For some time I was looking for a bike mount to attach my Nexus S to my road bike. I couldn’t find one I liked and had already started manufacturing prototype of a DIY one with the help of a colleague who owns a RepRap. But last weekend I got lucky. I returned something else to my local outdoor dealer and noticed a flexible iPhone bike mount which looked like it could fit a Nexus S, too. I whipped out my phone and yes, it did fit. So now I am the happy owner of a Topeak iPhone drybag. You can get it from Amazon.com or Globetrotter.de.

I like the spork. But during my last trip it broke after 3 or 4 days and eating out of the bags with just half a spork wasn’t that much fun. So I decided to replace it with the titanium version which arrived last week.

The new titanium spork weights 21 grams according to my scale compared to 9 grams for the plastic version (according to lightmyfireusa.com the weights are 8 grams and 17 grams for titanium) and feels rock solid.

I’m pretty sure it will last me for more than 3 hikes.

This is a short break in my series of posts about this year’s TGO challenge. A number of people asked me about the Android applications I run when I’m hiking. Here are my two current favorites. Read more »

Here is a very short list of the interesting bits and pieces I used on the TGO challenge. Read more »

A few days ago I stumbled over a post at outdoorseiten.net with an idea for self-made Gödel (small, lightweight crampons) using replaceable bolts.

Building the Gödel was easy and overall took not much more than an hour. First I used a piece of cardboard to build a prototype in a size to snuggly fit my boots. Then I cut two pieces of aluminium to the same size and bent them in the vise into the final U-shape. To get the slit for the straps, I drilled a few holes next to each other and cut through with a Dremel. Five more holes each for the bolts and I was done.

The bolts are perhaps a little long, but were the only ones I had available where I found 10 identical ones. They are M5 16mm, but if this works I will probably replace them with 12mm ones. I’m thinking about sharpening the tips to improve traction, but I’m not sure if this is really necessary.

The material cost roughly 15€ (~9€ for the straps and 6€ for the aluminium) with plenty of aluminium still left for future projects.

The two Grödel weight in at 271g an I think I could get this down by using plastic buckles instead of the metal ones on the strips and drilling a few holes to get rid of some material.

This weekend I will test them on tour and will report here about the performance in real life.

More pictures can be found in this Picasa album.

Update 2011-03-11:

I decided to cut off parts of the screws to reduce the forces on the body of the crampon and cut a tiny ridge through the tip to increase friction.

As an added bonus this reduced the overall weight by 10g to 261g.

Update 2011-03-14:

I can’t report on the performance on ice, because it was a nice, warm weekend and the snow we encountered was soft and slushy. But I can report, that the crampons fit perfectly and it’s comfortable to walk in them… Will update once I have done a real test.

For Christmas I got a cool dehydrator. A few people asked me about the specific model and my experience so far.

All but the cucumber I would consider a success. The machine runs very quiet, most of the time I used it, I let it run over night and sleeping in the next room was no problem.

Summary: Highly recommended!

I stumbled over this outdoor todo list and liked the idea.

Planned tours

So far I haven’t made a lot of plans. As you might have deduced from previous posts, I have registered for the TGO challenge. This will take up 2 weeks worth of vacation. I don’t know, how I will spent the other 4 weeks, but hopefully in a warm and dry climate after 2 weeks of Scotland

Gear

Generally, I’m happy with my gear. The only obvious thing still missing is a tarp shelter. The two leading candidates being Laufbursche Tanzpalast (if it will become available in the near future) or MLD Duo Mid.

But more importantly, I have too much redundancy. Last time I checked I had 3 Thermarest mats, half a dozen pots (even a few non-titanium pots), many different backpacks and a couple of pieces I haven’t used in years. So the most important gear resolution for 2011: get rid of at least one old piece of equipment, before buying a new piece.

I own a pair of trekking poles for at least 5 years but I usually didn’t bring them with me because I hated carrying more than half a kilogram around for some poles I need pretty infrequently. Earlier this year I bought a pair of Goat Poles to fix the weight problem. Read more »

Now that I have finished my WHW trip report it’s time to look at a few things I tried for the first time on this trip.

Thermarest Haven

When I stumbled over the Thermarest Haven the specs looked very tempting: a 624g bag with comfort range down to -1C. I had a few doubts in advance about the lack of zipper and the entry through a bigger hole in the back.

My experience after a few days use in Scottland:

• Warmth: -1C comfort range sounds realistic, the lowest temperature we encountered was around +5C and the bag was definitely to warm with a silk liner and wearing just underwear.
• Zipper: The missing zipper is no issue, getting in and out of the bag through the back is easy.
• Size: I would prefer a bigger diameter around the shoulders.
• Shape: The mummy-shape makes it difficult to use the bag as a blanket. When it got too hot I slept with the legs out of the bag but still covered by it.

Overall I’m still satisfied with the whole package. The bag is not perfect but the performance is great for the price.

Summary: Recommended!

Inov8 X-Talon™ 240 plus GoreTex socks

I’m a big fan of the Inov8 X-Talon™ 240 but they are not water-proof, a feature definitely needed in Scotland. To fix this a bought a pair of Gore Bike Wear GoreTex socks.

I wore Injinji toe socks and the GoreTex socks for 6 consecutive days in some horrible weather. The way down from Devil’s staircase to Kinlochleven I walked in ankle deep water for some time. At the end of the day my socks showed a few wet spots under the ball and the heel of my feet and I’m not 100% certain that this was water from the outside.

I’ve never felt so comfortable walking longer distances in foul weather and I’m pretty sure the socks will see a lot of future use.

Summary: Highly recommended!

After Henrik’s review of his Vibram Five Fingers KSO and a lot of other upcoming barefoot options I would like to share my experience. There are already plenty of reviews on the actual shoes so I will skip this and will concentrate on the how my feet adapted to the VFF. Read more »