Outdoor Rookie Gear Review

The SynMat 7 Pump sleeping pad is a great lightweight sleeping pad for camping comfortably under the stars.  It is a air-core mat with a little foam insulation inside as well for added comfort.  Other air based mats require you to blow them up which both makes you lightheaded AND hurts the longevity of the mat by trapping moisture inside.  The SynMat 7 pump has a built in foam pump to get the right amount of air in with no lightheadedness or moisture!  It takes about 1-2 minutes to pump it up and it stays solid and comfy all night.  It also has some gripping on the top and bottom that help keep you in place.  All in all, it’s a great “must have” for any backpacking trip.

When to Bring It:

• Backpacking trips where you’re sleeping on the ground
• Backpacking trips during cold  temperatures where you’re sleeping  in a hammock (will help keep your backside warm, especially in the wind)
• For anyone who sleeps on their side – the thickness can absorb a shoulder so you don’t wake up with a numb arm or painful upper back
• For restless sleepers who toss and turn – stays in place and can absorb lots of movement
• Snow camping trips – the insulation helps to keep you warm.  For snow and ice, Exped also has a downfilled mat for added warmth.  If you are interested in the down-filled mat, please e-mail support@outdoorrookie.com.

When to Leave It:

• When you’re counting ounces for a long backpacking trip and sleep like a stiff board (although I’d still bring it)
• When you’re sleeping in a hammock during the summer
• When you have unlimited space and are car camping (I would probably bring a full sized airmattress)

A couple tips:

• Pumping the mat up is fairly quick, however the first 15-30 seconds of pumping look like nothing is happening.  Keep going and you’ll see it fills up very fast after that.
• When pumping the foam pump, let the foam fully inflate between each pump and place your hands in the hand outlines shown on the back.
• Pumping this mat should be done while it’s upside down – so the grey half should be up.  The other direction won’t seal the foam pump opening and will take much longer to fill.
• When camping with someone you wish to stay close to, strap the mats to the sleeping bags (usually newer bags have these mat straps built in) and zip the sleeping bags together – will keep everything together all night.
• Stuff sack is very easy to use – can definitely get the mat smaller than the stuff sack and it can stay rolled up without the sack.  If really saving on weight and keeping the pad inside the pack, you could leave the stuff sack behind.
• This pad folds into thirds and then rolls up, so it will not fit in the staps on the outside of the pack for the standard slef-inflating pad(such as thermarest).  If you have a tightly packed sleeping bag, you can usually fit the pad and bag in the sleeping bag compartment of your pack.
• We have, on occasion, heard the pump area “whine” at night.  We’re still  not wure why.  Because of this, we reccomend that you keep the “pump end” towards your feet so it doesn’t both you while you sleep.  It’s pretty hard to hear if it’s not right at your ear.

Buy the SynMat 7 Pump on OutdoorRookie.com

The foam pump expanded while the mat is deflated

Place hands in the position shown on the back of the mat and seal the opening when pumping

This is the pad upside down (the top side is orange). The pump is meant to be used while the mat is in this position.

This an overview of the foam pump

A close up of the opening that you seal with your hand when pumping

Description:

The Monarch chair is a versatile, light weight (18 oz), collapsible backpacking chair with an ingenious, comfortable design.  The chair balances on 3 “legs” – 2 are part of the chair and the third is YOUR leg(s)!  It’s way more comfortable than the tripod stool, and is a great way to keep your butt off the wet grass!  There is a little balancing required, but it’s quite natural when you lean back.  Obviously leaning back too far can create undesired results, but the good news is – you’re not too far off the ground!  So the danger is fairly minimal!  View the instructional video below for more details.

When to Bring It:

• Backpacking, hiking, camping, and even tailgating
• Anywhere that has a less than desirable sitting surface
• When you have an extra hook or pocket for gear

When to Leave It:

• When you’re counting ounces for a long backpacking trip
• When you’re very limited on space
• When you already have more comfortable seating

A couple tips:

• When in sand, place the stuff sack under the legs to create a larger surface area.
• Use caution when using this while cooking over a stove, it can get a little shaky when leaning over forward.

