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 'In-Depth: Gear Reviews' Category
$120 - Patagonia Women’s Down Vest
I never used to like it when gear manufacturers called their lightweight down jackets and vests “sweaters”. After all, they were really just less-warm versions of their normal down jackets, but were still too bulky to wear comfortably under a waterproof shell … but that was until Patagonia introduced their down sweaters and vests which are all super trim, extra light, and with enough 800-fill power down to still be really warm. They’re stylish and comfortable enough that after trying one on my wife almost demanded it as a Christmas gift.
The Patagonia women’s down vest that’s on sale now is one of those great pieces, the same one my wife wanted. It’s filled with 800-fill down, and the close-spaced baffles keep the loft down to just an inch or two. Always sweating the details, Patagonia also added extra stitching under the arms to keep the down to about a half-inch thick and make the vest really trim and comfortable - not to mention the rip-stop shell fabric that keeps the weight down to just 6 ounces. Per the reviews on Altrec.com this sweater vest is a bit shorter and trimmer-fitting than the average down jacket, so women in between sizes or with larger busts should size-up one size.
Currently it’s available in XS, S, M, & L sizes for just $119.99 at Altrec and it includes free shipping, like all backcountry gear orders of $45 and up.
19% Off Superfeet Insoles at Moosejaw
It took a lot of convincing to get me to try my first pair of Superfeet insoles. I managed a department at an outdoor gear store, but refused to spend $20 on a pair (only $20 because prices have gone up in the past decade and because we got a good discount as store employees). I ended up getting a free pair from the Superfeet sales rep. and soon started recommending them to store shoppers. Now I’m recommending them to readers here too (or, if you’re already a Superfeet user just jump to the bottom for the coupon code). Grab the low profile, blue Superfeet insoles to add stability and comfort to athletic shoes and snug fitting hiking boots. Just remember that the ridged, plastic heelcup (on the bottom, not against the foot) can rub against Gore-tex linings and eventually wear holes in them - and that this version of Superfeet have a slightly lower arch support and don’t need much break in.
The high profile, green Superfeet insoles are great for adding stability and reducing slipping in roomy hiking and mountaineering boots. They also require a good amount of break-in because the thicker arch foam needs to mold to your foot - which also means that they’re the more comfortable version as long as there’s enough room in your footwear for both your foot and these green Superfeet insoles.
Both styles of insoles are on sale for $29.71 at Moosejaw. Just make sure you use the coupon code SUPERSALE at checkout and get an extra 10% off the insoles, making both styles of Superfeet just $26.74.
Backcountry Brewing, Coffee & Tea in a Nalgene
This one isn’t on sale, but it’s pretty cool if you want a great $20 gift for a serious outdoors person (even if it’s just for yourself). That’s right, no more instant coffee or hard-to-clean, not-so-lightweight, bulky coffee pots in the backcountry when using this Press -Bot compact, french press.
Brew either coffee or tea in a 32-ounce widemouth Nalgene bottle by pouring hot water over the grounds or leaves and then inserting the folded Press -Bot into the top of the bottle. The only tricky part then is pushing the lock ring down to flatten the screen into place (I’d recommend not filling the bottle all the way unless you want to dip the tips of your fingers in for a hot bath). Let the whole thing sit for a few minutes and then slowly press the screen down. Enjoy!
Near-Perfect Cycling Headlamp - CatEye HL-EL500 LED
I just stopped by REI and saw the most impressive bike headlamp I’ve seen in a long time. CatEye finally perfected their LED lamps and the new LED-powered HL-EL500 Opticube lamp (no direct-links for REI.com, search for product ID# 710-403) is brighter than most of the big, external-battery lamps (like many NiteRider and ViewPoint models). The amazing thing is that the lamp shines out 1,000 candlepower for 30 hours on 4 AA batteries and weighs just 4 ounces - but the thing only costs $60.
Compact Backpacking and Camping Stove Review
The Mountain Gazette posted a, thankfully, short compact backpacking stove review last month.
The article covers stoves from Coleman, MSR, Primus, and Vargo plus an alcohol burner from Brasslite and a modular system by Jetboil - all in about 4 screens worth of article. Instead of pages of opinion from multiple reviewers and charts of comparison data, Mountain Gazette found that all the stoves are very similar in capability and no one stove is set apart from the others. The few differences are mostly limited to pot supports, wind resistance, canister compatibillity/availability and price - with no one stove having the best of all four. If you’re in the market for a stove take a read of the article and don’t worry so much about the “perfect” stove. From the looks of it they’re all pretty good.
