In preparation for the upcoming Victorian high country hunt with Rob I decided to mix things up and throw a new tent into the mix. I’d previously been using a two person tent with a much smaller vestibule and loving it, but having been rained in 2 times in it, I can honestly say the size put a damper on my spirits.

I recently embarked on finding a tent that hit a few criteria; it needed to be well-built, it needed to have more room (3 people) and it needed enough vestibule space to bring the dog along hiking sometimes. After looking around I jumped straight into a Kifaru Sawtooth and I have no regrets on that purchase, however my wife was not a fan and I was back to the drawing board.

Hilleberg are a well-known tent manufacturer from Sweden who make tents like tanks. They’re rock solid, well-priced for what they are, and this 3 person extended vestibule tent packs down far better than I’d thought it would at barely larger than my previous 2 person tent!

The setup on this particular tent is surprisingly easy, especially if you have a second person helping. Simply construct the poles, slide them through their color coded sleeves, then stake the tent out – I’ve literally never put up a tent any easier.

One of the things that stands out on the Anjun design (as with many of the Hilleberg designs) is the ability to put up this tent in the rain. The inner tent and outer tent are permanently connected and as you lay the tent out the entire inside, including the bath-tub style bottom, are completely under the outer of the tent and protected from the rain.

As the name suggests, the Hilleberg Anjan 3 GT is the 3 person version of the Anjan line of tents and the “GT” represents the extended vestibule. The size of this tent went constructed is really impressive, it’s very roomy and not a lot bigger than most 2 person hiking tents, especially once in a stuff sack. The vestibule makes up around 50% of the entire tents size, it’s extremely generous.

As I prepare for my first major backcountry hunt I am beginning to look at a lot of the gear I use and pair down to the things that are actually important. That second fork is out, so is the extra TP (“hello, leaves!”), the spare compound bow is definitely out, but the Garmin inReach Mini is 100% in.

Over the next 12 months I have two major backcountry hunts, several overnight hikes, an adventure taking myself and my wife to Canada, and a trek in the Himalayas — I say this in the hopes that the reader understands I am definitely a person who needs a device such as the inReach, but I never knew just how handy this little guy would be!

Taking the Garmin out of the box and getting it ready takes a little effort and there are a lot of blog articles, documentation and YouTube videos on that. Suffice to say, it takes a bit of effort. I will say that it’s very important to set up your contact list, write your preset messages, change your settings and ensure you have a plan selected before you take it out.

The thing that impressed me the most about the inReach Mini was the way the no-fluff design allowed it to function on the trail. On a recent hiking trip with my wife we tested sending text messages to her phone and reading them made us both feel confident that the inReach Mini would be a massive comfort to her when I was away in the back-country.

Over the last few years I’ve run several different hunting packs on a trial and error mission to find the perfect hunting pack. And, while the mission will probably continue in perpetuity, I feel closer than ever.

The last hunting pack I was using was a terrific single day pack and provided everything I needed, but as I begin to delve into the world of back country hunting, I needed something more robust.

I’d heard the name Kifaru spoken a lot and I’d always associated the brand with the price tag. I foolishly wrote their gear off as I thought the investment was too much, but after a couple of purchases now I can confidently say that the price tags are warranted. Not only are their products awesome, but their customer service is second-to-none.

In my search for the right hunting pack I have previously tried hiking brand packs (Osprey, etc.) and a few other hunting brands and there was always two things that left me disappointed: a general lack of waterproofing and occasionally the packs were a little noisey.

I think I can honestly say that the Kifaru Muskeg is one of the simplest packs I have ever used. It really is one main compartment and some compression and minor external products, but this is actually the reason why the pack is so good. It’s simple, and so far, it’s fool-proof.

The pack is relatively new and I hope to write a follow-up on this review, but I have already put around 50 miles on the pack and I am headed on a 4 day backcountry hike soon with it, I’ll be sure to update with how it performed.