Gear review: NorthFace Trailhead 4 tent (Mr R)

                                                                                                                                              

Date: September 20, 2008

Personal info:

• Name: Mr R
  
• Age: 29
  
• Height: 6'5
  
• Weight: 170
  
• Location: Manitoba
  

I've been camping since I was young in Cubs and Scouts. I have camped in the backwoods of British Colombia as well as Northwestern Ontario and Northeastern Manitoba. I consider myself a 'medium experience' outdoorsman. 

Product information: Northface Trailhead 4, 2007 edition

Capacity: 4

Trail weight: 18 pounds 2 oz

Total weight: 20 pounds 8 oz

Fly: 75 denier, 185t polyester taffeta coated with 1200 mm pu

Floor: 70 denier, 210t nylon taffeta coated with 2000mm pu

Stuff size: 28x9 inches

Poles: (#) 2 plus one for vestibule

Diameter: 13.0mm

Canopy fabric: 70 denier, 190t nylon taffeta

Area: 64 ft2

Product description: The North face Trailhead 4 is a 4 man, 3 pole dome tent that will fit 4 adults cramped or 3 adults with gear. There is enough room in the 2 vestibules for gear and the front vestibule has more than enough room to cook in bad weather. It's a basecamp tent, meaning that for backwoods use it is too large and heavy, however for families and car camping, it is pure luxury. The tent is completely double skinned meaning that the fly covers the entire tent and a bathtub floor ensures that even in the most energetic thunderstorms, your tent will stay dry. There are also medium sized pockets lining the middle and top of the tent allowing for maximum organization. 

Setup: The Trailhead 4 is one of the easiest tents of it's size I have set up. By myself the total setup time with fly is about 8 minutes, with a friend it's about 5. You must set up the inside however, before the fly can be attached. The roomy vestibule has enough space to cook and store gear however in order to be kept tight and away from the tent, it needs to be staked out. The stakes are round aluminum 8 inch shafts. They are pretty standard and hold well in earth however not as well in sand and are easily bent.

Field test: I've used the trailhead 4 on a total of 9 nights in some pretty extreme rain and tempratures up to 30'C. In Rain the tent holds up extremely well. No leaks at all or any condensation inside the tent in the mornings. As far as ventilation, there are 2 vnts in the front vestibule however the only other airflow comes from between the rainfly and the ground. I found that to be sufficiant. Also the doors are double sided, one mesh one nylon, for those colder nights. The material of the rainfly is Ripstop and so the fly is very durable as well. My only complaint is the weight. I know it is not at all meant for backwoods camping, however they could have done with lighter fabric and a lighter pole system. All in all for a family tent it is a good value for the money. Good brand name with a proven track record.

Things I liked:

• Durable and weather resistent
  
• Lots of storage, in and out
  
• Large Vestibule
  

Things I dislike:

• Heavy
  

Organic for you and your family

There is strong evidence supporting the fact that organic foods are healthier and more nutrient rich than non-organic food.

Natural food does not have chemicals, additives or growth hormones. Natural food is simply food grown organically the way nature intended.

Why are we experiencing so much sickness today, particularly in the western world? I strongly believe it is because of the lack of knowledge when it comes to proper nutrition and not incorporating natural and organic foods into our diet.

It seems as if the system is treating us like cattle, fattening us, then leading us to the slaughter. We are a society bred for disease solely to sustain the food and pharmaceutical conglomerates. (No offense to those who work in the pharmaceutical industry Mr. M)

If drug companies invented a cure for disease, they would be out of business. Realize that your body is remarkable. It has the capability to heal itself. But upon the first sign of pain, we reach for a prescription or non-prescription drug.

This may provide temporary relief, but does not change the cause of the problem. This is why I try to eat natural food and live an organic lifestyle. I'm not perfect though and my girlfriend would be a much better example of this. As our Blog expands we hope to include raw and organic recipes for you and your family, and I plan to document my own 2 week raw vegeterian diet experiment

      Let me give you another example. Food manufacturers are pressed against time and have a financial responsibility to its shareholders. They need to mass-produce large quantities of their fruits and vegetables. They do this by growing their fruits and vegetables faster and in huge quantities with the aid of chemicals. So the fruits and vegetables you buy at your local supermarket are laced with toxic chemicals. Over time these toxins can potentially make you sick.

