HikerDeals' Best-of-the-Best Outdoor Gear Deals:
- Sierra Trading Post: Extra 15% Off Fishing, hunting & Work Gear
- Moosejaw: 10% off with coupon code MOOSE, extra 10% off sale items with code SUPERSALE
- Sierra Trading Post: Extra 10% Off Boots, Shoes, Gear, and Workout Apparel + January Coupon 10% Off $100+ Orders
HikerDeals Bargain, Deal, and Sale Archive for August, 2006
Flying Anywhere? - Official TSA List of Permitted and Prohibited Items
I’ve been traveling a lot lately and it’s really nice to check the TSA’s official list of permitted and prohibited items before catching a flight.
Inevitably it helps to already have things packed right when I’m late for an early-morning flight and can’t afford to get pulled aside and delayed. But, it’s also helpful to print out a copy of the list and carry it with you, as I found out on a recent layover in a smaller city’s airport. … maybe that TSA screener was having a bad day, but they were giving me a hard time about carrying on items that were listed on that official list up there. One look at my printed copy though and they let me keep going.
$150 - Arc’teryx Needle 35 Backpack, 35% Off
Each time I break down and pay full price for a new pack, it’s just a week or two later that a better pack shows up at a better price. For example, I wanted a medium-small weekend pack with heavy-duty suspension and enough features that I could carry it all year round - and it had to be relatively lightweight and built to take the beating that I dish out. For example, no matter how many times I’ve told customers and new backpackers not to pick up their pack by one strap, or risk tearing the strap off after a year or two, I still get lazy and do it myself.
This is the “better pack, at a better price”: the Arc’teryx Needle 35 pack is a bombproof, water-repellent pack with a full-duty hipbelt and harness - and it only weighs about 3 pounds. It’s also a top-loader so there aren’t any zippers to blow out in the middle of a trip, plus the Drybag top and four compression straps make it very stuffable when you’ve packed too much or are in a hurry to get things loaded. The Needle 35 also has a water bladder pocket and those compression straps and tool holsters on the sides will help to carry skis or walking poles easily.
Currently just $149.97 (35% off) at Altrec.com, and it’s covered by free ground shipping
$39.97 - The North Face TKA Fleece Glacier Jacket
Fleece seems to get a bad rap from all the ultralight backpackers lately. They claim down or Primaloft are the only things worth carrying. That may be true if you’re not carrying a sleeping bag and covering 25 miles a day, but there’s very little that’s as versatile as the new 100-weight/lightweight “active” fleeces for a chilly night or morning on a spring/summer/fall camping trip or even the middle of winter when you’re stomping through deep snow. This Glacier jacket from The North Face is the great weight of fleece that I’m talking about, a lightweight fleece pullover with a dense knit outer face. It’s warmer than long underwear but much less bulky than the fleece jacket your grandmother got you three years ago.
Currently the Bay Blue (pictured, in XXL), dark orange (in L), and red (in M, L, & XL) colors are on sale for $39.97. Plus, Altrec is adding free shipping to any order placed before 8/31/2006.
$98 - Marmot Eiger 45 Mid-Sized Pack
A bomber pack at a shell-shocked price, the Marmot Eiger 45 pack is a great mid-sized pack with a keep-it-simple design that brings the pack’s weight in at just 3 pounds, 13 ounces (size Med) and keeps the price down too. The simple top-loader with a pocket in the lid and a ski/snowboard/helmet capable load flap isn’t likely to break on you either, fewer features adss benefits. Even better is that the pack is just $97.26 at Backcountry.com, and there’s free ground shipping on top of that.
$59 - Salomon Protrek 5 Light Hiking Boots
Just $59 for the Salomon Protrek 5 hiking boots at ARGear.com. They weight just 2 lbs. 11 oz. and are waterproofed with Salomon’s own Clima-Dry waterproof-breathable membrane - making them a bargain at 41% off.
Also, the Protrek5’s are the lighter brothers of the Protrek 6 GTX’s which are also on sale, and have the same sole but a slightly shorter and softer cuff than the $79 Protrek 6’s.
$79 - Salomon Protrek 6 GTX Hiking Boots
Salomon’s Pretrek 6 GTX boots are just $79 at ARGear.com. These are tough, lightweight hiking boots with a waterproof GoreTex liner. At just 2 lbs., 14 oz. they’re favorites of the fastpacking and adventure racing crowds - even if you’re not one of them you should appreciate that people into those beyond-just-hiking sports do pick very dependable gear. ARGear.com got it right on these too, with the 42% discount.
Survial Tip: Coke Can Firestarter
Here’s a hot tip for an emergency firestarter that isn’t affected by rain. The bottom of an aluminum soda can is shaped so that it will reflect sunlight to a pinpoint spot and create enough heat to ignite tinder materials. The key is that the can bottom needs to be well-polished first. In this example chocoalte is used as the polishing material to get the soda can nice and shiny, although any good polishing material should work: jewelry polish, Brasso (probably a lot quicker), and even very fine sand.
In truth, the polished soda can bottom of this fire starter is probably a bit fragile to carry around in a pack and once the can bottom is bent or crushed it won’t focus sunlight enough to start lighting things. On very rainy days I can’t imagine you would catch enough sun to get things lit either. On top of all that, I don’t normally carry canned drinks on hiking or backpacking trips - something about hiking for hours shaking them up so much that they explode when opened. On the other hand, if you ever get stuck inside a post-apocalyptic, city-themed, sci-fi movie, you’ll know what to do now.
