Don P. from United States, TX Public Profile

The pump sack from Sea to Summit is a useful piece of kit, but it's really only if you have a small pad. I tried using it on a REI Flash pad which is 72"x20.5". The pump sack fit perfectly and was fairly easy to use. It's not however a straightforward air bellows. It is obviously soft sided, so collapses in a random way rather than the way a stiffened bellows would. It should also be noted that this will only work with the flat round air valves and not the "normal" air pad valves. An adapter might be available.

As for efficiency, I pumped for 10 minutes, and although the pad was fairly full of air, I found I had to blow into it in order to inflate it fully. This kind of defeats the purpose of having the pump sack. It can double as a stuff sack, albeit a small one.

I'd recommend this to someone who has a torso pad, or doesn't mind constantly pumping the bag to fill the long pad up.

I purchased this without any particular use in mind, but quickly discovered that it was perfect for my hammock suspension. Straps, cinch buckles, carabiners and extra carabiners all fit easily inside with a little room to spare. It's also extremely light and the weight is too close to spec to worth mentioning. I purchased the 1.7 Liter sack and it's proven to be just the right size for this usage. If yo're looking for a smallish ditty bag, this size might be a bit too large. I'd go with the .6L size for that. It's one down side is it's a bit on the narrow side. For wideish items, it may not be the right bag. I'd highly recommend this line of stuff sacks to anyone.

I gave the jacket 3 stars because although it keeps you dry, if there's any humidity, you're going to sweat like the proverbial horse underneath this jacket. That pretty much applies to any rain jacket, but if you've got some way to help regulate your heat output, it isn't that bad. But the Capacitor jacket hasn't got anything that can help regulate your heat output. No pit zips, or venting of any kind. So, you'll stay dry, but only as long as you aren't in humid conditions. I put this jacket to the test on the Texas Gulf coast a few months ago (March 2015), and it was raining off an on and the humidity level was around 85 to 90%. We were car camping and breaking camp proved to be too mush exertion for this jacket to handle. Just taking down hammocks, moving lanterns and foldup chairs and what not to the truck had me sweating inside this thing like I was in a sauna. Had I been able to open up venting of some sort, this may not have been the case. My girlfriend was wearing another manufacturers jacket and she was starting to experience the same until I opened up the pit zips on hers and she noticed a world of difference. I just kept sweating. I finally took the Capacitor off as I was every bit as wet inside it as I would have been had I left it off. If you're going to be hiking or backpacking in the Rockies where the humidity is below 10% the I'd recommend this jacket without question. But, for most other areas, I just can't. That said, it would be great for an around-town kin

This is a fairly large, yet quite comfortable pillow that compresses down to a small pack size. Once you get it out of it's little mesh stuff sack, it unfolds to 12" tall, by 16" wide. How thick it is depends on how much you blow it up. And it's easy to do just that. One down side is the valve is a bit large and can be "clunky". And because of it's size, it's what makes the pillow so heavy. If Big Agnes had decided to use a smaller valve, this pillow would easily have weighed less than 2 ounces. But, despite that, once blown up to what's comfortable, it's just that. Comfortable. It's also noisy, as it crinkles quite a bit when you turn you head on it. However, it's shaped so that your head is kept near the middle of the pillow when on your back. If you're a side sleeper, you'll need a small pillow case as I found my ear sweating because of the nylon material. Overall, a good pillow, but there are others that are more comfortable, lighter, and less noisy.

The MH Plasmic jacket fits well, and is definitely waterproof. Howeve in heavy humidity and warmth, it really fails to breathe as well as they say it will. After about an hour of packing up camp in heavy humidity, rain and temps in the low 70's, my arms were running with sweat and the back of my shirt was soaked with sweat. However, when I was just sitting around, it was a very effective barrier against the pouring rain. I'd recommend it, but not for anything more strenuous than light walking in the rain.

This Montbell vest was more than I expected. It's quite warm and the interior "pockets" were a pleasant surprise. The exterior pockets are generous and will also keep your hands warm. the only negative is that it's a bit tight fitting despite being my size. So, if you're looking to layer underneath, this might not be the right vest for you. I bought it because the only layer I intended to put under it was either a long sleeve shirt, or light sweater. Otherwise this is a great vest.