For this reason, it is better to eat natural food that is organically grown. Are organic foods healthier than conventional ones? I think you may say yes.

In the meat industry they also need to mass produce, so they feed their livestock chemicals and growth hormones, this way the animals grow bigger and faster. Could this be the reason our children are developing at an earlier age? It is quite possible. The meat industry also uses sneaky tactics to trick consumers into thinking the meat is still fresh.

You may have read recently about carbon monoxide being put into meat to keep that fresh rosy look. You can experiment by placing meat on your kitchen counter, leave it exposed for a few days and notice it will still have that "fresh" meat look. They add the carbon monoxide in small quantities through a procedure called "modified atmosphere packaging" and it's approved by the FDA. This is not natural food and the practice is deceptive.  Again are organic foods healthier than conventional ones?  It would seem so.

It is important to get educated when it comes to health. Today with the internet and the information age, there is no excuse. When it comes to our health, ignorance is not bliss. Ignorance can be hazardous to your health. Have more control of your health and your diet. Learn about natural food products and how you can include them into your diet, And don't forget your pets! Eating organic is healthy for them as well and can contribute to a longer life and more energy.

                                                        -Robert-

Tulabi 2008

 

 

Gear Review Team

Just thought I'd take this opportunity to introduce our "Gear review" team. First we have "Mr M" an avid backwoods adventurist that prefers the kayak to the canoe. Considered a light camper as he packs light, and a discerning taste bud. Next we have "Mr B" Again a backwoods champ. Prefers kayak to canoe. Also considered a light camper. Excellent fisherman, and has completed medium difficulty solo treks into the Pre-Cambrian shield. Also experience in international trekking. Then we have "Mr C". A backwoods chef like no other, Mr C has completed many journeys into the Pre-Cambrian shield over his life. Considered a medium weight camper (As he usually has top quality ingredients in the pack) Has experience in extreme weather camping, and prefers the Canoe. Finally we have "Mr R"(Not pictured). A medium weight camper, Mr R prefers the Canoe. Enjoys experimenting with different gear (tents, bags, etc) and is familiar with natural herbs and edibles.  Anyone is welcome to post a review, however our gear review team is experienced with some of the most extreme landscape on earth, and they're reviews are from actual experiences and failures. Thank-you, and feel free to add your own comments to our reviews.                       -Robert-

                 (Semi-nude modeling courtesy of 'DJ Just-In')

"Narrated" tour of Tulabi falls

Elbow lake vids Aug 2008

Tulabi falls, Manitoba. Aug 2008

Tulabi falls, Manitoba

Biodiesel from Hemp / General Biodiesel Information

Bill Mason - Waterwalker

David Wolfe: Raw Food Pregnancy & Kids

Understanding the meditation process

Meditation can be described as a continued, unbroken awareness of the mind in it's raw state. It involves the overcomings of distractions and dissipated energies into a blissful awareness. Let us look  at it this way-at any point in time we are consumed with countless thoughts and emotional baggage at the concious and subconcious level. This prevents us from experianceing true uninhibited bliss. Bliss will result from an expanded awareness of the happenings without any attatchments and bonds whatsoever.

Meditation is a process which equips us with tools to experience this bliss. It shows us the path to live everyday life using these tools

People who meditate realize that they experience a beautiful inner space as they disengage from the outside world and go deep into themselves. They get detached from their ego and the emotional bondage to experience this feeling. But as soon as they come out of it, they return to their 'personality shapes'. These shapes are accompanied by learned patterns of behavior and thinking about who they are and what they can or cannot achieve.

We must strive to relate these two states - the higher meditative state and the daily conscious state. At any point of time, we should be aware of our 'higher state'. Meditation is mind management and helps us do that.

What meditation does: 

Meditation helps us overcome our manifold desires and distractions. It does so NOT by curbing desires - which will always be there - but by rendering them inconsequential in front of an unbroken and larger desire of existence. The more we can hold onto the memory of the meditation practice, the easier it is to pull yourself back from the endless desires.

