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Hopefully you can tell me what the little rubber thing that is fused on a small loop of cord under the rainfly of the Mayfly OSMO is. There is one on each underside of the rainfly at the apex and located just toward the end of the cross beam. I assume you place the inner loop over the socket end of the cross beam. Is this correct and if not what is it for?

those who can do, those who cant talk endlessly about gear ad nauseam.

I may need my family to band together and organize an intervention for my gear addiction. Who's worse here? Me for listening to two guys discuss pads or the guys discussing the pads for an hour and half?

So why can he say Melbourne (Florida) correctly yet any American talking about Melbourne Australia says “Melborrrrn?”

Almost everything is sold out on the website... so spend less time making podcasts and more time sewing!😤 😭

Do you have videos of the OR event gear booths?

HORRIBLE COMPANY, PRODUCTS, AND WARRANTIES...THEY ARE OUT FOR THE MONEY WITH NO REGAURD FOR CUSTOMERS OR QUALITY.

How does this not have more views?

One of these years lol

Dan plz make a 2p double walled dyneema tent!

Hoping to hear something about HMG MID 1 , It's the last contender against th DURSTON X MID PRO 1 .Specifically the construction as in the seams and stitching. Just listening to them chat opens up the deep mysteries for YEAH everyone.

Alpha Direct makes a great liner for a WINTER sleeping bag "topper" that will collect our perspiration when it condenses. This is instead of letting it condense INSIDE out bag's top shell with no topper. I'm making one for my -20 F. winter mummy Remove the Alpha Direct topper, when the condensation is frozen then shake it out and pack it away. I'll sew a very light cover to the Alpha Direct to hold it in place and to hold some of the frozen condensation. I've yet to find a lighter insulation layer for my purpose.

Imo Single wall Shelters are only semi functional. I fully understand the Weight issue but at the end of the day the purpose of your tent is to keep you and your stuff safe and dry. If condensation can form on your inner wall like a single wall tent then sacrifice in weight is not worth it at that point to essentially sleep in a wet bag. Function is Number 1 and Weight is number 2.

The right man said he prefers free-standing tent but the hornet nemo isn t freestanding. It s only semi freestanding and also needs stacks to stand properly. And for the trekking pole tents pitching on sand there exist sand pegs no? Doesn t they do the job?? Isn t it better than a snapping pole of a freestanding tent?

Why does no one talk about Lighthart Gear tents?

Maybe I'm ADD but five minutes in we are still not on topic.

The Poopcast!

Anyone who wants to valet there butthole on a hike is strange. Toilet papers fine. If your smearing fecal matter all over your cheeks then you need potty trained. I’m all for bn packing out your toilet paper but I’m 100% not washing decal matter off my ass with a bare hand.

A true ultra lighter would shave the dome

You guys are 100% on point with the size of tents. I just bought a 3 person tent so I can have two 25 inch wide pads inside, I get a way better sleep on my 25 inch pad being a bigger guy.

1) Great interview! 2) Mateo has some energy, for sure! 😀 3) Always had great customer service from Z Packs AND great products. That is all-Yard Dart out.

I gave away 15x of those bars on a 7 day pct segment. Disgusting bar

I had a nemo 3d quasar insulated and wow the comfort was worth the weight trade off but the valve system 2 years ago was massivwely flawed as the internal valve join had sharp corners so when deflated and rolled it caused wear on the pad which eventually caused holes, the pad had been used 5 nights. I never went back to them due to this but I did get a full refund. Just to mention im a side sleeper as well.

