Brock Lawbster

Got a set of these today, in the white/orange. They seem to be super sweet, fit true (XL, I have big hands. A little tight but I think they'll wear in just right) and the feel of the wool is awesome. As other reviews have noted, dexterity is amazing- I'm drinking from a crystal wine glass effortlessly with them on right now.

The orange is actually has a touch more brown/gold in it than they look like in the pictures here. IMO they look better IRL than in the pics.

Without having used them yet, they seem like an excellent glove. For $140, competition with these gloves is very steep. There are excellent choices from First Ascent, MH, BD, OR, etc, I'm hoping these Stoics live up to that price- but I'll bet you can get them on sale here or at S&C for quite a bit less.

-I do wish the gauntlet bit went further up my arm- I'd say its on the smaller/mediumish size of the 'gauntlet' class.
-No dummy straps or loops, which is kinda lame.
-There is a 2 stage cinch strap system, which you can just barely see in the stock photos. One cinch is where you'd expect, at the very base of the gauntlet. The other does a boa-wrap kinda thing further towards your wrist. I don't know why they don't advertise this, its a really great feature.

I will update when I use them to destroy some of this La Nina, however S&C sent me TWO RIGHT GLOVES, so I'll have to wait until they can fix that little boo-boo which I'm sure will be soon.

This is my go-to hoodie. Biking to a bar on a drizzly Seattle night? This thing is perfect. The original DWR (mine's long since worn off, had this for 3 years) worked quite well at keeping just a little bit of rain off your back. I'm always warm, and this thing breathes well. Good for me down to the high 40's, probably good for others down to 55­° or so.

I'm going to quote Jeremy Clarkson from Top Gear talking about the Aston Martin DBS V12..."Its an Aston Martin. With a V12. What do you THINK it feels like???"

Well, this is the Aston Martin of storm shells. The hood is outstanding both with or without a helmet on, the pulls adjust pretty much perfectly, the sleeves have awesome motion, and weather has a snowball's chance in hell of bothering inside this jacket.

Minor, MINOR gripes:
-I wish there was some way to stow the hood. Its pretty much there all the time.
-Gore Tex Pro Shell can get clammy on the inside if you're working hard and its really cold outside. Good layering will mitigate this.
-The DWR coating has pretty much given up on my jacket. I'm going to try refreshing it in the wash with some Granger's tomorrow and see how that does.
-Fit was perfect for me, but that pretty much guarantees that it will be wonky compared to other Arcteryx gear (which doesn't fit me). Make sure to try this out somewhere before committing.

Everything about this probe is great, except, uhhh...the length. Which is kinda the point of a probe. I'm going to discuss this with some guides from Mountain Madness tonight at their avy seminar and post here again.

I'm tempted to already say this probe is too short for just about anything.

Gave me a serious headache about halfway through summit day on Rainier this summer...that plus its mediocre looks seem to be the only drawbacks so far.

Otherwise, its light, breathes, protects, etc like a good helmet should.

The ~$15 your going to spend over the Alpine Bod for this harness is worth it. While doing some snow schooling this weekend up at Mt Hood I laughed at my friends with the Alpine Bod.

Packs into an unbelievably small bag, weighs almost nothing, has gear loops (the Alpine Bod doesn't technically come with anywhere to hang your gear), is easy to put on/adjust, and has more size options than the AB.

PS the sizes run a bit small- I wear size 38 waist pants, and I can just barely get the required 8 cm of tail on the waist belt with most of my layers on.

Used this in windy 25°F weather at the base of Mt Hood this weekend. Worked awesome...after we got up at 2:30am and started hiking in the shitty weather, all I could think about was the soft delicious warmness of my sleeping bag back in my tent.

Not sure if I have the EQ 'membrain' version or not.

This weekend I slept on this mat (7 DLX) in the parking lot at the base of Mt Hood. UNBELIEVABLY comfortable. I am going to be getting my wife one of these.

4 stars because of the inflation system. A few notes about it:
-Practice inflating at home at least once. It takes a bit of a specific motion for it to work perfectly.
-Inflation can take a fair amount of work/time. Nothing to worry about car camping, but I can imagine this is going to be irritating after carrying it up to Camp Muir on Rainier or any other time I'm dog ass tired.
-You *can* speed/ease inflation by blowing it up with your mouth. Its got synthetic insulation but the moisture in your breath WILL negatively impact this mat's R-value.

Why is this Accelerade COO China, while the regular products are from USA? Do we really need to be buying sports drinks from CHINA????

I use these poles for BC skiing and some alpine climbing. I have broken one lower section on a steep descent, but I wouldn't count it against the poles- I was abusing them. Good news? BD's replacement parts program is A+. I've bought a variety of baskets and tips as well.

This ski was a gamechanger for me. It has changed how well I ski and allowed me to do things I had only dreamed of in a few feet of blower.

If you're looking for a powder ski, please at least give the venerable 'toon a chance.

I love Arc'teryx gear, the quality is amazing and this jacket does the right thing in so many weather conditions.

BUT! If you are a man, over 6'2" tall, and even slightly barrel chested this (and many other Arc jackets) WILL NOT FIT. It is unbelievably short in the front, I ordered an XXL and the base of the zipper doesn't even touch my belt buckle. And of course, if you are even slightly overweight I would steer clear of Arc gear entirely. I don't understand why they have an XXL size if they don't want fat f***s wearing their gear...but for gods sake you need to make TALL sizes for those of us who bang our heads on stuff all the time!

ARC'TERYX FIX YOUR FIT FOR TALL MEN!!!!!