www.OspreyPacks.com
The Switch 55+5 is the second pack I’ve owned from Osprey. Osprey is a Colorado based company with excellent product and support. I also own a Switch 25+5, which I use everytime I go out into the backcountry. It is last years model and is showing some wear and tear. Osprey encourages owners to warranty thier gear if they have problems due to wear or defect - this helps them improve next years design. I’ve heard the warranty and exchange program is top notch. I’ll report back as I might try and send in my 25.The Switch series is designed for snow fun, and it is designed right! Store all your over night gear, stoves, gas, laterns, sleeping bag, thermal pad, and still have room for plenty of food and snow safety gear. I find the real beauty of this pack is the easy access to my snow science gear and Avalanche rescue gear. I store my BCA shovel, probe, and Link Link snow saw in the outer pocket. The pack is actually 2 packs in one, with a main base camp pack of 43 liters and a detachable outter pocket (700 cubic inch) which can be used for day trips from camp or short hikes.

The hydration system is interchangable between the larger pack and the day pack. Also, another great benefit is my bladder from the Switch 25+5 fits perfectly in the Switch 55+5. Options for A-Frame ski carry, diagnol ski carry, vertical snowboard carry and horizontal snowboard carry come standard. The design of the main pocket storage area allows you to place the pack in deep snow and open from the back allowing easy access to the contents inside and keeping snow out. The pack has a really nice suspension system placing most of the weight on your hip. Allowing for extended slogging and hiking with less fatigue.

This is my new hut-to-hut and multi-night backcountry snowboard pack. I’m very happy.

“True innovation sometimes looks, well, weird. But don’t be daunted by this pack’s nonconformist features. Once you get accustomed to the unique backside zippered access (difficult to overstuff) and the myriad straps, you’ll enjoy the payoff–three packs in one, plus an integrated hydration system that’s in a class by itself.” -backpacker.com - 2004 Editors Choice Winner

Picked up a 5th Generation IPOD 30GB Video last Friday night on the way back from the mountain. My mini-disc has been failing bad lately and the batteries haven’t lasted more then an hour in years. I figured it was time to upgrade and enjoy shredding to music once again. Got the shiny new IPOD home and started to load my music collection, snowboard vidoes and charge the battery. All charged up I figured I was ready to go, went riding Saturday and the damn battery only lasted 2 hours. I was pretty upset, and decided to start doing some research on the web about the IPOD battery. Apple claims I should get 14 hours of continous use. Started surfing the web and the Apple discussion forums and noticed a lot of people with the same problem. It turns out that the battery meter on the IPOD is approximate, it needs to be calibrated in many cases. To do this it is recommended to do 2-3 full charge/dis-charge cycles on the battery. This allows the battery to condition itself and the IPOD will calibrate the meter automaticly. After the first chrage/dis-charge cycle my IPOD lasted 14 hours! Running for 14 hours straight shuffling music and watching a few videos I was very impressed. Some additional tips and tricks to maximize battery life are to turn off the EG, set Backlight to 2 seconds, turn off alarms, delete clocks, and not skip/rewind tracks. Way to go Apple! I’ll be doing another cold weather battery test this weekend while snowboarding.Overall I’m very happy with the video IPOD, the sound quality rocks, videos are super crisp and fun to watch. Battery life is good once you condition the thing, the enclosure seems pretty durable. Check out the links below for battery information and other tips & tricks.

The iPod Battery FAQ : Apple Discussion Forums : The iPod Battery Unplugged