I've been wearing my Suunto Core (reviewed here) every day for over three years now. It's an "ABC" wrist-top computer, with Altimeter, Barometer, Compass (ABC), with temperature guage, storm alarm, altitude/barometric logging, sunrise/sunset times, waterproofiness, and an inverted black screen. I stand by what I've written in the review, and after three years of daily use I would emphasise the following:



First, the inverted black screen might look cool, but it's impractical in use. If you get one, go for a traditional black-on-white screen.

Second, if I was buying one again, I would get one with the rotatable bearing dial around the outside – again, the Core Extreme (which I own) is a case of design over practicality; it looks nice, but the lack of dial makes it less useful. Third, the compass is incredibly unreliable. I never use the thermometer (because you have to take the watch off for it to work), the altimeter, or the altitude logging. The best aspect of the watch is the barometer, which works as long as you regularly set the reference altitude, and can help you predict local weather conditions. The storm alarm works well providing you are stationary or are moving on relatively gentle terrain.



I note that newer marketing texts for the Core describe a "unique start-from-zero function [that] simplifies altimeter usage by eliminating need to enter a reference altitude". I don't seem to have that functionality on my watch, and cannot find any info anywhere online about what that really means, but if it works, then it solves one of the problems with these watches: the barometer and altimeter are co-dependent, as both height and barometric pressure are measured by air pressure.



Suunto has a range of different Core watches, but the only difference between them is in the external design and materials used, and the corresponding prices they charge. If you really want to lay down some cash, the Suunto Elementum Multifiunction Expedition Watch or Suunto Elementum Terra will happily empty your bank account. At the other end of the scale, you can still find the venerable Suunto Vector in some places – it's simpler, cheaper, and has a reputation for reliability.

Casio also offer their range of Pathfinder and ProTrek watches with similar functionality, and how shall I put it... less minimal design. They seem more reliable and popular than the range from Highgear (although the AltiTech 3 is a nice carabiner-style clip-on watch). The Pathfinder Atomic Solar watches do, admittedly, offer a couple of advantages: they're solar powered, and they set themselves automagically via the atomic clock, which is undeniably cool.

The latest thing to cram into your wrist is, of course, GPS. Both Garmin and Suunto are in on the game with the Garmin Fenix 2 (and just released Fenix 3) and Suunto Ambit 3. While both have breadcrumb tracking, the Fenix seems to have a slight edge feature-wise, with integration with their BaseCamp software. Both use rechargeable batteries; Garmin claims around 16 hours use in GPS mode (50 hours with more limited use), which is just about enough for a weekender, and in my testing this seemed fairly accurate. The Ambit claims to fare a little better, at around 25-28 hours, but in pactice I found the performance to be about the same once the correct settings had been made (limiting GPS pinging frequency). In the end I found the Garmin Fenix to be more appropriate for backpacking becuase of it's more integrated mapping experience, however Suunto's implementation of the Altimeter/Barometer was functionally more useful. You can read my extensive reviews of the Fenix 2 and Ambit 2 at the links below.



Backpacking North's Garmin Fenix 2 review

Backpacking North's Suunto Ambit 2 review

Utah Outside's review of the Suunto Ambit

Chad Brackelsberg on the Ambit.

Ultra 168 on the Fenix

DC Rainmaker's extensive review of the Garmin Fenix. If you raise your eyebrows at two-sentence reviews of products, check out this 13,000+ word, fully illustrated baby!



Do any of these devices help in lightening your load? Not really, unless you normally carry a separate watch, GPS, altimeter, barometer and thermometer. You certainly shouldn't omit the real compass from your pack, and if you need a GPS, then one of the dedicated units mentioned earlier would be more reliable and useful.



There are some cases where an altimeter and barometer can come in handy, but in pretty much all circumstances, alternative solutions exist: just look at your map/the sky/your compass.



I suspect that this year (or at least within the next three years) the marketplace for wristwatch-style computers will be forever transformed, and we'll soon be doing a lot more with our wrists (ahem) than current products allow. If smart watches do make an appearance, expect to be loading GPS, weather, and a whole hose of useful apps on them, and for Suunto to fall behind the times like another well-known Finnish company. It will be interesting to see what happens – but until then, check out the full range of Ambulation-Oriented Wrist-Top Super Computers at REI or Backcountry.com.





Headlamps & Lanterns & Flashlights

You'd think that, having moved beyond the days of the venerable candle lantern, the choices for ultralight lighting would be simple: grab a simple headlamp and go. But no. Even the humble headlamp has been dragged, kicking and screaming, into the age of USB programming and headlamp hacking.

