Aside from having fun, the goal of the backpacker on any trip should be focused on staying safe — that is staying dry, warm, avoiding injury, or becoming lost.
Keep in mind that I am presenting my opinions, have been backpacking for nearly 50 years, and almost always hike solo. Many risk avoidance backpackers will be critical of this small kit.
I see so many different kinds of hats on the trail, reminds me of the song Easter Bonnet. And with so many Yuppie brands and big bucks to be made, most outdoor gear fitters have an extensive inventory of models available. A hat can be critical for survival or comfort given a “Perfect Storm” of conditions to threaten the hiker’s well being in the wilderness. I almost always take a hat, but most of the time it is inside or strapped to the outside of my pack.
When I first started backpacking, eating was complicated. I didn’t have a backpacking stove (didn’t know that such a thing existed) and I cooked over a campfire. Simmering over a campfire wasn’t always easy, not to mention the difficulties when it was raining or windy. With a campfire or backpacking stove, food required preparation and oversight.
Until 2008 my method of preparing for backpacking trips was to assemble a checklist, place my gear, water, and fuel into the pack and weigh it. What it weighed, is what it weighed. There was nothing else to do because the gear was what I needed for the specific trip. After playing around with spreadsheets and base weights, I have come back full circle.
I am not a pencil user; my preference is a fountain pen. It has been decades since I regularly used a pencil. Even in math, chemistry, and physics classes taken in high school and college I used a fountain pen – probably because my teachers and professors didn’t like pens. But my dislike of the lowly pencil may have changed.
The most versatile piece of equipment in my backpacking kit is a wind shirt, and more precisely, a Patagonia Houdini wind shirt.
It seems that many backpackers can’t grasp the utility of a wind shirt and hopefully I can help explain why a wind shirt should be one of your most important pieces of clothing.
The most versatile piece of equipment in my backpacking kit is a wind shirt, and more precisely, a Patagonia Houdini wind shirt.
It seems that many backpackers can’t grasp the utility of a wind shirt and hopefully I can help explain why a wind shirt should be one of your most important pieces of clothing.
For many lightweight backpackers the idea of multiple use items has become a mantra to achieve backpacking Nirvana, and a way to create an even lighter gear list spreadsheet. So for many the reasoning morphs into a search for the holy grail of clothes in the manifestation a completely waterproof and breathable (WPB) jacket.
The WBP concept is not new, and in the late 1970’s GoreTex WBP clothing appeared on the market. Today there are many iterations of WBP clothing, the most popular are GoreTex and the more breathable eVent, not to mention dozens of proprietary twists on the subject. I have quite a bit of experience with these and the bottom line is:
A waterproof breathable jacket will leak in prolonged rain and you will get soaked on the inside from perspiration.
So how do we handle this? The answer is to take two jackets or shells. One jacket whose function is only a wind shirt and the other jacket to be used only for rain is the solution. Of course a waterproof only jacket will keep out the rain, but you will sweat. A better solution for rain and not sweating is a poncho. Damn the extra weight and just be warm and dry.
I should mention that wind pants also fill a similar need, but usually when I need a wind shirt, I don’t necessarily need the same protection for my legs.
A wind shirt isn’t a new idea. The old “Windbreaker” jacket has been around a long, long time. Only today, with newer technology and fabrics, we can now buy lightweight breathable wind shirts that are much superior than what was available in the past.
I do find it amusing that today’s backpackers seem they have found something “new” when it comes to wind shirts. Below is my typical 3 season clothing that I used from the early 1980’s until 2008. I have two sets of the wind jacket and pants left in my gear closet, but the elastic is worn around the cuffs of the jacket sleeves.
Above: Clothing is on top of a rain poncho. From left to right, top to bottom – REI mesh tank top, Sierra Designs wind jacket, Sierra Designs nylon hiking shorts, Sierra Designs wind pants.
These old wind garments do an excellent job of protecting from the wind, but they aren’t as breathable as the options today’s backpacker has available.
We want it to shed wind and keep us warm, and we want it to breathe. We also would like it to repel a short light rain. This is all about regulating our core body temperature while hiking. The experienced hiker knows how to layer clothing to achieve this balance. It always should start with a moisture wicking base layer and inner insulation only when needed. Most hikers put their wind shirt on last, but sometimes it can be better to keep it under the insulation layers, which keeps down clothing from getting wet. There are a lot a variable here, probably the subject for a future post.
So which wind shirt? For me it is the Patagonia brand Houdini, which is probably the most popular backpacking wind shirt on the market and it has been around for probably 10 years or more, although Patagonia keeps changing it from year to year. My size large weighs 120 grams (4.23 ounces). There are lighter brands on the market — buy one if you want the best looking spreadsheet; but if you want a wind shirt that does the best job of shedding wind and breathing, take a look at the Patagonia Houdini.
So why is this particular wind shirt so popular? Because it has just the right balance of breathability and wind stopping ability, the Houdini is an excellent choice. Plus it will repel light rain for short periods of time. It has a hood with a drawstring to adjust and also a waist drawstring. It seems expensive with a list price of $99, but since I use it nearly every day on every trip, the cost per day is minimal. I just bought a second Houdini for use only around town, since my hike shirt isn’t always presentable for urban use.
