Haiti Part One: The Gear

As I'm sure some of you know, I have been given the opportunity to go on a relief mission to Haiti. I've never done anything like this in my entire life, and needless to say, I'm incredibly excited.

As I'm also sure a lot of you know, I'm somewhat of a gear junkie. Very few things make me so happy as a well-designed piece of outdoor equipment. And, as bad as it may seem with all the suffering that I'm about to go into, the trip has turned into an excuse to load up on some key travel/trekking equipment that I've needed for a while.

Because of the lack of building codes, and continued threat of aftershocks, the buildings still standing in Haiti are generally uninhabitable. There's no Hilton,no Four-Seasons, there are simply flat areas to pitch a tent and dig a latrine.

For someone with an extremely overdeveloped adventure/adrenal gland, this "roughing it" adds even more appeal to the trip that is sure to be one of the best experiences of my life. For sleeping purposes, I'm taking along an old Coleman, two-person, car-camping tent and 40 degree Field and Stream sleeping bag. The tent is really far too heavy for backpacking, and I've been planning to buy a new, lightweight tent from either Big Agnes or Mountain Hardware. And so, I'm going to leave the tent in Haiti with a Catholic mission when I leave. Similarly, for Christmas this year, I was given a Northface 15 degree bag. And so I'm going to leave the Field and Stream bag as well.

But, there are some pieces of gear that I didn't have, and they are as follows.

1. Mountainsmith Swift II Lumbar bag

Fanny packs are lame, yes, but this bag isn't. Made entirely from recycled plastic water bottles, the Swift II is both green, and awesome. The pack is designed to give lumbar support, and has room for my passport, emergency cash, Nalgene bottle and a few Cliff Bars. I plan to keep this bag on me at all times, I've done some running with the bag so far, and it's awesome. I had a cell phone and Nalgene bottle inside, and even with this weight, I still felt completely unencumbered in my strides.



2. Sea to Summit Tek Towel

Lightweight, compressible and quick-drying. The towel is a traveler's dream towel, it's the only thing I'm bringing as far as my linens are concerned.














3. Sea To Summit Compression Sacs
I bought two of these, one for my tent and one for my sleeping bag. Sea to Summit is THE company to trust when it comes to keeping your gear stowed away right.














4. Outdoor Research Helios Sun Hat
Rated to SPF 50, this hat is cool and light, it's going to keep the UV Rays off of my forehead and out of my eyes. Outdoor Research isn't nearly as well known as KAVU when it comes to headgear, but their products are actually far superior when it comes to the things that matter, utility, comfort, usability. Plus, when I wear it, I feel like I'm on a safari. I like to imagine that Indiana Jones would have worn such a hat were he tromping around in 2010 and not 1936. Brown fedora it is not, but I can just about guarantee that my head won't be sweating nearly as much as the good Dr. Jones'.