GoLite & Grand Trunk Have You Covered in the Great Outdoors
We are focusing on the great outdoors this month and have recently reviewed gear from Kamp-Rite and Sierra Designs, along with some others to boot. For those of you who love sleeping under the stars minus the tent flaps, GoLite introduces the Ultralite 3-Season Quilt. Besides the standard size, it also comes in short and long, for those of us ranging from petite to basketball player. GoLite has been honored with Backpacker Magazine’s 2010 Editors’ Choice Award for its extensive use of Tier 1 recycled fabrics.
We must say that this sleeping quilt handled all of our needs with superior quality. In fact, we might even make this our comforter at home and get rid of grandma’s handmade needlepoint. Lightweight and easy to carry at a little over a pound, I didn’t struggle with moving a mountain in the process of carting it around. It comes with a waterproof recycled nylon stuff sack and breathable cotton storage sack. It is filled with 800+ premium goose down which means it is more compressible and provides a greater loft-to-weight ratio than a lower fill power. All we know is it sure felt like the perfect blend of comfort and warmth- it was one of the coziest bags we’ve tried.
It is made for use with your sleeping bag/sleeping pad so it goes without saying that an open-bottom design with an angled footbox provides the most in comfort. The waterproof-breathable fabric at the head and floor of the bag shield against rain and other hazards. You can purchase it online at Amazon for around $275.
Focusing back on tents, we recently had a chance to make ourselves at home in the Grand Trunk Uinta 4-Man Quick Set tent.
We were lucky indeed as this tent was everything we wanted and more especially for the price tag. Though it is marketed to keep you from being unprotected in the dark, we would take this camping anytime for its less is more maintenance.
We never thought setting up a tent would be this easy or hassle-free but indeed it was. In under a minute we had the tent set up though the manufacturer suggests using stakes which only add a couple more minutes to your set-up time. You simply lay the tent out and watch it unfold like a David Copperfield magic trick.
We were most impressed with the roomy floor plan, modified dome, and vestibule. The no-see-um mesh was breathable and even during a light rain, we stayed dry. We should add that the mesh makes it hard to see in (a good thing) and easy to see out. The bucket design around the sides ultimately helps by keeping ground moisture out of the tent.
The only downfall was taking apart the tent but still only a matter of 5-6 minutes. Our biggest issue was getting the tent back in the storage bag which is saying a lot. You can purchase online from Amazon for around $170.
