I bought this cause I'm a gear head and wanted a treat, but it's fantastic! it's easy to pitch and it has lifter patches on the sides so that it lifts the sides up and out giving you much more space under the tarp. it also has beaks to keep out some of the weather on the ends. It's flexible, you can pitch it high on a clear night to give yourself more ventilation, or pitch it closer to the ground to keep out the rain. I did a 4 night trip in northern wisconsin, it rained every day and 3 nights, i stayed nice and dry and some of my stuff actually dried at night cause I got air flow. It's at a pretty good price, it could be lighter if it was made of a lighter fabric, but then the price would go up and durability might go down. It also packs down nice and small so i'd consider taking it instead of a bivy in the summer, spring and fall, it's got way more space and livability which would be nice if i end up spending an unexpected night out.

I got a pair of these for $15 at REI a few years ago, they were a little baggy, but it was a steal and I could tighten the belt and roll them up so I figured what the heck. That was in march of 05. Now I still have these pants, and LOVE them. They are roomy and stretchy, I never think that I could get my foot up higher if only my pants weren't so tight. They are also incredibly durable, I lived in these for the better part of 2 months while on the road climbing, I suffered through many a yosemite offwidth, red rocks approach, and sketchy J-tree descent, and these pants held up. I did tear a hole in the rear pocket and most of the stitches in the back from but scooching down some particularly hairy descents, but a little bit of thread and time, and they are as good as new. These pants also hide dirt pretty well and dry quickly. I can't say enough good things about these pants, I want another pair, and probably a pair of the shorts too, for when it's too hot for the pants (which is rare). I highly recommend them to anyone who is interested in a pair of comfortable, durable, and flexible pants.

I have had my epic jacket for a couple of years, and have used it in all four seasons. It fits well, vents well, and the hood even accommodates a helmet.

I really like the design of the pit zips, they are more of side vents and really help vent out, although can let a little rain in in a down pour. the pockets are all well designed, especially the chest pocket.

The things I don't like about it are it's a little fragile, which is a price you pay for the weight, IMO but I'm always nervous about tearing it, and actually put a couple of holes in it recently, which are easily patched with some repair tape and seam grip. The main gripe I have though is it doesn't have any sort of liner material (like a mesh liner in the old marmot jackets) and so if it is next to your bare skin in warmer weather, it gets clammy and damp feeling.

Other than the clamminess, it's a great 3 season rain shell that you won't mind carrying because it's so light, and will do the job of keeping you dry, even if it doesn't feel dry.

I used the Steri-pen for a week in the boundary waters with a group. I treated about 5 gallons a day (20 liters) and didn't have any problems. I also used it in yosemite on snake dike so I could carry less water. It has worked flawlessly for me. I do highly recommend the prefilter and I recommend using lithium batteries. Normally I use rechargeable batteries for shorter trips, but for my week in the boundary waters, I used lithium batteries and they didn't start to die til the last day.

My favorite benefits of the steripen are that it doesn't affect the taste of the water at all, it's fast (about 90 seconds), there's no pumping, and it's pretty light.

I carry iodine or chlorine dioxide as a back up and I carry a spare set of batteries, with that, I don't think you can go wrong.

I bought a Jetboil used, I figured it was cheap, I could use it for big wall climbing, and I had been intrigued by the design for a while so why not try it out.

The Pros:
I haven't had it on the trail yet, but I've boiled about 15 liters outside my house for various hot drinks and I'm really impressed with it. The boil time is amazingly fast, even with some moderate winds and 30-40 degree temperatures it never took more than 4-5 mins to boil. Once I filled it with ice cubes and just enough water to keep from scorching the pot, it took about 8 mins to boil. I love how the whole thing snaps together and I can pick it up by the pot or the fuel canister. It seems to be pretty fuel efficient. I have just used an old 220 gram canister that was mostly empty to begin with and 15 liters later it's still boiling.

The Cons:
When I bought it used, the lighter was broken, I have replaced it and the feature is really nice but I have heard that these things break and so I would never carry it without a lighter (or matches) as a back up. It does seem like it is a bit unstable on uneven ground and top heavy, but no more than any other canister stove that stacks on top of the canister. I'm not sure how it will deal with elevation and extreme cold, I've had bad experiences with canister stoves in the past, and I don't see anything about the jetboil's design that will fix the cold/pressure problem that is inherent to canister stoves. The pot is a bit small for my taste, I'd like to be able to boil about a liter and a half of water. The jet boil isn't the lightest thing on the market, It weighs 15.2oz (pot and stove) and my pocket rocket/titanium pot combination weighs in at 9.2oz. (fuel and lighter weights are irelavant imo because both stoves require fuel, and I wouldn't leave home with either of these without a lighter) so the jet boil is 6 oz heavier than my other set up and slightly less flexible since it doesn't do much other than boil water and make soups.

The jet boil is great at its intended purpose and that is boiling water as efficiently as possible. If I were only going to own 1 stove, this would not be it, because I like to eat real foods instead of ramen or those dehydrated msg packages. However it is a great tool for short mountain trips, or any other trip where all you need is hot water and you want it with as little fuss as possible.