Black Diamond Moji Tent Lantern

During my Stok Kangri trek of September 2018, where I used my own tent for the entire duration of the trek, I realised a hanging ceiling light for the tent is a serious requirement for smooth camp life. Upon research I found Black Diamond has a few models and this Moji with 100 lumens should be enough for me. This is the most basic and no frills model. I asked my friend Raja Biswas to bring it for me from the UK which he did, like he always does. Unfortunately Raja does not accept money from us for these small items. I think it would have cost him £14, which is an insignificant amount. Moji comes in different colours. Raja chose the most understated colour grey. Thanks for that :-)

The light is smaller than a cricket ball and extremely light. Officially it weighs 122 gm with the batteries. It works with 3 AAA batteries. I hate that it uses an odd number. I wonder if they sell these in odd number. I have to go to the grocer and check it out. The unit didn't come pre-loaded with any battery. Have to buy new ones.

The battery chamber

The battery chamber is easy to open and close. The grey top has a screw on system. It works very smoothly unlike, let's say, my Petzl Tikina.  

There is just one switch to turn the power on or off or change the intensity of the light. I believe it can be used in various settings from 4 lumens to 100 lumens (I am yet to use it properly). The battery life will vary accordingly from 100 hours to 10 hours. In a small tent like mine, I don't think I will need a flood of light all the time. 

My tent does have a pocket on the ceiling where one can place his head torch and it will give out a diffused light. However, I didn't like it. Unless I was going to an expedition where every single gramme counted, I would carry the Moji. Even if I was not using my own tent. This is a very handy thing to have during a hike into the wilderness of Himalayas, even if you are not carrying your own tent. You can use it under various situations. Commercial trekking agencies can give you a tent but they don't provide any light inside. Even in dining tents, available light is pathetic.

A trekking gear has to be light, compact, dependable and hardy. This is light and compact, no doubt. BD is generally a dependable brand. I have two of their items and both are very nice - a head torch and a pair of trekking poles. Whether it is hardy can only be judged after I have used it a few times in the field. The packaging says it offers IPX4 water resistance. This means it is protected against splashing water. So I can use it in rains and dripping water will not spoil it. I cannot immerse it in water and get away with it. I don't think these situations will arise under normal circumstances. Let me see. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

Batteries 
I bought three AAA Duracell batteries from the grocer. Each costs Rs 36. The light looks very nice and bright at the highest. Even at the lowest setting it's decently bright for a small tent like mine. The button has to be long pressed for the brightness to be turned up or down. One press is off or on. It has a brightness memory. That is, the lantern lights up from the last set brightness when you turn it on. Here is a photograph of the lit lantern.

At the lowest lumen of 4

Marmot Guide 700 Fill Long Term Review

My friend Sophie brought this jacket for me in 2013 from Germany. Read the original review here. I started using it from 2015. So far I have been to Sandakphu, Chadar, Roopkund and Stok Kangri. This jacket has been through snow fall, rain, minus 30 degree celsius temperatures. It has literally been there done that. 

Therefore I am now qualified enough to write a long term review of the jacket. 

I love this jacket. I cannot imagine going to the Himalayas without it. I have used it as a mid layer, under my Marmot Precip rainwear, as the main jacket, as a pillow in my tent. I have used it in all sorts of applications. And I have always loved owning it.

After the latest Stok Kangri trek where I not only wore it to a height of 6000 meters but also walked in it through snow fall and rain (my rain jacket wasn't with me), I gathered enough courage to wash it.  This is after five years of owning it and wearing it to 4 different treks. I used the Granger liquid soap for that. I was very nervous about it. I thought the down would get all tangled up and never gain back the loft. But it got back to its vintage shape and form in no time when it dried up. Did all the dirt go? No. Most of the marks that I wanted to go are still there. But I think overall the jacket looks cleaner. 

Let me briefly write down what I did so that I myself remember and anyone who wishes to follow in my footsteps finds it easy to follow.

I filled a plastic tumbler with water and poured some Granger liquid in it and stirred it well. After this I soaked the jacket in it. The jacket had a lot of air in it. So it wouldn't sink in the water. From time to time I would carefully turn the jacket inside the water so every square inch got well soaked in the soapy water. 

After a few hours (I guess more than 7/8 hours) I did some very careful hand rubbing of the places where I knew it was dirty without taking the jacket out of the water. Around the cuffs, near the edge of the hood, on the arm etc. I let it soak again. 

