Flow Meter helps take the guessing out of hydration
CamelBak Flow Meter
- Pros: Monitors water intake; Easy to install; Customizable per person and per bladder
- Cons: Can’t drain water back into reservoir; Inconsistent reading; Only suitable for summer use
- Bottom Line: It definitely has its quirks, and I wouldn’t rely solely on it, but CamelBak’s Flow Meter is a not-too-expensive alternative to playing the guessing game.
- MSRP: $30
If you have a hard time knowing when your hydration bladder is running on empty, CamelBak’s Flow Meter is the perfect answer.
Acting like your vehicle’s fuel gauge, the Flow Meter takes water monitoring even further.
Using an inline impeller, the small gauge tracks the amount of water that passes through your hydration bladder’s hose.
After entering your bladder’s size, your personal weight and consumption goal, the Flow Meter will spit out how much you’ve consumed, how much is left, an estimated time until empty, where you are in relation to your hydration goal and how long it’s been since you started drinking.
But my wife and I found that the readouts weren’t always accurate.
CamelBak Flow Meter
Especially for my wife, who likes to slowly sip her water, the Flow Meter didn’t always sense that she was drinking – despite the inline impeller turning as if it was keeping track.
On one occasion, I kept encouraging her to drink in order to reach her hydration goal, which, according to the Flow Meter, she was drastically behind. It turns out though, that she had consumed at least 40 ounces more than it reported and was well ahead of her goal.
Similar things happened regularly to her after that, but to a lesser extent because she learned to suck harder while drinking so it would record more accurately. (CamelBak does state that if it registers low that you should suck harder.)
For me, the reading was often between 5 ounces and 15 ounces off. So the Flow Meter isn’t entirely trustworthy.
Before getting it out into the field, installation was easy. Cut your bladder’s hose, connect the fluid sensor inline with the hose and you’re done. CamelBak also sells bladders preinstalled with a Flow Meter.
CamelBak Flow Meter with hose
While it’s obviously made for a CamelBak bladder, the Flow Meter can be installed on any system with an inner hose diameter of a quarter inch.
To our dismay, the one-way impeller prevented us from blowing the water from the hose back into the bladder. On a hot day, blowing the water in keeps the water cold, and on a cold day it keeps it from freezing.
And because of the inline meter, you’re pretty much out of luck if you want to install it on a winter-oriented pack with an insulated hose.
However, quirks aside, for a relatively small price tag, the Flow Meter helps you plan when you’ll need water and keep on top of water consumption.
Primus’ lightweight stove fits in palm of hand
Primus ExpressSpider
- Pros: Compact; Lightweight; Comes with a foldable heat reflector/wind screen
- Cons: Unstable on uneven surfaces; Heat reflector/wind screen cracks easily; Boils water very slowly
- Bottom Line: The Primus ExpressSpider is a very compact, lightweight stove that’s great for camping or backpacking.
- MSRP: $60
Fitting in the palm of my hand, the ExpressSpider is Primus’ lightest and most compact hose-fed backpacking stove.
The 7-ounce stove has three legs that pivot open around the stove’s center for stability when cooking and rotate back for storage making it incredibly compact.
As with any tripod-like stove, on uneven surfaces the stove sits off kilter making the pot (or whatever you have on the stove) tilt. On one occasion, the stove was so unstable a cup I was using to boil water slid off and the hot water spilled – luckily not on me.
Primus ExpressSpider
I found the stove to work well though. With a braided metal-hose gas line, the stove has more flexibility in terms of cooking surfaces than stoves that rest upon the fuel canister.
At about 5,430 feet above sea level, it took me so long to try to boil 16 ounces of water in a small, uncovered cup that I nearly stopped trying three different times. Finally, after nearly 54 minutes, I got a rolling boil. That’s an epic fail if you ask me.
But a nearly 10-year-old Primus stove boiled the same amount of water with very similar conditions in 20 minutes.
In previous attempts, while boiling water in a bigger, covered pot, the ExpressSpider boiled water in much less time, but anything more than 20 minutes is wasting fuel and time.
The company claims the stove will boil water in 4.5 minutes – which refers to 32 ounces of water boiled at 68 degrees Fahrenheit likely covered and likely at sea level.
Primus ExpressSpider with fuel canister
Though I can’t replicate those conditions, I find that time hard to believe.
Regardless of boil time, the stove stood up to moderate wind, and for gusty days Primus includes a heavy-duty metal foil heat reflector/wind screen that folds to the size of an average slice of pie – though I found the reflector cracked easily at the seams.
With its size and weight being the best features, the ExpressSpider, its heat reflector and a 230-gram fuel canister all fit inside a 1.5-liter cooking pot – a perfect cook set for two or three people.
Big Agnes’ doublewide helps spread the love
Big Agnes Cabin Creek sleeping bag
- Pros: Has a pillow pocket and pad pouch; Full-length zipper on either side; Compresses relatively small
- Cons: Cinch cords not individualized; Creates big drafts when partner moves; Zippers easily stick on fabric
- Bottom Line: Sure you may get sticker shock, but considering a doublewide could replace two singles, the Cabin Creek sleeping bag is a good buy.
- MSRP: $240
There’s something said about getting out of a constricting mummy bag and cuddling up next to your loved one while camping.
Big Agnes is well aware of that, and its Cabin Creek sleeping bag, which is new this year, helps spread the love.
The 15-degree bag has dimensions of 110 inches by 96 inches by 80 inches at shoulder, hip and foot respectively. My wife and I, who are both athletic and fit, found it had more than enough room to comfortably move around at night.
