Ultralight hiking news/gear
 
 
 

Spring 2008:

Just back from the Big Wall of all epics, no, not El Cap as on the image, but another dreaded shoulder surgery. Durring February and March it will be easiest to contact us with questions via email, tom@nunatakusa.com
The team remains hard at work building your custom down jackets and blankets while I'm out with PT. Lead times are 6-8 weeks for most down gear.

 


December 2007:

18" of new snow here. Even so, we're hard at work making the winter season happen as well as a new website! Of the many exciting things here we plan to re-introduce our ultralight stuff sacks made from 1.3 silicone impregnated ripstop nylon ranging in weight from .3 ounces to a whopping 1.6 ounces. Neat!

A fine upgrade this season to the Chugach down Booties and Kangri Mukluks is an internal elastic ankle band that added little weight and tons of control. Now you can tromp around a snow camp with warmth and secure fit.

Pictured below, a ski trip from last season testing the Skaha and Kobuk down jackets on Mt Adams. Mt St. helens in the background. As with many of the Northwest volcanoes, like Mt Baker, they are excellent for ski mountaineering and high altitude gear testing.

   

December 2007:

18" of new snow here. Even so, we're hard at work making the winter season happen as well as a new website! Of the many exciting things here we plan to re-introduce our ultralight stuff sacks made from 1.3 silicone impregnated ripstop nylon ranging in weight from .3 ounces to a whopping 1.6 ounces. Neat!

A fine upgrade this season to the Chugach down Booties and Kangri Mukluks is an internal elastic ankle band that added little weight and tons of control. Now you can tromp around a snow camp with warmth and secure fit.

Pictured on the left, a ski trip from last season testing the Skaha and Kobuk down jackets on Mt Adams. Mt St. helens in the background. As with many of the Northwest volcanoes, like Mt Baker, they are excellent for ski mountaineering and high altitude gear testing.

 

Update Summer 2007:

The New 78" Luna pads are great! Doubled over, they are a thick 3/4 length cushion of nearly indestructible insulation that shields you from the ground in comfort. You can add one to your down order for only 25$.

We have been building many variations to our popular Skaha Plus Down Sweater this season. The super ultralight set like them with the optional front pocket in a Quantum shell. A very functional variation is to add a full front zip and a simple split front pocket. We've also been adding Kobuk style cuffs and some overfill. The Epic shell makes this the lightest weight fully baffled winter capable jacket around.

Also watch out for a completely revised and updated website, with new look and better navigation. Coming late fall 2007!!

 
 
Enjoy the summer hiking. We will be out on a trip the week of August 13th. Back to it ASAP, getting ready for the upcoming winter season, shown on the picture above in the local mountains.

Spring 2007:

We are simply elated by the performance and feel of the new Quantum shell material. This is available in 4 colors. See here for a color chart for Quantum and other materials in stock, such as Epic by Nextec. There has been some hype lately as to the the performance of this material in near freezing conditions. We have found our inherently hydrophobic polyester fabric treated with the Epic encapsulation is by far the most supple and breathable down shell to be seen, which equates to high lofting, warm gear. The new Quantum is even softer and more breathable, however unlike the Epic, you don't see manufacturers making tents out of it...

  Here is a customer's nice Arc Alpinist in the Sage Green Quantum with the Luna pad. The New Luna pads are due in soon, and will come in a 78" full length size only, for taller folks and greater comfort. You can always trim them down for extra padding elsewhere, like under your hips. More soon...

December 2006:

On order for the new year 2007 is everyone's favorite ultralight fabric, Pertex Quantum. This will be available in 4 colors sometime in early February. In our opinion, this is the best ultralight fabric on the market for lightweight down sleeping bags, sleeping quilts and down jackets. Colors are to be black, red, green and blue.

Our favorite ultralight down jacket, the Skaha sweater, is once again keeping us warm around the shop here... we had some great testing lows of -20 F in the mountains recently. Here we are out backcountry skiing at Washington Pass while it was a bit warmer , though windier.

 

September 2006:

Outperforming previous generations, is a more accurate description of the new Epic by Nextec shell material.

We found after a full summer of all condition testing that our new generation breathes as well the original but really outshines when your dealing with the wet. Wonderfully balanced for lightweight durability, this has the same soft hand which translates to great fitting and lofting gear. This is the shell of choice for sleeping bags destined for harsh conditions and the hands down winner for any mountain jacket.

 

Summer 2006:

Ok, we finally have some web pages up of our newest products and we now have the new Epic in stock that is outperforming our expectations for performance.

Please note that Summer work ends August 20th, we will be closed after that point for a few weeks... We will resume custom down production with vigor this Fall.

 

March 2006.:

New pricing is in effect as worldwide down shortages are present. Overfill will be 15$ per ounce from today.

January 2006:

New gear for the new year, where to start....

Nunatak has created a new 8 ounce sleeping bag that is a unique hybrid arc / half bag. Ideal use is summer with our 10 ounce Skaha Plus down sweater. Did you get that? For a little more than a pound, you get a super ultralight setup like no other.... cost is $199.00 for the bag. Stuffed size of 6x6.

We're proud to re-introduce the Arc X, an Arc quilt bag that we built to custom spec for Dr Ryan Jordan of Backpackinglight.com fame. Cost is still $339.00. These were a popular variation to our Arc sleeping quilt design. The goal: A one pound quilt that serves as mild 3 season do anything bag/blanket. It works!

