Too these boots out to the western Siberian Stepp and thrashed around with some Russians. It was -30deg C out there, in a word, bitter. I had two pair of smartwool on and my feet weren't cold at all that day. The drawstring top keep snow out of the boot even when blowing through big drifts. If it were up to me, I would label this boot as bulletproof. I gave the boots to one of my new Siberian friends, and now I have a friend for life. (Igor-Enough with all the emails- your welcome!). If your life involves trugging in snow, these boots will be perfoect for you.

I used the whisper lite for over ten years, and I have many a fond memory of the old fireball. Especially comical was the time we were forced to use aviation fuel from the wing sump. But progress has moved forward, my eyebrows have grown back, and the whisperlite collects dust. I've moved on to canister stoves. No more filling, no more pumping, no more spilling. Yes the multifuel whisperlite has a place in my heart, but it no longer has a place in my pack.

Like most folks who like it outside, I've had both Sigg and Nalgene in my bag. I've settled on the Sigg. It's durable - Empty drop tests don't mean a whole lot. Dropped with the mass and non compressable nature of water the Nalgene bottle doesn't survive. The Sigg suffers large deformation, but you don't lose all your water if you happen to drop you pack off the ledge or off the top of a thrid world bus.
If you're a weight weenie, the Sigg is lighter. On my scale the Sigg is 141 grams verses the 175 gram heft of the Nalgene.
True the top is not attached with a lanyard, but I have yet to lose mine. My trick is stick my finger through the hole and wear the top like a ring while I am drinking. Reminds me of olf aunt Mabel's big gawty rings.
I've got a little .4L Sigg that I carry Rum around in. I recently washed it out and filled it with water. The bottle had no residuel run taste.
Bottle line - after using both, I'm sold on Sigg.

My record with the Platty is 2-0. I;ve had two bottles and they have last less then six months each. The problem is that the urethane does not stand up to repeated folding. My first bottle sprung a leak at a fold. I tryed to repair it using various methods with various degrees of failure. My second Platty I took great pain to try and not fold the bottle. Other than at full the bottle sags and pinchs and eventuly springs a leak. It's light, 22 grams, verses the 141g Sigg bottle and the 175g Nalgene. But with the reduced duriablity thye are basically a one season bottle, almost disposable, but not a disposable price point. If you want a light plastic bottle recycle an old water bottle, if you want durable outdoor performace, consider a Sigg or a Nalgene.

I love my Monkey Phur. I've been using it under my GoreTex sheel for the last year and it has kept me toasty warm in the frigid Patagonian winds. After the year the pile of the flease is not as mated as a thought it would be. I got the burnt orange color on sale. It's teh ugliest color ever, which is great, becasue nobody wants to steal my warm flease fromme. The cuffs are interesting the way runs up the inside of the wrist for about three or four inches. I had a set against it at first, but the grip on my wrist is soft and flexable, yet has a great seal that keeps the warm air in and cold air out. The cuffs work really well.

I'm currently on my thrid pair, and when these wear out, I'll be looking for my forth. The rubber is soft and grippy, great for the trail. I got sent into the city on business for a couple of weeks and had to run on the pavement. I noticed a lot of wear after those weeks on the concrete. If your running roads alot I would look for something else. If your on the dirt, I highly recommend. The lacing system is great, but part of me feels like this is the new velcro, I hope I don't forget how to tie shoes.
The colors could be a little less flash, but that's a completely personel preference.

Been using this paddle on my inflatable Pack Cat on ricers in Texas and Mexico. These rivers are generally long flat water punctuated by fun white water. This paddle is a great inbetween, good swing weight on flat, good digging power in the water water. Werner makes a solid paddle.