To help regulate temperature, each side has a full-length zipper that zips from both ends – a great feature if you and your partner differ as to how warm/cold you like to sleep.
A draft collar and chest and head cinch cords help keep warm air in and cold air out.
Big Agnes Cabin Creek
However, we found that those three features did little on a 40-degree (Fahrenheit) night in the Rocky Mountains.
As one of us moved, drafts came rushing in despite the cinch cords being semi-taught. We both thought it would be nice to have individual cords to regulate ourselves as needed.
In each hood, the Cabin Creek has a pillow pocket that kept pillows (or in my case bunched up clothes) from moving. And on the underside, the sleeping bag has pad pouches that kept our pads in place.
Despite being a doublewide sleeping bag, you don’t give up much, if any, compressibility.
It took some coxing, but I was able to squeeze the Cabin Creek in the sleeping bag compartment of my Arc’teryx Bora 80 backpack. The bag compresses to 10 inches by 13 inches.
And even the weight is pretty impressive.
At 5.5 pounds, it’s by no means light. However, considering you’ll be packing the Cabin Creek instead of two single sleeping bags, those stats are pretty reasonable.
I know we plan to swap out our singles for a double.
‘Green’ bike tube messenger bag falls short
Green Guru Gear Cycler messenger bag
- Pros: Made from used bike inner tubes; Ample storage space; Padded back panel
- Cons: Shoulder strap loosens; Makes hands smell like rubber; Support A strap awkwardly placed
- Bottom Line: While the Cycler will make riders feel good about being green, it has too many design flaws to make it worth the price.
- MSRP: $130
For any cyclist that wants to see biking become greener, Green Guru Gear’s Cycler will definitely make you feel good about yourself.
Mostly made from recycled bike inner tubes locally sourced around the Boulder, Colo.-based company’s small shop, the Cycler has an urban hipster look.
And, besides being “green,” the inner-tube outer keeps water out.
Green Guru Gear Cycler messenger bag
As you could expect, the 1,200-cubic-inch messenger bag smells like an inner tube – and it makes your hands smell that way after handling it for a few minutes.
I used it for commuting to work, and I found the bag had enough space to easily hold a change of clothes, a pair of shoes, a lunch and still had a little room to spare.
Inside, the bag has a 100-percent recycled PETE (aka: plastic soda bottles) nylon-feeling fabric liner, a laptop divider with a Velcro-type closure to keep it secure, a zipper pocket, some open pockets, and a few pen/pencil slots help keep smaller gear organized.
And some reflective piping on the straps and a rear safety light loop round out the features and help keep you safe at night.
But I found a major design flaw with the A strap that attaches from the bottom of the bag to the shoulder strap to help keep the bag in the same spot on your back.
Being a right-handed bag (which goes over your left shoulder) the A strap that attached to the bottom of the bag feels like it should reach from the high corner while it’s on your back instead of the low corner.
Green Guru Gear Cycler messenger bag
Because of it attaching from the wrong corner, the bag isn’t comfortably held in place while wearing it.
That caused the stationary shoulder pad to be positioned uncomfortably.
The pad definitely adds comfort, but it’s not long enough unless you have the bag positioned high up against your shoulder (to the company’s credit, that’s where you’re supposed to wear it). I typically don’t wear it quite that high though.
Partially because of the A strap, I was constantly battling with the Cycler to keep it in position while riding.
And, sometimes, even if I could keep the bag in position, the main strap loosened causing it to shift again, so the shoulder pad, again, wasn’t in the right spot.
To me, those are substantial enough design flaws to hope the company cranks out an updated version of its messenger bag before you shell out the money to go green.
Flip N’ Drip: A camping coffee fiend’s dream
Brunton Flip N’ Drip
- Pros: Makes a good cup of joe; Simple to clean; Very few parts
- Cons: Mug doesn’t fit on all backpacking stoves; Larger and heavier than other coffee-making options; Directions not clear
- Bottom Line: Though likely too large and heavy for the casual coffee drinker to use in the backcountry, the Flip N’ Drip produces a cup of coffee that rivals the average in-house coffee maker.
- MSRP: $60
For the coffee fiends in the world, carrying a roughly football-sized coffee maker into the backcountry is worth the extra pound of weight.
An easy-to-use two-cup coffee maker, Brunton’s Flip N’ Drip contraption has three main parts: a mug used to boil water, a filter for the coffee grounds, and a cup for the made coffee.
Boil water in the mug, add the grounds/attach the filter followed by the opposite end cup, flip the entire thing over and wait for your coffee to be ready.
Brunton Flip N' Drip in action
To my dismay, I found the mug’s base wasn’t wide enough for the majority of my backpacking stoves. Out of the three backpacking stoves I have, the mug only fit on one. With the others, it fell off because the stoves’ feet didn’t support it enough.
And, perhaps because I had to use my oldest stove, it took more than 15 minutes to boil the water (I live about 5,430 feet above sea level).
Then it took about 20 minutes for the water to fully percolate through the filter making my coffee. Perhaps that was a fluke too as the company claims you’ll have coffee ready in 6 minutes.
But, once it was made, the coffee was pretty good.
In terms of quality, the Flip N’ Drip was split down the middle when four testers pit it against a standard in-house coffee maker.
Brunton Flip N' Drip
That tells me that the coffee was on par with what many people are used to at home. And, in the backcountry, that’s not bad for a simple contraption.
One coffee-addicted tester who spends ample time in the backcountry said it made better coffee than other options he’s tried – minus a French press.
So if you want quality coffee and are willing to carry an extra pound, give up some space and be patient, Brunton’s unit won’t disappoint.