Regional Vacation and Outdoors Guides from GORP.com
Any problems thinking up something to do over the weekend? I usually have more trouble thinking of things to do over 2-3 day weekends than I do with a full week of time off. A great place to start is the GORP.com Outdoor Weekender Guides.
The Guides can be searched by region, city, and state and have a huge variety of things to get you outside. From parks and trails to take the dog for a walk on - to cliff-top beach hikes - to hike-in hot springs with campgrounds just a mile or two from the road.
In my case the City Weekender guide for Los Angeles already found one trailhead I didn’t know about that’s just 4 miles from home and a network of dirt roads and paved trolley & railroad-repair roads for riding through the Angeles National Forest, and those are less than 90 minutes from home. There’s also a campground in the Santa Ynez Recreation area that’s in a perfect spot for an after work arrival, about 20 miles southwest of Santa Barbara (enough outside Santa Barbara to avoid weekend beach traffic). Found through the Weekender Guides it has several small, tents-only areas and sounds like a perfect alternative to the normally crowded, RV-filled campgrounds in SoCal. I won’t give a direct link to it or it may not be open when I want to go, but I will say that’s the area is about an hour up winding mountain roads and hosts two hotsprings and several trailheads.
Mountain Hardware Galaxy SL Down Sleeping Bag and Quantum Bag Expander, Just $232 and Free Shipping
The Galaxy SL down sleeping bag and the Galaxy SL Long bag, both from Mountain Hardware is a 15-degree rated bag with an extra kicker that makes the bag a lot more comfortable in warmer temps and for bigger campers. That “kicker” is an expandable baffle that unzips to let the bag expand upto 8 inches in width - no more stuffed-turkey feeling for big guys and some extra airspace to keep things cooler for everyone else (just remember extra airspace means a cooler bag, so the Quantum probably isn’t 15-degree rated if the baffle is unzipped). The addition of one extra zipper is needed, but Mountaint hardware keeps the bag’s weight down to just 3 pounds, 3 ounces with their lightweight construction. There is also no side baffle separating the top and bottom of the sleeping bag - so you can shake the bag to move down to the top of the bag for extra warmth or to the bottom of the bag for breathability on warm nights.
This bag is a bit pricier than many because it has Conduit SL shell fabric - which is a highly water-resistant fabric similar to Gore’s DryLoft. The shell fabric alone adds about 5-degrees of warmth to the bag (with only 2-3 ounces of extra weight) and helps to keep the down dry and warm in rainy and muggy conditions. With fabric like this you don’t really have to worry about small tent leaks or spilled water bottles - I was never brave (or dumb) enough to try it, but I had a friend who actually used seam sealer on all his sleeping bag’s seams and then tried sleeping under a picnic table during a night of lilght rain. That idea didn’t work for more than 5 minutes once it turned into heavy rain and he felt like he was going to drown from the water pouring in by his face, although the shell fabric did keep the bag from turning into a 30 pound pile of wet-duck-smelling down.
Both the Galaxy SL bag and the Galaxy SL Long sleeping bag
are on sale for $231.97 at Altrec.com and both include free shipping.
Airboard Sledboard Makes Stunts Easy - Plus, This One Time I Built a Sled and…
The Airboard Classic sled is an inflatable sled with TPU runners. On the slopes it’s half bodyboard and half wakeboard. It’s also almost as fast as anything I’ve ever ridden downhill before and you can stand up and pull some pretty wicked tricks. …no, I didn’t get to try it in a pipe or terrain park yet - but drop me an email or some pictures if you get a chance.
That reminds me of the fastest thing I ever did ride downhill:
There wasn’t always a lot to do in the winters when we were kids, so my brother and I always found interesting ways to stay both busy and injured.
Sledding was the activity of choice the winter after my friends and I got our driver’s licenses. We were using our cars as “power-assist” to get up a lot of speed before we even hit the downhill (kind of like tow-in surfing, except that hitting trees and curbs was common) and we took turns riding in a truck bed-liner behind someone’s car on the way to swim practices at 5am. Still, it wasn’t enough.
What we really wanted was a toboggan, since they were supposed to be a lot faster than the plastic sleds and bed-liners that we normally used. Since toboggans were expensive (and we probably would have broken one in half anyway), my brother and I decided to improvise. I had already scavenged some old rental skis from a trash pile at the local ice-and-fake-snow ski and boarding hill. They were pretty gouged up, so we weren’t shy about adding some steel struts and bolting several skis to the underside of a narrow plank of plywood - instant “skiboggan”.