The Houdini can be packed into its own chest pocket, but I never pack it this way because I am using it so often. It normally is stored at the top of my gear inside the backpack or in an exterior pocket if my backpack is configured with one.
Last year I posted my first impressions of the LiteTrail Esbit Cooking System. I have used this 3 ounce system quite a bit over the past 6 months. The only other real competition at this weight in the Esbit world is the Trail Designs Caldera Cone GVP, which I have been using as my main stove for several years. LiteTrail has improved their system by adding handles (and weight) to the cook pot, which solves my only true criticism of the system.
In the field, the Caldera Cone GVP seemed to use a little less fuel than the LiteTrail, which was a little surprising to me since it uses a tall narrow Foster’s beer keg versus the shorter and wider LiteTrail titanium pot. The field comparison is not quantitative just a feeling. My hiking is varied in regards to elevation and temperature, and when I am hiking I don’t have the inclination to really test any gear, other than qualitative observations. So I decided to do a little side-by-side testing at home.
My testing was done under ideal conditions:
Typically in the field I use at least 1/2 of a 14 gram Esbit cube to heat 16 ounces of water. But it is not unusual to get two pots of heated water from a single cube.
Lets start with the Caldera system. It consists of
The LiteTrail system includes
The LiteTrail is packs much smaller. For the lightweight hiker weight and size of each piece of gear is important. Smaller gear means a smaller pack.
The Caldera system uses a Foster’s beer keg. Early versions had a single ridge added to the side of the can. Because it is thin aluminum, the can would develop a pinhole along this ridge from flexing during handling and storage. Trail Designs improved this by adding additional ridges to the can, making it more durable and less like to flex. I am on my third can.
Because the can isn’t robust, it isn’t practical to scrub the can to clean off the Esbit residue. So over time time the can gets rather dirty looking and discolored.
The Caldera keg includes silicone bands that make it easy to hold the pot. Because the LiteTrail pot has a larger diameter than the Foster’s keg (3.75 inches versus 3.00 inches), it is harder to remove from the stove and hold, especially since it doesn’t have handles. Note: the new version of the LiteTrail now comes with handles.
I found too difficult to handle the LiteTrail pot without handles using a bandanna or gloves and finally resorted to using either an MSR pot holder (28 grams) or a Zelph’s silicone band (23 grams).
I have grown very fond of the Zelph’s band and now take in trips with my Caldera Cone system in colder weather where I am drinking a lot of hot beverages.
Because the LiteTrail is much more robust than a beer can, I clean it after every trip to remove the Esbit residue and it still looks nearly new after nearly 6 months.
Both lids fit snug on the pots, but not too tight. The LiteTrail has 3 vent holes, the Foster’s none. I have found no advantage to the vent holes and it would be easy to drill holes into the Foster’s lid.
The Caldera windscreen is exceptional. It does a much better job keeping the wind out while maintaining the proper air/fuel mixture. One aspect of the screen I have never seen mentioned is that it can be rotated (turning the screen back and forth) in soil to get the assembly perfectly level. In addition the windscreen makes the system on of the most stable units I have used in a stove system.
This is the method I use when heating water with the Caldera Cone system:
The windscreen is just a thin sheet of titanium foil, which makes it extremely light (5 grams). It is held in place with a paper clip. One needs to be careful not to lose the paper clip, and in windy weather not to leave it laying around as it can blow away.
Apparently LiteTrail has changed this design and now the windscreen is welded, meaning you cannot change the diameter, and it appears it can be bent and damaged rolling it up to fit inside the pot. But since I have not seen the new version, I really cannot comment on it further.
This is the method I use when heating water with the Caldera Cone system:
One most trips I only need to heat 16 ounces of water, so the LiteTrail is perfect. But on some trips I want more water for a larger beverage and enough water for my meal. I find the Foster’s is often more advantageous with its greater capacity. In addition the smaller diameter makes it more convenient as a beverage holder.
The Caldera System wins, especially in windy weather. See the table below.
The LiteTrail system can only be used with Esbit. The Caldera Cone can be used with a Trail Designs 12-10 alcohol stove, which is a big plus, and Esbit is sometimes difficult to find in small towns. I am not sure if Trail Designs recommends using the alcohol stove with the GVP system, but it has worked well for me. You can almost always find denatured alcohol or HEET brand gasoline anti-freeze as fuel for the alcohol stove.
Many people seem to have difficulty lighting the Esbit tabs, especially in windy weather. My method is to scrape the top with my fingernail, dislodging fine granules of the tab. These small pieces ignite much easier and the flame quickly engulfs the entire cube. In addition, I use a Bic “Thumb Friendly” mini lighter, instead of the standard mini Bic that seems to be standard equipment for most lightweight backpackers. The Thumb Friendly lighter is much easier to hold the flame to the Esbit tab for a few seconds until it catches fire. The mini Bic weight 11 grams versus 14 grams for the Thumb Friendly version.
Both systems are excellent for the lightweight backpacker, and the improvements made to the LiteTrail system since I purchased mine seem to overcome most of the negatives I found. Both companies are great to work with too.
I usually take the Caldera System on most trips, unless size becomes important. You can’t go wrong with either.
Two things I learned a long time ago was