I just came back from Mountain Equipment Coop...the one place that can single handedly keep my bank account in the black.

I checked out their sleep pads. The RidgeRest is huge. MEC makes some house brand self inflating pads which are around the $40-$50 mark...pretty good.

When I came home I talked to a friend and I managed to inherit a self inflating pad for free! I'm not sure what brand it is but it knowing this friend I'm sure it cost a bundle when it was new. When I do my little test I'm going to try each by itself and both together.

I also inherited an Optimus Crux. He bought it for lightweight backpacking and immediately went back to his Omnifuel type stove...I need more friends like that!

With the fold flat design it should be a perfect swap out winter replacement for the Vargo Triad in my cooking kit. I'm looking forward to putting it head to head with the Triad on the patio in the sub zero.

One other thing that caught my eye in regards to anchoring the tarp/tent to ice....climbing ice screws. So far the ones I've found are expensive but if I can find some cheap ones, it might be a good addition when going out on the lake this winter.