The first run of the skiboggan was a blast. Not only was it fast, but it tracked straight in powder and sticky, packed snow alike. At about 8 feet long we could stack 5 guys on it and have enough speed to crush through the smaller kicker ramps we built for our plastic sleds.
Our second run of the skiboggan saw a few modifications. We added small wooden ridges to keep us from falling off the side, and we filed off the ski edges to stop them from slicing-and-dicing gloves and boots. With the ski edges gone and the slope iced up from the previous day’s fun we managed to build a long, gradual ramp that wouldn’t get shattered by sheer speed and weight. …with six guys loaded the skiboggan built up a ton of speed - and started to drift sideways. We hit the ramp broadside, lost two guys off the back of the sled, and started spinning in the air. One concussion, a broken hand (my hand), and a sprained ankle later - the skiboggan was retired for the winter.
Basic Hike Training Plan - Heart Rate Monitors are a Good Idea
If you’re serious about training for any long trip or a strenuous mountaineering trip, skip the “weighted pack on a stair climber” routine day-after-day and work alternating days of rest, distance, and speed into your hike training plan. The best way I’ve found to get a good idea of how much work is being done - without burning myself out is to use a heart rate monitor and follow a good written plan (going too hard can be worse than a skipped day or two).
Start with the Backpacker magazine “Fit for Any Hike” training plan. Much of the training is jogging or trail running, but in the Backpacker plan it’s a lot more relevant to long days with a pack than more common marathon training plans. Running may seem like overdoing it, but it’s necessary unless you want to double or triple your time commitment just walking instead. Since you’re running instead of walking, eaxtra attention needs to be paid to not going too hard and injuring yourself - thus the heart rate monitor. To integrate the heart rate monitor into the Backpacker plan, scan this excellent guide to finding heart rate zones and replace the perceived exertion scores in the Backpacker guide.
Feel free to adjust the training distances in any plan up or down based on your hike length and how much time you have to build up to things. The plans I’ve linked to are 8-week guides, if you have 10 or 12 weeks to train just repeat the first two or four weeks of the 8-week plans. The two things that most need to be avoided are overtraining and injuries - both accomplished by not pushing too hard. There are plenty of rest days in these plans, so a skipped day can be made up. When making up a training day take it easier that day than the way it’s scheduled, because the next day’s workout will suffer when your body is less rested.
If you’re in the market for a heart rate monitor, the Polar S150 heart rate monitor is marked down to $80 (from $140). Also, smaller 10-20% discounts can be found on more models at Heart Rate Monitors USA.
Day at the Beach With My Dog, Thanks to Info in the Dog Lover’s Companion Guide (Book Review)
We spent Saturday at a great off-leash dog beach in Santa Barbara. Our dog wasn’t sure about the water at first, but a pair of other huskies on the beach convinced her that the waves were OK. It’s always weird how dogs know their own breed.
We never would have know about the beach if it wasn’t for the Dog Lover’s Companion to California
Both the huge amount of information and the easy-going writing make this is a great guide for people traveling throughout California and bringing their dogs along.
LED Headlamp Test, Petzl and Black Diamond Win, by Wired Magazine
Wired’s Dome Lights review compares the Princeton Tec Eos, Petzl MYO XP, Black Diamond Vectra IQ, and Primus PrimeLite AR. The Black Diamond wins with 4.5 out of 5 squares and the brightest beam going. The runner up, for being only half as bright, is the Petzl MYO XP with a 3.5 of 5 rating. Since Wired is a tech-culture magazine there aren’t any brand-biases before they get the gear, but their testing was also only the basics (beam, brightness, & lens). No field-function or durability ratings by their techie-San Francisco reviewers. With the history of quality gear from Petzl and Black Diamond that’s probably not worth worrying about.
The $35-$90 prices are worth worrying about. LED headlamps can be had for half the price and with weaker beams they’re smaller and your camping partner doesn’t need to walk a mile from camp to find some privacy.
Backpacker Magazine: Good Photo Tips for Digital & Film Cameras at Backpacker.com
The Backpacker.com website has a really bad search engine, so I finally broke down and paid for the real Backpacker Magazine
At first I thought the $20/year might have been wasted, but I’m happy to have the magazine now. Searching for specific article titles from the magazine at Backpacker.com not only shows the articles online, but brings up whole sections of the website that aren’t on the website menus. A great example is this digital photography section, with half the photo tips being helpful for film cameras too.
