I was impressed with this bivy. Seems to stand up well and provides good protection. It is a good compromise between weight and protection. Enough room to put your boots inside to keep them dry. Rolls up pretty small and sets up easily. To try it out I took a February night in upstate NY that it was going to snow. Set it up in my back yard with my Dark Star sleeping bag. Temperature was down around 5 deg F. I just set it down on the snow with my pad and sleeping bag inside, no ground cloth outside. I heard it snowing and even sleeting during the night. In the morning I noticed that the floor felt like it had slight condensation. The top part was dry to the touch. I was dry and so was my sleeping bag. I did notice after I pulled out my Thermarest that it had condensation on the side that I slept on from sweating. I think this is where the condensation came on the inside floor of the bivy. Came with seam sealer which I have not used yet. Did not come with any directions but the pole to set it up was easy to figure out. So far I am impressed.

These are great snowshoes. A little on the pricey side but built to last. Easy to put on with your gloves, stay on your feet, and provide excellent traction up and down the hills. Very light for stepping over things. I thought a lot about the weight recommendations they give. I purchased the 25's because I didn't want a shoe that was too long. I think it was a great compromise. I weigh 190 without gear. I have used these with a full pack on the trails with powder and a base and had no trouble. I have also used them with somewhat deep powder and a day pack without any problem. It was a great upgrade from my old shoes.

I purchased the Multi Fuel Stove about a year ago and for what I do it works great. I am not much into fancy cooking so mostly I boil water, cook noodles, and occassionally warm up stew or the like. The stove is very durable and stable. The serrated stand keeps the pots from sliding off and is very sturdy. The pump is all metal. I leave the pump on the fuel container while hiking and it has never leaked. The advertisements indicate that it simmers. You can turn it down a little bit but I would hardly call this simmering.

I purchased this filter about a year ago and have used it on 4 separate trips. One of the best features is that Nalgene bottles screw right onto the bottom. This makes it easy to keep contamination out. This is my first filter and compared to my hiking buddies who have other units, it might be a little bit slower when pumping. I have had to clean the filter on two of my trips because the water I was filtering was pretty dirty but the water came out clear and tasted fine. The filter works great and is easy to maintain. Isn't that what you want in a filter?