Deuter Futura 28 Review - Lightweight World Travel Backpack.

The Deuter Futura 28. The almost perfect lightweight world travel backpack.  

Review:

I originally found the Deuter Futura 28 on a blog I follow being recommended for lightweight world travel. A few other roundtheworlders were using them too. I looked at a few outdoor stores and couldn’t find anything better, so I ordered it online.

Deuter is a German company that I soon found out was known for making backpacks for bicyclists. Their quality and ingenuity are top notch and their reputation is well deserved.

When it got here, I was surprised at how large it looked. There is a passage between the bag and your back which makes the bag appear much bigger than other bags its size. That passage is one of three reasons that make this bag better than all others I came across. It allows air to flow behind your back and keep the heat out of there, reducing sweat buildup.

Another big advantage of this pack is the 2 big pockets that zip into 1 large pocket if desired. This is a great way to split your gear up by weight, need and organization. In the top pocket there is a sleeve designed for a hydration system, I put my laptop way down at the bottom of it.

On the front sleeve of the laptop pocket I have sewn in some pockets I cut off an old backpack. It adds a perfect sized area to slip in my Kindle, a pocket for paperwork and maps, 2 pockets for pens and a small pocket for loose small things that need a home.

That still leaves most of  the space in the top pocket for all my clothes that are organized in color coded stuff sacks. I leave the very top of my pack empty for maneuverability of things inside, food/water and souvenirs.

The bottom pocket is quite a bit larger than it looks. Due to the design of the support system, the back of the pocket curves way back on either side giving you a bunch of stash spot room you can cram all kinds of stuff into.

And finally the third big advantage of the bag is the pocket at the very base of the bag, it hides a rain cover to fully protect the bag from both rain and sand storms.

The other features are pretty normal in a quality bag. Quality zippers, the best fabrics used in different wear areas, cinch straps, side water bottle pockets, and all the basic stuff you will read about in other reviews.

The reason I say almost perfect for a lightweight travel bag is there are a couple things I was looking for. First, more pockets. I carry a lot of little things I would like to keep better organized, while still easy to get to. Second, I prefer a bag with better hip support. The waist belt doesn’t wrap around your hips enough to take more load off your back, though the built in support system does a good job of moving the load a little lower.

Rating: 9.5/10 with mods

Weight: 2lb 3oz

Size: 28 liters

Price: $114.95

Altec Lansing Ultra Portable Speaker Review

Altec Lansing iM-237 Orbit Ultraportable Speaker Review

Review:

I listen to music and podcasts at least a couple hours a day. I’m no where near being an audiophile, so I was looking for something that was compact/light, good quality, sounded ok and was not too expensive.

I think I found the best ipod speaker for my purpose.

The Altec Lansing iM-237 is a mono speaker (not stereo with a left and right speaker) that appears to be built with abuse in mind. It has a 2” speaker that is surrounded by hard plastic and a wire metal cage to keep the actual speaker free from punctures, tearing and damage.

Stored around the base is a 6 inch headphone jack that I find to be the perfect length.

The speaker runs off of 3 AAA batteries that lasted me about a month, so there is no shortage of music with a single set of batteries.

It is not as loud as I would have expected for its size, even with its built in amplification. I find that I need to be in the same room as the speaker and I don’t expect to be rocking out too hard when at max volume. Now that I am use to the max volume, it isn’t too much trouble to move it around the house with me when I am doing chores. That will hardly be an issue on the road.

The speaker quickly distorts sound when you increase the volume any louder than about 85% on your mp3 player or computer, but I believe the output of the speaker was tuned down to preserve battery life. It’s a fair trade if you ask me.

I find the sound to be acceptable and pleasant, but I am not picky about my sound quality.

A couple of other good features are a recessed power button with an LED power on light and a thin padded carrying case. Unfortunately the speaker will not turn itself off after some time of no input. This can quickly drain your battery if you are not careful.

This was a good buy that I will get a lot of use out of including watching movies, listening to podcasts from back home and torturing roommates with bad 80s metal.

Rating:  8/10

Price: $25.22 at Amazon

Weight: 7.2 oz

Dimensions: 3.5 x 1.6 inches (W x H)

Where to buy:  Amazon.com

Sea to Summit Hanging Toiletry Bag Review

Sea to Summit Hanging toiletry bag - Small


Review:

I had no idea what I was going to do about my toiletries. Everything I had seen was too bulky or unusable. So I was going to go really simple and light, ziplocks and shopping bags.

Bouncing around on the internet I came across the Sea to Summit Hanging Toiletry Bag recommended for travelers. It looked interesting, but I couldn’t find many reviews and all the pictures I could find were just of the much larger size. I went back and forth for a while on buying it. No good pictures, no comments on size or weight. I really don’t like buying what I havent gotten a feel for. But I ordered it because I had a good feeling about it.

