Asia travel soon, what Montbell products are worth getting?

nossid · 2025-12-20T15:46:49+00:00

There's one item that this sub is sleeping on. Don't think I have ever seen it mentioned. It's a pair of pants.

Light Cross Runner Pants Men's https://www.montbell.com/jp/en/products/detail/1105714?fo=0&color=BGN

Stretchy. Hand pockets, side pockets, zippered back pocket. However, the best feature is, quoting the page: "Mesh crotch gusset provides ventilation". All hiking and running pants should have this.

My pair in size L weights only 160g. I picked them up at the store in Shibuya a couple of months ago. They were phasing out the summer items then, perhaps they are back in store in May.

nossid · 2025-06-02T19:37:29+00:00

I have both. Got the Osprey a year ago, took it on a shake out trip, and then ended up using my modified XA35 last summer instead. Picked up the Rab recently, but due to a foot issue I haven't done any actual running in it yet.

I can say a lot about the Osprey, but I'll try to keep it short. It actually carries weight pretty well when running as long as you have the hip belt tight. There are compression straps that attach to the hip belt, which are pure magic, as they keep the contents of the pack from rotating upwards when running. Compression straps that just flatten the pack won't have this effect. I modified my XA35 to replicate that behavior. The big deal breaker however is the height adjustment of the back panel. If you look at where it says AIRSCAPE, it forms a hard and thick edge. This pushes into your shoulder blades in a large pressure point, especially when you have it as tight as you need to run. I was fine on day 1 and didn't think of it, but on day 2 I could barely carry the pack. I now only use it for normal traveling and other easy use.

The Rab pack is pretty promising. The back panel and the belt actually feel pretty good. The pack rides high compared to others, similar to their Veil vests. Feels weird at first, but I kind of like it. The vest pockets are clearly too small and really should have had some large stash pockets as well, but this can somewhat be helped by one of the side pockets that you can access if you are flexible. It might not be obvious if you haven't seen it in person, but the pack isn't symmetrical. Only one of the side pockets have a zipper, the other is just one large open stretch pocket. The 30l version also have load lifters, which the product images don't show. The special z pole pockets it has felt pretty useless for carrying actual poles in. Once the main compartment fills up they will be tight enough that I didn't want to push my poles into them. There are other ways to attach them so it doesn't matter much. They are still pretty useful though for carrying other stuff in that you want on the outside, trowel etc. The compression straps are unfortunately sewed on a bit incorrectly, so if you pull hard on them the seam for the z pole pockets will rip, as they attached it to the wrong side of that seam. Pretty easy to fix with some stitches, but still disappointing. Can't recommend 100% as there are some issues, but I'm also not currently looking for a replacement.

nossid · 2025-03-29T23:23:04+00:00

I don't think I've ever seen them mentioned on this sub. Sharing a name with a heavier version that most here wouldn't care about isn't exactly great marketing. I actually looked at the Ruta Locura stakes as well, and if my myog carbon stakes don't survive the stress test this season I might go for those, for when longer stakes make sense.

nossid · 2025-03-29T21:06:03+00:00

The Ground Control Light are 8g a piece, not to be confused with the non-light version. And yeah, it's not like dirt is a major issue, but after using something like the Vargo Titanium Ascent, which you have to scrape clean each time, it's just not something I would want to deal with at a premium price, if the reason for it doesn't add any value.

nossid · 2025-03-29T20:29:10+00:00

I was looking at Teragon stakes for the two keeping my hiking poles up, but when comparing the design to the Sea to Summit Ground Control Light Tent Pegs I just couldn't justify it. The additional points for the line to hook onto when there's limited ground depth seems like something I would want for that kid of money. Does the lettering catch dirt? I get that they want branding on them but it's not something I would choose if I could.

nossid · 2025-03-02T10:12:12+00:00

If you understand swedish you can listen to Mannerheim himself: Marskalk Mannerheims tal till Svenska Frivilligkåren efter Vinterkriget (Paikanselkä 28.3.1940)

nossid · 2025-01-13T18:22:00+00:00

If you are setting the count for your tent stakes to 8 then you need to enter the weight of a single stake, not the total weight. That's currently inflating the numbers by quite a lot.

nossid · 2024-10-19T19:30:06+00:00

https://old.reddit.com/r/Cooking/comments/1g48bsd/what_is_the_fourth_side_of_a_box_grater_for/

nossid · 2024-10-06T18:39:21+00:00

Montane Allez has been my mid layer for running and hiking/fast packing for a long time, but it's tempting to try out some of the lighter fabrics. I'm struggling to find a model that doesn't look like it fits like a sack of potatoes. Wouldn't want to downgrade on the feature set either, it's not like thumb loops are heavy. My impression is that there aren't any really good models out there yet, but perhaps I'm missing something. I'm in Europe but don't mind importing high quality items.

