Andrew Chrysler

I recently used this pack on a 5 day / 4 night trip and I have positive things to say about this pack. I am nearly 5'10" with a 32" waist and Medium was a perfect fit. The 65L pack is a good size, holds a lot of gear but can still compress down pretty small.

PROS:
Good pocket system. Sleeping bag has its own home and pockets on the outside keep things easily at reach. Side pockets are good for water bottles, tent poles, whatever.

Wasn't too hot on my trip, but ventilation was real good.

Nice and light, but big enough to carry all your stuff. Dig it.

CONS:
Stretchy side pockets aren't too durable, but then again sandstone is rough on all fabrics.

Top pocket detaches, but I can't figure out how that helps me... As far as I can tell you need some cord to rig up a backpack

CONCLUSION:
After a first trip with this bag, I appreciated the build quality and layout of this pack. Osprey makes a good pack and there is a reason this pack has so many positive reviews.

I like these bibs quite a bit. I have used them about 25 times this season and I am pleased with the performance.

PROS:
Good waterproofing. After 25 uses and no washing, the waterproofing is just starting fail a little bit (less beading than when new). Shouldn't be a problem with a little Nikwax wash.

Bib is awesome. No more wet butt from snow down the pants.

Good pocket locations and size. I throw my cell in the bib pocket and pretty much always feel it vibrating.

Fabric looks a little weak, but it has held up great. No rips or seam delamination here and it's not like I treat them real nice either.

There is no insulation in these, so they are perfect for anyone who has a temperature based layering system.

CONS:
Like all Stoic garments, sizing is out of control bad. If you wear a size 31 or 32 the Small will not fit. Not even close. Had to get a Medium, which is a lot baggier, which I do not like.

Gaiter does not form a very good seal with my snowboarding boots.

Rubber zipper pull separated after only a few uses. Looks just like the picture that the user 'low3323139' posted in late January. A little annoying.

SUMMARY:
Love the bib design, keeps me nice and dry. The cons I listed really annoy me, especially the sizing, but the overall functionality is too good to pass up. Plus, ever since SAC sold its soul to Stoic they should eventually end up there.

After using these gloves for 10+ days of snowboarding, I feel like I can write an adequate review.

PROS:
The gauntlet/cuff is an excellent length and does a perfect job keeping snow off my hands and out of my coat.

The trigger style mitt is pretty awesome. Three warm fingers and still good dexterity for my snowboard bindings. If the finger flying solo gets a little cold, I let him hang out with the others for a while.

Liner system is great. I can use these gloves without liners above ~10 F or with the liners when it's colder. This glove system is good for nearly all temperatures experienced throughout the season.

CONS:
Like most Stoic garments, the build quality is sub par. Finger portion appears as if it was not cut perfectly. Material near stitching is not fully waterproof. Next season I fully expect the waterproofing to being to fail seriously.

Like ALL Stoic garments, the sizing is out of control bad. With liners, Large glove fits more like a Medium should. Without liner, my hand is swimming around in the mitt.

The "Double Helix Gauntlet closure" does not secure the glove around the wrist very well. Needs some sort of strap at the wrist like many other mitts have, especially due to the sizing issues I mentioned. This would fix some of the

SUMMARY:
This mitt has a lot of potential, but fails deliver, especially at the price point. Great design idea and liner system, but sizing is bad, and the lacks necessary features to make this a great glove. Spend a little more cash and get something perfect.

Got this sleeping pad a few months ago and I really like it. I have used it backpacking a couple of times, and I slept on it for a couple of weeks while I did not have a mattress.

PROS: Extremely light. I have the regular, which weighs as much as my old Z-Rest, but is much more comfortable! Holds air well - During the two weeks that I slept on it nightly, it never required re-inflation. Small!!! This thing can be rolled down to the size of a 32 oz. Nalgene. Remarkable really.

CONS: Makes a strange crinkly noise when it is moved. No big deal though, I usually fall asleep faster when I'm not moving around anyways. Can be a bit of a chore to roll up. The stuff sack (purchased separately) is somewhat difficult to use unless it is folded just so. Maybe I'm doing it wrong? Either way, a great bypass/money saving alternative to the stuff sac would probably just be rubber bands and a zip-loc (for protection).

OTHER: Takes me less than 30 breaths to get this to where I like it. I guess that's pretty good, but I can offer no comparison to other sleeping pads.

Overall, this is a definite upgrade from the Z-Rest and it is awesome to see companies continuing to make smaller and lighter products. Honestly, I'm not too worried about the durability - it may look fragile, but I'm thinking it can handle a lot of abuse. Amazingly comfortable and light - I'm giving it 5 stars.

I've recently got back into climbing and found that I had the need and the money to replace an old pair of Five Ten Spires that I had. I wanted something a bit more aggressive and I liked my first pair of Five Tens, so I decided to go with the Prism. Here are my impressions after trying them on and using them at the gym for one day.

PROS: I like that these are lace up and the toe looks sharp and killer! I think these will help me take my climbing up another level.

I thought it might be slightly difficult to smear, but it was surprisingly easy. I was impressed.