When I first recieved the box in the mail I opened it up, pulled the packaging out and thought, “Oh No… its way to heavy.” Disappointed, I opened it up, pulled the bag out and was quite surprised to find that the packaging was most of the weight. Cool!

I flipped the thing around in my hand quickly a couple times, perfect size, good weight, good material. I opened the zippers, solid zippers.

This thing has Pockets!

Two big pockets at the bottom with mesh lining, and two much smaller pockets at the top, with zippers and stretchy mesh. The 2 big mesh pockets at the bottom have a small clip that allows the bag to better support heavier weight. There is another pocket out back that is semi-sealed in nylon (no mesh).

 There is also a HUGE stash spot pocket that is not fully intentional. Its not the greatest pocket at all, it has a small opening and a deep cavity. I see no use for it myself, but someone else might.The bag is also soft sided so any extra space can be crushed down to make the whole thing smaller.

And the best part about it, it hangs! You don’t have to lay your toiletries on nasty sinks any longer. Keep them away from the yuck by hanging it from the shower head, towel rack, hook or light fixture. If you do need to put it down somewhere less than clean, the bag is made with an easy to clean nylon shell that will keep the funk off your toothbrush.

This is a great product from a good company. Solid construction. Only thing I would change is a larger hook, and make it stronger. The current hook is pretty small and made of plastic, it won’t go around a large towel rack, shower curtain rod or door handle. I might make a larger one before I go.

Rating: 9/10

Weight: 2.8 oz

Price: $29.99

Where to buy: Moosejaw.com Good small company, shipped for free and their website and catalog are funny.

Dimensions: 8.9in x 6.1in x 3in

I Wanna Go Fast

Christmas came a little late, but we finally got the opportunity to cash in our generous presents. Thats right, our company gifted the 4 lead guys at work an hour of driving school before being unleashed to run 20 laps of racing in real (retired) race cars at the Toyota Speedway in Irwindale, Ca.

We arrived at the speedway at 9am Tuesday morning. We were all offered the $90 insurance, which we thought was too expensive and unnecessary until we saw the cars and a drawing of the track. (turns out the drawing was inaccurate and misleading, intentional?) But 50K was too much to risk, so we all opted to get the coverage.

 

Classes started a little after 9. They explained how the cars were built to only turn left, how to pass safely, how to handle a car that has lost control, how and when to use the gas and brake (I forgot about the brake and never touched it, haha) and we were told how "easy" it was to get out of control. (not as easy as you think)

We were then issued fire suits, gloves and brain buckets. After shoehorning us into the tiny cockpit, they quickly strapped us in, checked our radios and completely skipped the step about all the safety equipment the car was equipt with, I mean, how much safety do you really need with a car that has 450 horsepower, weighs as much as a Honda Civic and is controlled by someone without a background check?

We all lined up and were lead onto the track. They gave us a lap to warm up our tires and get a little use to the car and then the green flag was dropped and IT WAS ON! It took a few laps to get use to the forces of the corners and the acceleration, but after 3-4 laps I was able to push it enough to start passing other cars.

 

Just as we were really getting the hang of it our laps were finished and we were ushered back into the pits. I really want to thank our whole team for all the hard work they have done over the last few years, without them there wouldn't be the opportunity to have these great experiences together AND be able to write it off as a business expense! MERRY (late) CHRISTMAS GUYS! www.laracingx.com

TOPIC CHANGE: I have ordered almost everything I will need to begin my trip. Its all loaded up in my backpack that I carry with me everywhere I go and I try to use most of it as often as I can to really test everything out before I need to rely on it. Amazon.com has really been a great resource for finding what I need, reading reviews and then having it shipped very quickly to my door.

Keep the Change

Since I was a little kid I knew the value of a dollar. My brother still jokes to this day that if I was given a $5 bill, that I would still have that exact bill months later sitting in my wallet.

So it is no surprise to anyone who knows me that I realized the potential of pocket change and started collecting it when I was 14 years old. It really wasn't much at first, but the little I got was tossed into a small bowl hidden in a drawer.

After a couple of years my bowl slowly filled as I grabbed pennies off the ground and collected any change I could find. By the time I turned 18 and got a job, I could really start putting some serious coinage away! My little bowl was getting pretty full and that meant upgrading my coin storage device. 

Enter my new 5 gallon water jug. It was massive next to my tiny bowl. To add insult to my measly collection, after the coins were dumped in, the bottom was still visible. But I had a job now, so things would surely improve.