I Vote for Less Technology at National Parks
In “Too much technology at the national parks?” Tom Mangan wonders about how more cell phone coverage and automated recordings of National Park tours will impact the Parks’ experience. He figures that it can’t hurt too much, “though I’d insist that any savings in ranger salaries go toward essentials like habitat preservation and trail maintenance.”
This isn’t the opinion I had expected from Tom, who somehow hikes almost every weekend and blogs about it all with great trail reviews and pics. Not that I had expected him to be against technology, like he says, “I find it odd to see rants against technology on a blog,” but I would have expected he’d know how the political process treats Parks and their funding. After all, the cost of all the ranger staff in all National Parks is probably lower than the cost of DoHS luggage screeners and x-ray equipment at a single LAX- or JFK-class airport - but those parks staffing costs are still frequent targets of budget cuts proposed in D.C.
Whether it’s cost savings from cutting Parks staff or earnings from leasing land to wireless tower operators, the money saved or made on National Parks operations just goes back into the general budget fund. Once that money is in the general budget fund the National Parks don’t stand much of a chance of seeing much of come back when they’re competing with legitimate national issues like anti-terrorism or social security (… note, I said they’re legitimate issues - but don’t want to get into what side of those issues I or any readers may fall on).
Regardless of where the funding goes, if technology replaces park rangers the National Parks will be drastically changed. Go ahead and add some cell towers, but a much bigger part of the National Parks experience than a view free of camouflaged cell towers is the people who work there and know the area and can tell stories about the backcountry and the legends that grew out of it; all far beyond what’s just on the placards or in the guided tour pamphlet. I think automating those jobs is as good as building roads and driving trams throughout all areas of the National Parks - a sure way to kill the spirit that may turn 1 of 10,000 children into a hiker, backpacker, or even a park ranger.
Since our government doesn’t get compromises very well, especially when money is remotely involved, maybe keeping the cell towers out is the only way to ensure that park rangers don’t go downhill the same way that tech support on the phone, now outsourced to India and China, has.
Photo credit: Jay Galvin on Flickr
Thump on the Head - Oakley Thump Sunglasses Just $134.53
The crazy-looking, but somehow still cooler than I can understand, Oakley THUMP sunglasses have been marked down to $134.53 at Backcountry.com. Just click through that link or this one and add it to your cart to get the discount.
$134.53 is 55% off the THUMP’s regular $300 price (and about the same price as the 1GB iPod Nano which, unfortuantely, you can’t really see through when you put it over your eyes). Combined with free shipping this is the cheapest price I’ve seen on these glasses.
$129 - Granite Gear Latitude Vapor Ultralight Backpack
Granite Gear got this pack right: 3,800 cubic inches of space in a backpack that only weighs 2 pounds, 10 ounces, and the lightweight frame and hipbelt are comfortable with up to 30 pounds of load. That’s right, the Latitude Vapor pack uses the harness from the Vapor Trail, one of the most popular packs for Appalacian Trail thru-hikers the past two years. Plus, it’s marked down from $180 to $129 at Backcountry Gear’s online shop.
Free Shiping All Month on $100+ at Sierra Trading Post
Free shipping all month, on $100 or more orders, at Sierra Trading Post
. This is probably a bigger discount than their 5% off coupon for last month, especially if you’re buying bulky backpacks or hiking boots, instead of clothing. The discount is applied automatically at checkout after you clicked through via these links and have at least $100 of items in your cart, also offer expires September 7, 2006.
$64.80 = Timbuk2 Large Messenger Bag 19% Off
The Timbuk2 Large messenger bag is on sale for just $64.80 at Moosejaw. It’s currently priced at $72, but use the coupon code SUPERSALE at checkout to get an 10% off the sale price, for a total of 19% off.
Colors available are limited, but shipping is free, since the order is over $49. Also, you can try your luck at Moosejaw’s 10-70% Off promo and possibly get a coupon for 70% off any item.
30% Off All Sale Gear & Clothing at Backcountry.com
Backcountry.com has a new coupon out today, use it on sale items only and get 30% off the item’s original price.
Yeah, it’s a bit complicated - basically if (and only if) something is already on sale for 1% off, then use the coupon code <update>code removed per request of Backcountry.com</update> at checkout and the discount is bumped up to 30% off. That rules out getting a deal on all then new ultralight Flight Series camping and backpacking stuff from The North Face, but it does mean that a Marmot tent that was 7% off and a Mountain Hardware jacket that was 10% off are both now 30% off.
$55.98 - Black Diamond Frenzy Backpack at Steep and Cheap
Major discount on the uber-cool Black Diamond Frenzy backpack at Steep and Cheap today. The flat profile keeps everything in close to your body - so as not to throw off your balance on something steep. Snowboard or skis can be strapped to the outside, but this isn’t just a winter pack. That narrow profile will keep a day’s worth of gear stable when canyoneering or climbing and the fully padded harnes will be cofortable during long hikes and weekend fastpacking trips.
Remember to check it out fast. The sale ends when Steep and Cheap sells out or Thursday ends.