Vasque Zepher GTX Gore-Tex Boots

The best investment I made.  Dry feet in very wet conditions, not one hot spot, not one blister, just happy feet.

REI item 683450
Goes on-sale for about $130

Gore-Tex Rain Jacket

Got mine at EMS.  Kept me dry and comfortable. added a granite gear stuff sack that I got at TOTT (PSR trading post)

The second best investment that I made.

about $75 at EMS

M-Rock Camera Bag

Rocky Mountain model #88001
One of many bags & pouches offered by M-Rock.  Feature packed, includes a rain cover, a flexible mounting system and plenty of other neat features.

$32 at M-Rock

Sony DCR-PC330

A great mix of .still and video capability in a compact package.  The proprietary Lithium-Ion batteries are available in various capacities.  I carried two, 5 hour and one 10 hour.  Used about 8 hours total over the ten days.  In  addition two 256mb memory sticks proved sufficient.  This unit, which cost $1300 in early 2004 has been replaced several times.  The current model, the DCR-HC96, is a more refined version of the DCR-PC330 ... at about half the price!

Got mine on EBay

Ultra pod

At under $10, this thing is a must for anybody with camera with a tripod socket.  It makes balancing your camera on a rock or log a snap and the folding legs combined with the velcro strap allow you ti fasten your camera to a limb or pole.

$8.99 at Campmor

Leki Super Makalu
Anti-Shock Trekking Poles

Roll Up Stool

At just 1# it beats sitting on a wet log or in the dirt.

$16 at Campmor / $20 at EMS

Tecnica PacMoc

Packable Camp Shoe, great for walking around camp and giving your boots a rest.

google pacmoc - 18 oz - $50

purchased for '04 trek, used in '06, still in-use
 

Kelty Trekker

A classic design, perhaps 'old school', but great on the trail for me.  Improvements in the latest generation resolve my only beef with my discontinued model - the pocket zippers.

Always $100 at Campmor

purchased years ago, still in-use

ALPs Denali 5500

I evaluated an ALPS Denali internal frame for '06.  I was generally very happy with this pack although I did have problems with the hip strap buckle.  Upon my return ALPs Customer Service was very quick to replace the buckle.  I'm not sure yet if I'm an internal pack guy or not, one important point though, if you buy into internal frame packs, you are going to want to invest in some stuff sacks as well to organize your gear.

Kelty Pack Duffel

Available in two sizes, cost between $25 & $30 depending on size

Campmor

purchased for '04 trek, used in '06, still in-use

Kelty Noah's Tarp

Available in 9x9, 12x12 and 16x16.  We took the 12x12 in '04 and it worked fine using the Leki's above as poles.  At just under 2# and $60 it was a great choice.  For those the want to pitch higher, Kelty offers two different packable poles.

Campmor or REI

ALPs mountaineering is a Scout Friendly company that delivers high quality equipment at affordable prices.  We did an extensive search over the last 12 months to evaluate and select a backpacking tent to replace our Eureka Timberline 2s, a tent we've used for years.  After looking at nearly every backpacking tent from EMS, REI, Kelty, MSR and others we selected the ALPs Taurus II.  In addition to the incedible value, pricing is about half of the competition when factoring the Scout discount, we found the tent easy to set up and take down.  It performed very well in rainy conditions and the inclusion of a gear loft was an added bonus.  We also selected the matching footprint at $11.

These tents performed flawlessly at Philmont this summer ... see photos here

Last time I took a thermarest prolite 3 3/4 pad to Philmont.  To that I added a stuffsack, total cost about $75.  This time I decided I'd go with a full length pad.  I chose the ALPs Air Pad largely because of price ... about half of the cost of a Prolite 3 full length pad.   I was pleasently surpirsed to find that the ALPs air pad included a stuff sack, two elastic straps and a repair kit (neatly tucked in a pocket of the stuff sack at no additional charge ... all for $25.   A comperable ThermaRest would have set me back over $75.  This pad performed flawlessly and was significantly thicker than both my regular and prolite thermarests.

Actually bought these at TOTT in 2004 and wore them on that trek.  They didn't make my Favorites then, I don't know why.  I used them again in '06 and really like their comfort and the pocket design.  A bit pricey at $45, TOTT often runs specials on alternatives in limited sizes .... currently $5 if you are either significantly slimmer (26 or 28) or thicker (50) than I.

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Phillips

Tooth of Time

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Tooth of Time

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Cypher's Mine

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"Undercast on the Tooth"

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