Buy This Chair at OutdoorRookie.com

Alite Designs

So what is Outdoor Rookie?  To answer, that, I’ll have to give you a little history on how we got here.  We were not born to nature lovers who carried us around the world, and we did not graduate from college ready to hike the Appalachian Trail.  We are just two professionals that stumbled upon the amazing world of backpacking through some close friends that promised us it would be worth the effort.

The first time we were asked to go backpacking was very exciting and overwhelming!  We had no idea what to take, what to buy, what to wear, etc.  After consulting with our friends, we were directed to a large outdoors store to get “what we needed.”  While we stood in the warehouse of a store, awestruck at the amount of gear within, we realized we were getting in way over our heads.  We ended up borrowing equipment in lieu of spending a significant amount of money on equipment that we had never even heard of before.

Our trip only lasted a single night, but that was all it took to get us hooked.  Our trek took us to Enchanted Rock (aka “E-Rock”) in central Texas.  Although this was a short trip, being in the outdoors with everything we needed for the evening gave us an amazing feeling of simplistic enjoyment…and a major travel bug! We began to research more Texas parks to backpack at and of course we had to start the daunting task of researching the gear!

Back we go to the giant recreational store to start shopping, trying on, testing out and asking questions about all sorts of gear.  There were so many different companies that offered the same gear that we didn’t know with whom to choose.  The sales associates put a lot of emphasis on quality, but how could we know what quality we needed?  4 trips back to the store and numerous of hours online research later, we were finally ready to purchase our first item: a backpack.

The range of backpacks is enormous – various sizes, styles, colors, features and of course, prices.  We initially had looked at some of the lower priced items thinking “we’re just getting into this – let’s get something cheap now and we’ll upgrade later.”  Bad idea!  Luckily we got a heads up from our friends who told us – “whether you’re a seasoned backpacker or just starting out, being in the middle of the woods with a ripped shoulder strap is just bad news.”  We soon learned that this philosophy applies to just about everything in the backpacking gear world, although price does not always dictate quality.

Now I’ll say that we once (and only once) did try an item that was not dubbed “high quality” – a simple black spatula.  Sure there were “top of the line” silcone, light weight, collapseable spatulas, but we were simple people and just needed something for morning pancakes on the trail, right?  Wrong!  The morning on our trip, after a long previous day of hiking, we awoke tired and hungry!  As we started our pancakes (and using the spatula) we soon realized that the pancakes were burning quickly with black “burn marks” all along the edges!  How odd?!  Then we looked closer…they were not burning – the spatula was actually melting into our pancake batter and lacing all our yummy breakfast pancakes with some sort of polypropolene chemical!!!   Needless to say, we had to skip our breakfast that morning and only take away the lesson that sacrificing our quality for a few bucks is just not worth in the backcountry.

Back to the gear: after choosing our backpacks, we started the process all over again for the remaining essential items – exhausting for 2 full time professionals!  As we decided on each product, we had this nagging thought in the back of our minds: ”There has got to be an easier way to purchase high quality backpacking products without having to spend so much time researching and searching at this recreational warehouse!”

This is how we developed the concept for Outdoor Rookie.  We want to provide you with enough, non-overbearing, knowledge about the products we use on every backpacking/camping trip.  We also want to provide you the opportunity to purchase these same high quality products through us with a standard of personal care that’s difficult to get from a warehouse type store.  With our experience, research and terrific manufacturers, we’re confident that we’ll be able to answer any questions you have.  Our goal is to help you, who ever you are, Rediscover the Outdoors.

Our future posts will demonstrate us using various products and give you a write up on “When to bring it, when to leave it” along with our pros and cons.  We would also like to help you plan for your first (or next) backpacking trip by recommending a combination of products.  If you have a few piece of gear, or nothing but a water bottle, we’ll be able to help you determine what you need for where you’re going.  You can email us using our very simple questionnaire (on our home page) and we’ll send you our recommendations on what gear will be best.

Sit back and enjoy the outdoors with Outdoor Rookie.  See you soon.