It all sounds a bit intents 😏

Love your channel - just found it, and am making my way through. I really appreciate your thought process and honest takes/reviews. And your accent - sounds like home to this Minnesotan. 😂

I've been wanting to hike the AT since I found out it was a thing when reading a walk in the woods as a kid. Now I especially want to hike it so that I can figure out once and for all if I'll ever be in the camp of people who can call a grid fleece heavy with a straight face. I've made big strides towards lightening my pack since my days of hiking with a 6 pound sleeping bag and a 6 pound tent, but whenever I'm tooling around in lighter pack and looking at items I could upgrade by spending hundreds more dollars, there's this voice in the back of my head telling me that the human body is capable of more (without injury) than we give it credit for. I think there's a wide gap between soldiers carrying 80+ pound packs that physically ruin their bodies, and someone hiking for leisure with a 40 pound pack. Maybe it's just that the mileage hikers look to do has increased so much over the years. I'd be super interested to see average mile per day stats for AT thru hikers of today vs those of 30-40 years ago. I would guess that modern hikers are doing 5-10 more miles per day now. I'm not hating on ultralight gear, I think it's brilliant for smaller people, older people, or for fit young people who just want to do insane miles and don't find that the sacrifices they're making to even be sacrifices at all. My concern is more so that people new to backpacking might start feeling like ultralight in itself is a barrier to entry, or be afraid to start before they've amassed 2,500 dollars worth of gear first, when really it's fitness level and the number of miles you've decided you need to hike that may stop you from experiencing the outdoors.

Thank god that majestic beard counts as worn weight.

Pro tip. Please stop with the "get to know you" portion of your videos, so annoying. Overlay your videos with pictures of the items you are discussing.

You guys are fantastic , but you’re so spoiled.

This was fantastic!

Thank you both! This has given me hope, because with some reasons behind my feet issues, it seems possible to fix this. Yes, I've hurt my feet, and badly, transitioning negligently probably, seems like it... mostly one of my feet, but then that threw my gait off. Anyhew, I'm doing a little better now and may be seeing a tiny glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. I will mention that the only things done different or that seems to have changed my foot pain from awful to a touch better has been decreasing sugar [cause inflamation but I can't seem to kick the habit], and intermittent fasting. I started in Nov. with eating from noon to midnight [I'm a night owl], then after two months, ending at 9pm. Now that I've done about 4.5 months of graduated fasting, I feel able to get walking a little again, And so now I am beginning to try exercises. Oh, and my desk computer broke, so instead of sitting in my desk chair with my feet often tensely toe down and shortening my calves, I'm laying down and flattening my hips a lot more using my laptop. So I think that's helped, too. But man I've dug myself such a hole to climb out of... Been a fan of Chase for a few years, but those have been the worst years as far as pain/plantar fasciitis and like a hard ball of swelling in my right foot between my pads. And it can be hard to watch fit happy people when your situation sucks so bad and depression and pain are an ever present shadow. I really appreciate the 'Don't give up, a little at a time', advice. I so appreciate the information, even if I was not ready/able to apply it. Even trying to follow along, when I can't do something, I just do something a little different, so long as I'm stretching gently, making something move a little that wasn't before. And I can squat, flat footed, which makes me happy, even if I can't for more than 3-5 minutes. When I first tried zero drop it was with Altra timps and my consistent knee pain going downhill decreased significantly... so I was very encouraged, and I eventually bought and over hiked in new Altra high tops. The plantar was not an instantaneous problem after starting zero drop, it actually didn't start becoming an issue till we took a hiking vacation in Utah a year or more later, so I didn't realize what was happening. I was the most fit I'd been in years because I was hiking so much in that time. Lost a lot of weight. I then wound up with short/stiff calves and plantar fasciitis. That caused me to sit far more and I became stiff, inflexible and began to have hip issues. Lost all my fitness and gained weight. All this is to say I see now the progression and that there is good to be had... with work. Hope with work. I did see a podiatrist not long after the hiking vacation... and was given an insole with a bump in it... and told not to wear foldable shoes, to get stiffer supportive shoes. And something in me said that is not right, but my feet have been so bad that I've taken to wearing soft crocs so I can limp around after stressing my feet for so long. I'm going to do training/excercise first, but I'd like to eventually wean myself from relying on the crocs and heal rise soft insoles. I know a big part of the problem is my weight, so that will take time... At some point I bought Xero shoes, loved the lightness and toe spread and bought a second pair when everything else felt aggravatingly wrong here or there... but still wear them with the softer insole. I only like the high tops, like the winter boots and a lower high top. I wish they would make them with just a little more padding, just a little. I definitely am learning to walk more carefully in Xeros so I don't bruise my feet on rocks or roots. But hope, that's where we will leave this, hope for hiking without debilitating pain in my future.