Take the current high-end offering, the Petzl Nao. It features a reactive lighting system that automatically adjusts brightness to ambient conditions. It even comes with software that allows you to program it's output for various activities. It weighs 187g / 6.6oz. Frankly, I think it's overkill for backpackers, ultralight or otherwise. And the more you complicate a relatively simple thing, the more that can go wrong with it.

Not wanting fall behind in the headlamp development race, Petzl also introduced the Core – a rechargeable/programmable battery pack for their range of smaller, Tikka2/Zipka2 lamps. It allows you to program the light output to suit your needs. From an environmental standpoint, the rechargeable battery is a good thing, but although the programmable battery is clever (some, including Chris Townsend, like it) I can't help but feel I'm being sold something I really don't need. I can see how, on a long, extended trip of several weeks, a carefully programmed light might be useful, but for general use it just seems like a gimmick. Do I really want to spend time programming my headlamp? What next? Programmable backpacks?

If you take away the fancy factor of programmability, it's simply a rechargeable battery, and you can buy a bunch of rechargeable AAA batteries for a fraction of the cost and still walk around with a smile on your face, happy that you are doing your bit to save the planet.

Oddly, the Core battery pack seems to be unavailable in the major retailers at the moment, so if you feel the need to program your lighting, maybe wait until a new version arrives; who knows, maybe it'll let you program it's weight.

So what headlamp does Backpacking North use? I have two: a Zipka and Tikka – they are quite old now; the newer models have better features. I recommend the Zipka2 for it's compactness and weight (83g / 2.9oz). It has a 70 lumen beam that lasts 70 hours on maximum, 150 on minimum. Unlike my older model, it also has a red bulb to help maintain night vision and annoy your companions less in camp. The Tikka XP 2 offers slightly more light (80 lumens) and a more comfortable strap, bringing the weight up to 88g / 3.1oz.

For the true ultralight light, the Petzl e+lite wins the contest hands down. Weighing just 27g / 0.9oz, it's waterproof, has a retractable cord, and has white and red lamps. It only manages 26 lumens, but many people swear it is adequate for their needs around camp. It uses those awkward lithium watch batteries though, which provide a claimed 35-70 hours use. I'd like to try one, but in Lapland I face two extremes: 24 hours of light in summer (so no headlamp needed), and 20 hours of darkness in winter (so a longer-lasting, brighter light is appreciated). Your light mileage may vary.

There are other manufacturers making lamps, and in general they are all of a similar quality. Black Diamond's range is perfectly okay, with the Storm and Spot standing out from the bunch. The Princeton Tec Remix is popular and light at 2.9 oz / 82g. Fenix make some of the brightest – the Fenix HL30, for example – but remember the wisdom of Blade Runner.

One rather clever innovation comes from Mammut in the shape of the T-Trail Headlamp and Ambient Light Dry Bag. Combining a headlamp with a waterproof, transluscent dry bag, it creates a lantern that can be used in your shelter. I think it's a smart, safe update of the old candle lanterns, that mixes in a bit of ultralight multi-use sensibility (the dry bag is a stuff sack, which even has volume markings). The lantern/bag can also be purchased separately for use with other headlamps. Full points to Mammut. It is certainly much better than the previous big seller (andBackpacker fave), the Black Diamond Orbit Lantern, which is both heavy (4.8oz / 136g w/o batts) and not particularly bright.

Talking of lanterns and innovation, this week's novelty gizmo award goes to Snow Peak, who seem to be on a roll recently.

The Snow Peak Hozuki LED Candle Lantern is a riff on Chinese paper lanterns, but cleverly obviates the possibility of you burning down your shelter. The lamp hangs in your tent, provides up to 100 lumens, and has a (get this) candle setting that flickers in response to sound or wind, and will even "blow out" if jostled too much! Seriously, who wouldn't want one of these? It weight 5.6oz / 158g, so it's not exactly ultralight, but we're all allowed one luxury item, right? If I had to choose, this would be mine – it would make those long winter nights quite romantic. There's also a Mini Hozuki - a smaller, lighter version (2.4 oz / 68 g), so now you really have no excuse. Get shopping!

While researching the plentiful lighting options available today, I came across another Snow Peak item, the Snow Peak Lapel Torch. I have absolutely no idea what the point of this item is. It's a complete mystery to me. It's advertised in a video featuring fly fishing, to maybe Tenkara bums will snap it up. It weighs a scant 1.4 oz / 40g, throws out 60 lumens, and lasts 55 hours on high. So there you go. Dix point for innovation, though.

