| |
Gear Reviews
Documents
Tools
|
Field Report: Psolar.BX
February 13, 2004
Name: David Sowards-Emmerd
Age: 26
Gender: Male
Height: 5'8'' (1.73 m)
Weight: 155 lb (70 kg)
Email Address: dseATstanfordDOTedu
Location: Los Altos, California, USA
Date: February 13, 2004
Backpacking Background:
I began backpacking semi-frequently about three years ago, soon
after moving to California. I generally take weekend (1 night) trips,
and occasionally take 3-4 day trips. Most of my backpacking experience
is at moderate altitude, 6,000'-12,000' (1,800-3,650 m), in conditions
ranging from dry desert to hail/heavy snow in the mountains. In
winter and spring I split time between Southern California (SoCal)
deserts and snowshoeing/snowcamping in the mountains. Summer and fall
I tend to stick to the high country. My pack weight has generally
been in the 60-90 pound (27-40 kilo) range (including food/water and
bear barrel), but I've been trying to go lighter.
Product Specifications:
Manufacturer: Psolar Inc.
Manufacturer's Website: www.psolar.com
Weight: not specified
Sizes: One size fits all
As measured by tester:
Weight (total): 69 g / 2.43 oz
Weight (mouthpiece): 19 g / 0.67 oz
Product description:
The Psolar.BX is a fleece balaclava. The front opening is large
enough to accomodate full size glacier glasses. The balaclava
extends down to the base of my neck in both front and back.
Polartec Powerstretch material is used for all but the lower face
area. AquaShell covers the chin, cheeks, and nose. Netting covers
the mouth, and forms a pocket on the inside of the balaclava. The
heat exchanger module can be inserted into this pocket. The module
itself appears to be plastic sheets bonded together, enclosed in a
black plastic housing. The basic concept behind the module is that
when warm, moist air is exhaled (into the module), the moisture
and warmth are held in the module until air is sucked back though
the module, effectively retaining both the heat and moisture.
The stretchy fabric allows for the balaclava to be doubled or
tripled up - effectively converting it into a hat. Removing the
module facilitates this. When worn as a hat, (tripled up) it is a
bit tight. It can also be worn as a 'neck gaiter' by pulling the
top of the hood down over the back of the head - in other words
putting your head through the front opening. All this combined with
the removable mouthpiece makes for a very versatile piece of
headgear. I was able to insert, and remove the module without taking
off the balaclava (removal was also possible with gloves on). I
initially assumed it would be necessary to take off the balaclava to
remove the module. The module itself is reasonably comfortable as it
does not really apply any pressure to the face when inserted in the
balaclava. It does not appear to hinder breathing too much.
Testing Locations and Conditions:
Location 1:
Cross Country Ski Headquarters, Roscommon, MI
24 Dec 2003
Cold and Dry
I spent a cool morning cross country skiing on 2'' / 5 cm
of ice dusted with snow.
Location 2:
Wilderness State Park, Northern Michigan
Dec 24 - Dec 30, 2003
Temperatures: generally 20-35 F / -6-2 C
I spent much of the week hiking, both during the day
and stargazing/hiking at night (usual Michigan weather
meant cross country skiing wasn't possible without
damaging skis - icy and not much snow.)
I also spent a night out in a bivy for testing purposes.
My plan (from the Psolar testing point of view) was to
see how much I could limit the inevitable condensation
inside the bivy by using the Psolar. Unfortunately,
due to comfort issues (I'm something of an insomniac), I
don't think I got much sleep with the module in place.
First, inside the bivy, normal breath was enough to move
air in and out of the vents. However, with the module
as an obstruction to breathing, air did not circulate
well at all (although breathing in was VERY warm!) So,
to avoid the suffocation feeling, I generally pulled
the material covering my face (and the module) down so
that it rested below my chin. Also, I tend to roll
around a lot at night and often sleep face down. As
expected, this is not very comfortable with a 1'' / 2cm
thick piece of plastic in front of my mouth. In any
case, it was very nice to be able to pull the module
back up into place for some warm air when I woke up
during the night. And in the morning, everything from
my chest up was soaked with condensation.
