thefallingman

Not only do these handle a trail, they handle paved surfaces too. They require very little break in and also double as a good hiking shoe.

While these are great on the trail, protecting you from all sorts of unpleasantness like rocks, they are horrible the minute you step off onto a paved surface. The lacing system takes a lot of trial and error to get the right tightness and they require a good bit of break in.

I've used mine for years now and pumped water from clear mountain lakes to muddy coastal creeks (have yet to try with either salt or brackish) without ever getting sick. Plus I like that I can choose between fast flow for realtively clear water or slow to remove particulates from muddy. Never had any issues with weight or size.

There only two drawbacks: 1) I've never been able to get the output hose to work properly. The water flow usually pushes it out of the pump. 2) If it's on the longer life setting you must pump very slowly or untreated water will flow from the cap and potentially into your bottle, but that's easily overcome if you remember to pump slowly.

Those two factors aside: this is light, filters fast, is easy to use, gets rid of nasty critters from the dirtiest of water, and leaves no chemical taste. It gets thumbs up from me.

This is a great pole for easy trails where you plan to do a good bit of photographing. I use mine on scenic trails where the stability and power provided by dual poles isn't needed.

I've only been using these bags for a few months, but am already sold. In addition to compressing to unbelievably small proportions, two
went with me down the Coosa River and kept everything inside bone dry.

Growing up on the Gulf Coast, I've been through a lot of flip-flops. These are far and away the best I've owned. The thick strap keeps them tight to the foot but doesn't hold in heat and dry surprisingly fast. They provide more than enough cushion and stand up to walking on gravel. The only drawback is that the sole can be slippery of wet surfaces, but that goes away after a breaking in period. Haven't had a chance to test the bottle opener yet.