GearFlogger

MSR HyperFlow water filter

Water is very important. For one thing, it's used to make beer. If that's not enough for you, try slogging through the desert with nothing but a bag of peanut butter sandwiches and nothing to wash them down with. Not so smart now, are ya?

Even on long day trips it's a lot lighter to carry a filter than all the water you need. MSR's HyperFlow has a lot going for it, but if you don't like to really get to know your gear it may just drive you crazy. The HyperFlow requires a stout arm to pump, and the more you use it the harder it gets. There's a backflush procedure that, if you do it right and often (every 8 liters), will "reset" the unit. You actually have to learn and practice the procedure, which may turn some folks off. Searching YouTube for "hiperflow" will assist.

On the plus side the filter really puts out, about 2oz per pump. The prefilter is super-thin and will drink from the shallowest sources; if it floats around too much you can use the velcro strap to secure a stick or other object to keep it down. The bike-pump style design is overall very solid with no breakable levers or flimsy parts, with one caveat: the hollow-fiber filter design is not supposed to be frozen, dropped or kicked around too much. The clean cap is not leashed to the unit, so be careful not to lose it.

The wide-mouth bottle adapter works great and can be attached to Camelbaks without taking them out of the pack. You can also hook up a piece of tubing to fill just about anything, or just aim carefully. The whole unit with included storage sack is 10.5oz. You gram weenies can cut weight by carrying only the pump and prefilter and trimming the intake tube a bit. Bottom line: If you're willing to put in the time and trouble to learn the system, you'll get a light, compact, efficient and effective filter. If you want simple, look elsewhere. Free advice: as with any filter, always carry a chemical backup.

$99.95 at REI

MSR DragonTail tent

MSR has been busy innovating all kinds of new gear porn lately, from stoves to water filters to tents. The DragonTail tent is their single-wall hoop-style expedition solution for two people, svelte both in packed volume and in packaged weight at 5lb 5oz.

It folds up into a nicely-designed rope bag style pouch with two cinching buckles and a drawstring (with a grommet that will tear out almost immediately, but you can live without it), and the bag even has the pitching instructions sewn into it. Pitching is simple with just three equal poles; just find the capped end, slide it through the open side of the sleeve until it seats in the sewn end, and fit the free end in the grommet. Although the hoop design won't deflect wind and snow quite as well as a low-profile dome, the 18 guy points give you plenty of options to stake it out and tie it down.

The upside of the hoop design is the cavernous interior that easily sleeps two tall people. There are plastic d-rings at each corner in the ceiling to clip stuff to, storage pockets on either side at the head and overhead is a truly cool feature: a mesh panel creating a wind tunnel from end to end. Zippers at each end on the inside let you adjust the openings or use it as a gear loft for your skanky socks. It's a clever solution to the condensation problem that can bedevil single-wall designs.

There's just the one door, but the tent proper opens all the way to the integrated vestibule (no separate piece to buy!) so you can skootch through without too much fuss. The vestibule zipper is waterproofed, the seams are taped and there are other nice touches like reflective guy cords and poles anodized without the use of harsh chemicals. Overall the DragonTail is a highly livable design that travels well in the mountains.

$449.95 at REI

MSR XPD heat exchanger

MSR has alpine cooking dialed in. Stoves, cookware and accessories guarantee you the shortest path possible between you and another crappy, bowel-cramping meal on the mountain.

Yet for all its practicality you just don't see enough alpinists using heat exchangers. So as a public service, as the poet-philosopher Eminem likes to say, let's do the math. The XPD heat exchanger will increase efficiency "up to 25%." Let's say it's only 10%: a quick two-week jaunt up Denali works out to at least 6oz of fuel per person per day or 6*14 days = 76oz per person. At .75 dry ounces per wet ounce that's .75*76 = 57oz of weight.