To compliment out line of Skaha down sweaters, we found the way to push extra light into the early spring and late fall. Pants of course! Our method of fully baffling and optimally filling the amazingly efficient down sweaters is an unbeatable combination. This translates into pants as well. We reworked our famous Kobuk pants into a lighter and still baffled version. This is a truly minimalist down pant, so don't ask for pockets.

 

November 2005:

Attention Ultralighters with Cold Hands: The new sweatshirt style front pocket on the Skaha Line of Down Jackets and Down Vests is now available. This one ounce addition to our superbly light fully baffled down sweater is fantastically warm yet remains very compact. Adds less than one ounce and 40$ to any Skaha.

May 2005:

Listen up, all you ultra gear heads. You thought you had everything? Well, Nunatak can now bring to market, on a limited basis, the ultimate fill for any of our down products. But it comes at a price. Read on...

Think Classic Eider Down. The revered, the rare. A unique wild down. Grown under Arctic tundra conditions. Down so fine, so incredibly light, that loft and volume and fill weight have a new standard, an eider down benchmark... The quality is top notch, the loft is amazing as time has tested, and the finished bag or jacket is a one of a kind.

Our supplier gently hand collects this amazing product in the wild, directly from the nest, without disturbing the bird, in portions so small that it takes weeks to get enough to fill a bag. Certified genuine Eider Down from extreme Northern Canada, minimally processed, very unique.

Why would you want Eider? Warmth, loft, lightest possible weight, durability, and yes, prestige, are just a few of the reasons that comes to mind. Make up more yourself. Because certain things in life can't be logically justified.

Should you get it? Well, can you afford it? Because of its rare nature and painstaking collection process, the price of this stuff is extraordinary. We add a $125.00 surcharge per ounce of down for the exclusive privilege to own this one of a kind sleeping bag or jacket. Per ounce, remember?. That means, for example, the humble Ghost in size medium will go from $307.00 to $1187.00. Perfectly reasonable.

Call today, 1 866 NUNATAK or read more about the Eider

 

March 2005:

Now that spring is here and we're thinking about going for a hike, it looks like it's going to cost us 100$ per vehicle to access our local hills. You should go to our links page and read the full story at wildwilderness.org about the insidious nature of Corporate America's takeover of your public lands. If your paying taxes this time of the year like we are, then historically your dollars have paid for all sorts of things, including public lands administration. Well, it seems that there were some sleazy deals slung and funds were pulled from agencies, a phony 'crisis' was staged. and we thought the 'fee demo' was really a demo, right. It was a complete failure that you, the taxpayer, subsidized.

It used to be that going for a hike was freeing experience, where one needn't give up detailed personal information, one didn't have to pay 30$ summit fees, 25$ parking fees, 20$ entrance fees, and so on.

A taxation to go outside starting at 100$ and going up over time. I know, in a time when so much of an affront to the sensible nature of things is occurring like drilling in ANWR and pillaging the second largest oil reserve at the expense of thousands and thousands of iraqi and American lives cause we like to drive inefficient cars, it's tough to focus on one single issue. But this has got to be the biggest insult to the citizenry of the United States. Its un-American!

What's next? Air tax, water tax, tea tax?

Does double taxation without representation sound good to anyone?

 

February 2005:

Gossamer Gear (formerly GVP Gear) now has a Nunatak produced custom sleeping bag in their program.

Its called the SleepLight, and features, in plain language, a completely redesigned Arc Ghost with a single layer bottom fabric to convert it from a quilt to a more conventional bag. It also sports a simple, permanently integrated and insulated hood.

This is a great piece of gear for someone not quite into the full on quilt concept, but still needs a quality super light sleeping bag.

These will be available directly thru Gossamer Gear.

February 2005:

Our full line of garments and sleeping bags is now available in Quantum, an exciting new fabric from Pertex (Perseverance Mills, UK). This is a modern ultralight on par with our venerable .85 Nylon, but slightly softer and a hair more breathable. And off course since we're into splitting hairs, it should be noted that at 0.9 oz/square yard Quantum is also slightly heavier than the .85.

Colors are Hot Orange and Dark Green and prices are the same as our other fabric options.

 

January 2005:

The Nunatak Skaha Down Sweater, at 9 oz total weight, has proved immensely successful. It is favored both by alpine climbers desiring the ultimate belay jacket, or ultra lighters who's layering it with our 40 degree quilts to produce one of the most versatile and compact sleep systems out there.

Recent developments in the Skaha idiom has produced several wacky off springs, some of which are too 'custom' to mention here. One of the better experiments, and sure to be a stand alone product some day, is known under the working title 'The Super Skaha'. We sewed it in Epic fabric and added a full length zipper and 2 oz of fill. The cool simplicity of the original is retained, but it is now a bit cozier to just hang out in.

This so called Super Skaha ($350.00), as well as any other custom project YOU can come up with, is available any time. Give us a call or email.

 

Nunatak is dedicated to custom design and manufacture of quality back country sleeping bags and garments
utilizing 800+ goose down and sophisticated fabrics.

home | sleep systems | garments | down booties | order | clearance | fabrics | accolades | links | contact us | blog
webdesign by fivenineclimber.com