Ah, a pull-on rain jacket for the ultralight community, that were my thoughts when I saw the Rab Demand Pull-On back in the day. A whooping 76 g lighter than my Rab Momentum jacket, made from the same 3 Layer eVent material, reduced to what is really necessary, yeah, I'd like to try that out indeed.



The important part: 252 g in Size S. It is Black. I like it.

The cut is spot on for me, a bit longer in the back to cover me buttocks, a front zipper which can be opened far to allow ventilation, a good hood and one front pocket, which is big enough for me to fit in my puukko, a map, compass and a chocolate bar. Rab says that the pocket ain't waterproof, which is sort of true: Keeping your phone in there is not recommended as it can get a bit moist; that moistness is however coming from the inside when the eVent membrane transports your sweat out. Keep gadgets in a waterproof bag and it is fine.


Hood off.


Hood on.

Speaking of hoods, I don't know why Rab didn't put the Momentum visor on the Demand. The Demand is like the reduced Momentum, sure, but why would you make the visor smaller? If you put a visor on a hood, make it big so that it has a full function and not just half of it. There's companies out there who make far worse hoods and visors, and this one is still good, but heck, why make it smaller?



The eVent membrane still kicks ass. I wore the Demand Pull-On every day in Russia and had no problems with sweat building up on the inside, while keeping the rain out. Also on subsequent outings - night orienteering in the snow, walking in the wind and rain - it kept me dry, warm and ventilated.


Wide open. Taped seams.

So it is a pullover, saving weight by not having a full zipper. If you follow me for a while already then you know that I like pullovers, and the Demand is no exception. The long front zipper facilitates getting in and out and allows for additional ventilation if needed. It is easy going as well, which is nice - no fiddling around in the cold or rain with it.


Longer in the back, short in the front, much like that 80s haircut.

With the pullover being longer in the back you wear it over your pants, so that water run-off doesn't get in them. Cover your buttocks to sit down where it is wet, though it isn't that long that you could loung in comfort, but for a short quick sit-down on a edge or tree it works fine. To round things out, elastic hand cuffs and a hem with a good drawcord keep the heat in, wind and wetness out.


Elastic cuffs. Standard, I'd say.

Any other shortcomings, you ask? Well, as all oil-based garments, keep away from fire. Sparks burn through eVent like a hot knife goes through butter, so be careful when sitting around the fire or feeding your Bushbuddy. Room for improvements? Just make the visor the same size than on the Momentum and I am happy.

What about the competition? Yeah, the Montane Spektr is lighter and also from eVent. But will it be available in black? It also has a new kind of front closure mechanism, but from what I have heard from my trusty sources, the functionality isn't quite there yet, but until I have seen and tried it myself judgement on it is out. Then there is the Haglöfs LIM OZO Pullover, which I also own, and it is even lighter (and unlike Rab, which are talking since over a year of getting a sustainability programme in place and there's still nada, Haglöfs is ISO 14.001 certified and is active in sustainability matters Edit: Information on Rab's Sustainability approach). I'll review it during next week, so stay tuned for intel on it.

To sum it up, a very nice Pullover, made of the highly breathable eVent material, with good features at an excellent price. It is the lightest full-feature 3 Layer eVent Smock currently on the market, and I can highly recommend it. If you want to lighten your load and are looking for a functional rain jacket, ähem, pullover, the Rab Demand Pull-On is what you might want to buy yourself for the holidays. The lads at the Outdoor Warehouse have it in stock with 10% off and will see to it that it arrives in time for putting it in your stockings/ under the tree.

Sitting at work, thinking about escaping to the forest for a hike, a climb in the mountains, a packrafting trip down an idyllic river, a mountain bike ride down a fine single track or a skiing trip across vast, snow-covered landscapes? I hear you. Lets goof off together. This is an invitation to slack off at work, university or in your freetime and post your ultimate gearlist and destination to use it. Anything goes. Post it in the comments, write a post on your own blog and let us know where you'd now rather be! And to keep the reality of work & studies far away, money is of no concern - so that hike in Fiji is as realistic as the local trail in front of the door. I'll start =)



Deciding where to go is the hardest part, I think - there are thousands of beautiful places on this planet, so picking just one is hard. I always wanted to go to Papua New Guinea, so I reckon I will pack my backpack and fly there for this trip. Lush rain forests, mountains, secluded beaches and all of it in pristine condition. Exotic wild life. Yeah, I'm in.

For the gear then: I will stick to my tried and tested LAUFBURSCHE huckePACK in Dyneema X Gridstop as my rucksack, no sense in changing a winner. The pack is big enough for my UL gear and ten days of food, and I also can fit a packraft and paddles in so it is the way to go.

