I've been on a roll here lately. I've been moving items from my online wish lists to the shopping cart. Then I wait for the UPS to deliver, just like a kid for Christmas morning. It's always exciting to come home to a box on your door step addressed to you.
It's really exciting to see the months of painstaking planning all come together. I've had such a good time learning and obsessing about gear. It's great to see the items I have been looking at online and in stores to finally come into my possession. I wanted to start buying this stuff a long time ago the problem I had is that I kept changing my mind or I would find something I felt would be better. So I have held off on actually buying stuff till I was within a few months of my start date. Now is that time. My start date 4/23/14 in case you wanted to know.
Here we go with the new Goodies!
Columbia omni-heat 800 fill down jacket!
Packs into this nice little stuff sack. It weights in at 1 pound. so not the lightest but when It's cold I'm sure it's going to be worth it's weight in gold.
Found this jacket on the clearance rack at Sportsmen's Warehouse $119. It's the jacket I had on my wish list on Amazon for $180 except I was looking at getting the red jacket not the green. but since it was a deal I bought it, cause at the end of the day it's not going to matter what color it is.
Omni-Heat baby!
This is the first time I have bought anything with Omni-Heat I have read good reviews. This is my first puffy jacket, I never liked the way they looked. But know I know why so many people wear them.
I tested this jacket out on a walk the other night it was freezing out and it was amazing. every other part of my body was losing heat and starting to get cold except under my jacket. So far so good...
Warm and cold weather base layers
This shirt is awesome it's made of a lightweight mesh material, Wicks moisture and dries quickly. I tested it out during a workout at the gym and it's awesome! It looks and fits really good too as an added bonus. paid $38 from REI
Mid-weight base layer for the colder days. Might also be a good sleeping shirt. I had thought that the omni-heat silver reflectors would feel itchy against the skin but it was very comfortable. I rolled the sleeve to show off the inside.
Also a really good looking and well fitting shirt. Only $28 saved 48% from sierra trading post.
REI Convertible zip pants
I really like the material these are made of. and They where on sale, half price! $32
Last but not least SOCKS!
So I have this obsession about socks. Pre-hiking It was underarmour socks. now I am in hiking/running sock testing mode. I am trying to narrow down to maybe two brands that work the best for me. Since socks are inexpensive I have just went out and purchased a bunch off different brands and types. haha who am I kidding hiking socks are expensive. I noticed during my workouts on the treadmill and stair stepper I noticed that with my normal Underamour socks I was getting hot spots on the ball on my feet and on the side of my right foot. I can't stand blisters I can't think of very many things worse. So trying out the socks you see below I have had great results.
As pictured: Wrightsock cool mesh $12, they have a built in sock liner (two layers white on inside black outside). These socks are pretty neat. I have been doing a lot of research on preventing blisters and using a sock liner was highly recommend by some. so these socks have one built in which was nice. The blue sock on the bottom is a sock liner I have tested it only a once with the Wigwam socks and it was pretty good.
SmartWool Micro Toe socks $16 but only paid $7 (sierra trading post) First off people who wear toe socks are weird... I cannot confirm or deny that I one of them. At first trying the sock on was terrible almost gave me a gagging feeling haha. After a few minutes I didn't notice the feeling of having something between my toes and it became very comfortable. They are pretty thin and could easily be used as a liner used with another pair of more rugged socks. Good socks i enjoy wearing them around the house as well. You might think they would be constricting, but they have a freeing feeling about them.
injinji toe socks Awesome! my favorite so far but of course they are the highest priced $18. I am defiantly going to be taking this pair with me I will more than likely purchase a few more pairs before I go. After you get over the fact they are toe socks and only weirdos wear toe socks they are so amazing haha. I would say if you have never worn toe socks get over yourself and try a pair on you might discover something awesome...
Wigwam hiking socks. $14 Seem to be a pretty good rugged wool sock. I like them and they look awesome on. If that even really matters... Some would say "it doesn't matter what or how you do something. What only matters is how good you look doing it". I don't know who says that but their has to be someone. ;)
Thorlo Experia coolMax, Powered by Thorlo pads $15 They have super thick heel and toe section, and a thinner material for the rest of the sock. I haven't even tried them on yet. but They look very promising.
Since I have been testing these socks I haven't had a single hot spot while running so I'm thinking I really couldn't go wrong with any of them. Now I just need to test them actually on a hike. So once the weather gets better here in Colorado I'll just have to put them through the final test, actually hiking in them. I know Darn Tough Socks are a favorite among many out there I will be trying those soon as well. If anyone has any good input on hiking socks please comment. I am open for a discussion.
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