Sea to Summit Gear

28th August, 2025

Testing it out at Thupwang Homestay before the trek

In the recent past I bought a few gear from Sea to Summit India. They are a poncho, an air mattress and a two-person tent. These were all bought before the epic Rumtse to Tso Moriri trek in Ladakh in August 2025. I call it epic because it is by far the longest trek in my life and also perhaps the toughest for me so far. 

I used all these items during the trek and was reasonably happy with their performance. I will first come to the most expensive and the most favourite of my gears so far. The Telos TR2 Plus tent. I used it on the trail on all the six nights when we camped. I will describe the set up first. 

Here is a little walkaround of the tent

First you lay out the ground sheet on the floor and peg the six corners lightly. The Big Foot covers even the vestibule areas on either side of the tent in a triangle. So you need six pegs. The pegs that S2S gives with the tent look very dainty (in fact in Leh I borrowed a few robust pegs from Tashi but they were never really necessary) but as I discovered in the field they are pretty competent. Of course the ground I pitched the tent every afternoon was soft and not rocky. 

Next you lay out the actual tent on the ground sheet in proper alignment with the ground sheet. The tent is broader at the head end compared to the leg end and so is the ground sheet. So you have to align properly - broad to broad and narrow to narrow. You place the hooks with the green tabs at the narrower end and the grey ones at the broader side (that is where I keep my head). 

Then comes the task of setting up the poles. The entire pole set is one integrated into one piece, unlike other dome tents that have two main poles that you keep in an X orientation and hook up from the corners. This makes managing the S2S pole sections a bit tricky. The tent poles are also colour coordinated. You match the green to green and grey to grey and then insert the ends into the grommets. You might need to bend the poles here and think it might break but no. They don't break.

Next you hold the central ridge line pole in a Y shape looking upwards and hook the two sides of the tent body. This is bloody heavy duty task. You have to pull the loops really hard to engage them. And do it before hooking the tent body up to the poles. Once the central ridge line is set then you can hook up the tent to the poles. Now the tent body is up. 

The bare body tent only before putting the rain fly. 

Next you lay the fly sheet over keeping the colour-coded alignment in mind. Again you have to hook the two sides of the tent to the central ridge line. Yet another tough task. But pull really hard and it will engage. There is one other step that I did only once. Engage the velcro tabs to the pole and then engage the four corners to the tent body - again colour coordinated. 

Now peg the corners properly and you are set. If you have never set up the Telos tent this may not make any sense to you. Actually I wrote this out for myself, lest I forget. There is a good video from S2S that I saw several times before the first set up. 

I will perhaps do a video of the set up later. Meanwhile here is a link to a video of the tent set up on the Rumtse Tso Moriri trail. 

Headline Features 

The main thing that strikes you about the tent is its compact size and light weight. They pack the tent in two main stuff sacks. One for the fly and another for the main tent. If you count the ground sheet that is a third packet and the poles go in one other sack. And of course there is the small pouch for the tent pegs. These weigh around 2 Kg and you can distribute the weight in two backpacks for a fair share of the load. I kept them all in the duffel bag and off loaded it for the mules to carry. But I am an old man. If I was younger I'd carry it in my sack. On a bike packing trip you can tie them up on the two forks of the bike (but careful about the road dirt). 

I am glad that I was carrying a dry sack (again S2S). I used it for storing the rain fly and the ground sheet when they were wet in the morning, so that they wouldn't make my other stuff in the duffel wet. 

There is a zipped vent in the ceiling for letting the heat out. I used it while making tea inside the tent (it is a very unsafe practice and one should use extreme caution while doing it).

My verdict

If you can afford it just go for it. The space inside is fabulous, particularly the vertical space. The tent was tested in high wind and heavy downpour. It held out fine against them. The Plus version has a heavier duty floor for better water resistance. 

The pitching might seem a bit intimidating at first but it's okay. If I can do it in less than ten minutes you should be able to do it in five perhaps. In fact by the fifth day I got better and faster at it. But the main clincher is its packability and weight. I also love the understated green colour. It merges so well with the green environment that you find in most camp sites.