I bought my Base Camp Duffle in 2003 and headed off to Asia. The back has backpack straps so it's easy to carry around. after a couple of years in Asia on boat trips and drilling rigs, the bag headed off to Australia and hauled dive gear arounf for another year. The bag came back state side and hauled my stuff around Mexico. It's been on more baggage-go-rounds in more airports than any other bag I've met, and it's still going strong. I've got the bag down here in patagonia keep my stuff safe and dry. A couple of tips. The bag has one pocket inside the flap. Don't put anything heavy in here, or it flops around annoyingly. Also, becasue there are not pockets, and I don;t miss any pockets, I;ve learning to pack in little bags. Toileties in one bag, little gear in another, electronics cords and such in a crown royal bag. Poof- Organization without pockets. Another key to this bag, is that it is just a glorifed duffle bag, theives generally looking for backpacks full of first world goodies, they duffle bag tends not to attract attention. I've been living out of the M for years not, it's all you need. I met someone with a XL, and it was way too big, in my humble opinion.

I've been wearing my two pairs of Mountian Khakis for over a year now. I wear them everyday (except when my wife can steal them away and get them in the washing machine!) The fit great, and they sell them in length long enough for my 6'4" build. They are made of a soft hand cotton that has stayed soft after a year. I liked them so my, I just bought two more pair for the closet. Keep it up MK!

My orignal MK's have usurped the Carthartts in my drawer. They fit better, they feel better, and they wear better. I'm pretty tall with long legs, and Carharttt amd MK are the only workpants that fit, as they have inseams of 36". The pocket edge where my pocket knife lives started to fray a bit, no problem, I put the pocket onthe sewing machine with some nylon thread and made a wear patch. The main seams are triple stiched, and the croch gusset fit real well after the second washing.

I hesitated for a long time beofre getting a Mont Bell down bag, measured in years. I finally broke down, saved up and bought the #1 Hugger. If I could travel back in time, I would go back and slap myself. To thinik of all the nights sleeping out wasted. The bag is truely a hugger, but not restricting. 6'4" fits very confortable in the tall. I generally wear capilene while sleeping in the bag. I've been able to sleep colder than the rating by wearing my down sweater and an extra pair of smartwoool socks.

I slipped these on the other day for the first time and took off for the Glacier. I was worried: who takes brand new boots and stomps around on a galcier? Verdict: no bumps, no blisters, not even a hot spot! It felt like a glove and I love them. Total worth the cash! Do your feet a favor.

Took this pack on a trip around a Patagonian Glacier. I was able to stash an extra dow jacket and a kilo bag, not to meantion my lunch and a liter of water. In the lid I was able to carry a liteweight first aid kit and a heatsheet. Great pack for chomping around the glacier, and then the weather rolled in. Big wind and cold rain, I was pretty worryed out my gear getting wet as we got soaked. When the weather passed and we got back to the boat I was pleased to find my gear still dry. While not touted as waterproof, this pack certainly kept the weather out.

The Copperhead camming devise is a much improved over older Yakima skewer retainers. Remember to use some headset grease on the threads when you install it to keep the rust away.

Roof racks rob you of gas milage, most folks who love the outdoors are also concerned with the overall state the of the world. Here is some simple math. My faring increase my gas milage by 1 mpg (from 19 t 20), at $60.00 and $3.00 gas the faring pays for it self after 7220 miles. Americans average about 15,000 miles per year, so the faring pays for it self after six months. Of course this is very simple math, it ignores several variables which are beyond my calculation here, but I think the general concept is sound.

This little peice of Mylar can mean the diference between shivering all night as the cold zaps all your energy and being able to get back up at first light to make your way back to safety. I've been caught out without a "space blanket" before. If you don;t believe the heating powers of a vapor barrier, go get a large trash bag and hudle with it wrapped around your shoulders, within minutes you should feel the trapped heat building. Added bonus to tthis blacket are the survival instructions and illustrations tp keep you enlightened and entertained.