Most every outdoor company has garments made from various Polartec fabrics, although many haven’t picked up on the Alpha Direct line

Might be better if you just let him talk a bit more and asking less guided questions. He’s obviously very passionate and knowledgeable, I’m sure he is capable of discussing everything without having his hand held

50:34 just don’t compare Mayfly camp shoes to something like Warriors by Shamma Sandals and you’ll love em! I personally do bring my Warriors which weigh an additional 1.2 ounces for a more “capable” sandal.

Love my Tarptent Notch Li - my solo tent, have used the Cloudburst 3 and now use the Hogback as our family tent. Have preferred Tarptent over Zpacks duplex & triplex. Always wondered why they aren’t talked about more, now I understand why.

I just ordered the woman's medium(im a man) after comparing reviews of a couple guys going with the women's due to availability. Cant wait to live in it!

In a super hot climate cotton will outperform anything because of the ability to keep you wet for a very long time (way longer than alpaca and also breathes even better). In a very wet climate polyester does work better regardless of what these guys say, fleece never feels like a plastic bag and saying it does is just marketing biased. Also some people saying polyester doesn't breath is completely false! It can breath just as good as anything because breathing has everything to do with the weave and nothing to do with the fiber. When it comes to warmth to weight fleece outperforms all wool, warmth has everything to do with loft and nothing to do with the fiber either. Merino and alpaca are better for one thing and that is odor control, everything else polyester, nylon and cotton will do better. Don't buy into the hype! I have tried all of these fabrics like an autist!

Great interview from the horses mouth.

rockin the airpods max. nice.

So interesting !!! I love that Zpacks is agile with product updates ....I love Zpacks product.....However, in Europe, it is quite difficult to find Zpacks products... I think it would be a necessary move to open an online store for us in Europe as well.

Would love to see Big Agnes on the podcast.

I am so glad things are moving away from skimping on features for the sake of gram counting. I've accepted the lightest shelter is a tarp so If I'm taking a tent, I want comfort, not a tent that is trying to skimp to save grams, because eventually we just circle back to a flat tarp. Back in 2012 when I first found ultralight forums and the 20" Xlite pad was a hot new thing, we all tried to get crazy light - maybe too far. I got a 25" pad in 2017 and custom made an inner for 2P. FINALLY tent makers are cluing in we want 50" wide 2P tents.

John is awesome super down to earth and knowledgeable

I recommend to ask playback speed.

Excellent talk. Justin, Matheo, zpacks - love you!

What do you think about perimeter trip alarms for your campsite? Im trying to find the best bear protection for backpacking especially after watching Backcountry last night based on a true story in Canada lol

I have used the sierra designs high route 1(xmid predecessor) its awful the bug screen is very loose and the livable space is next to nothing. I tried to move out of bivies with this tent it was terrible

It would have be very cold before I could even think of wearing a full insulated hoodie while hiking/backpacking. What I have done when it is 10*F and colder, is that I have taken a slightly oversized baselayer and sewn some synthetic insulation (in the past, 2.5 oz/yd2 Climashield Apex) on the front of it with a very breathable fabric over it. I put that over another baselayer, which are both over a fishnet of some kind. As long as my front core is warm enough while hiking, then I don't need much insulation on my arms, and certainly not much on my back since my back sweats A LOT no matter what I do or don't do because of the backpack. This in combo with a windjacket does me good down to around 0* F while I am moving. But I am curious to try the Alpha Direct or Octa in place of of the Climashield Apex. I would probably still use a fabric like Monolite on top of it though, just to ensure maximum durability.