One last word about Sea to Summit and their customer service. I had bought a dry sack from Amsterdam some seven years ago when S2S was not even available in India. Recently I found its seam tape inside had come unstuck and its waterproofness was gone. I asked S2S if they could help me repair it. They said send it to our Delhi office and we will see what we can do about it. Within a week they sent me a new dry sack, which is actually better than the original I had.

I was simply dumbfounded by this kind gesture. They have replaced another dry back pack when its seam tape came loose. In fact they gave me a much more expensive bag as a replacement without any extra charge. 

Salewa Hiking Boots

My Meindl suddenly crumbled a few months ago. I had bought it off the Kathmandu store in Amsterdam. The sole came off and the mid sole became brittle and became dust. Very unfortunate that it didn't survive more than five years of very light use. Perhaps that was what did it in. Covid kept us home bound for a long time.

After that I started wearing the Timberland more extensively. It had already gone to Mr Mochi once. But after the North Bengal bird festival it gave in completely. The pasting came off once again. I somehow managed to finish the trek but the shoe will obviously have to be retired off. While I will take it to Mr Mochi once again, I cannot depend on it for long hikes on rough roads. It can at best serve as a motorcycle riding boot where long walks will not be involved. The shoes served me well for about eight years and I am very happy with them.

Incidentally I am keeping the Meindls with me for now. In case I go to England or the US I intend to try and get them repaired. They have highly professional repair shops there, which we don't have here. In fact Meindl itself repairs them - one has to send them through the dealer - but it costs 110 pounds or more. I shall see how to deal with it.

I knew I would buy the Salwa but was keeping it pending. But finally after coming home from Lepchakha I pulled the trigger on the Salewa MS MTN Trainer Lite Mid GTX. The colour is called Brown Bungee Cord and the size I chose is 8. I placed the order on 11th March, 2023.

The listed price is Rs 14000. But it would've worked out cheaper by tweleve hundred bucks due to all the cash back schemes. 

Salewa is a German/Italian company that is based in Tirol. Officially the company is Italian but I guess the owners are German. Tirol is in the Italian-German-Austrian border and home to most of the legendary mountain boot manufacturers for more than a hundred years. This area has also produced many legendary mountaineers like Reinhold Messner or Peter Habeler. So mountain and skiing boot makers with any pedigree are all based here. That way Salewa ticks a major box off. Incidentally, designed as they are in Tirol, the boots are manufactured in Vietnam.

The box was delieverd in a day. I had ordered it on a Saturday (I had come backon Friday) and it came home on Sunday. Well packed in the original Salewa box. The first visual imprssion was it looks a tad narrow. I put them on and it fitted just fine. No problem whatsoever. My feet are slightly broad in the front but fit was not a problem for me. I felt a small hump under the bridge/arch of my left foot. Only on the left foot. I will come to that later.

I walked a few steps inside the house on the tiled floor of my flat to check for the basic fit and feel. The sole felt almost sticky. I am hoping the grip would be very good on mountain trails. These are not Vibram soles. They have used soles from a company called Pomoca. This is one of their group companies and perhaps explains why the boot is cheaper. This is my first pair of mountain boots that do not have Vibram soles. Many other companies too do not use Vibram any more, perhaps for their price. 

My Salewa came with Goretex lining though. This is a major requirement for me while buying mountain boots. I think Goretex is worth the price you pay. It makes your boots absolutely water proof (unless of course water sips in throug the top, in which case even a gumboot is not waterproof). Some companies like Columbia have ditched GTX for their inhouse material but I have no experience with them. Not using GTX certainly makes anything significantly cheaper.

On Monday I went for my maiden walk in them. I had a haircut to take and I decided to walk it out and chose the Salewa as my boot. I added it to my gear list on Garmin Connect and made it the default shoe for any recorded walking activity. This means every time I walk with the Garmin on, these shoes will be added to the activity and I can see how many kilometers it has covered. I hope to get at least a couple of thousand kilometers out of them with a good part of that being in the mountains. However, with my current condition of the knees I don't know for how long I will be able to nurture the dreams of walking in the mountains. 