Location 3:
Yosemite Valley:
7-8 Feb 2004
Sunny (but the valley was mostly in the shade)
Temperature: low around 20 F/ -7 C, high around 35 F / 2 C
Light breeze at times
I spent half the day snowshoeing around the valley, trying
to avoid the usual tourists. Much of the hiking was in the
shade, and with frequent photo stops, I made use of all the
configurations of the Psolar.
Again, I slept in a bivy (under a tarp, on two sleeping pads,
and with a down vest and blanket -no hood- on top of me), but
this time, I keept the bivy hood
completely open. In addition to the Psolar, I also wore a
medium weight wool hat for extra warmth (due to lack of a
sleeping bag hood.) I'm not sure how much sleep I got with
the module in place, but at least a reasonable fraction
of the night (I woke up more than once and the module was
over my mouth.) This time, I had no condensation at all
near my face. Part of this may be due to 'proper' use of
the module, but I would guess it's mainly due to keeping
the bivy very open.
General Impressions:
Since the mouthpiece is not held tighly against the face,
I have to make a concious effort to breathe directly into
the module. That is, unless I 'push my lips forward' to
to make direct contact with the module, then the majority
of my breath doesn't go through it, and instead condenses
inside the balaclava. For me, this is not a relaxed
position for my face and makes falling asleep difficult
to impossible. A tighter fit, or possibly more sizes
might remedy this.
Additionally, combined with sleeping inside a bivy, the
module creates a suffocating effect (best way I can
describe it is that as the sensation you get when trying to
breath through heavy blankets when your breath gets warmer
and warmer). I had a hard time falling asleep when I had
the module over my mouth, due to this and the above issue.
To clarify this, let me say that I believe the issue
here is that the module presents enough resistance to
my breath that unless I intentionally breath hard (not
what you generally do when sleeping), then the air doesn't
really move away from my face, so I breath the same air
back in. With more of a breeze, or more accessible air
(say inside a tent instead of a bivy), this may not be
a problem. Generally, I slept (I think) with the
module and facemask part of the balaclava pulled down
underneath my chin, and used the module for a nice
warmup whenever I woke up.
As stated in my initial report, glasses fog up instantly
when worn with the balaclava.
The balaclava itself (module included) makes for a very
versatile piece of headgear. The ability to change
from a full balaclava, to pulling down the facemask,
to pulling the hood down (converting it to a neck
gaiter) makes it easy to avoid overheating. However, it
would be nice to be able to use the module alone - in cold
weather during heavy excercise (little or no wind) - where
breathing in warmer air would be really comfortable, but
nothing more than a headband would be needed. A Petzl
Zipka-like setup would be convenient and easy, simply
attaching a elastic cord/band to the module. (I plan to
make one of these when done testing the product.)
Overall, I think the balaclava is more suited to either
extreme (non-windy) cold, or low intensity activity
(around camp, flat terrain, or not carrying a load) .
Generally, I do not need much insulation since most of
my hiking involves a good deal of elevation gain and
moderate to heavy loads (for winter dayhikes in avalanche
terrain, I generally carry around 15-20 lbs / 7-9 kg
excluding snowshoes and ice axe/poles).
Future Use:
I anticipate at least another half dozen or so weekend trips
to snow country during the testing period, and possibly a
few not-so-snowy trips where the temperatures may drop
enough to necessitate warm gear. I will try to test it
in a tent or more of an open air location for sleeping
(breathing through the module), but since I'm also testing
a bivy currently, I'm trying to use the bivy every time I
have the chance.
I may also use the Psolar for biking to work if we have a
few more sub-freezing mornings, although I generally do not
wear more than a wind resistant headband for 35 F / 2 C
mornings. This would allow me to test the wind resistance
and breathability of the balaclava.
Read more reviews of Psolar gear
Read more gear reviews by David Sowards-Emmerd
|
