In line with the other comment, the bladder is trash. It's supposedly a North Face branded Nalgene bladder, but Nalgene bladders don't leak like this. I've had two thresher bladders leak (one at pivot at bottom, one at screwtop) and my girlfriend's TNF Mako bag leaked too.

Ok, now that we're off that, the Thresher pack is a great extremely small and rather light pack. It's got pretty good and supportive straps and backpadding, but it holds about 1.5 liters of water, wallet, keys, a sandwich and a cliff bar. You can perhaps shove a thermal in the bungee pouch, but it is small. Great if you are going for a bike ride or jog, bad if you want this to be a minimalist summit push bag (my original intention).

Overall, it's surprisingly good and breathable for an on-the-back pack, and quite light and streamlined... but as has been said, the bladder it comes with is landfill food.

Please read your manual. I used to work in a gear shop, and every last one of these we sold was to someone who didn't need it, or needed it because they mistreated their old filter.

Step 1: Don't need a new filter: I've had a MiniWorks for 11 years, if you let it dry out after trips (prevent mold), don't let it freeze with water in it, and make an attempt to get clear water into it, it'll last a decade or more.

Once you think you need to get a new one of these, check the MSR manual (online too!), and scrub off the surface according to their directions. Presto, I probably just saved you $40. Scrub it off, and when you do that, just bite the bullet and get new O-rings for it (normally less than $5 at your local MSR rep).

Also, make sure that you've got the prefilter on the little floatie. That'll again extend the life considerably.

Let's get the negative out of the way. They are wider and less acceptable to side loading than CCH's Aliens. (Hence why I've got 3 aliens on my rack too). That said, I use these about 5 times more often than the aliens.

Why? Well, I climb mostly in the Sierra, and our cracks aren't that squirly. Almost always, I can throw in a TCU, and I rarely ever miss the sizeing, they jut seem to work. The color coding is intuitive and bright, the triggers work great.

I love everything about these, and don't think a rack is complete without 00-3.

Do note, as well, that 00 has somewhat a low strength rating, like all small trad pro.

Ok, let's get something out of the way. Ski pants get thrashed. No matter how much you take care of things, you've got, what, 150 ski days in a pair of pants, if they are solid?

I've put around 90 days in my stances, and they are solidly going strong, and waterproof still. (Keep that sidezip covered by the flaps, or they aren't). The knee articulation is a good angle, the waist is a good fit. They aren't too bulky, nor too flimsy, and they deal well in storms.

Really, I see my set having 40 or so days left in them, the ankle cuffs are getting a little thready, and the knees/hips have taken some abrasion. (oh-sh** on icy patch + 200 foot slide before arrest = face fabric gets a little furry). When they blow out, I'll get another pair, when those blow out, I'll get another pair. Ski jackets are glory pieces to last years. Ski pants are consumable.

These and the BD stopper set really form the backbone of my rack. Throw in the metolius TCU's sizes 00-3, and you've got a quite versatile rack, with enough overlap for comfort, and few wasted pieces.

This is my second glowing review of this jacket in so many years. It's like having a little house you can go inside when the weather is bad, and look out through your little protected window. It's so good that at times in hellacious weather, you can get this confused sensation about things not feeling real, until a gust of wind puts you on your butt.

For starters, let's talk about the bad: The inside fabric can feel really clammy right against your skin, if you plan on wearing a jacket bareback, go for a packlite or conduit DT laminate. Also, there aren't what one would expect for hand pockets, because that's where your pack's waist belt goes. The fabric is also very stiff when new, and doesn't break in much, so get used to a crinkly sound with the hood up, and a tin-roof over your head when it hails.

The pros? Everything. This thing is body armor against weather. The hood and elbow articulation are probably the biggest stand-out features of this jacket. The hood fits like a baseball cap, and doesn't drip water down your neck when you pull it back.

Why I love it #1: Insulates well against snow #2: Doesn't slide around on snow. Ridges! Yay #3: My shoulders and hips don't bottom out like they do on inflatable pads.Yeah, it's kinda bulky, just strap it on the back of your pack, it's light and won't throw you off balance.

photo from little cottonwood canyon, in backcountry.com's backyard.

The writings about this say that only the heel releases, meaning there would be no lateral release (sideways). That would be really bad and dumb. In reality, when you go sideways, the wings at the toe push the heel out and to the side, so the heel exits the side of the heel piece. (Somewhat like a dynafit, only by going backwards instead of rotating).

Spider-silk weight fabrics and a clever asymmetrical design come together to make this a very special tent, that needs some attention to detail in setup.

For starters, let's get the obvious out of the way: The two poles are hugely different in size, and the long one looks bent. Put them in backwards,and you'll get nowhere. Once you do that, you'll find that the high pole takes a good bit of tension: this tension makes the entire structure pretty solid and strong, but worries me when pulling that mesh so tight. Same with the rainfly: Takes a little getting used to pulling it over to get it to set right. Tip: Poles always go under seams!