The shelter question on the other hand is a bit more difficult. What should I expect in Papua New Guinea? Rain, I hear. Bugs, here and there. Humidity. Wind. So it should be spacious to keep my stuff dry, airy to minimize condensation, there should be some mesh to keep the bugs out and me sane and it should be able to cope with wind. Well, even if I haven't yet slept in one, I think I might go for a yellow TrailStar from MLD. Steven, Roger and many others rave about it, and I am a smart guy who knows to trust fellow Nordic Lightpacking mates and friends. I forgo a groundsheet - still think they're useless - and for bug protection, well, a MLD Superlight bivy with its bug netting would seal the deal and allow me to sleep under the stars when the weather is fine.

For sleeping, you know me, a quilt is the only way. Temps might drop under 0°C when I camp high in Papua New Guinea, so bringing a warm quilt seems smart. A Katabatic Gear Palisade should be perfect for my needs thus. Together with a set of BPL Cocoon Hoody and Pants, and those Integral Designs Hot socks, they should allow me to stay toasty even if the thermometer drops a lot under 0°C. For pads I will trust on the Multimat Adventure and the six segments of TAR Z Lite to keep my butt of the ground and well isolated. That seals the deal on the big three.

Clothing then. I'm not a big user of normal trekking pants, that is until I tried the Arc'teryx Palisade pants and the BPL Thorofare pants. They both rock, and I shall take both for being able to switch if the need arises - at 99 g for the Thorofare it is an acceptable weight to carry extra. I'll round it out with a Arc'teryx Ether Crew shirt, a BPL Thorofare button-down shirt and a BPL Beartooth Merino hoody. A bitihorn aero100 jacket from Norrona, ultralight and in great colours, will be my windshirt of choice. Socks will have to be Merino, I will look at the usual suspects like Woolpower, Darn Tough, Bridgedale and Smartwool to keep my feet in perfect condition. Trailrunners from Inov-8 will round out the clothing department, likely the X-Talon 190 will be the shoes of choice. For the rain I take a set of eVent pants and jacket, Rab has so far not disappointed me so I will take the Demand Pull-On and the Drillium pants.

Trekking poles for yours truly, it must be the Gossamer Gear LT4s, I'd say. A compass in a country like Papua New Guinea is mandatory, as a well-integrated foreigner in Finland the choice shall fall on a Suunto compass, accompanied by a Suunto clock to tell me what time it is (not that I'd want to know). A trekking umbrella for that less-than-torrential rain will be with me as well, as will be my Tenkara fly-fishing rod and flies.

Other basics for Hendrik include his trusted Puukko knife, his Kuksa and his BushBuddy Ultra. If you see someone on a trail calling himself Hendrik without a wood burning stove, you know he's an impostor! Other small stuff includes a Petzl eLite and a Princeton Tec Remix for light at night, a good book (Terry Pratchett to make me laugh), sunglasses, a notebook and pen to plot down my thoughts, a merino Buff, a packtowel from MSR, 1st Aid, Hygiene and Repair stuff.


Butterflies!

Because I will be walking where not many have walked before, a good camera comes along, with plenty of spare batteries, memory cards, as well as a pancake and tele lens to catch those fine panoramas and exotic birds of paradise & monkeys swinging along over my head. I think the camera might be called Panasonic Lumix GF2. That should ensure superb photos to keep those memories alive.

Voilá! That is my contribution to "Goof-Off-Tuesday"! I'm looking forward to read yours =)

Waited long you have, Padawan. Eric Parsons from Revelate Designs in Alaska shall show you the way to become a lightweight mountain bike Jedi, and tell us how he started his cottage business for innovative bike bags. Read on, and feel the force!


Eric in his workshop.

Eric, please briefly introduce yourself and tell us who you are. Since when are you backpacking and bike-trekking, and how did you start? How often are you outdoors on a trip nowadays?

Let’s see, I’m 34 years old and grew up in New York. My parents introduced me to the mountains early in life so once I had the chance to move west I did, first Colorado then Alaska. I’ve been living in Alaska for about 9 years and loving it.

I started mountain biking when I was about 13 and always relished in longer rides. My first real bike tour was in the Indian Himalaya in my early 20’s. That trip was a real eye opener for me and hooked me on bike travel, so now I try to get out on a big international trip every 2 years or so. These days I try to get in a few long trips each summer and the usual weekend jaunts either on foot or bike.


In Wrangell St. Elias National Park for a 6 day bike and packrafting traverse.

Are you a UL or lightweight backpacker/ bikepacker? If so, what is your typical baseweight?

I suppose lightweight, I don’t get too wound up in numbers really. For hiking I also don’t have a standard pack baseweight. Pretty much every trip requires different gear whether it be skis, a packraft, climbing or glacier travel and changes quickly with the seasons in Alaska. So the imaginary gear list is in constant flux. The bike trips we do in Alaska are a bit unconventional and I don’t bother with list or weights really.

Please tell us where the name "Revelate Designs" comes from, and what it stands for.

The business was originally called “Epic Designs” but I had to change it due to a trademark dispute with a mega bike brand. I brainstormed with the help of friends for months trying to come up with something I liked. One day Nordic skiing the name Revelate came up, derived from the Revelation mountains here in Alaska. It also draws from Revolution – change, and elation – being happy at what you do. So it stuck. But to be honest, nothing really sounds good when you are forced to change the name of a business that you’ve toiled over.