Finally I threw the soap water out. It was really dark with dirt. I never took the heavy wet jacket out of the tumbler, like I would if it was a shirt. I filled the tumbler with fresh water again and rinsed the jacket in it so that the soapy water would wash away. After this I quickly took the jacket out of the water and spread it on a thin foam mattress. The idea was to let all the water out of the jacket. Never, ever wring it. Just let it lie flat and let the water go out naturally. Do not even hang it from anywhere. The weight can be dangerous. 

I let the jacket lie like that overnight. In the morning I took to the rooftop where the sun was out in all its glory. Again instead of hanging it I let it lie on the floor. It was still totally wet. I spread it out over a few newspapers. Once the front side was dry, it was turned over. The jacket dried out completely in about 6/8 hours of being in the sun. 

While the jacket was wet, the clumps of down could be felt. I was a little nervous but hopeful that nothing bad would happen. Once it was dry it was back to its old lofty self. Is it cleaner? The dark dirt around the cuffs is still there. But I think overall it looks brighter and cleaner. I will probably clean it again like this after another 4/5 trips to the Himalayas.

I love my Marmot. I hope it lasts forever. 

Black Diamond Walking Sticks

Ready for the expedition

In Chadar I fell down on the frozen river and broke my wrist. Before I could realise I had broken my wrist, I realised I had broken my walking stick. It was an el cheapo unknown stick without a major brand name. It broke somewhere in the middle. Tashi fixed it but I realised that there is more to a walking stick than just being a stick.  

In Amsterdam I had run out of money to buy a pair of sticks. I had bought too many other things. Therefore when Mezda went to the US I got Gublai to buy this pair of Black Diamond sticks for me and used it first during my Stok Kangri trek.

After ten days of using it in the high Himalayan altitude I must say the stick is pretty sturdy. The twist locks could have been a little smoother. The sticks are marked L and R - meaning they are for specific hands. This is not so much about the stick but the wrist band or loop which you wrap around the wrist. One is meant for your left hand while the other for right. I do not really know if it will be a major issue if I didn't use it that way and reversed it. 

Another issue with the wrist band is it is a fixed size of a loop. So in a really cold place if you are using a fat gloves, as I was on the summit day, it might be difficult to slide your hand through it.

Another negative issue - the stick being affordable and commonly available in the west, many other travellers have the exact same thing. In Changma during a tea break another lady confused mine with her. I think I shall put my signature with a black marker pen on my sticks.

Gorilla Tape Camo

Much as I loved using the Marmot Catalyst tent in Stok Kangri (read about it here), I realised the stuffing sack that it comes in is of rather thin material. Perhaps to keep the weight low. But I wasn't too bothered about the weight because the tent was carried by mules and the sack, I found, had a three-inch gash. Lucky that the tent inside was intact and I realised two things from this experience. I need to be more careful about this issue and use sacks that are of thicker material. Second - I need a good tent repair material to be there in my sack, should things go wrong on the way.

After some googling and amazoning I realised that the famous Gorilla tape is now available in India, albeit at a hefty price relative to what they cost in the US. I ordered for one from the Indian Amazon site. It cost me a total of Rs 1100. Outrageous. But if you forget about price, the tape looks and feels like bomb proof.

Gorilla tapes come in different sizes and colours. They have the traditional black. They also have clear tapes. I chose the third option which is the camouflage colour. I am not sure but there might be fourth option of white. Sizes are different in terms of width and length and the price naturally varies accordingly. The size I went for is 1.88 inch wide and 9 yards long, which is fine for me.

The first thing I did is used it to seal the gash on my tent sac. Well, it was easy to do the job. I can pass a judgement only after it is tested over a period of time in rain and shine. Essentially I cleaned the sac around the gash. Cut a strip that is longer than the gash. I held the cloth with a thick newspaper inside and applied the tape. There was no crease or anything. The tape is hand tearable. But I used a pair of scissors. I rounded off the four edges with the scissors, so that the corners don't come up later. I would probably wash it after a few days. That will give me some idea about how it holds after the wash. 

I wanted to also use it to repair the rain cover for the Deuter. It is really badly torn. I had given it as check in baggage and they just tore it apart. I realised the tear is too large for this tape. Must be wider than 2 inches. A gaping hole, to be precise. I think I will get the hole stitched with a patch and then cover it with this tape. Because it is really good as a rain cover.

I cannot use either of these covers when I hand the items over to someone else. Whether it is a horseman in Ladakh or an airline luggage crew in Germany. They are equally bad.

This Gorilla tape is going to be one of the first items I put in my trekking sac if I go anywhere with the tent. Meanwhile, I have to get a more thick material for covering both the tent and the Deuter. I guess I will talk to Alpine in Ballygunge Place.