I found a PowerPotV on ebay

Showed up on Friday. I played with it this weekend in the kitchen. So far I like it. 

Hard boiled eggs, instant oatmeal, tea – which stained the pot, but I am hoping this will stop the rivets in the bottom from corroding into my water.

It's not an UL item. It's big, 1.4 liters and heavy. 18oz is their claimed weight, but I suspect that it's a lot more than that with all the extra bits and bobs that it comes with. I'm going to sew up 2 different stuff sacks for it and weigh it after that.
One will be for the full kit, the other will be for the minimal kit, basically just the pot and charge cable.

I love the concept of solar, I just can't afford anything worthwhile. I also tend to hike in heavy woods so solar is minimally effective anyhow. 

I mentally 'weight-buy' this pot by no going with the large extra battery, solar, etc.

A friend has a biolight. This outputs twice the power at half the weight. Between the two of us, I think we now have some good kit for charging cameras and phones. I will let him carry the biolight…

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I tested my new sleeping bag last night

It didn't get as cold as I was expecting, so I ended up being overly warm for most of the night. I tried the new down bag inside a synthetic bag inside a bivy sack arrangement all on a thermorest pad. About 10 lbs for the sleeping set. I'd dug a snow-cave topped with a SOL space blanket for about 2/3rds my length.

I was sweating for most of the night until the temps bottomed out at 11 degrees. I was chilled then, but a toss and a turn and I warmed back up and fell back asleep.  I think I would have been better served with just the 20 degree down bag.

Maybe I will try again next weekend.

In album 2014-02-02

Getting out in the morning. A bit challenging trying to keep the snow out of my bags. The grey blanket was just used as a ground sheet for that purpose.

Unfortunatly, it didn’t snow for real. Google did this to me. Taunting me.

Clothes where a lightweight packable down jacket over a poly longsleeve shirt. Insulated pants over longjohns & 2 sets of dry wool socks. I tried to keep the clothing minimal as the two bags and myself basically filled the Bivy bag, so I didn’t want to over-pack it and loose all my loft.

Getting in to the sleeping bag at night. Wiggle wiggle, scoot scoot, repeat.

Looking down from the deck at my snow-cave. I used a SOL space blanket as a top-sheet. About 5 minutes with a shovel to make this (Much of the snow was tossed off my deck and porch). I was planning on using a snowshow to make it, but I was there with a shovel, and it just worked.

Side view of my snow cave. About 2-3 feet tall, with maybe 6-8 inches of snow left in the ‘floor’. The top was done up with a space blanket to keep the wind from whistling over my tent.

Sleeping in my snowcave. Quite toasty and comfortable.

Just waking up. It’s a bit awkward trying to loosen up the hood. I’d pulled the stopper out when I just climbed in. Took a LONG time to get it back right in the dark.

Looking into the snow cave. It was a bit snug at the shoulders. I wiggled around a bit when i was settling in to try to smash the walls wider so there was more room for my sleeping bags to loft.

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Overnight trip. 10 mile hike in and out Late September, Chicago 'burbs

Water bottle carrier as the 'backpack'.
* Water bottle
* SOL 2 person space blanket
* .7mil plastic sheeting
* Airline wool blend blanket
* Stainless camp cup
* Mason cord
* Rain coat

I quick overnighter to a place a buddy has access to. Crazy lightweight, but I know the area, so I know there are cattails nearby to make a sleeping mat. Rained much of the night, I stayed dry. Mosquitoes where the worst part.

The 10 mile walk in was good, if a bit warm. The 10 mile hike out was brutal. Got badly dehydrated. Water bottle is too small at 32 oz.

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I've done it

Big 3 under 9 lbs for ground sleeping. Should be good down into the teens.

My wife just got me a Kelty Cosmo 20 degrees,  long down sleeping bag for my birthday. Found it on her own. Won't tell me what she paid for it, obviously, but got it on a good sale with free shipping. 

I'd found a previous-year-display-model thermorest on clearance this last fall. Combined with a Cabelas Bivy Bag I bought out of the bargain cave for $39 a few years back I am sitting at 6lbs 4 oz for my all weather sleep kit in a large drybag that I won't be keeping them in as it's too hard to stuff.  

The backpack I have is a Wallmart Arrowhead 8.0 bag at 2lbs 2 oz. 

I've a polycro tarp I've made for hammock camping I can toss in for extra protection and still be at 9 lbs. 

Total cash outlay is somewhere around $250

I am thinking I am going to give it a try this weekend in the back yard. Supposed to be 5 degrees as a low and a 10+mph wind, so I am thinking I may include my wool blankets and bublewrap space blanket for safety sake. Probably will make a topless snow cave with the polycro tarp across the top earlier in the day, and let any snow we get settle on top to help insulate it some. I may tuck some hot-hands into a pocket as well. Just in case.

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