I knew credit cards were the devil, so cash has always been king. If I dont have it in my wallet, I cant afford it. Paying cash for everything always makes for a pocket full of metal money at the end of every day and soon my collection doubled and then doubled again!

Every time someone saw my collection, I would joke that it was my retirement fund. I always knew it was there as a small safety net and when I went on my 6 month journey around the country, my brother held onto it for me in case I broke down and couldn't afford to get my truck fixed.

But the time has come to cash it in. I don't need the money to support the trip, but rather, I have no place to store it. It has become extremely heavy and very difficult to move. So what do you do with 16 years of fractionated dollars?

Coinstar was my answer. But with a 9.8% counting fee it meant giving a large amount of my savings away, not gonna happen! My brother suggested getting an Amazon gift card, Coinstar excludes the fee as Amazon gives them a kickback. This seemed unlikely at first because I knew there was a large sum there and I rarely shop online, but I really didnt have much choice unless I wanted to hand count it all and take it to a bank.

So I shuffled my coin jug out to the garage and cut the top off. The coins were then placed into 8 one gallon Ziplock bags and taken to my local Coinstar location. It took 4 trips to cash in all my change as each gallon sized bag weighed around 12 pounds.

The machine was pretty straightforward. Dump in your coins and slide them through a small slot while the contraption does all the counting and sorting. When all the counting is through you have the options of being robbed of nearly 10% of your counted collection or receive a credit receipt to one of a few different retailers. I chose an Amazon.com credit as they carried a large portion of the items I needed to pack for my travels.


When the dust settled and the coins were counted, the total was printed on a series of receipts.

I had:

6,637 pennies

1,516 nickles

2,781 dimes

3,873 quarters

1 half dollar

7 dollar coins

For a grand total of.....      





wait for it......
 




$1,396.01!!!!


Wow, thats a lot of scratch! I am now using that credit to buy much of my needed travel gear on Amazon. As I buy, return, use and abuse the gear I plan to travel with, I will start working on a gear review with reasons I chose particular items, likes/dislikes and how they are holding up.

BTG In AZ

Last week I got a call from a friend in Arizona inviting me to go out wheeling with them the coming weekend. It was really late notice, but once he told me where they were going I knew the trip couldnt be missed. Plus wheeling with the Built To Grind club is always a treat as the trails they build are some of the most challenging and scenic possibly anywhere in the world.

There was a bit of an issue at first, I had just sold my buggy and trailer a couple weeks prior to help fund my trip. But as luck would have it, there was an extra seat available. I quickly got the time off work and headed out to Phoenix that Thursday to met up with Jack and Scott at their house.

Scott had to work early Friday morning, so Jack and I loaded up and headed out of the desert and into the mountains. When we pulled into camp Mark had already arrived and setup, so we started exploring the river. The flow was pretty decent, but all the swimming holes were too shallow to swim. After hiking around for a while, we returned to camp to find Scott had arrived. Shawn and his girlfriend got there not too long after that.

The next morning we all headed to the first trail. It started out as a very challenging boulder crawl. Already I knew it was going to be a great day as long as no one broke anything big or got injured.

The trail got progressively harder until we reached the first "obstacle." Shawn was up first on this Volkswagen sized boulder. He gave it a valiant effort, but snapped a front axle quickly ending his day... or so we thought.

Scott graciously offered up his buggy to Shawn and let him drive it through most of the trail. He proceeded to drive the obstacle so quickly that I didnt even get a pic of it. Next up was Jack then Mark.

More boulder crawling with a nice little ledge.

Up next was the Screw. If you fell in... you were SCREWED. It was basically two consecutive notches. The goal was to straddle the notches and ride the walls. Shawn was up first and fell in. After getting winched back into position he drove right through. Jack was up next.

Jack entering the Screw.

Jack getting SCREWED!!!

A couple of the trail dogs. My dog Sedona and Chopper, Scott's dog.

A little ledge with a big water hole at the bottom... dont slide off.

Next up was "Roofie" a tight squeeze with a series of stacked boulders that pushed your roof into a rock causing it to open like a tin can if you weren't careful.

 

The last obstacle was The Big Nasty. A HUGE technical climb with a large puddle of water at the bottom. It was already starting to be a long day and with all the water at the bottom, everyone wisely winched.

Shortly after the end of that trail began the next. A lot more boulder crawling, ledges and a few big climbs involving some skinny pedal.

 

It was a fantastic weekend. The weather was nice, the company was good and the wheeling was awesome. I really couldn't have asked for much more. I want to again thank Jack for the invite and the guys from BTG for always making me feel welcome.




On a side note, I tweaked my back pretty good this weekend meaning the stretches and exercises I have been doing arnt helping. So I need to go back to the Dr to figure out how to keep it from acting up on my trip.