It's All About the Gear - Madagascar Update

Ross, who is part of the team that Backcountry.com sponsored to go to Madagascar, sent me this quick update on how the relief effort has gone. After reading it not only was I stoked about the work he and his team has done but it's great to hear that the gear he chose to pick up from us (with a bit of help on the costs) has made the trip. It's interesting to hear this from so many customers - the gear made all the difference.

Quick update for the blog. The pay-as-you-go dial up will never load the page and I've only got access to a computer briefly before we leave again.

Things here are going great, and the gear has worked out amazingly. We've spent the last month doing health outreach work in a large number of villages and as expected we've been on the move a ton. Our pattern has been to hike the few days into each village giving advanced notice so that people from nearby villages can come to see the health team while we're there, and we stay for a few days to do some educational work as well. This means that we're carrying a ton of gear a very long way over rough ground and through a surprising number of rice paddy's. As such, the words "wet" and "muddy" have come to define most of life.

On top of the distance, the research station we're based at and many of the villages are actually in the cloud forest, so we spend big chunks of time in the clouds where anything just exposed to air gets soaked. everything we own is pretty much covered in mud, but all of the waterproof gear has held out great and really made things much easier and more comfortable. It's also kept all of the more important supplies and medications dry in the rain and fog, which has been invaluable. Both the Mutha Hubba and Seedhouse SL 3 have turned out to be bulletproof, and the Naos and Bora packs have been lifesavers as well. The gear has really made all the difference in making us being out for so long possible. Thanks again to Backcountry for helping us out.

2 comments