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.

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.

Tags: Superfeet, insole, insoles, hiking, mountaineering, camping, boots, shoes, comfort, leather, goretex, gore-tes, liners, orthotic

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!

Tags: CatEye, HL-EL500, LED, bike, headlight, cycling, cyclist, headlamp, light, lamp, 500, NiteRider, ViewPoint, spotlight, light, runtime, Performance, REI, Colorado, mountain, road

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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

Clif Builder, Peanut Butter

Clif Builder, Chocolate

Clif Builder, Cookies n’ Cream

The Review:
I think the worst thing about a lot of protein bars is the after-taste. Not only do the Clif Builders have no funny or chalky taste – they’re like some of the better granola bars I’ve ever tried. Without being overly sweet the bars are very close to the taste of Kudos-brand bars. In chocolate, cookies n’ cream, and peanut butter – the chocolate and peanut butter are both good. I’m a peanut butter fan, so the peanut butter flavor is my favorite – so much so that I would take it on hikes instead of a regular Clif bar if it wouldn’t melt. The chocolate flavor doesn’t have a downside either, it’s subtly cocoa flavored and not bitter or waxy. I haven’t seen the cookies n’ cream in my store, but I can’t imagine they’re bad the way the other two flavors taste.

A big part of the taste of any bar is the texture. Personally, I can even tolerate the bars that get crushed and flattened out down in the bottom of a pack, but when I’m eating those leftovers I can tell it’s not real food. Texture is probably what makes a lot of people dislike almost any and every brand of bar. Builder bars have a surprisingly good, foodlike texture. The three layer bar is like a cross between candy bars and a lot of chewy granola bars. Without being too sugary or to fat-filled these are just a bit denser than chewy granola bars but the creamy peanut butter or chocolate flavor on top keeps it from feeling too much like a block of grains.

All natural ingredients in Clif bars are a big plus. When it comes to bars, I’m more worried about being able to stomach them with too little water left in the bottle than I am about finding organic or natural ingredients. Once again the Clif bar company has managed to put both good

All-in-all the people over at Clif have come up with one of the best bars I’ve tried yet; it’s definitely going to be my choice for protein bars.

If you can stand to stockpile a few, they’re only $1.56/each from Amazon (when buying 12-packs), normally they’re $1.95.

Clif Builder, Peanut Butter

Clif Builder, Chocolate

Clif Builder, Cookies n’ Cream

Sierra Trading Post has several different sizes of Evolution cookware at 30% off. I happen to own the Benchmark set, it even comes with a Teflon-safe scrub pad, and my only complaint is that they should have left the lid out (excess weight and cost) and put a lip on the skillet so it would make a better lid. If you do much car-camping or trips with lots of family then the Camp set, with handles built-in, looks pretty nice. Plus, a few more items in the cart and you can use the recent 50% off coupon too.

Evolution Soloist Cookware Set, two small pots, lid & pot gripper

Evolution Benckmark Cookware Set, two pots, one skillet, lid & pot gripper

Evolution Guide Cookware Set, two pots, one skillet, lid & pot gripper

Evolution Camp Cookware Set, two BIG pots, Big skillet, two lids & pot gripper

We own two Katadyn filters and one MSR filter. While the MSR filter is a high-quality item, the downside to their side pump design is the necessary pumping speed, plus the ceramic filter clogs more easily on the fine silt we encounter frequently in streams in the Southwest. The long pump-action of the Katdyn design keeps you from feeling like a spastic jackrabbit and the non-ceramic filter material has a large enough surface area that it’s much less likely to clog than smooth-faced MSR ceramic filter. The one downside of a Katadyn versus an MSR filter is the leverage that the MSR handle gives you. In a really muddy stream both filters will jam up enough to require some extra muscle. In case like this, where both filters get clogged quickly, the long handle lever-action on the MSR filters never seems to require as much effort as the Katadyn pump-action does.

Putting aside our preferences and the type of water we hike near – the biggest advantage the Katadyn filters have over MSR filters is the buy-in price. Unless you are a professional group-guide, or taking a 4-month trek the Katadyn Guide has the best balance of weight, size, and speed to keep you from getting frustrated and not filtering your water.

Here are the best deals we could round up on the Katadyn Guide Filter (regularly $79.95):

$62.99, at Amazon.com

$59.50, at Sierra Trading Post, limited quantities

$39.95 (search for “Katadyn Backcountry”), at BassPro.com. The ‘Katadyn Guide’ and the ‘Backcountry Guide’ are the exact same fitler, but the “Backcountry” model is $40 less than the Guide is at BassPro.com

Guide Replacement filter cartridge $22.40, at Sierra Trading Post, limited quantities

Our favorite accessory for the Katadyn Guide is the Bottle Adapter. It screws onto the bottom of the filter and replaces the hose that pushes out clean water. The base of this adapter is sized so a wide-mouth Naglene bottle (or a Platypus or Naglene bladder) can be screwed onto the filter unit. It’s easy to overlook the convenience of attaching the water bottle to the filter, but we forgot this on a trip last year and while trying to pump water from an unstable stream-shore. While trying to keep my own balance I realized that either growing a third hand or attaching the bottle to the filter would have saved me from spilling and starting over several times. The second bonus point for the water bottle adapter is that by removing the clean water hose it’s easier to keep the dirty water hose away from the parts of the filter that touch clean water – that’s right, smaller odds of contaminating the clean water side with the very stuff you’re trying to remove.

With so many brands finally getting fit and hood-shapes right – durability is key to why I picked bags from Marmot, Mountain Hardware and Sierra Designs. If you can’t get to sleep when the loft is gone after a few months in the closet, then who cares what the warranty says. With that in mind: Down, the Marmot Sawtooth, 15-degree is only $130 and Sierra Designs Cloudripper, 20-degree only $160. Synthetic, the Sierra Designs Wild Bill, 20-degree is only $60 and the Mountain Hardware 2nd Dimension, 15-degree bag is only $122 .

Just to mention my favorite bag: the single lightest-smallest-most convenient sleeping bag I’ve ever used is a Western Mountaineering HighLight, 35-degree. At $220-$230 it is pricey, but it’s worth it if you take most of your trips during summer months. The HighLight weighs only 16 oz., fits into a widemouth Nalgene (not recommended except as a stunt), and it works for everything I’ve encountered between June and September (light snow included). It will even cover April – November so long as you have a tent to block wind and add a pair of wool socks and some long underwear. It’s a tough bag to find and I found out personally that Western Mountaineering can keep you waiting for 4 months if you have to special order it. Here are a few reatilers who stock the bag (in this case, none offering commisions to this site): BackcountryGear.com, BentGate.com, MooseJaw.com, and Travelcountry.com. My only complaint is that the lack of a draft collar makes the bag seem shorter than it really is, because you’ll need to cinch the hood and burrow into the bag more. Only consider the 6’0″ size if you’re under 5’10″, otherwise jump up the the 6’6″ length (by the way, you can custom order a 7′ length from Western Mountaineering, but it may take 2 months to be made and delivered).