I've had one of these for about 7 years. When you need to haul gear, its nice to have the lock-out feature, so that you can use it as a simple pulley OR a hauling pulley, so that you don't end up carrying 2 pulleys or worse, a pulley and an ascender to catch. I haven't had trouble with it catching, but I've used it mainly for hauling lots of midwieght (30-50 lbs) bags on a fixed line, or something like scuba tanks that are heavier than you'd want to manhandle. I guess the only thing I'd like is if the lockout handle was metal instead of plastic, but I'd say that about all new Petzl cam devices.

I really dig these little biners. I use them on my caving chest harness to attach to my chest ascender. So light weight, it doesn't even feel like it's there!

What a waste of space! I carried one for years as an emergency backup, and when the emergency came, it was a total dog! (I needed to climb >3,000 feet of rope to exit a cave) In the end, I patched my broken ascender with a bit of shoelace (totally sketchy) rather than use the darned tibloc. Its best use by far is to open beer bottles.

I bought my first one of these in 1995. Since then, I've been through 3 or 4. The handle is comfy, and the second hole to attach a tether or footloop is super convenient. Climbs well on a range of rope sizes (at least 8mm-11mm), and does not get jammed badly up with mud, even excessive mud. Lighter than some alternatives. Note that its made in 2 versions, left (gold, shown) and right (blue); as a lefty, I have used both and prefer the left. The teeth on the cam can be a little grabby when new, but 500' of rope should break them in fine...

I've been using these since the mid-1990's, and of course used many other carabiners, normally due to price. But, after lots of use, they really stand out as a well made and well designed carabiner. I'm glad to see so many other keylocks on the market, but this one always seems to work better - handles well, doesn't snag. Even better, the gate continues to work smoothly after serious abuse. No worrying about a gate that won't snap closed at a critical moment with this biner.

I've fallen in love with this little scope. It has earned a perment spot in my bag. I've started noticing when it's not around that I miss the little guy. It's great for boats on the horizon, figuring out what kind of bird that is on the wire. You can also check out that little fish swiming in a tidal pool. It has a 13" close focal range so you can see up cloe things in detail.

These fit great; not too tight that your business is strangled, but not to baggy that they catch on Texas Juniper trees while bushwacking. The length is just right too.

The big brother of the echo, this monocular can zoom to 30X, considering most binoculars are 10X or 12X you get a lot of band for your buck. Or course most binoculars that are 30X are mounting on navy ships on a stand to keep the image from shaking. You have to have a steady hand for 30X. Don't let this deter you from this great monocular. It's nice to scope around at 10X, spot something or interest and twist the ring bring the object even closer. It's a little bigger than the other Echo, making it a little less Spy-Friendly. Great as a handy scope will birding on the spot.

I've had fancier GPS with color maps and topography, but I always come back to the legend. It has all the features you need and none of the ones you don't. "A prudent mariner doesn't rely on one source of navigation". You should have a paper map and compass with you anyway, since batteries often do run out at the most inopportune times.

I've been seeing a lot of photos from the Vovlo Ocean Race with crews sporting this light. The round the world race on carbon fiber 70ft sailboats is a place where ever gram matters.

This is another excellent tome from Allen and Mike, you will enjoy this book and proudly keep it on your coffee table!

If you go to the backcountry for fun, be it mountains, rivers, desert canyons, or anywhere that you are more than an hour from professional help, you need to at least read up on wildness medicine. Put this book in the bathroom and read a chapter at every sitting, you and your friends will be better off for it.

I've been wearing this jacket for two seasons now, and it is still going strong. It certainly my favorite soft shell (Besides my Goat Shift softshell, Go Backcountry.com). 6'4" 100 lbs wearing an XL.

This little guy has been my back up blade for years! I tied a small lanyard with a monkey fist in the lanyard hole. The knife slips up the sleeve of my wetsuit and stays there all day paddling, kite boarding, etc. The steel is incredible- I spent some time with a DMS diamond stone and the little guy will shave the thick hair on my legs (Too much information?).

