Hiking Gear Casualties and Deaths, 2012

Talking about gear not humans here.

Sent to you by Roleigh via Google Reader: Hiking Gear Casualties and
Deaths, 2012 via Section Hiker by Earlylite on 10/21/12

Team Golite Cap – Worn Out Brim

I’ve been giving a lot of thought lately to the issue of gear
durability and value, so I decided to do the following inventory of the
gear and clothing that I damaged or destroyed this year. It’s also the
theme of the current gear raffle I’m running for an EMS Velocity 1
Tent, which ends tomorrow at midnight, in case you haven’t entered yet.

Like most of you, I wear out, rip, or destroy clothing most frequently,
followed by footware, hiking poles, and electronics. The only
difference between me and most people is that I do it a little faster
since I hike or backpack over 100 days a year. Still these items can be
quite costly, so I’m always interested in finding durable and less
expensive alternatives.

I also make a point to buy certain items, especially outdoor related
electronics, at REI or EMS, which replace defective gear or clothing
that falls apart way before I think they should. When zippers come
apart on hard shells, pant seams unravel, or other gear fails to
function within a reasonable time frame after purchase, I take it back
to be replaced or get my money back. These return policies are a
godsend to consumers like me who can’t afford to own gear or clothing
that is poorly made or designed and can’t withstand normal wear and
tear.
Gear Casualties
Team Golite Cap: Severe deterioration of fabric over hat bill. Might be
repairable with seam sealer or duct tape. This hat, sadly, is longer
available from Golite. Owned less than a year.

SPOT GPS Satellite Messenger II: The OK LED light failed. Returned to
REI, which replaced the unit.

Montbell Therm-a-Wrap Jacket: Another hiker punctured my sleeve with an
ice axe head, in the parking lot. Grrrr. Not leaking insulation, so not
a repair priority at the moment.

Patagonia R1 Pullover: Tore a hole in the upper sleeve on a bushwhack.
The hole hasn’t grown since, so I haven’t been in a rush to repair it,
but I like this sweater and want to keep it. Owned for 3 years.

Patagonia R1 Hoody: The zipper in the chest pocket tore out from
overuse. Need to take it to a tailor to be sewed back in. Great winter
hiking sweater. Owned for 3 years.

RailRider Ecomesh Pants: Tore a hole in the calf on a bushwhack. Tore
out the bottom leg hem on a trail hike. Probably repairable, but I have
to get someone else to sew them. Owned for less than a year.

Gossamer Gear MP+/Gorilla Hip Belt: Significant abrasion to hip belt
pockets while bushwhacking. Sent feedback to Gossamer Gear. I will
probably repair/strengthen the fabric with duct tape and avoid
bushwhacking with this these backpacks in the future. Owned for less
than a year.

Rab Momentum Jacket: Zipper guard fabric tear. Not really fixable, but
also not a serious reduction in performance. This jacket has seen it’s
prime and I mainly use it for bushwhacking these days. Owned for 3
years.

Pacerpoles: Bent the bottom section of one of my alloy poles. Need to
buy a replacement bottom section. Cool that you can buy spare parts
from this manufacturer instead of having to junk the entire trekking
pole when you just bend or snap a section of it. Owned for 1.5 years.

Busted Waterproof Zipper – Not Replaceable
Gear Deaths
Scarpa Omega Mountaineering Boots: Wore out the insulated Intuition
liners, including the duct tape I used to hold them together last
winter. Need to buy new liners. Owned for 3 years.

Panasonic Lumix Lx3 Digital Camera: Humidity appears to have wrecked
the motor which makes a terrible dying sound now when I turn the camera
on. Upgraded to a Lumix Lx5.

Kahtoola Microspikes: Busted the chains on one of my Microspikes. EMS
replaced them with a new pair.

Outdoor Research Celestial Jacket: Tore out front Napoleon pocket,
probably on a tree branch. The Goretex Paclite fabric on this coat has
always been paper thin. Owned over 5 years, but haven’t used it for the
last 4 of them.

Inov-8 Terroc 330 Trail Runners: Blew through another pair. Wore out
the tread and tore top of toe kick off in 100 mile wilderness. Bought
two more pairs. Love these shoes for hiking. They last me about 6
months a pair.

Smartwool Sock Liners: Blew through at least a half dozen pairs; need
to switch to socks with a bit more synthetic yarn/lycra in them. Andrew
Skurka likes Defeet Socks.

Katadyn Micropur Chlorine Dioxide Tablets: Got a batch that would not
dissolve in New Hampshire or Maine water. REI gave me a refund for 120
tablets and I switched to Aqua Mira Drops instead, which is far less
expensive.

EMS Helix Ascent Hard Shell Jacket: The main waterproof zipper on this
jacket fell apart. EMS replaced the coat for free with the 2012 model
of the same jacket. Owned for less than one year.

Hillsound Super Armadillo Nano Gaiters: Tore out bottom loop attachment
points after a season of winter hiking. Will replace with new pair of
OR Crocodiles. Owned the gaiters for less than a year.

Outdoor Research Crocodile Gaiters: Already repaired crampon induced
rips and bottom loop attachment points several times. Not worth fixing
anymore. Will just buy a replacement pair. Owned for over 5 years.

REI Mistral Softshell Pants: Back seam let go after less than one
winter of wear. I’ll probably return them and get another pair. That’s
way too early for them to fall apart. Great pants, though.

Golite Reed Pants: Tore out a calf zipper and bottom leg hem on a trail
hike in the pouring rain. Bummed. Golite has stopped manufacturing
these very lightweight rain pants. Owned for 3 years.

Soto OD-R1 Canister Stove: Stove head rusted out while sitting in damp
pot for a few days. This apparently also destroyed the pressure pump.
Will probably replace with the same stove – which is really tops. Owned
for 1 year.

Under Armour Heat Gear Boxers: Wore through area behind the thighs on
two pairs. I’ve had these for a few years and gotten my money’s worth
out of them. Replaced with more of the same.

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