I don’t want to spoil too many surprises and it should be clear that I made it back to my comfy house safe and sound.
Huge shoutout to Exped USA for sending us this gear to use and review.
Items I used during this video:
Exped Orion II – This is a fantastic 4 season tent that has been the industry standard since 1997. The inside will easily fit two 6+ ft males, but you would be pretty tight with your gear inside. Fortunately the vestibules on either side are plenty big enough for your bags and any other gear you would want to keep out of the elements.
Although I didn’t show this on the video, but because the poles are inserted in the rainfly, the tent can be detached and you basically have a freestanding tarp for “Party-Mode”…I don’t call it that, Exped does, but this would be really useful when you’re NOT in the snow lol.
FlexMat – A very lightweight and cheap (price not quality) sleeping mat that would work great during summer nights or, in this instance, and additional barrier from the cold ground. Remember, R-Value of a sleeping mat is additive. Anything below freezing temperatures, you need an R-Value greater than 4. This mat has a low R-Value of 1.5, but it is light, durable and can be paired well with the next mat on the list.
SynMat UL Winter LW – There is a SynMat UL and a SynMat HL. The UL is rectangular and the HL is tapered towards the feet. LW is their size of the mat which is 77.6 inches long and 25.6 inches wide. They offer bigger mats and smaller mats. The R-Value of this mat is 5.2. This paired with the FlexMat brings the total R-Value to 6.7 which would help in extreme cold. This mat was probably the most comfortable mat I have ever camped on. It was like sleeping on a memory foam mattress in two ways. 1. It was really comfortable and allowed you the feeling of almost sleeping on air (which I guess I was). 2.
Also, like memory foam, it retained my body heat and even reflected it back to me. I think I’ll splurge on a pair of these for my wife and I…if she actually went winter camping with my #sadface
Down Pillow – Have you ever thought, “I wish I could take my favorite pillow from home, pack it down to the size of a can of Bang (#LEOSA) and take it camping with me?” Well, now you can…ish. This Down Pillow is the best pillow I have ever taken camping. My previous “King of the Camping Pillow” champion was the Klymit Luxe and that is still a great camping pillow. The Exped Down Pillow can pack down to the same size, but offers greater comfort in my opinion. I will be replacing my Klymit Luxe with an Exped Down…simple as that.
Yukon Charlies Advance Snow Shoe Kit 9X30 – I’m a snowshoe novice, but the one thing you need to know when buying snowshoes is your total weight. So take your body weight, add the weight of the items you’re gonna throw in a pack and buy snow shoes for THAT weight. The Yukon Charlies have the added benefit that the kit comes with treking poles as well. Huge bonus.
(DISCLAIMER: This post may contain paid advertisements or affiliate links. An affiliate link means that if you follow one of the gear links, Thin Line Defense Co receives a small portion of that purchase but incurs no extra cost to you. This helps us make the channel grow and get more great gear to review just for you! Thanks for the amazing support.)
Music by: @Barren Gates