Before I left on my July/August trip to Mongolia, I bought some new stuff and posted about it here and here. It included a new camera pack, jacket, hard drive for image back-up and memory cards. I also bought a couple of pairs of L.L. Bean tropic weight pants.
The KATA digital rucksack was a WIN. My camera equipment was well-protected and easy to access. The straps had a good ergonomic design that made the pack very easy to wear while hiking.
My new REI Windbreak Thermal jacket was also a WIN. It was all I needed for summer travel in Mongolia and it really did stop the wind and resist light rain.
The Toshiba 500GB hard drive, which I used to back up images that I had downloaded to my MacBook Pro did the job. I liked not having another battery to keep charged, as was true with the Wolverine drive it replaced. Another WIN.
The Sandisk Extreme 8GB cards were indispensible. I was filling one in a little more than a day at times. I’ll keep the 4GB ones for back-up for now, but will probably get two more 8GB cards for the trip to Kenya/India in January. Definite WIN.
The only FAIL were the L.L.Bean “tropic weight” cargo pants. I have no idea what they were thinking when they named these. I wasn’t in the tropics, but the weather was often humid, sometimes VERY humid. The pant fabric didn’t breathe at all. If anything, they acted like a moisture trap when my legs started to sweat. Very uncomfortable. Needless to say, they aren’t going to India with me, but they’re fine for wearing here in Humboldt County.
Susan Fox, American Artist 
Susan,
Thank you for the gear review.
I, too, recently purchased an 8G card for my camera, and it is still a lifesaver. The 4G are back ups, as you are going to use them.
The photos are sooooo beautiful. WOW!
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I’d like to take my I Pad instead of a laptop, but wonder how to charge it. The Apple store may have something. Also my cameras have rechargeable batteries, not standard batteries. I have 2 lithium batteries for each camera.
Donna Krebs
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Battery charging can be a bit of a challenge, but is doable. If you can tell me a little more about where you will be going and how you will be traveling, I can maybe give you some specific advice. But I always have an adapter from Kennsington that plugs into a car cigarette lighter, so I can charge things while I’m rolling. I’m going to have my iPad on this next trip, too. Your iPad charger should have a plug adapter that will plug into either an adapter that will work in Mongol outlets or into the car one. Some of the ger camps, like at Hustai National Park, have an outlet in each ger. I also carry extra lithium camera batteries and a charger.
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I just remembered, because I keep it in the car…Belkin makes a car lighter adapter that has a receptacle for a USB plug. And you can get a cable one of those that has a USB plug on one end and the iPhone/iPad plug on the other.
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