The “Digital 101″ article applies to both digital and film camers. The idea is pretty simple: “practice until you know your camera’s settings”. Personally, I don’t like the idea of speding a lot of time staging a scene to take shots, but I have to admit I’ve missed some good pictures because things didn’t show up how I expected them to. After all those missed shots. After that article I might actually dig out my “camping camera” and figure out the right settings for sunset, shady forest, and sunrise pictures.
I’m giving Backpacker Magazine 5 of 5 stars. If this was a review of the Backpacker.com website then I would only give 3 of 5 stars.
REI’s Pyrn Soft-shell Jacket, I’m Impressed
A soft-shell for only $79? A soft-shell that is “highly-recommended”, fits well, and is still only $79?
Those two questions went through my mind in the first 10 seconds of seeing the Pyrn jacket on the rack, and the “Hot Item” sign above it. Generally I’m too skeptical to believe hype about a product like that, but I had a few minutes to burn and would have loved to find a soft shell jacket this cheap. I’m glad I did suspend my disbelief long enough to try it on. This is a great jacket, and one I may buy if I can pry the annual REI dividend away from D. To find these jackets online, click through to REI.com and search for Item #’s 718171 (men’s) or 718253 (women’s) (yes, it’s a pain, but REI doesn’t allow direct links to products).
Soft shells are made from very tight knit fabrics that provide plenty of stretch and breathability, but are still wind and water-resistant. Any time that snow is one the ground or it’s not actually raining they’re much more comfortable than Gore-Tex and similar waterproof membranes because of how they breath and stretch - that means no sweaty, clammy air inside these shells.
Unfortuantely soft shells are even harder to do right than waterproof-breathable membrane jackets, I’ve been shopping for one at a decent price since I stopped managing a gear shop. Just 3-4 years ago, the only good fabrics of this type were made by the inventors of the concept, the Schoeller company from Switzerland. With only those expensive fabrics available all soft shell jackets were priced almost as high as those with Gore-Tex membranes.
It looks like the Pyrn, at $79, dropped the price range on soft shells far lower than expected. Even at a price like that the jacket would have to be just right for me to like it so much. The Pyrn’s fit is trim, so it won’t flap and billow when skiing or running and there are three pockets all in the right places. A light, but still water resistant, fabric makes it better for warmer seasons than most of the wool-based Schoeller jackets and keeps the weight to about 10 ounces (from REI’s website, I couldn’t tell that in the store). Plus, the jacket has no seams across the shoulders, which helps to reduce rubbing while weraing a pack and makes it more water resistant and a hood and adjustable cuffs round out the package.
Again, to find these jackets online, click through to REI.com and search for Item #’s 718171 (men’s) or 718253 (women’s).
My Favorite Packs, Dana Design - Bomb Pack and Snow Factor Backpacks and a Pack Fitting Tip
I love these packs. I carry a Dana Design Terraplane X backpacking and my brother’s graduation gift from me was a Dana Design Terraplane pack. Both packs have hundreds (maybe a thousand for mine) of miles of load-carrying and neither has shown signs of wear. Despite the amazing quality of Dana Design backpacks - the real reason they are worth the money (yes, they’re normally quite expensive) is the comfort. A really good backpack will transfer weight to your hips and hug your body tight enough that it makes the weight on your back feel lighter than it really is.
The Bomb Pack comes in five frame sizes and is fully adjustable to the wearer’s back. This makes a great weekend (2-3 day) backpack or a great daypack in cold weather when clothing and food gets bulkier. To fit this pack (or any internal frame pack) right: adjust the shoulder straps where they attach to the pack & make sure the hip belt lines up with the top of the hip bones when the pack is empty, not around the waist or in front of the hip joint. The goal is to get the weight onto your legs, which happens by having the pack press down on your hip bones. Also, by snugging the waist belt around the hips the pack moves with your body, instead of bouncing side-to-side and sapping away extra energy.
The Snow Factor pack doesn’t have the internal frame, so it won’t carry big loads as comfortably. The lack of a frame does make it a better backpack for anything where moving around a lot and having the pack move with you is necessary. Some of those activities may include snowborading & skiing (what this pack was desgnied for), trudging uphill in the snow, fastpacking, or even adventure racing.
- Dana Design - Bomb Pack Internal Frame Backpack
, 49% off, only $129.95
- Dana Design - Snow Factor Backpack
, 55% off, only $119.95