jane

I found these canisters much better than the ones they rent at Yosemite. For one thing they're much lighter and they're also transparent so you won't be digging through everything. One thing I have to say is I found them to be a little more difficult to open once I was out in the wilderness rather than in the comfort of my own home. Maybe it was the dirt that was inside the threading or due to the cold and my hands were fumbling. But a coin will do the trick.

Tastier than I thought it'd be. It's a little on the salty and runny side for me though to eat more than half of it.

It does it's job. The top tends to want to stay unsealed though if filled to 3L or more with the 4L bag. And I'm starting to question the durability of this one since their hydration bladder is not up to par. See my review of their bladders. I do like that it's collapsible though. Takes up very little space when empty.

The most important reason why I bought this bladder over a camelbak was because it's BPA free. I couldn't stand the plastic taste of the water from the camelbaks. Other nice things about this is the wide mouth for easy cleaning and the ability to disconnect the drink tube for easy filling or cleaning. It won't get in the way. I wish they allowed for the removal of the blue SlideLock closure as well. It can get in the way as it hangs on its cord so it has to be held aside. One major drawback to this bladder is how thin the bag is and it's durability. The thickness feels ok when touched but when I saw it tested by a squirrel who dropped a pine cone on my brother's Platypus, it didn't hold up, sadly. There were several punctures from the cone and when we filled it with water, it was leaking like a sieve. It happened the night before we were going to hike to the top of Mount Whitney no less. Luckily I had some duct tape. Later it punctured again when my brother lightly placed it on a boulder. More duct tape.
By the way, the photo makes this bladder look like it's mylar coated or something similar but it's actually transparent.
It really depends on what's more important for the individual. Durability like the camelbak or BPA free. I just can't stand the plastic taste of the water in a camelbak.

Took this stove to Yosemite for a backpacking trip. Worked great. It hardly takes up any space and it boils water super fast. I was using it at 9600 ft and had no problems. It's a terrific buy. I just love how small it packs up.

The only reason I didn't give this pack 5 stars is the hip belt. The criss cross strap design makes adjusting them more hassle than it should be and they hang loose if you're small and don't have a belly. I adjusted mine as small as it could go and there was still a lot of slack.
The pack is great for day hikes though and is very light. There's plenty of room for everything a person would need to bring for a day.

I used this up on Mount Shasta at 3am and it was excellent. The 7 different modes are handy and it seems sturdy enough. I'm not sure why that one reviewer down at the bottom had such a hard time with the different modes but it's simple enough and you do not have to hold it down for 5 seconds. I should mention though that this is my first headlamp. So far, I love it.

These were my first pair of trekking poles and I took them up to Mount Shasta and I have to say I'm a little disappointed. Now I'm not sure if these poles are the kind you're not supposed to bring up there but I found that they came undone after I thought I had tightened them pretty tight...twice! By undone, I mean they became loose and ended up past the maximum extension (which they don't recommend) when I'd pull them out of the snow. After this happened twice, I got a little paranoid about them loosening while I was up there so I kept checking on them. Even though it says you can rotate them 360 degrees and still find it locked tight, I found this not to be true. Next poles I get will be the kind with locking clasps, not the twist ones like these. For the price, I expected more.