The arrangement where the poles clip in to the tent body is interesting, and I highly encourage setting this tent up at least once in daylight before you're fumbling with the headlamp. It actually makes a good bit of sense, it's just different.

Liveability? Great! It's a thin tent, with a whole lot of airspace inside, so condensation is less a problem than it should be, all and all, surprisingly capacious for you and the bike. Less garage-like than an MSR Velo, but 1/3rd the weight.

I'd say this shoe is 70% aggressive and 30% comfort. I could be talked a little, but it is a good shoe for thin stuff, smearing, and gym even.I was also recently impressed when a "easy 4th class walk off" (tuolumne) turned out to be everything but that, and I ended up smearing down steep slabs for almost two hours in these, and wasn't crippled!

P.S.: Some of the glue on them sucks. My first pair blew out where the top of the toe is glued down. Get in touch with 5-10 support, they will deal with it if it really is a glue issue. They are slow (4-6 week), but they are nice and actually deliver in the end.

I've got two of these, One for me, one for my girlfriend. They rock and are easy to use.

My Public Service Announcement: If you turn it on, and the battery meter (those two numbers) reads anything less than 30, especially if you've had it in a warm car, REPLACE THOSE BATTERIES. Less than 30 or so is effectively zero...

(dorky explination here: The battery meter is actually a volt meter of the battery. New 1.5v batteries give off like 1.7v or so, older ones give off 1.3 or so. The Tracker guestimates the amount of battery life left on the voltage. The lower the voltage, the less accurate this measurement is.)

Batteries are cheap! Your life isn't! Thank you, carry on.

Also, Don't store the thing over summer with batteries in it.

Or the instructions weren't that clear.

For set up. Connect those thin little ribbons that go across from the Key Corner (one with the pockets.

Stake in the Key Corner. Then pull tight, and stake an adjacent corner. Now, the third corner, you pull tight to the second stake, as well as pulling the ribbon tight. Do the same for the next corner (#4), then corner #5 will be really easy to pull tight between 1 and 4.

You basically start from the key corner (back of the tent), and go around in a circle. If you do that, it gets quite tight on the walls, and won't flap very much in the wind.

I've got two of these bags. One is for Top-Roping days, the other for my firespinning gear (duvetyn rag, dip can, poi, meteor, et cetera).

The closure system is designed for quick stuffing, not maximum closure. If you are using this for climbing, you just wrap your rope up in the attached tarp (quite large) and jam that in the bag, then pull the drawstring. If you wear it like a backpack, don't use the cinch straps, if you sling it, do.

I love this bag, I'll probably end up buying more of these for random things. Oh: they are completely worthless for trad, so don't bother.

This bag can be overstuffed to the gills and still work great. It is tough as nails, and carrys quite well on my narrow frame. I really like the thin shape of the pack, especially when on long ski tours, or carrying a bunch of gear on a brutal climbing approach.

I've had this for about 3 months now, and have started using it on a daily basis for bicycle commuting. The pack is surprisingly waterproof, and I trust it to carry my computer when I bicycle in California rain"storms" (read: showers). I've packed it up for an overnighter backpacking trip (that got aborted, ARRG!), and it sits extremely well with up to 25 lbs, about the limit of what you can fit into it without having gold bars. It's basically the best things of the Gregory Z30 RT and the Z55 put together, and surprisingly capacious for a 35 liter. Again, though, it is an exceptionally good pack for medium-to-large day trips on a bicycle. Trad rack+rope, swallowed, shoes on the outside. Computer, books, raingear, change of clothes for work? Perfect fit.

Six month update: Zippers in straight lines (like this bag and my BD bags) WORK every time. Zippers in curves and arcs (Gregory, Osprey, I'm looking at you) Do not zip well when stuffed! Thank you MHW for being sensible.

I was planning on getting a BD megalite, but got one of these instead. The first few times I set it up, I had some difficulty getting it all tight. I drove back up to Richmond and talked to mr. Zamedis, and he said to pull out three oppositional points, then put the pole in, and then tension it around that. It's seemed to work great since then. No complaints. Pentagonal structure takes wind pretty darned well.

at the end of : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeqAsQWy-2A Andrew McLean has breakfast in an alaska storm. It's pretty serious.

My girlfriend and I mostly ski in the Sierra. If you don't ski the sierra, let me tell you, Snow here is HEAVY. Avy debris and consolidated snow is therefore also heavy and heavier than, oh, say, Utah or Wyoming.

I bought my girlfriend this shovel, because she is 5'3 and thought a smaller shovel would work better for her (allow her to more quickly dig my a-- out of an avalanche without hurting her back). I am now a convert, and downsized to a BD transfer 3 shovel, but I really like her Mini's shape better. Digs great snow caves, dug out my car three times with it. If you live in a place with a heavy snowpack, give this and other smaller shovels a serious though. This is one of those pieces of gear that when you need it most, it performs best.

