Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Some new gear to play with/test out!!

In the past couple of months, I was fortunate enough to have some extra cash after the holidays. As such, I picked up a couple items I've been eyeing for a bit. Two major purchases were a pair of LL Bean Maine Hunter boots, and a Frost River Woodsman pack.
The LL Bean boot, I understand, people have a love/hate relationship with. The areas I roam are mixed forest, with plenty of low lying water bodies-swamps, small streams, and generally mushy ground. Mix that with typical New England weather, and you can have the potential for wet feet. Enter the Maine Boots. These are unlined, as I plan to use them year round. I've had them for a couple weeks, through a snowstorm, and, with thick socks, they worked well, so long as I kept my feet moving. But, I have dedicated winter boots, so I am not using these as my go to boots for winter.
These are sized large, if you are considering a pair. Their are instructions on their website as to how to correctly size them, depending on what you plan to use them for. As for me, I am using them for year round, and not specifically for winter. According to their site, I ordered a size down (technically, 1.5 sizes down), and they fit perfect. They dont do half sizes, FYI.
I also purchases sno-seal, to keep the leather supple. They recommend using this several times. My experience with this stuff, I put it on every 3 months, regardless of use. It conditions the leather, as well as waterproofing it. I plan on having these for a few years, so keeping them in top shape is important.
Next up is the Frost River Woodsman pack. I found ZERO reviews of this online, so I bought it on a hope. My intent was to purchase a pack for dayhikes, and possible overnight trips. The Woodsman pack is in their canoe line, and, as such, has a tump line. Its the smallest of this line, but is HUGE. Seriously. I put all my dahike gear in it, and it didnt even fill it 1/4 to the top. This will easily hold ALL the gear I need for a dayhike, an overnight, camping, etc. There is compression cords on either side, which is simply a cord run through D rings, with a cord lock, to facilitate compressing the bag if its not packed full. Additionally, there is a compression strap at the top of either side, to compress the top as well. This is a great feature, as I doubt I will pack it to capacity anytime soon. There are little pockets at the bottom of the compression cords too. I dont know if they will fit a nalgene bottle, but I know 100% they will NOT fit either a NATO water bottle or a Canteen shop steel canteen (the 39 oz one).
I havent uploaded any pictures yet, nor have I done anything more than pack it up and try it on. Keep an eye on this, as I plan on doing a couple of follow ups regarding this pack, in the hopes that someone, somewhere, will get some mileage out of it.
As to the quality of it? Its a Frost River. There really isnt anything else to be said :)