To avoid ingesting the green slime left in your camel back from last month's trip you have to clean it out good. We've all done it: Retunred home from some epic adventure and tossed all your gear in a pile intending to clean it up tomorrow... after work... seriously... I'll get to it Tuesday... or Wednesday. The little hanger works great for drying. I tried to make one of my own using an old plastic hanger, but it doesn't quite spread the walls apart to allow it to dry properly. This is a good kit!

Your Dromedary will leak eventually, this is the right cap to revive your water bag.

This is the perfect towel for that light and fast toiletry kit for on the run travel. This little towel bungees to the outside of my pencil case which serves to hold my toothbrush, razors, and such. It's completely dry within ten minute or a good wringing.

Big mouth is easy to fill. Cap ring has a tab which allows you to hold it level under the faucet or hose. No problem filling with ice cubes for those long hot Texas days on the trail.

I bought this little unbreakable mirror for my light and fast toiletry bag. It serves double duty as a rescue devise and a shaving mirror. Ive used to to get crap out of my eye, and to see what that new rattle under my engine is. I have handled it very rough and it doesn't scratch easily.

I've used this on single wall tents, my gore-tex shell, foul weather gear, and spray top. It really works well bringing back the waterproof properties of your breathables. Take your time when applying, don't over do the first coat. Do your best to follow the directions and you'll be very happy!

I have loved this kit for years. Fix yourself, Fix your friends, Fix your gear, all in one kit. Through the years I've mixed and matched, subtracted and added, but all and all, this is one of the best ideas to come out of AM!

This BOMBPROOF strobe is exactly what you want zip tied to your life jacket when you boat has sunk out from under you in the middle of a pitch black night. Rescue helicopter off in the distance searching the wrong area as you bob in your life jacket. Crack on the strobe and go home. I've never had the opportunity to use one in anger, but my trusty strobe gets fresh batteries before every offshore race. Bottom Line: It may be the difference between being seen or not. How much is that worth!

The BOMB is toasty. The south Atlantic and Pacific is pretty cold down in Patagonia, this wet suit has keep me toasty warm. To put it another way, when it's too cold for this suit I put on my drysuit. The batwing hood attachment works really well. This is the best wetsuit I have ever owned!

Here's a repair tip: if you poke or rub a small hole in the bag, use McNett seam sealer to plug. Our Dromedary is close to ten years old now and going strong. This is a good investment.

The drinking tip on this bottle is perfect. No dribbling. If you happen lay your bike out the bottle doesn't drip on it's side. I liked this bottle so much, I bought a bunch to give to my riding buddies for christmas.

I've had my shorty fall out several times. I've been luck not to lose it when I've gone for a swim down a rapid. I'm not a big fan.

I'm such a big fan of this hat. I've got a big head and the large fit nice. This hat works get on the mountain and out on the ocean. It has been a constant friend down here in the roaring forties. I'm always surprised how clean it gets after a good washing. I certainly run the beenie hard on the boat, and it has seen some grungy days, but a cycle in the washing machine and red brightens up again and the plush comes back.

These shorts poof out more than I like. Sort of like 80s lifeguard shorts from that show featering the 'Hoff.

Why buy an expensive bag just so the gorillas at the airport can toss it around and mess it up. Snowboard are really burly, think about what you put it through on the mountain, no need to buy a padded, satin lined bag for your stick. I've had my DAKINE for a couple of years. About once a season I have to sit down and patch holes the airport have put in my bag, glad I didn't drop the price of a couple days lift tickets for some fancy bag.

I used a margarita glass and stuck them on in a circular pattern with a stud in the middle. Like almost any thing you do at home, surface preparation is key. Follow the directions and use some rubbing alcohol to make sure the surface is clean of any oils or grease (this includes body oils) Stick them on and stack some books on top for a compression set up.

Nothing much better than a good night's sleep in the backcountry, and having you head on something soft out there is shear luxury. You could bring your own pillow or use this little beauty. The construction is of the excellent standard we come to expect from thermarest.