Meditation teaches us to be a 'witness'. While we are meditating, we are detached and enjoying the moment. But the moment we finish, we lose it and return to our distracted state. So, we need to develop a meditative lifestyle. This lifestyle will help us observe and understand why we oscillate between the calm meditative state and our daily state of mind. We then understand what patterns of our lifestyle disturb our calm, blissful state.

 

Important prerequisite for meditation: 

For successful meditation, we must be 'grounded'. Grounding is that anchor that helps us to be stable in the meditative process. Normally, grounding can be anchoring to your breath or your body movement while in the meditative state. It can happen that as you proceed in meditation, you reach a stage of unknown where you have no confidence to proceed further. At such a time, grounding is of great help as it provides a memory of where you are and what you are doing. It provides a stability to rest upon as energies start to change while proceeding in meditation.

How to use meditation: 

In meditation, we should develop the capacity to use our energy to manipulate our mind and how we feel. We should be able to understand what is going on at our deeper levels. Only when we understand the issues can we tackle them and take them out as a distraction to our calm being

              -HealthandYoga.com-

                                           -Thx Lisr for pics-

Moksha Yoga Winnipeg

In yoga philosophy texts we learn that to reach 'Moksha Yoga' is to attain enlightenment -a state of being that brings understanding of our true nature as sentient beings, opens a sense of deep liberation, and frees us from the suffering of every day life. In choosing our name, we thought we'd aim high!

Moksha can also be translated as freedom. The Moksha Yoga series is free to change and evolve based on the needs of the students. The Moksha Yoga series was designed to free areas of the body that are often habitually tight and constricted - lower back, hips, knees, shoulders and neck. In this process the body is strengthened, toned, and opened, while the mind becomes still. Space is created within so that each student moves towards the full potential in their life.

We sweat green! Well, not literally, of course, but we do operate based on a deep sense of responsibility for the effect of our actions on the natural environment. In fact every Moksha Yoga studio signs an agreement to operate with strict environmental controls. The studios are built with sustainable and non-toxic supplies, lights and heating systems are low consumption and all studios are cleaned with environmentally-friendly cleaning products.

We take our day-to-day environmental efforts a step further and donate monthly to Zero Footprint. Zero Footprint is an organization that measures the environmental impact a home or business is having on carbon emissions, a leading contributor to global warming. When emissions are determined, measured donations are made and Zero Footprint plants trees and protects watersheds to offset the negative effects our day to day power usage has on the environment. Moksha Yoga is now a Zero Footprint organization!! To offset the effect of your home, office, commute to work, airline flights, etc. visit www.zerofootprint.net

In addition, each year the Moksha Yoga family sends 30-50 teachers into communities to introduce yoga to various under-serviced and often marginalized communities - for example: half-way houses, centres for addiction or youth at risk. Classes are taught free of charge and often give the individuals skills and elevate their feeling of self-worth.

Natural living in Canada (An introduction)

     "Global thinking and local action both require understanding of ecological systems, but ecological management can be effective only if it takes into consideration the visceral and spiritual values that link us to the earth. Therefore ecological thinking must be supplemented by humanistic value judgements concerning the effect of our choices and actions on the quality of the relationship between humankind and earth, in the future as well as the present.

             -Rene Jules Dubos, The wooing of the earth-

Our goal in this blog is only to inform. To help people get more enjoyment from the earth, by eating better and urban gardening to better mental health and overall fitness, as well as enjoying nature first hand through backwoods camping and hiking. To help people get closer to the earth, thus developing a relationship with it. To understand the importance of minimizing our carbon footprint to protect the earth for future generations.

We are not "Hippies" here. Although my girlfriend is a vegetarian, I am not nor do I intend to be. That is not to say that our eating habits do not affect our enviroment. I don't have long hair, or much hair for that matter. We just thought it would be good to create a resource for people to come and learn and to teach, so please enjoy our blog and please respect it for all readers. Thank-you.                                                                -Rob and Ella-