I intend to use these as my main shoes for any walk. Be it in the city, jungles or mountains. That's the best way to keep a pair of boots happy. They are not happy to be kept in shoe racks. This is also true for most things like a car, motorcycle, camera, recorder, computer. Anything that stays idle for a long time develops problems. 

Out on the street I could feel that hump under the bridge of my left foot. I once had plantar fascitiis and this happened. Even the softest and the most comfortable pair of sports shoes were hurting me under the bridge as if the sole had bulged up. So I realised may be my sole is not in best shape after the walks in Lepchakha. But after some time, perhaps less than a kilometer, the hump started to become less pronounced. By the end of the day that feeling was gone. 

I don't know if the shape of the boot adjusted to my feet but it's okay now.

The boots also felt a little warmer than usual. Goretex certainly makes anything warmer. But this particular warmth is perhaps to do with the boots' material and how it is sealed. I am okay with it. Even in Calcutta this was fine for me.

I couldn't feel that grippy stickiness of the sole I felt off the box at home any more on the street. And the boots had no signs of any stiff new boot. It didn't require any breaking in unless that left foot issue was about breaking in. If it is so, then it got broken in within a kilometer. 

The shoes, I must say, are not as comfortable as my Meindls. That sole in my Meindl had a midsole which was quite soft and gave great cushioning. But that is the part that crumbled like dry leaves or cookies and made it unrepairable in India. 

The lace is slightly shorter than I have seen in my other hiking boots. That is not a problem for me though. It's just an observation.

Among other things, the boots have rand around the toes only. Not a full rand. That's fine for me, given that I am not into heavy mountaineering. They also have two loops in the back to hang them, if necessary. They have some technical name that I forget now. I think bootstrap. They have no practical utility except that they give the boots a professional look.

I am hoping  that these boots will serve me for at least a couple of thousand kilometers or more over the next at least 8/10 years. Let me see if they live up to my expectations. I am going to keep a tab. 

Time to retire after eight years

Adventures With The Salewa

May 2023 - Calcutta to Sandakphu driving trip. Combination of self drive (to and from Manebhanjang) and Land Rover taxi. 

Bought a pair of Bata in-soles for Rs 500 before the VoF trek. Improved comfort considerably. 

July 2023 - Valley of Flowers 21st to 26th July, 2023. The boots performed pretty well on wet rocks while going downhill with a 5/6 kg load on back. Not as comfortable as the Meindls but has a good grip. Perhaps better grip than the Meindls. 

At VoF with the Salewas on

October 24 - Annapurna Base Camp - Completed the six day ABC trek in Nepal in these boots. They performed just fine. No problem. The toe nails are intact. They both fell off after VOF.

At MBC 

April 18 to 27 2025 - Goechala Trek

Went wearing these shoes to Goechala in Sikkim. Nice performance, as expected. The trail had lots of mud sections and rocky stretches. Performed flawlessly. Crossed small streams too without a hassle. Cleaned immediately upon arrival back to Calcutta. 

 

Somewhere on the Goechala trail. Possibly Tsokha

August 11 to 17, 2025 Rumtse to Tso Moriri

Very long and tiring trek over rocky and hard terrain. Lots of river and stream crossings too. Every day crossed one or two high passes. The left foot unfortunately developed a small crack just where the rand starts near the little toe. Let me see if Mr Mochi can fix it.

Sea to Summit Nylon Tarp Poncho

 Sea to Summit has two ponchos. One is the Ultrasil - costing upwards of Rs 9,000. The other is a nylon poncho at 6K plus. While Ultrasil is very light and thin the nylon tarp is thicker. After much research I settled for the cheaper one. My main objective is to have it during trek and take it out during a big shower. Because it covers both the man and the backpack.  

I am afraid I didn't find too many online reviews for it. Almost all the reviews are about its usefulness as a tarp (Americanese for tarpaulin). There is this growing trend among western hikers to ditch the tent and go more minimalistic with just a tarp that you can pitch as a shelter with your walking stick for support etc. or by tying it to two trees with a rope. I don't see myself doing that in the near future. 

I wanted to see comments about its usefulness as a poncho. People say you are likely to sweat a lot in it. More than in the Ultrsil. That is true for all rain protection gear. I have a Colombia rain jacket that makes me sweat. I get so wet that sometimes I wonder if it would've been better to get drenched in rain water than in salty sweat. But that which cannot be cured must be endured.

