth to weight ration is such that they will hereafter be our insulation layer of choice for any camping or rafting trip in our future.