CONS: Sizing on these is crazy! Main reason for marking them down to 3 stars. It's almost as if Five Ten doesn't want you buying their products off the internet. I wear 9.5/42.5 in almost all brands and shoes that I have worn. However, my last pair of Spires was a size 8 (full leather so they stretched). So I originally ordered down. Way too small. I eventually returned and got 9.5s, but even these are a bit small. I think/hope they will stretch enough to be perfect.

I wouldn't fool myself into thinking that the special Perflex upper is going to 'ventilate' my foot though. Unless 'ventilate' means 'turn into a sweat box'. And it doesn't take long either, maybe 30 minutes for me.

CONCLUSION: Disappointed by the sizing scheme, but impressed by the performance so far. Overall I would give it 3 stars at this point.

If you don't want to look like every other jabroni in a Patagonia down sweater, this is a great alternative at a better price!

PROS: Very light and compresses into one of the pockets. The pocket has an internal zipper that the jacket can be compressed into. This is not a big puffy jacket, no need to look like the Michelin man! I think I will wear this a lot when backpacking and on cool days in the spring and fall. Plus this jacket is not super shiny - no garbage bag look!

CONS: No chest pocket

OTHER: I believe that I have the vapor blue that is pictured here. It looks much more blue in real life, very much like other blue Marmot products. Not even a hint of green in the real product.

These are some cool glasses with some bold styling. The purple/brown color was a little intimidating as a dude, but I got a lot of compliments with them and the purple wasn't too purple. I think the black/black would be good for someone who likes the Ray Ban Wayfarers, but wants something a little different.

The sizing seems pretty accurate. I wear a size 7 1/8 hat and these fit slightly loose - just like a casual pair should.

Unfortunately I lost these to the throes of a mosh pit during the Ghostland Observatory show in downtown SLC...RIP

I like these glasses! They have that cool retro look of they Ray Ban Wayfarer without actually being the Wayfarers.

SIZING: Appears to be way off... My head is pretty small (I thought, since I wear a 7 1/8 hat?) but these are slightly tight. I could see this causing a problem for someone who actually has a large face.

I love these gloves. I use them a lot for biking, but they are in pack for almost all the time for almost everything during the fall, winter and spring.

PROS:
Very windproof - I use them for bike rides year round, sometimes even in -10F weather for just a mile or two. Combined with a windstopper jacket or a down, commuting or riding around town or riding to campus is easy.

These gloves are also quite durable. When I'm not using them for cold weather biking, I throw them in the pack for all kinds of hiking or mountaineering. So far everything has held up fine.

I would not use these as a substitute for a waterproof glove, but in a bind they will keep your hands dry for a while while performing various activities (snowball fights, maybe building a snow fort).

These gloves are also super versatile. A good amount of dexterity makes them useful for many situations.

CONS:
After a few years the finger grips have worn down slightly due to normal, almost daily use.

I've only used this set once on a short backpacking trip and taken it apart to clean it before use.

PROS:
The nesting idea with this set is great. All of bowls and lids fit perfectly inside of the pot. Additionally there was plenty of room for a backpacking stove (Snow Peak litemax) AND fuel (the larger of the snowpeak containers).

I like that the lid has a strainer! Also, the orange tab was still at a comfortable temperature to touch when removing the lid from boiling water.

CONS:
The pot does not have water level markings. Fortunately the bowl does, not a big deal but it would be convenient.

I will probably end up leaving the cups/lids at home to save weight, but nice to have if I want them.

OTHER:
Still have yet to test the durability. The sporks are interesting, but I might just keep using my old utensils.

As far as the actual shirt goes, it does a fine job wicking away moisture still smells fine even after wearing it for a couple days and doing physical activity.

Unfortunately the white color slightly see through. It's not too bad because it's loose (I got a large), but if were to wear a medium or small (like I normally would), I would feel a little exposed.

I got this backpack almost 10 years ago as a birthday present from parents. It has seen quite a bit of use since then and it has held up quite well. Originally it was used mostly for scout trips, but since then I've used it for a lot of hiking in Colorado and Utah. Everything about this pack has been durable and I was able to adjust the pack as I grew. This is a great first backpack, especially for scouts or anyone who doesn't want to drop a lot of money on an internal frame pack.

I got these boots to replace an old pair of Hi-Tek boots that lasted way longer than they should have. So far I have used them for about a week and I think they are pretty good.

Sizing: I bought size 42.5 because I own a pair of La Sportiva Makalu of the same size. The biggest difference is that the toe box on the ECO 4.0 is much larger than the Makalu. It feels pretty good, but it makes me wish I would have tried on a size 42.0 for comparison.

Break in: I wore them for only a mile or two before doing a multi-day trip in the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. They gave me small blisters on the balls of my feet and on my right heel (however, I am rather blister prone on my heels). Despite the blisters I still found them to be quite comfortable.

Waterproofing: Still not much experience here, but I am assuming the Gore-Tex will be great. The little water that they were exposed to was repelled fine.

Other: I believe that the 4.0 is the has the most ankle protection of the Eco series, which I thought was nice. I spent a bit of time walking around on steep slickrock and stemming through slot canyons and I felt a lot of confidence in the grip I experienced.

Overall they are pretty good boots but my biggest complaint is that I would have liked to try on a size 42.0. I the break-in time was pretty good and despite the small blisters I look forward to using them more in the future.