Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Spring Updates

Just wanted to do a quick post with some updates on what's going on with this blog and my backpacking life in general.  

I am going on a 3 day trip to cover more of the E1 trails this coming weekend, which of course I am very excited about.  I hope to complete at least two, maybe three sections of trail, and trip reports will follow soon after.  

The weather has been very inconsistent this year, even for south-west Sweden (known for unpredictable weather, especially in spring/fall).  There have been days recently where it has been 20C and sunny out, with nights around 5-10C.  Now all of a sudden it looks like it will drop to as low as -4C at night in the area I will be traveling through.  This would be nearly as cold as it was at night on my last section hike over a month ago, when it was -6C at night!  I was ready to put my warmer (rated -1C) sleeping bag away in favor for my 1+ season bag (rated 5C), but looks like it will still get some use into late spring.

Speaking of sleeping bags, I recently bought some material to make a summer sleeping bag, which I will also be using as a bag liner for winter/cold trips.  I hope to make something that will not only have more effective warmth than say a thin base layer, but also be more light weight.  The materials arrived yesterday, and I am very excited about this project.  It will be a top layer of M90, which is quite breathable, then a top layer of synthetic insulation (2.5oz Climashield Apex), which will be both sewn onto a silk liner.  I will write a detailed post about this project, and naturally with lots of pictures, when it is completed.