The 60l is gonna be perfect for my winter setup. There’s a full review coming up soon. Bit of a joint effort…don’t take just my word for it. @Andrew Beavers has a few things to say about the Mo Ep 50.

You got to have the RAB especially if it's sponsored

@@antduke2361 bit harsh mate. Bit of a jealous hater eh?

A man with all the gear and the idea’s to back it up 💡 👏

@@antduke2361 thing is with RAB it was started by a man who had vast experience and he made stuff he would use himself. Anyone offers me free RAB gear I’m not saying no.

Its Paul's job to have loads of gear. That's how he makes his living. Good job Paul

I bought a buffalo windshirt a few years ago , wasn't sure if I was gonna use it much as it didn't have a hood 😃 but I end up using it all the time now for mtb and bikepacking , windshirts the way to go 🙂

Absolutely. As much as I like my down jackets, have generally stopped taking them on overnight trips unless weather 100% guaranteed good - not often. Synthetic very good now when it comes to weight and packed size of jackets. When wet, down is immediately useless and will be for the rest of the trip. When wet, synthetic retains 80% (I think) thermal efficiency and will keep working. One may not agree perhaps, but recently I chatted with some river rafting guides from the Franklin River, Tasmania, and apparently they're moving over to synthetic jackets - but not their sleeping bags yet. Generally still too bulky. But still glad I have down too but the my synthetic more versatile for longer trips I feel.

​@@eggmammal

SEALSKINZ are absolutely brilliant, I have 3 pairs. It doesn't matter how wet it is they keep your feet warm and dry..

@@Chris66able I totally agree with you Chris. As well as being 100% waterproof & warm, I also find them to be really comfortable due to their thickness. They're a quality product.

Hi Andy, I wore a pair locally and I would have recommended them 100%. 20-mile hikes around Dorset they're great! However, I wore them on the Cape Wrath Trail and they let me down massively. The sole disintegrated and I fell too many times to remember. I got a replacement pair but I'm not taking them on my next trip to Scotland. I found some hate them, but some love them. I bought them because they were lightweight and waterproof. It didn't matter when you're up to your knees in rivers 😉I hope you have better experience than me 👍

I just got some in the low ankle, non-goretex version and I love them! Really lightweight but feels sturdier than a trail runner. I've never managed to keep waterproof boots dry in Scotland so I'm leaning into the idea of just having wet feet that dry faster.

Did exactly the same Morgan. Was a bit worried when my one stopped working but got it going again without much difficulty.

I don't know how anyone sleeps on those surfboard mats!

Cruachan... I disagree completely and my preference is to use Scarpa Manta boots (non-gtx version) during all seasons, all weather, across all terrains and altitudes. Simply use a natural beeswax to feed and waterproof the leather (I use Redback Bootwax or Grangers G-Wax) and your feet will remain warm and dry in snow, pounding rains, trekking through marshes or crossing mountain streams. The advantage of using the non-gortex version is that the boots don't overheat and avoids the problems with cracks in goretex linings. Even though the thick 3mm reversed leather is silicone-treated by Scarpa to maintain a waterproof layer, it still breathes far better than goretex. For temperature fluctuations between seasons, I simply wear ultra-thin socks in summer/spring/autumn and slightly thicker merino wool socks during winter.

@@Globetrotter-1 That's why my post says "personal preference", what works for you is always the best option regardless of what others think

@@cruachan1191 ...and that's why I wrote "...my preference". Wearing 'trail runners' on the sort of terrain I regularly cross or climb would be useless and their total lack of support would more than likely cause me to tear up toes or break an ankle. I've never found trail shoes or trainers to be keep my feet dry either. I also never filter water 💦 and simply drink the wild water wherever I am trekking or climbing. A good balanced stomach flora and immune system will easily cope with unfiltered water direct from springs, lakes, streams and rivers.

Buy a boot cover/tongue cover

@@koudacyen Doesn't work once the paths turn into streams. I wear gaiters and they help a bit but when you end up wading, nothing helps. Oh and these boots have bellows tongues. Once it goes above the boot, the only thing that will help is something like a yeti gaiter. I wouldn't wear them outside winter as the rand would be destroyed on rocky ground.

@@BrokenBackMountains My Salomon GTX 4’s didn't survive the Cape Wrath Trail. As you said when its above your knee its over 🤣

Off-path walking in Scotland I've found it virtually impossible to keep boots dry in all seasons. Just got some non-goretex Salomon GTX 4s and I'm really liking them. Yes, you get wet feet, but once you get used to it it's nice to not have to care about trying to keep boots dry, and they shed the water really well so you don't have to deal with endless squelching. And I can get them dry overnight at camp which I never have for a waterproof boot.

@@92Pyromaniac Need walking wellies?

So true about the stove in California. I live just below the Oregon boarder. The Chetco ranger district is in class 1 fire danger, but allows all liquid and pressurized stoves, just no campfires in backcountry (until November)

I did a 4 day backpack in Lassen Nat’l Park with 7 people about 8 years ago. We had one ultralight guy with a 9 lb pack that looked like a stuff sack with shoulder straps up to a skinny Russian lady with a 45 lb pack who never complained. We weighed all the packs at the trailhead. My pack was about 17 lbs. I had a Caldera Cone alcohol stove and the ultralight guy told me it was illegal there. I stopped using alcohol stoves after that. He had some little $10 canister stove that sounded like an F-35 taking off on full afterburner. We called him Stupid Light although he was a college professor at UC Davis. Slainte!

Interesting point, thanks....

Have you found anything that has kept you dry, Paramo etc?

I flush my befree filter after every trip just under cold running water seems to help and when on a trip were the water isn't great I find filter a bit of water and swilling the filter in it helps a lot but peaty water is always hard to filter I find

Thanks I’ll check it out.

@@craig3401 me too mate, though definitely find the Befree is prone to clogging. Now I store it ‘wet’ in a jam jar of very dilute bleach solution in between trips. Served me very well using this method, I read it on some American hiking forum. Overall the Befree is a cracking filter though. When it’s clean the flow rate is incredible.

@@abstractgroove160 yea keeping it wet helps I've had mine dry out and when I used it it took ages for it to work.its the best filter I've used so definitely sticking with it

@@PaulMessner I put mine in water with a baby bottle purification tab works a treat good as new 😊

Also, with regard to clogging with the BeFree, if you leave it for 20 mins before squeezing, the water soaks into the fibrous membrane thing inside it, enabling it to become more porous than its dried out state, thus increasing the flow rate.

That’s where I buy my stuff from.

An amazing product I would love to own. Very sad that these are unavailable and the circumstances around it. Agree there’s a niche for this in the uk definitely. I’m surprised the caldera cone makers never went the stormin way. So logical.

No. I shop at the mountain outfitters outlet. Most stuff is half price.

@@PaulMessner will have a look.

Cold, sweaty feet after a while though

Good thanks. You?