Going Long and Hard.

Juggernaut said:
Don’t take my word for it... ask for JP’s thoughts.
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This is the set-up he used to go to Nome last year. You can't see it in the pic but it does have reflective material on top of the pad, as does the inside of the Bivy. In the Hypothermia Course I'm taking they go over this quite a bit and it seems like once you're in a sleeping bag very little heat actually gets through to the pad and reflected back. I forget the number but it was something like a 2 or 3 degree increase.
 
Magic said:
You're gonna have enough time to sleep?
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I'm planning on getting sleep. I want to go over Rainy Pass in daylight so I'll spend the first night in Winter Lake for sure. Then I have at least 2 nights on the trail if I run at Neil's winning pace from last year, which is VERY unlikely. Also FYI, he slept for 3 hours total. JayP finished in McGrath 4 hours behind him with 12 hours. Generally you can keep a faster pace overall by resting and making better decisions along the way.
 
jimvreeland said:
This is the set-up he used to go to Nome last year. You can't see it in the pic but it does have reflective material on top of the pad, as does the inside of the Bivy. In the Hypothermia Course I'm taking they go over this quite a bit and it seems like once you're in a sleeping bag very little heat actually gets through to the pad and reflected back. I forget the number but it was something like a 2 or 3 degree increase.
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Oh good. It’s less about warmth increase than heat loss. Having gone to a few militia style sleep away camps where you have live off the land as a kid, survival tactics are kinda Omnipresent (reinforced by some very cold first few nights)... I started at age 6.
 
How did the inflatable pad work last year? I've heard strange things about the inflatable ones that you blow into in temperatures that low,.mainly because of the moisture.content in your breath freezing etc.

I have a couple different inflatable, currebt is sea to.summit, with an r4.5 insulated rating, but havent taken it to really cold numbers yet
 
The inflatable pad I have is dope AF. NeoAir X Therm. Works very well as far as blocking the ground cold. The issue is prepping it, or any inflatable for that matter. Even during our warm and cozy Mind the Gap Trip, blowing up my pad after a day on the bike was not ideal. The effort wasted finding the valve, blowing for several minutes, then trying to squeeze into a bivy while on the side of the trail presumably freezing, doesn't leave a lot of room for error.

I re-play the effort it took to get my sleep system set-up during Fat Pursuit 2 seasons ago. Pulling all the straps off the handlebar harness, unstuffing the compression sack, rolling the bivy out, blowing up the pad, etc. It took forever, and at -50 degrees my core temperature dropped dangerously low in a matter of minutes. It was impossible to warm back up and sleep was a no go. Reverse all that to get moving again and my race was over. That's not really an option in the middle of Alaska.
 
jimvreeland said:
The inflatable pad I have is dope AF. NeoAir X Therm. Works very well as far as blocking the ground cold. The issue is prepping it, or any inflatable for that matter. Even during our warm and cozy Mind the Gap Trip, blowing up my pad after a day on the bike was not ideal. The effort wasted finding the valve, blowing for several minutes, then trying to squeeze into a bivy while on the side of the trail presumably freezing, doesn't leave a lot of room for error.

I re-play the effort it took to get my sleep system set-up during Fat Pursuit 2 seasons ago. Pulling all the straps off the handlebar harness, unstuffing the compression sack, rolling the bivy out, blowing up the pad, etc. It took forever, and at -50 degrees my core temperature dropped dangerously low in a matter of minutes. It was impossible to warm back up and sleep was a no go. Reverse all that to get moving again and my race was over. That's not really an option in the middle of Alaska.
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critical thinking now to stay alive. good stuff.

does the hypothermia class teach anything about checking your decisions?
Sort of a self-realization that you are losing your shit?
I've had some hypoxia training where if you think a critical decision is funny, you best get some O2.

you leaving a buffer in your travel plans?

don't die.
 
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jackx said:
These look more durable than my Japanthers, but they don't look as warm. Every time I put the Japanthers on I wonder if the zipper pull will break. it has gotten so bendy.
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I feel like it's a lighter shoe overall. I've been riding them with regular summer socks to get an idea of how cold they'll work. It hasn't been lower than mid-30s yet.
 
fidodie said:
critical thinking now to stay alive. good stuff.

does the hypothermia class teach anything about checking your decisions?
Sort of a self-realization that you are losing your shit?
I've had some hypoxia training where if you think a critical decision is funny, you best get some O2.
Click to expand...

No, it's a rescuer course so it's a lot about finding lost people with hypothermia. When I get lost with hypothemia I'll know what the people looking for me are going to do. I know one of the more advanced stages is stripping all your clothes off and dying in the snow. I'll try to avoid that one as much as possible but it involves 2 of my favorite things, being naked and snow.
 
jimvreeland said:
No, it's a rescuer course so it's a lot about finding lost people with hypothermia. When I get lost with hypothemia I'll know what the people looking for me are going to do. I know one of the more advanced stages is stripping all your clothes off and dying in the snow. I'll try to avoid that one as much as possible but it involves 2 of my favorite things, being naked and snow.
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Now you just have to worry about your rescuer-er finding you naked
Image1.jpg
 
I think my sleep plan is F'ed. This setup doesn't even come close to fitting!! A quick message to Jay to figure out where I went wrong and I found I'm running too warm a bag.

He uses the Big Agnes UL -20 which is actually even lighter than my Marmot -20. General consensus is that even though it's lighter, it's warmer. Big gamble here. Is it better to swap bags and stay on the easy setup path or run the bag and bivy separate like everyone else does?

Fuck. Anywho. Here's another stove, I think I have the whole collection now.

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And some bicycle pictures. I have a new phone, it takes nicer pictures.

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And a GoPro still.

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I rode my bike in the snow but those pictures are on my old phone so. Yeah.
 
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