Contributions by bongo (7)

The initial fit was fairly tight, and my fingers are fairly skinny (piano fingers), but I found this was just because of the leather. After wearing them in for about 2 week it was much better. The sizing is very true. As for the warmth, it was not as good as I had hoped for. When it dips below around -10C my fingers start getting very cold. The dexterity is decent, nothing special. The fabrication is superb, excellent stitching, the leather high quality, and you can't ask for better breathability (not to mention the gloves look really good). 3/5 because of the poor performance in cold weather.

Stayed bone dry during numerous storms in the Canadian Rockies. Great ventilation, will results in a colder night. Lots of condensation on fly, condensation on vestibule door will fall through the mesh door if you hit it accidentally. This is not a 3 season tent, the floor gets soaked if on snow and the wall collapsed under a very small snow load (about 4"). Make sure to purchase at least 4 more pegs and some extra guy line, it does not come with enough.

I used it for 2 week in the Canadian Rockies in late August and they didn't leak a drop even after crossing countless streams. They're really hard to dry though if you get water in the top. I had the unfortunate luck of snow on my last day, my feet were frozen but these aren't intended for snow so I can't complain. Worth the high cost, if they ever wear out (which I doubt) I would buy it again.

I used it for 2 weeks in the Canadian Rockies and it held up to 2 rain storms, 2 hail storms, and a snow storm. Everything inside kept dry. Waist belt does not close small enough for anyone under about 33". I called Kelty and they don't have smaller waistbelts. Pull cord sinch is not a good design, very akwuard, cracked already, but still functions. Overall, the pack is not very well supported, but if you're staying under 35lb you should comfortable.

Pros: reliable, great tasting water, very solid. Cons: heavy, expensive, water gets stuck in the filter after use and is very difficult to get it out Other notes: Does not pump at 1L/min, maybe 0.4-0.6L/min. I used it for a 7 person group for an 8 day hike, so it's definitely heavy duty. I give it 4/5 only because of the trapped water issue, otherwise it's an amazing filter.

I had some light snow in the Canadian Rockies in late August and the floor was soaked under my thermarest. It worked during a rainstorm though, kept the tent floor almost completely dry (a bit still seeped in).Probably still worth getting to limit wear to the tent floor.

Stayed bone dry during numerous storms in the Canadian Rockies. Great ventilation, will results in a colder night. Lots of condensation on fly, condensation on vestibule door will fall through the mesh door if you hit it accidentally. This is not a 3 season tent, the floor gets soaked if on snow and the wall collapsed under a very small snow load (about 4"). Make sure to purchase at least 4 more pegs and some extra guy line, it does not come with enough.

Self inflating is pretty good. Make sure to follow directions where first opening package. Inflated very slowly the first but after about 5 uses it inflates in about 3 minutes. Still needs a few extra breaths to make it firm. Extremely comfortable, I will never go backpacking without it. I was skeptical about air mattresses at first and how firm they would be, but even if I'm sitting up on the mattress, I still don't feel the ground. Very light weight for an inflatable mattress. Diagram might be slighly misleading on thermarest's site. Dimensions are 25" wide at the top, 20" wide at the bottom. Works great with my XL mummy bag. Only problem is it's impossible to take all the air out and therefore doesn't compress as well as I hoped. Will not fit back into the package it arrives in.