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Snugpak equipment report | |
10th March 2000 Richard and Andrew McLaughlin,
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We
took our Airpack II jackets, Black on Black 3 (2/3/4? season) sleeping
bags and silk liners on an early trek to the Langtang / Helambu in the
Himalaya. Over 5 days we climbed to a maximum altitude of 4,350m
sleeping in lodges/huts at 1,800m (1 night) 3,300m (2 nights) and 3,950m
(1 night), where there was a good covering of snow.
The bag was a good weight and size for putting in a small 30/35 litre rucksack on such a trek. Water in our bottles froze during the night at 3,950m but we were 'comfortable' in the sleeping bags and silk liners with the baffles drawn fairly tight. Nick was pleased to find that because of the shape of the bag it moved with him when he changed position. Tim would have preferred a bag with a longer, flatter hood. Three out of the four of us are six foot 4inches or over, one of the party thought that the bag should have been longer (but again that is just one opinion!) The jackets were unanimously considered marvellous! The ingenious compression into its own sleeve as well as the stuff sack made it very easy to both carry and pack. Tim described it as a very 'temperate' jacket - never too hot and never chilly. Its performance meant that it was also the only warm garment that we needed to carry. The long zip combined with a comfortable and relaxed fit meant that it worked perfectly as a warm layer in the evenings and at rest points when wind chill threatened. Our minor gripe was the colour schemes chosen (!) - black / turquoise and dark blue / orange has meant that we have only really worn the jackets with the darker side facing out. Again this is personal preference but a contrasting and slightly less shocking alternative face would have been welcomed. All in all a positive thumbs up for the equipment. We look forward to sending another report having testing them to the full on the Tibetan Plateau. |
