The Gear is Here

Of course, no expedition would be fun if it did not involve the buying of all kinds of cool gear, some of which is absolutely necessary!

The necessary stuff keeps you alive. The most important piece of gear to arrive recently is the North Face Himalayan Parka with 800 fill down. There is no better parka on the market for high-altitude mountaineering. I also received my Julbo Micropore AltiArc glacier glasses this week. This pair carries a Category 4 rating, meaning that the lenses block 92% - 97% of all available light (and, of course, 100% of UVA/UVB). To the Julbo glassess, I added a Beko noseguard. Surprisingly, noseguards are tough to find. The $6.00 noseguard from AAI carried a $21 shipping charge! It's definitely a crucial buy. The noseguard cuts down on the amount of zinc oxide you need to carry. Plus, I experienced serious sunburn while wearing the zinc sunscreen because I kept wiping my nose.

Now, on to the fun stuff. The coolest thing I've seen in a while is this hand-held wind turbine that I might be able to use on the expedition for charging electronics. The LA Times ran an article about it and I placed an order the same day. For $70, the kit has the mini-wind turbine, arm-strap and a small solar panel. It looks cheaply made, but I'll soon put it to the test. It's called the HYmini and is made by this Taiwanese company called MINIWIZ Sustainable Energy Dev. Ltd. Well, stay tuned for more fun stuff on the way.