10% of that is almost 6oz per person, coincidentally what the XPD weighs. For a larger party and more time you just save more weight, especially if its the difference between carrying another fuel bottle or not. Plus cooking is more efficient, saving precious time and allowing you to collapse into your fart sack faster. The XPD fits even a 2L pot and collapses to fit inside. What's not to like?

$39.00 at REI

MSR Titan cookware

Much better looking than its sisters Scandium and Vanadium (if you get that reference you've probably had intimate relations with a slide rule), Titanium is not just for body piercing anymore. The MSR Titan cookware is sized right for alpine use, and if you're not on a budget the weight can't be beat.

Significantly lighter than both steel and aluminum the big Titan 2L tips the scale at a feathery 8.4oz, plus 1oz for the pot grabber. Like all MSR cookware it has all the right details, including a rounded bottom (baby got back!) for better heat distribution and a rolled top edge to resist warping and ensure consistent lid fit.

The downsides of titanium are that it costs an arm and a leg and heat dispersion is not as good as aluminum or even stainless steel. That said, if you take a little care in how you cook it shouldn't be a problem. MSR sizes its pots to nest, with the 1L holding fuel canisters, the 1.5L holding stoves like the XGK EX, and the 2L holding just about anything. The lid doubles as a plate, and the lid handle even has a little notch to keep it upright.

$89.95 at REI

MSR XGK EX stove

I bought my first MSR XGK stove in 1989, and if I remember correctly it was on at least its second iteration even then. And that was before your fancy shaker jet technology, punk. The new XGK EX has evolved nicely for its intended use by high-altitude, cold weather expeditions.

The XGK EX runs on gas, low-grade kerosene, auto fuel, aviation gas, diesel #1, Klingon piss and other unlikely fluids. If you're looking to commune with nature, better do it before you fire this bad boy up, because quiet it ain't. But at 8,000 meters you really don't care, you just want it to melt snow and boil water. That it'll do and tout suite, which is French for fart quickly, which you have to because the XGK on white gas will boil 1.5L in a fast 3.5 minutes.

The stove itself weighs 10.9oz, the fuel pump 2.2oz, heat reflector and windscreen 2.1oz, small parts kit .5oz for a total of less than a pound, all of which fits in a 2L pot alongside a pot handle, lighters, etc. It doesn't simmer, but that's not a real issue when you're mostly melting water for dehydrated meals and drinking. The only real quibble is that it's somewhat awkward to light through the little slots in the body if you're using a lighter. The XGK is still the undisputed heavyweight champion of the expedition stove world.

$149.95 at REI

MSR Trillium stove base

The trouble with Trilliums is that they reproduce so quickly they overrun... no, wait, those are Tribbles. My bad. The Trillium is MSR's universal (works with all non-canister models) stove base. Never used a stove base? You've never cooked in the snow.

There are only two things that really matter in a stove base, and the Trillium excels in both: it weights only 2.8oz, and it folds up small enough to fit in a 2L pot. The Trillium works as advertised, providing a stable base and even a bit of heat reflection.

Truly minor quibble: it doesn't fit quite flat in the bottom of my MSR Titan, but it fits on edge alongside the XGK EX stove. Were it to fit flat it would protect the bottom of the pan from the feet of the stove, and that would be nice. It's still the best of the breed out there.

$25.00 at REI

MSR Fuel Bottle

Does anyone else besides MSR even make fuel bottles? Can they be made out of titanium or is there some good reason no one makes such a thing? I must ponder.

My strategy on fuel bottles is to take a few big ones, rather than many smaller ones, to lighten the load. E.g. a 33oz capacity bottle weighs 7.3oz while an 11oz weighs 2.8oz; ergo, hencewith, carry the 2 and viola! Three smaller bottles would weigh 8.4oz, a full 1.1oz more than the single bottle solution.

Important note: the 33oz has a fill line at the 30oz mark; the 22oz at the 20oz mark; and the 11oz at... the 11oz mark (WTF?). Remember this when planning a bottle schedule for your next expedition.

$15.00 at REI