Lastly, I prefer, and generally advocate headlamps over flashlights on the trail. Headlamps allow you to keep both hands free (especially handy – haha – if you have walking poles), they can easily be attached to something else, they always point in the right direction, they tend not to get lost or dropped so easily, and these days they are significantly brighter than during the initial switch to LED tech. However, if you are a die-hard flashlight user, you'll find plenty on offer at the links below. I believe Fenix are the people to beat in this area. The Fenix PD32 (3.8oz / 107g), which can throw out 740 lumens, should be enough to startle anyone on the trail, but the true ultralighter will prefer the Fenix LD01 (0.9 oz / 25g) a simpler, 72 lumen pocket torch just 3 in/ 7.5cm long, and recommended by Andrew Skurka.



REI Flashlights

REI Headlamps

REI Lanterns

Backcountry.com Headlamps and Accessories

Backcountry.com Flashlights



Backpacking Light Forums: Flashlights and Headlamps



Last but not least, this is the ultralight headlamp you are looking for.





Weather instruments

I first read about weather instruments in Chris Townsend's Backpacking book. While I like the idea of measuring and predicting the weather while backpacking, I can't help but feel it's a little unnecessary on short trips. If it's very windy, you don't usually need a device to tell you that. Sure, it can be interesting, but necessary?

Of all the items in this article, wind instruments are possibly the least essential – especially now that much of their prediction functionality is available via smartphone apps. However, I include them for completeness, and because at least the ADC Summit/Pro won't make too much of an impact on your base weight.



In the end their value depends on your potential use for them. If you are hiking up high, in rapidly changing conditions, and might need a more accurate alert to bad weather than that provided by an altimeter watch, then these might be of interest. Otherwise, Mike Clelland's LATS technique (Look At The Sky) might serve you better.



I found three widely available weather instruments by Brunton - and of the three the 1.7oz / 48g Brunton Atmospheric Data Center Summit and Proseem to be the lightest and most useful, providing wind speed/wind chill measurement, barometric pressure, temperature, and altitude (the Pro throws in water flow measurement, dew point analysis, heat index etc.). It is able to examine trends and give a potential 12 hour forecast, and includes a storm alarm for rapidly changing conditions. In many ways, apart from the wind speed measurements, it shares many of the features and limitiations of the ABC watches covered earlier – the basing of altitude and barometric measurements on air pressure being the main issue affecting accuracy, and requiring regular calibration.



Kestrel is another manufacturer. The Kestrel 4000 provides much of the same functionality as the Brunton ADC Pro, but is a little heavier at 3.6 oz / 102g.



I have to admit, being a weather geek, I'm kind of interested in playing around with one of these, and I'd probably opt for the ADC Pro if I had a spare couple of hundred dollars lying around.



Review of Brunton ADC Pro at Utah Outside and Wild Snow





Knives and tools

Do knives and tools qualify as tech? Probably not, and the choices are so numerous and personal it would be hard to pick one winner over all the others.



For tools, a very simple Leatherman or Victorinox is the most popular and sensible choice. My ideal tool would have the following



- a blade

- flat & Phillips (cross head) screwdriver

- tweezers

- file

- pliers

- scissors

- mini saw



In the past I would have added corkscrew and bottle opener to that, but these days my inner wino now repackages in platy bags (I just use basic ones, not these). In all honesty, the mini saw is not very useful either apart from cutting very small branches and amputating hiking companions' fingers while they're sleeping.



Typically, however, tools never have the full compliment of items you actually want them to have: there is always one missing that is present on a different model, but that other model is missing something else. Such is life.

I carry a Leatherman Micra, and occasionally a Marttini Puuko (knife). The Micra is a handy and very small tool, featuring scissors, flat & Phillips screwdriver, blade, tweezers, nail file, bottle opener, ruler. It weighs 1.75 oz / 50g.

Also popular from Leatherman are the Juice (4.4 oz /125g - adds pliers, wire cutters, more screwdrivers, can pener, bottle opener, loses the file and tweezers), and the Style CS (1.4 oz / 39g - much trhe same as micra, minus the ruler). When you start to hit the Skeletool things get heavier ( 5oz / 141g) but a bit more rugged.

On the other hand, the Victorinox Classic is exactly that – a classic. The "Swiss Army Knife" packs a knife, file, screwdriver, scissors, toothpick, nail file and tweezers into 1.3oz / 36g, and some would argue that's all you need. A the other end of the scale, there's always this monstrosity.

A good, sharp, basic knife can come in handy for many purposes, and is essential if you are travelling light and using found wood for fuel (with a Caldera Cone or BushBuddy, for example). I have a Lynx Lumberjack Carbon, made by Marttiini, based in Rovaniemi, Lapland! It's a classic knife with a flat top good for cutting kindling, and weighs in at 90g / 3.17 oz in its leather pouch. I won't list any other knives as they are such a personal thing; everyone has and favors their own.