I love this binding. Same as everyone else says.

It skis really well, better than some cheap alpine bindings I've used, only weakness is that your release area is very short, meaning that a release-recovery is very difficult. None of that "Oh, I just almost caught an edge, but was able to stomp back in."

Also, it is way quieter than most other AT bindings on the touring. It's not a big thing, but it sure is nice.

And they are stiff high speed skis.

I give these a 3, because I imagine for some skiers, these are a 5, and for me, they are a 1.

These skis are hard, unforgiving, and all about the carve. They are not an all mountain ski that behaves how you drive it. This is a one-trick pony, and pretty good at that one trick, which is high speed groomers. It is quirky on soft snow, behaves slowly on chop or spring slush, and is abyssmal in bumps. Whoever calls these "all mountain" either assumes that the the whole mountain is groomed, or is full of lies.

I do almost all of my skiing in the Sierra or Cascades, only rarely venturing into the central (drier) US.

The Transfer 3's shovel blade was made for heavy wet snow, in my opinion. It is a great size for chewing through snow to dig pits, caves, or the unmentionable. I've dug through hardened debris, but never in actual anger, and it has worked great for me. Why? Because I can't overload the blade as easily as I can with my girlfriend's Voile big-shovel (size of the transfer 7). If you have the intelligence not to fill up a blade with heavy snow, or you live in light fluffy snow land, go for the 7 or a bigger blade. If you live in a coastal region or are an over-eager shoveler, go for this one. Your back will thank you.

It's a probe, and it's better than not having one. The probe's deflection (angle it can be bent by snow) is somewhat higher than others you can buy, but this one fits a good niche for being inexpensive and light. The dyneema cord is a little slick, but you've got the ferrule to pull. The probe straightens out pretty easily, not best in class, but not bad at all.

If you are going to use this for some SAR or ski patrol, might want to think of a stiffer/heavier pole. If you want a light probe for the unmentionable, It'll do the job better than a pole sans basket. (Disclaimer: I've never used this in actual avy rescue, only in practice and drills and messing around) Also, the depth markings have either improved since I got mine, or the picture is a tad misleading. Mine is marked once on each pole, which is again not the best, but perfectly adequate.

I find it really odd that this is the bird's most popular jacket. I was getting a jacket gifted to me, and got to choose from any, price not an object. I've used it on three trips so far, two backcountry skiing, one lift-op skiing (as well as some city walking in rain.)

It fits great, it's waterproof, blah blah. It's a quality piece, of course. The parts that stand out about this jacket in comparison to TNF or Marmot equivalents are the hood and the elbows. The 3 degree adjustable hood is amazing, fits like a ball cap, and can tame a puffy jacket's hood if you get into a cold day. (Did great with MHW Compressor in -31F Jackson Wyoming day). The elbows and shoulder cut sortof pull your arms out to the sides, and make you feel like you are wearing body armor. Great cut for skiing in my opinion, a less aggressive arm bend than the Sidewinder jacket.

Negatives: Goretex pro shell feels clammy or rough against skin. If you plan on wearing this against your skin anywhere, get a Conduit Silk, Hyvent DT, or Packlite shell, trust me.

It has NO HAND POCKETS. If you like putting your hands in your pockets, do not buy this jacket. The pockets on the chest are from above nipple level to mid rib-cage, not comfortable for hands. Get some gloves when you pick up this piece.

Also, the velcro on the cuffs is surprisingly low tech, and iced up in a wet snow on the Sierra crest. It's funny with everything else on the jacket being top line, to see regular old velcro...

Also, This jacket runs long. Sub butt level long on me, (6' 150lbs, in Medium). This is great for BC Skiing, Mountaineering, etc. It is lame for lift op skiing, where you sit a lot, and the jacket rides up a whole lot. If you want to do a lot of lift op skiing, get a shorter jacket and some stingray bibs.

Also, it might feel like body armor, but it's not! Enjoy.

So a big heads up about this jacket. It does not have pit zips, and the hood is pretty sloppy in comparison to other competitors.

The jacket is pretty much an on or off thing. I am generally cold. With the jacket unzipped, and minimal activity, it is good from around 40F to 20F, zipped, it is good from 30-10 or so. If I start doing anything mild cardio, It's got to go off, (except for that one day it was -31 in Wyoming...).

The hood. On its own, the hood doesn't work that hot, because the hood can fit over a helmet, or inside another jacket. If you don't tame the hood some, it'll cut down on your peripheral visibility (like all hoods did, before Arc' revolutionized them...)

Bottom line for me: get this, a pro shell jacket, and a backpack to throw it in. You'll be set for foul weather from around 40 to -25 comfortably. Don't look at any other puffy, TNF redpoint, patagonia micropuff are thin compared to this, and OR Chaos' windstopper will choke out breathability when you layer it with a shell.