Personally with all your extra curricular activities that you do inside your bag at night, I would definitely suggest a synthetic bag for the ease of cleaning up after yourself. :-)
The pack like you said doesn't initially have the wow factor when you open the box that you would expect for the price. But with that being said when you load the DT1 up with a moose quarter and walk out 4.25 miles.... You will understand why you paid the money! Extremely comfortable and handles...
I picked up a "Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-TX10 16.2 MP Waterproof Digital Still Camera" on a Black Friday Amazon deal for half off and couldn't be happier. Takes full 1080p video, 16.2 MP still shots and also the cool 3D Panorama still shots. Waterproof, shock proof and Freeze Proof (Needed in AK) with...
Princeton Tec Apex. Puts out 200 Lumens. Used it for one season and only changed the batteries once. Has different settings to conserve power if needed. It would be a little heavy for the OZ counters but for a base camp headlamp its a must....
Was wondering what you guys/gals suggested for a good crampon. I have a pair of Hillsound Trail crampons but didn't have very good luck with them on my first venture in the steep terrain. I wasn't wearing good mountaineering boots which could have contributed to the fact that my ankles were...