This is a great pad for tough conditions, take it places that you would fear poking a hole in your inflatable. Pad is easily modified with a sharp pair of scissors. I trimmed the length and the width and took the corners off at the head (All in a relentless pursuit of shaving grams off my pack). I use this pad with my ultralight backpack, it acts as the frame rolled into a tube and shoved into the pack. All the rest of the gear fits in the interior of the roll pad.

Is waking up in the morning to numerous little 'cups' of condensation that seem to form in the z-rest. Not enough of a problem to warrant three stars, but I don't tend to have this same problem with a ridge rest.

Good little stove for the weight watchers out there. Fits on my titanium pot without much hassle. Can use gas canisters other than MSR, but the smaller canisters are a bit more "tippy"

I'm 6'4" and most pants seem to attract comments "hey buddy, wheres' the flood?" THese 686 fit with plenty of length without draggin on the ground.

I really like this rash guard. The fit is quite good. Feel great paddling in the water, or blocking the sun while on the kiteboard. My favorite part is this rashguard isn't at all flasky with crazy graphics. It's a little more of a mature look.

Serieo, I now wish all my longsleave sheets had thumphole. This is one of my favofite shirts. I ran across it by accident, and it tryed into one of my most charished shirts. I'm 6'4", 200 lbs, Ape Index 0 and the XL fits just right.

Roof racks rob you of gas milage, most folks who love the outdoors are also concerned with the overall state the of the world. Here is some simple math. My faring increase my gas milage by 1 mpg (from 19 t 20), at $60.00 and $3.00 gas the faring pays for it self after 7220 miles. Americans average about 15,000 miles per year, so the faring pays for it self after six months. Of course this is very simple math, it ignores several variables which are beyond my calculation here, but I think the general concept is sound.

Nothing hurts worst than taking a core sample of our head. Nothing bleeds more than a head wound. If you shelling out the dough for bars, protect your head. They look better and are cheaper than a hockey helmet, and who want to wear a hockey helmet all day?

If your just getting your first rack, consider getting more lock cores than you need right now. If you had to by new cores ever time you get a new peice to your rack (believe me expansion does happen) you'll end up with several more keys on your key chain than need be. Consider getting an 8 or a 10 pack, and keep the extra volume and weight out of your pocket.

Nothing bleeds worst than a head wound. Avoid the very painful experience of taking a core sample from your noggin by capping the ends of those bars! Stitching up your head will cost more than $5. Think of it as saving medical costs.

Took this bag on a four day test run down the river. The bag leaked every day. Tryed different methods of rolling the top, different number of rolls, different tightness. I worked pretty hard trying to get the bag to work out, drying it overnight and trying again the next day. perhaps I got a bum bag, but to keep important things dry, I do not recommend.

than sitting around trying to make your own small rolls of duck tape. These are perfectly rolled, and just the right size. Old guys used to all this 100 mph tape as it was used to patch small bullet holes in aircraft during some past war. Do leave home without!

Spent a couple of weeks sleeping in some "pokey" ground, so I got a bunch of practice patch my ThermoRest. After about my third patch I really got it down. I highly recommend trying one out at home to understand how heat transfer glue works. There are great instructions and it's pretty easy, but practice makes perfect. My theromrest is now a very fashionable pok-a-dot pattern. Next time I'll remember the ground cloth.

Here's a repair tip: if you poke or rub a small hole in the bag, use McNett seam sealer to plug. Our Dromedary is close to ten years old now and going strond. This is a good investment.

Stroganoff is my favorite flavor. Consider repackaging to save weight. At the end of a long day treking, climbing, & clawling; your body is calling out for the calories. You'll swear the Stroganoff is the best thing you've ever tasted. I'm a big active guy and I eat two servings for dinner. One serving makes a pretty good breakfast too.

First of all, it is delicious, period. Just good tucker!
Second point- after doing some label comparing, the spaghetti packs the most calories in the least amount of grams. So if your concerned about weight Spaghetti is for you!

No, the taste is not worth the effort or the weight. You can do a lot better than these soggy eggs and too salty bacon. Bring something else for breakfast.