I am yet to unpack the poncho. It looks barely larger than a cricket ball. It is so well packed that I am afraid I might not be able to pack it back. But I have to do it before my trip because  discovering it in the trail can have catastrophic effect on my comfort. 

Like my S2S Sprint bag this is also going to go on my cycling trips. 

 

Sea to Summit Sprint

 Last evening (30th March, 2025) my latest gear arrived by post. A 20-lit backpack from Sea To Summit. The model name is Sprint. It costs upward of Rs 9000. But I organised a six month EMI scheme with S2S India. I intend to pay for it from my monthly pension. And thanks to them for trusting me in good faith.

The bag is supposed to be water proof and extremely light. It has a roll top closure that requires 4 folds minimum to make it waterproof. I bought it with a view to take on treks where I personally carry only small items that's needed on the trail. Rest I outsource to porters/mules. I have so far been using the larger Deuter backpack for this purpose. This S2S is much lighter and water proof which are two very major plus points. 

But it has a few disadvantages too. It does not have any waist belt and there is no external pockets for water bottles. The model that has these things (and some other features too like a much firmer back panel) costs Rs 26,000. If I was still in service or if the stock market was booming I would probably buy that :-) But let's get on with what I have and not fret over what I don't have.

Last night, in my excitement to try out this new gear immediately, I went out for a short walk. I loaded it with two fat Dalrymple books and a 1 lit water bottle. So the total weight must have been around 3 kilos. It sat very well on the back. It did not bounce against my back as I suspected and I almost did not feel it was there. I was missing the waist belt but that is perhaps a more psychological requirement than anything real.

It has a thin layer of back panel to sit comfortably on the back. I hope it does not soak in and transfer all my sweat from the back. It also has a string on the outside to stuff a jacket or something. They call it compression system. That is you can pull the string tight to make the bag more compact.

My idea for it is to carry my camera, some dry food, a poncho, a towel and a jacket in it on the trail. And of course water bottles. I usually carry two one litre bottles in my Deuter. One of them is filled with electrolytes. In this I wish to carry two 750 ml cycling bidons because their top closure is a lot more dependable to not leak. I might carry another small bidon in the pocket of my shirt (I have carried 1 lit Kinley bottles in them in the past). I have to put these things for real in the bag and go out a few times to see how it performs. Carrying water bottle and camera side by side does not agree in my mind. I might end up carrying a very thin S2S dry bag - purchased in Amsterdam - as a double protection for the camera. 

Ditching the old trusted Deuter for something this small and thin will take a lot of mental strength. But it's a very handy bag that has another advantage over the Deuter. Suppose I am going from Siliguri to Yuksom in a shared jeep. The large Forclaz duffle will go on top of the jeep. If I have the Deuter the jeep conductor will want to put it on the roof too because it's larger and will not be comfortable to carry on my lap in the jeep. The S2S is small and looks very light and handy. No one will ask me to put it up on the roof. Actually I might even put it in the duffle and put everything up on the roof. My only concern is the camera.

The inside of the bag has a waterproof lining and white. That makes looking inside the bag for things rather easy. The seams are entirely sealed. I hope they stay well for a long time. The Lowe Alpine dry bags I had purchased from Trek Kit did not last for too long. Same with my Marmot tent. They flake off. 

The base of the bag is quite thick. It's a 420D material. But the upper part is really thin that makes it extremely light. They say the buckles are field replaceable. That would imply I carry a star key of the right size and a spare buckle. Good luck with that. But at home I can. 

While I will use it in Goechala for sure, I see myself using it as almost a daily back pack. I was thinking of rucking on a regular basis and this bag would be ideal for that. But I do not want to put iron barbel weights. Concentrated weight may not be good for the fabric. I see it as a must take gear for any cycling trip for sure. Light, form fitting on the back and waterproof. But I guess this is targetted at ultra marathoners - it lacks a hydration pack pouch though. But hydration packs require a hole for the pipe to come out. That would compromise the waterproofness of it. 

I will keep updating the other pros and cons of the bag as I go.