I just don’t get the whole river crossing idea and getting your shoes and socks wet. That’s crazy to me. I’ll take the water sandals and save my shoes every day of the week.

Nice talk. Some related thoughts and points: Super small diameter UHMWPE fibers (Dyneema, Spectra, Ultra, etc) are very hard and expensive to make (currently). I think 50D is the smallest that I've seen in commercially available threads and fabrics. Even if you could make them 10D or the like, how are you going to waterproof it, as nothing sticks to this super low energy surface? You "MIGHT" be able to calender a thin UHMWPE film to the fibers, but you have to be very careful with heating UHMWPE fibers because they have a low melting temp and as soon as they get near that melting temp, the crystalline molecular chains that give these fibers so much strength, start to change back into amorphous structures. So the pressure and heat would have to be very carefully controlled and dialed in. I'm not even sure if this would be possible or not. You can plasma treat the outside surface of the fibers/fabric, but that is much easier for industry than individuals to do (and I think that DSM has or had a protected patent on it). There is a Japanese corporation called Teijin which is making high tenacity polyester fibers and fabrics now. Their polyester fibers are between 1.5 and 1.6 times stronger than regular grade polyester. They also mention that their polyester formulation already has higher UV resistance than regular polyester btw. You can even buy their polyester fabrics on their US distributor store, called ThinkEcoFabrics, under the labels PASMO (range from downproof/not very breathable, to very breathable) and PASMO Technoforce (very unbreathable)--they range from 12.50 to 15 dollars a yard (ranges from 50 to 60" or so wide). Unfortunately, none of these are coated with waterproof coatings. I actually contacted them not too long ago and asked (and suggested) if they ever thought about applying a pure silicone coating for waterproof fabrics? Interestingly, they said that they had recently talked about possibly doing just that. I really hope they move forward with that. Dye color really affects UV resistance of a fabric, besides the material and coatings. The darker the color and closer to deep black, the longer it will last in relation high UV exposure. For example, one time when going hot air ballooning, I asked the captain if he noticed a difference in how the nylon lasted in relation to colors. He said definitely, and that they have noticed that black and dark navy blue colored nylon balloons lasted the longest. I already had an inkling of this before I asked, and which is why I asked him that question (to see if there was any outside correlation/confirmation besides the sources I had already seen). I've looked a little into the 3M silicone tapes, and from what I've seen so far, they are definitely pricey. Maybe less so if one has business connections and has the ability to buy in bulk. It is not hard to mix a little silicone caulk with some naphtha (works better than mineral spirits) to thin it out and then apply with foam brush. I'm too impatient to sit around and wait for pure silicone coated Pasmo fabrics to come to the market, so I recently hit on a plan. I bought the highest quality silicone coated polyester fabric I could find (at ExtremTextil), and enough to make a large tarp. I also bought some 1" wide UHMWPE webbing that weighs 1.7 grams/.06 ounces per foot. I'm going to sew the webbing over the tarp fabric in an X, +, and [] pattern. The tie outs will be directly connected to the webbing and not to the tarp fabric--hence the webbing will take most of the force of wind etc. This is 1000lb rated webbing (I might actually use polyester grosgrain for the [] part of it though. The UHMWPE webbing is on the expensive side, whereas polyester grosgrain is quite inexpensive). Yes, way overkill for most purposes, but I want it to last a very long time, among other issues/factors I'm not going to mention here. I plan on probably adding some extra silicone coating to the top as well, to increase the UV resistance and waterproofing some more (the fabric is dark olive which will handle UV decently anyways). I might even throw in some nano or micronized titanium or zinc oxide into the thinned silicone before I apply (but nano particle forms are quite expensive, so maybe not). Again, I want it to last a very long time and be very durable for "relatively low weight" (unfortunately, all of these extras will add some ounces to the finished product). This won't be my everyday, go to tarp/shelter for my UL backpacking trips though.