Hiking Gear Wish List

My Gear Wish List

This page is a list of gear or ideas for gear that I would like to see offered for sale that I haven't been able to find. If there are any gear manufacturers out there that agree that one or more of these are good ideas and would like to collaborate on design, prototyping, and testing I am certainly interested.

Packs

Solid Side Pockets - I really like having side pockets on a pack that are large enough to hold a water or fuel bottle, but most pack manufacturers make these out of mesh which snags easily on brush. Seems to me a pocket made out of a non-coated, solid fabric would still allow water to drain, but also wouldn't get caught on brush nearly as easily as mesh. For even better draining, small drain holes could be added or the corners could be folded back at the bottom.

Shelters

Tarp Tent - The tarp tent that I would like to see would be made out of silicone coated nylon for light weight, would be about 10' x 10' in size with about a one foot extension at the peak on either end for enhanced rain protection, would have mosquito netting on each end with a zipper up the middle for easy access and so that it could be rolled up completely out of the way when pitching the tarp flat, and would also have a zipper along the bottom edges so the tarp could be configured as a one man tube tent if so desired.

Sleeping

Foam Pad - How about a closed cell foam pad that was built up in 3 layers each one about 1/4 inch in thickness but with the middle layer being a matrix of open spaces similar to the way some of the Thermorest open cell pads are made. This would keep the weight down but add more insulation and comfort to the pad. The open spaces in the center layer would still do a lot to insulate because they would be totally sealed in by the top and bottom solid layers. The middle layer would probably need to be made of a fairly stiff foam so that it doesn't compress into the holes. Maybe the outer two layers could be slightly thinner for even more weight reduction.

Clothes

Pants - There are a lot pants currently available with zip off legs, but no one has thought to offer these with zip off legs that are waterproof or waterproof/breathable while leaving the top portion in a light weight uncoated nylon for breathability. With this type of zip off legs potentially one pair of pants could serve as shorts, long pants for sun and bug protection, and as rain pants when coupled with either a poncho or a sufficiently long rain parka. For even more versatiltiy you could have two sets of zip off, lower legs - one uncoated for sun and bugs, and one coated for rain and/or colder conditions.

Rain Hat - I would like to see rain covers made for hiking hats. Then I could carry just one hat for hot, sunny weather or cooler, rainy weather. The idea is for broad brimmed hats to have a lightweight, waterproof cover like they used to make for dress hats but apparently don't anymore, and for hiking caps to have a simple second skin that would fit over the bill in front and have a skirt around the sides and in back like the caps with sun shades do. No rain - off comes the super lightweight cover and back to a cool, sun shading hat. Then for rainy weather I wouldn't have to wear something with a hood on it or pack a second hat.

Cap with Coated Bill - Sometimes when I am wearing a hooded rain garment I wear my hiking cap underneath the hood so that the cap's bill will keep more of the rain off my glasses. This works okay with caps that have plastic bills, but there is often quite a bit of dripping from the bill of the cap. I suspect a lot of this is caused because the fabric on top of the cap's bill is not waterproof allowing it to soak up mositure and then drip. It would not hurt the cap one bit if just the bill was covered with a lightweight, waterproof fabric, and it would improve the cap's rain shedding ability.

Kitchen

Office