Very impressed with this jacket. Excellent warmth to weight ratio. I was concerned that the material might rip while climbing the grey tower at night but stood up to rock climbing very well. The internal packable pocket is very handy as well. Great hood as well.

A review of your Alpine III bag used on Ama Dablam in late November 2011.

First of I am exactly 6' and I initially bought the regular version from Mountain Equipment in Sydney but this was far too short, so I had to replace with the long. This is a very snug bag which has its own advantages and disadvantages.

For a start it is very warm. At 6,000 m in Nepal in late ...November (possibly -20 C), I never closed the zipper the whole way. This big also seems to loft very well. My climbing partner had a Valandre 'Shocking Blue' (from memory) and the Alpine III always seemed to loft better after unpacking. I also was never cold whereas my climbing partner mentioned he slept cold (but then again he had about 5% body fat compared to my 18%.

On the downside, I slept in this bag after spending time in a -40 MH Ghost and I found the Sea2summit very snug. I often take of my thermals in my bag after I have warmed up and this was very difficult to do in the confined space of this bag. I would use this bag at high camps but not at a base camp if you are taking 2 bags on an expedition. One other thing, my bag's zipper at the bottom of the bag, did not work and I was unable to vent by opening this zip. I would check your bag to make sure this is working. The main zip sliding to the hood, is one of the best I have used. Very smooth and rarely snagged.

The little pocket near the collar was great to store my phone and camera batteries at night. I do sometimes wish that sleeping bags designed for very cold conditions had some kind of interna sleeve to store nalgene bottles, so that one can turn in the night without being molested by wayward bottles.

Overall a very warm bag with zero dampness problems. It is snug though so check the sizing.

I was't that impressed with this jacket and regret buying it. On the plus side, yes it is lightweight and the material is great for quickly layering a down jacket on top with minimal internal friction. On the down side, the hood is small and will not fit over a helmet. I feel ridiculous for not checking this out. In addition the front pockets are fiddly. The zippers are difficult to use with gloves and the pockets small.

I think these gloves are a good compromise in warmth vs. dexterity. Make sure you waterproof them with some leather conditioner and they are a good summer/shoulder seaoson alpine glove. I'm a big fan of no drop wrist leashes and I wear these gloves with a thin liner if the tempos drop and I need to whip of the gloves to do something fiddly.

I wasn't that impressed with this pack. Well let me rephrase that. 90% of the pack was just as expected..but the bloody top lid never stayed in place properly.While climbing I was always wondering if something was going to fall out of my pack unless I put the top lid into the pack itself. It's a small thing but it pissed me off.