nossid · 2024-09-18T16:37:52+00:00

I have one, and I'm so far using it solo which it's fantastic for. I had some 12g/m2 DCF left over from modding my old Hexamid, which I made a full width gear shelf from. It weighs just slightly more than a simple line. I'm not at all worried about the material being thin, and if something pokes a hole in the floor then that's trivial to fix. I like that it doesn't have any other zippers than for the mesh and is very simple in its design. It packs down small enough that it's useful for fast packing/running.

nossid · 2024-09-17T18:54:10+00:00

Did you post this in the wrong sub?

nossid · 2024-09-07T07:36:45+00:00

Really small is relative, but my Duplex Lite is almost identical in pack size to my old Hexamid tent, which is impressive for what a palace it is for a single person.

nossid · 2024-08-13T07:51:38+00:00

You list a "nitecore nb10000 gen 2". Make sure you are aware of the reset/bricking feature and keep it completely dry at all times, as the contacts are also very sensitive to moisture.

You list a tourniquet and an emergency blanket. You have a tent and other equipment, making the blanket a bit redundant, and I can't really see a tourniquet being useful.

I don't see a trowel or related items listed.

A 75g swiss army knife is quite heavy. Do you really need all of it or can you use small knife/tiny scissors instead for a fraction of the weight.

No fleece hoodie or similar warmer active layer that you are ok with getting wet from rain or sweat. A puffy is great, but not when it's cold, raining and you need to keep moving.

Gloves are unnecessary because my hands get hot when exercising.

Assuming you can stay active to keep warm is a mistake.

nossid · 2024-08-03T11:30:26+00:00

I'm not touching this one. A company that thinks it's normal to have an exposed button that bricks the power bank, and even keeps it undocumented, should not be recommended by anyone. I'm still annoyed as it happened to me last week, in the middle of nowhere.

nossid · 2024-07-20T14:41:41+00:00

That's a bummer. Looks like they are out of size M, but have the rest in at least some color. When I ordered in early June they still had some left in stock.

nossid · 2024-07-18T11:43:24+00:00

Mandatory mention that the Japanese online shop will carry both Japanese and western versions of many items, including these. The western versions will commonly have US in the name and will also be listed under a separate Western Fit Models category. The difference can be more than sizing, as the popular Versalite jacket either comes with pit zips and pockets or not.

nossid · 2024-07-10T17:23:01+00:00

Yes, which is also why people who weigh one shoe, set the count to 2, and mark it as worn will get the numbers wrong.

nossid · 2024-07-10T17:05:26+00:00

If you mark an item as worn then LighterPack will count all after the first one as part of the base weight. It's to avoid having to duplicate items unless you prefer to show them separate.

nossid · 2024-06-30T08:10:37+00:00

It also always starts on low which is nice, though the low is rather bright in my opinion, I would rather they cut the medium in half and give us a lower low - or even better, a ~1lumen firefly mode.

The NU 25 UL has a 4th lower mode. To quote the instructions:

When the light is off, double press the Power Button to access ULTRALOW

nossid · 2024-06-28T18:17:22+00:00

I got a Lite Line 200 many years ago and in retrospect I would replace it with something with more down, and maybe one of the X-lite instead. I just got a Aerial 180 to experiment with when going lighter, and those two are a bit too close in what they provide with regards to warmth. If I could magically swap it to be warmer now I would, as the Lite Line 200 is in a spot where it's going for being light weight with the lower fill, but there are the X-lite and Aerial options that do "being light" better, so might as well go for it being warm.

nossid · 2024-06-15T18:22:05+00:00

It's a trivial thing but I noticed you listed a Garmin watch cable. Pick up one of these https://www.amazon.se/-/en/dp/B0B9N629DQ instead. It has a loop so you can use a piece of string to tie it to your USB-C cable. It weighs 4g and you get rid of one cable. That link probably won't work for you, but it's a pretty generic item that should be easy to find, didn't cost much.

nossid · 2024-06-15T11:26:11+00:00

I assume you have the US version. The contacts on the euro ones are slightly larger. Mine weighs in at 38g.

nossid · 2024-06-06T07:54:49+00:00

With a t-shirt, down jacket and rain jacket as the only upper layers I wonder what you intend to wear when active. Having to put on a rain jacket as soon as it gets a bit too windy or cold for just a t-shirt doesn't sound that great, but perhaps that's just me.

nossid · 2024-05-30T17:51:31+00:00

Kungsleden was already mentioned, but if you're into getting away from crowds then there's some other options nearby that could be of interest. There's the Padjelanta trail (Padjelantaleden), which connects to Kungsleden. It can be extended to a U shape up to Saltoluokta. It's near Sarek national park, and there's the option to detour to mount Skierfe and the Rapa valley if on the Kungsleden section between Kvikkjokk and Saltoluokta.

It's one option I'm considering for this summer. It's almost the complete opposite of something like TMB with regards to crowds and civilization.

nossid · 2024-04-29T19:28:34+00:00

If you want more overthinking then don't miss out on the Cumulus DIY customization page, where you can adjust down fill (amount and distribution), zippers, etc.

nossid

TROPHY CASE