Gear Goals!

 Recently my "Backpackers editors choice" magazine came in the mail and for some odd reason I was really excited to crack it open and see what all the cool kids were camping with.   Lots of neat uses of materials in jackets and boots coming down in prices with new weight savings ides and multi-materials in sleeping bags where they are starting to make down water resistant and also putting down with synthetic fibers to create these Frankenstein bags.  Then I was about 2/3rds of the way through the magazine when I saw it.  The most amazing cot in the world.  Now if you have read my blog for any certain time I have told you the greatness of the low profile cot.  If you are above the age of 16 then your back isn't what it used to be and even with all sorts of pads and sleeping bags the ground still is not your bed.  So these low profile cots are awesome because they fit in most tents, don't tear holes in the bottom like the military style, and are real close to an actual bed (OK I am a wuss and like sleeping on a cot).  The bad part about these cots (until now) is that they are still bulky, weighty, and not practical on a backpacking trip.

All this has changed with the use of aluminum poles and these round thingies to create the "LuxuryLite" cot by Thermarest.  We all know Thermarest for their awesome ground pads but this cot is revolutionary because even with the heavy duty model it only weighs like a bit over three pounds and packs smaller than most air pads or ground pads.  I have seen this exact system about two years ago when a friend was searching for a "backpacking cot" and I told him there was no such thing and he came across a guy that made this exact cot but his model was around 450 bucks.  Now I could never get those kind of clams but this new Thermarest model starts at 229 and goes up to 239 for the heavy duty model.  Now I am not saying this is cheap neither but with some simple savings like maybe using cat insulin instead of my Humalog and cutting back on testing I can save up enough to buy this sucker in the next year or so (I am joking about cutting back on my diabetes stuff).