Gear: Marmot Isotherm Hoody

When we went climbing in Colorado, our guide for the Mount Sneffels hike had on a bright blue Isotherm Hoody.  He said it is his go-to jacket for all seasons.  He wore it most of the day as his outer jacket for our chilly ascent of Sneffels.  He said it is also great in the winter for ice climbing.  With such rave reviews from a professional guide, I decided I better try this jacket out for myself.  I managed to get it on sale in Team Red color.  This jacket is super soft and provides plenty of room for active movement.  The Isotherm uses synthetic fill similar to the Patagonia Nano. The Isotherm (16 oz) is warmer than the Nano (7.6 oz) but also weighs about twice as much.

Gear: Montbell Peak Rain Jacket

I liked the Montbell down jacket so much, I decided to go with their Peak Rain Jacket as well.  While it doesn't rain that often in the Annapurna region in October, it is still worth getting some good rain gear.  I always like to be prepared when it comes to rain gear, as I know first-hand how unpleasant it is to hike in wet gear.  I probably struggled the most in finding a good rain jacket for the trip than any other piece of gear.  I tried out the super light Patagonia Stretch Torrentshell first.  We tested it out over a rainy weekend in Colorado.  Unfortunately, the Patagonia Stretch Torrentshell did not stand up to a sustained rain and eventually soaked through (mainly in the forearm area as it may not have been designed for hiking with trekking poles where your arms are straight out).  The next jacket I tried was the Mountain Hardware Plasmic Ion.  I didn't take this one out for a field test as it felt too stiff and rubbery.

Gear: Montbell Alpine Light Down Parka

It was hard to decide how warm of a jacket we need for Annapurna.  Fall treks in Nepal can be cooler at night in the upper elevations.  But I decided my two pound Mountain Hardware expedition down parka we took for Kilimanjaro was a bit overkill.  So, I decided to go with the Alpine Light Down Parka from Montbell.  This jacket has 800 fill down with a 20-denier ballistic nylon shell and DWR treatment.  I consider this a light to midweight down jacket.  It only weights 13.3 ounces, but with the hi-loft down, it feels cozy and warm.

Gear: Black Diamond Orbit Lantern

  The Black Diamond Orbit Lantern is the smaller version of the Voyager.  It is super cute and has been surprisingly handy on recent camping trips.  The Orbit doesn't have the extending legs like the Voyager, but it does site nicely on the counter or can be hung from the top with collapsible hooks.  The lantern is surprisingly bright at 105 lumens and has a nice dimmer function.  The flashlight provides 50 lumens.  With the batteries installed, the Orbit only weighs 4.5 oz.  Definitely worth putting in the duffel.

Gear: Anker Portable Charger - PowerCore 10000

I'm a little worried about keeping my camera and Garmin GPS watch charged up for the entire 10 day trek.  On Kilimanjaro, I brought two batteries for my camera and tried to keep them with me most of the time, but with the cold weather they both gave out on by Day 6.  I bought this Anker ultra-portable charger and have been really happy with this product.  It is super small and weighs only 6 oz.  It is not advertised as one of their fastest chargers, but it does a great job on my iphone and watch.  With the USB cord, it can also charge my point-and-shot camera.  It does take a few hours to fully charge the portable charger, but once it is charged, it seems to charge small gadgets pretty well.  Power IQ determines the connected device and provides the fastest charge.

Gear: Garmin GPS Watch - Fenix 2

I bought the Garmin Fenix 2 watch to track our hikes with more precision this year.  With a built in GPS system, barometer, altimeter, heart rate monitor, and more, this watch has it all.  It is too big to wear on my wrist, but I bought the Garmin carabiner to hook it on my pack which should work just fine.  The Fenix 2 is a bit bulkier than the Fenix 3, but as last year's model, I was able to pick it up for 1/2 the price of the new model.  They shaved some weight off the watch with the newer model, but the watch and carabiner still weigh in at less than 3.5 ounces.