Ryan Jordan shows you how a knife, hatchet, and saw will help you find dry wood in most situations in this video at Backpacking Light (membership req'd)



Brian Green knows a thing or two about knives.



Camp tools at REI

Knives at REI





Cameras

A potential can of worms as it represents an area of almost infinite variety, annual updatery, and fanatical zealotry; it would be very hard for me to pick out "the" ultralight camera, and as a photographer my opinions on the matter are somewhat lengthy.



I will write more on this subject in the future, but to keep things at their simplest in the interest of finishing this post this year, here are some starting points for consideration. Readers please bear in mind that I am just selecting cameras that I've seen in use, or are currently raved about. There are plenty more out there that some will prefer. Just remember the following two pieces of advice:



- the best camera is the one you have with you

- shoot first, ask questions later (sorry, photo student joke)

If you want to keep your pack as light as possible, and take a step up from smartphone cameras, a compact "point-and-shoot" is the way to go. In recent years I've been impressed with what I've seen from Panasonic's Lumix range, especially the TZ10 (or the ZS7 as it's called in the US). This has gone through several iterations, the current version now being the ZS30 / TZ40. At least I think it is. It's so hard to keep up.



At the premium end of the compact market, the Lumix LX 100 is the current cream of the crop (geddit?) with some rave reviews among hikers on Amazon.

In a similar vein, the Sony RX100 Mark III gives the LX 100 some stiff competition. Some have called it the best compact camera available on the market today. With a Zeiss lens and CMOS sensor, reviews claim that it's image quality approaches that of a DSLR.



For more control, multiple lens options, and better images, a micro four-thirds ups the ante. They fall nicely in the middle ground between compacts and DSLRs, offering interchangeable lenses in a compact body, making them ideal for lightweight hiking and backpacking. The best of both worlds, if you like.



I have the first edition of the Lumix GF1 which you might still find on the used markets. Subsequent revisions of the GF series removed much of what was attractive from the original (notably good manual controls), until Panasonic split it off and released a true successor in the GX1. However, in the meantime, the other manufacturers were playing catch up.

The undisputed current king of the 4/3 hill is now the Olympus OM-D EM-5 Mark II which has a 16 megapixel sensor, built-in EVF, excellent manual controls, and perhaps most attractively for the backpacking photographer, a weather-sealed body. It looks rather nice and retro too (incidentally, my first-ever 35mm camera was an Olympus OM-30). As they say in Minneapolis, it's a bit spendy, but appears to be worth every cent. Tómas wrote an excellent review of the original version claiming that the DSLR is dead.

The most exciting thing about the Mark II version is the 40megapixel mode. This allows the OM-D EM-5 to take a super high resolution image by moving the sensor and capturing multiple images. It's an amazing new development in camera technology. Admittedly it has limitations at the moment: the camera must be on a tripod, but for the backpacking photographer this is a game changer. It allows us to capture beautiful 16mp images in a small package, but still have the option to capture a true DSLR quality image if we need to. This makes the EM-5 Mk II my first choice for best backpacking camera for the ultralight photographer.

My second choice would be the Sony a7ii (24mp) and a7R (36mp)– a full frame mirrorless camera that has given DSLRs a serious run for their money. Using the same sensor as Nikon's D800 series, the a7 is an amazing camera, let down only by the poor lens selection. Of the two I'd go for the 24mp version, until the mark ii a7r is released.

For the ultimate in relatively compact cameras, a burgeoning range of high-end, rangefinder-style shooters have been released in the last year or so. These are expensive, very high quality cameras popular with professional photographers as secondary- on inconspicuous travel cameras. With the legacy of rangefinders lying in the field of landscape photography, there is much to find attractive in them if your pockets are deep and minted. The Fuji X100T is the best of the bunch.



For the pros, I can assure you the DSLR is not dead; in fact it has been reinvigorated by the final adoption of full-frame sensors matching 35mm film in size, and approaching medium format in resolution, quality and, most importantly, dynamic range. In this camp you're either a Nikon of Canon fan, and if you're already at this level, it's unlikely that you need my advice on which manufacturer or camera to choose. I have a Nikon D800, and I'm very happy with it, but the latest version, the Nikon D810 is the bee's knees. The D600 is also highly recommended and is a little more forgiving for handheld use. On the Canon side of things, the 5D Mark II is a favourite. There are of course ample prosumer DSLRs with smaller APS-C sensors, but in my opinion, full-frame is the way to go. With such high resolving detail, you can even get a decent zoom/crop from a 50mm prime lens.