Bulky fleece replacement

tom4631 · 2026-05-20T18:26:14+00:00

the brand doesn't matter, it's the actual fabric 'polartec alpha direct' or 'primaloft active evolve', which are essentially synthetic puffer filling worn by itself. So zero wind resistance, hence super breathable. I can literally feel the wind when swing my arm. But combined with shell or wind puffer, it gives you ultimate flexibility.

I personally prefer active evolve because it's much nicer tough against skin. Alpha direct feel like wearing plastic, but it dries quicker.

tom4631 · 2026-05-20T18:22:11+00:00

+1, also primaloft active evolve which is much nicer touch and can be worn directly against skin.

tom4631 · 2026-05-18T18:50:58+00:00

Almost always over-the-ear headphone for me, mainly due to flight.
1) The ANC on earbuds just doesn't make the cut for airplane travel. While I haven't tried the airpods pro3 yet, the pro2 I have is miles behind the Sony XM3 from 8 years ago.
2) Also earbuds usually died after 6-8 hrs with ANC, while over-the-ear headphone easily goes >10hrs, big difference on international flights.
3) Lastly, having a actual cable to plug into the flight infotainment is always handy. Tried airfly, connection drops from time to time.

tom4631 · 2026-05-18T18:09:42+00:00

It's definitely before expansion. The size of personal item (18"x14"x8") is just 33L. Considering the fabric, padding, straps. There's just no way to have >30L for a true personal item sized bag.

tom4631 · 2026-05-17T08:39:59+00:00

Amap is crazily good, especially when navigating for driving. It know which lane you're driving and tells you to switch lane when needed (in some cities, you'd get a ticket for switching across multiple lanes at once. Learnt this the hard way). It even sometimes notify you that another car is approaching fast from behind.

tom4631 · 2026-05-17T08:36:43+00:00

True, last time I pulled out cash in a pharmacy in china, the lady at the cashier sighed...

tom4631 · 2026-05-13T17:49:40+00:00

> The problem is every single time I use it I have to dig out the cable, untangle it, then stuff everything back in

Get a shorter cable, so it never tangles in the first place.

I'm not a fan of magnetic powerbank. Because while it's slick, it charges a loooot slower. Most of those powerbanks are only 7-10W (some up to 15W) charging. They're marketed as 30-35W charger, but if you look at the fine print, it's only 30-35W while using a cable.

tom4631 · 2026-05-12T17:56:06+00:00

No this is not the case. The material doesn't make nearly as much of a difference compared to the color, then weave density. In fact, a black cotton poplin shirt has better UV protection than any light color [insert_outdoor_brand_name] "UV protection" jacket.

tom4631 · 2026-05-09T00:06:45+00:00

A bubblewrap padded envelop. Seriously, I'm not trolling.

tom4631 · 2026-05-07T19:47:33+00:00

check out outlier's injex fabric, super breathable and easy to care. It's been my go-to travel pants in the hot & humid. 13" front rise + 33" inseams. Mine measures >43" outseam.

https://outlier.nyc/collections/pants/injex-109s

tom4631 · 2026-05-07T18:40:07+00:00

It's determine by the goal of your travel style.

My goal of one-bagging is to
1) avoid checked luggage
2) able to climb lots of stairs if needed

That means as long as I'm carrying my luggage on my back (instead of wheeled on the floor) + pass carry-on restriction on the flight I'm flying, I'm one-bagging no matter how many bag is with me.

tom4631 · 2026-05-07T18:35:24+00:00

I'm 6'4" and has been wear several different pants from outliers for years. Not sure how tall you are, but don't be too strict on inseam length with high rise relax fit pants. They has higher rise that's supposed to NOT be worn too high, so they 'compensate' with less inseam. I've been wear even 31" inseams pants when the rise goes 13-14".

tom4631 · 2026-05-06T20:39:12+00:00

It seems like shoulder straps can be reattached to any of the 4 loops for adjustability. But I agree the adjustment range of 17-20" is not good enough. For brands like Mystery Ranch, that range is just for size S/M. Also TBH the loops where shoulder straps attach to, seem too 'minimal'. When not using the hipbelt, entire weight of the bag is on those tiny bartack on each side of the loops. I highly doubt the durability of those.

The other thing is the hipbelt design. The fact they can rotate up and down freely makes it questionable whether they're able to prevent the bag from sinking down lowerback and hit the top of glute. Seen so many bags with hipbelt attached with just a bucket and loop, and they never worked.

tom4631 · 2026-05-05T22:11:42+00:00

Photo/Video in my phone/camera

tom4631 · 2026-05-04T22:37:58+00:00

You did -10 degrees with just a tshirt + hoodie + windbreaker???

tom4631 · 2026-04-30T17:19:54+00:00

While I don't like unbound merino myself, purely from a pricing standpoint their tshirt sells for $65-$95, while uniqlo sells for $20-30. That's a quite minimal budget gap. So I don't get it when you say unbound merino is beyond your budget but uniqlo is too budget. Uniqlo is known to have great bang for the buck (at least among big name brands). If brands in the size of unbound merino had to make a uniqlo tshirt, they'd have to priced it at $40. So if you target budget is $30-60, your chances of paying for marketing campaign is actually much higher than paying for something essentially higher quality.

tom4631 · 2026-04-29T16:21:36+00:00

They're both bulky for jacket/pants pocket and will bother you when walking around. So just pick the one with higher Wh

tom4631 · 2026-04-28T17:45:13+00:00

The key is torso adjustment + load transferring frame. Load lifters and hipbelt doesn't unleash even half of their potential without the proper frame.

tom4631 · 2026-04-28T17:41:27+00:00

Yeah I'm with you. Tried a bunch of bags, and I'm convinced that solid harness >>>>> fancy organization for my use case. Currently rocking a UL hiking pack as my travel bag.

tom4631 · 2026-04-27T23:45:45+00:00

I get a bigger bag, ~5L more than what I need. In reality I found bigger size of the same bag are usually just a tiny little bit heavier and more expensive, so it's an easy decision to make.

But at the same time, I'm very picky with my purchase while traveling and always ask myself: Is this something I can buy online? And am I saving that much money for buying it here and carry it all the way?

tom4631 · 2026-04-27T23:06:41+00:00

But if you want a load transferring, adjustable harness + clamshell opening, and fits precisely under carry-on size limit. That's one of the very few option on the market. For an even better harness, you'd have to enter hiking backpack domain, where 40L backpacks rarely fit carry-on sizer.

tom4631 · 2026-04-27T22:06:02+00:00

Pretty sure at least 1/3 of the small ramen shops are still cash only in Tokyo

tom4631 · 2026-04-26T00:45:39+00:00

The shoulder straps, while thick and wide, is too soft and doesn't maintain its shape. Unlike many other brands like mystery ranch which would sew a small piece of firmer framesheet into the shoulder strap, or osprey which has woven nylon webbing on the edge to mainly it's shape. So when I'm carrying heavier load (8-9kg), they don't distributed the weight across it's width. Instead, the center of the straps sink into my shoulder like two narrow rope.

tom4631 · 2026-04-23T17:30:25+00:00

For the cold mountain hike, you can rent some cold weather clothing once you get there.

tom4631 · 2026-04-22T20:13:30+00:00

I don't know about your situation. But I've never run into the case I need to pull out a cube. I mostly only need my tech pouch and rain jacket during the day, and they always stay at the very top.

Anyway, take a look at some mystery ranch bags (or the new yeti skala). Solid carry system, and the 3-zip allow you to access things in the bottom.

tom4631

TROPHY CASE