Below Nevado Illimani, Bolivia.

Revelate Designs is a cottage business gathering to a very special market - bikepackers and folks who ride their bikes on long trips. Can you tell us how the idea to start the company emerged, if it was easy to quit your previous job and how you see the future of the company?

The idea started like many how are doing this sort of thing. Making gear for themselves and really enjoying the process. My former job was working as a Civil Engineer. From the start of a project through design and finally construction could often be 2 years or more. I found that time delay from design to completion very frustrating and unfulfilling. With sewing and small-scale manufacturing, you can build a prototype the same day that you have the idea, so that’s very rewarding.



From the practical side, I had been doing long bike tours and saw the benefits of going lighter, using frame bags and dialed in gear. At the time there was no other business that I knew of that offered custom frame bags, or other quality solutions for more unconventional bike travel that did not include racks and panniers. So literally one night I went home and timed myself making a frame bag for a friend to see if it would be realistic having a business doing that… it was, and here I am. It just so happened that the timing coincided with the literal explosion of bikepacking.



You offer some very innovative gear, like The Viscacha and The Harness  - can you tell us a bit how you went about the design process of these two pieces, and where the inspiration came from?

The Harness concept was derived from using the lid of a backpack as a handle bar bag while holding a stuff sack underneath. I did a 2-month tour in South America like this along with a ride on the Iditarod trail. Once I learned how to sew, I refined the concept into a rigid mount with a detachable pocket. I love the versatility the system provides and keeps everything waterproof if you use a drybag.



The Viscacha came about by request for a smaller version of my original and much larger seat bag made for winter riding. The seat bags were very much customer driven, core riders needed them for the races on the Great Divide Route and other ultra self supported races. For me, these two pieces have consumed the largest chunk of development time by a long shot.

Eric, we love to be let in on the work-in-progress stuff! Can you let us know what kind of new products you're working on at the moment?

Not so much as far as new products, I’m focused right now on bringing lead times down and increasing production on all the stock items. Ideally I’ll have turnaround time on the custom bags down to a few weeks to make the whole thing more accessible. That said I’m coming out with at least one or two more stock size frame bags and I have long term plans to bring my winter pogies back.

How works the R&D at Revelate Designs, do you have a need yourself that you try to fix, or do some of your clients inspire you for new products and ask you for solutions to their problems?

All of the above, but simplicity will always trump more bells and whistles. Also, with limited resources I have to make limit what I offer. As demand for my core products have increased, I’ve had to say no to a few people that have had decent product ideas or changes to existing ones.


Riding at 15,000' in the Qusima Cruz range, Bolivia.

What is the Revelate Designs bestseller, and where do your customer come from?

The seat bags for sure, followed by the gas tanks and everything else. Adding a seat bag is a core bikepacking piece so that’s where most people start if they want to ditch using a rear rack. My customers come from all over the USA and I have a decent following in the United Kingdom followed by a few other European countries and Australia.

Are you in touch with other cottage manufacturers in Europe, the USA, Japan or other places?

Yes for sure. I correspond quite a bit with small companies making outdoor gear. Having mentors has been very important for expanding my knowledge base more than anything. I’m entirely self-taught having never worked in the industury and there is no how to book on outdoor gear manufacturing, so I’m very grateful to those who have given me tidbits of help from sewing to material sourcing.

What is your own favorite backpack, sleep system and shelter? Any other favourite piece of gear which you always carry with you?

I use all backpacks that I’ve made, but one thing that always comes along is a sil-nylon megamid. The mid, cookie dough and lighters are always with me on a trip.

When and where was your last longer backpacking/ bikepacking trip, and what was your baseweight? Are you planning to get out for a trip soon, and enjoy the winter season?

The last big bikepacking trip I did was in Bolivia last fall. My partner and I rode in the mountains for 3 weeks. It was an interesting trip since we rented bikes down there and just strapped on the bags and took off into the big unknown. Trips soon? We just had a baby so not at the moment! We’ll get out ski touring a bunch but are on infant care for the time being :)



Do you think ultralight backpacking and bikepacking will become more popular and break into the mass market, or will it continue to be something for a small group of people?

It’s kinda already gone mass market for backpacking, it’s an easy sell for a shop to say “buy this 3 lb tent instead of that 7lb one and your back will feel better. For biking I don’t think it’s as obvious since the bike carries the load for you. The penalties of going heavier are not as apparent until you are really mountain biking on technical trails or doing lots of climbing. For many people “bike touring” by definition includes using racks and panniers. So I think it is more limited than the backpack industury. That said, there is some good crossover in some of the bag usage for commuting and lots of other kinds of cycling. We’ll see.

Eric, I thank you for taking the time to answer my questions =) Is there something you would like to add?

Thank you for the opportunity, best of luck with the website.