Contributions by nnylfa (7)

I bought one of these fleeces for my husband and he liked it so much that he bought another in a different color a month later! Like most Arc'teryx jackets the fit is snug so you may want to order up.

I had a hard time distinguishing these two headlights to determine which one was best for our family. I decided to get the slightly cheaper Tikka Plus for our son and purchased the XP for my husband and me. What is the difference? The XP has a sliding cover that diffuses the light. The clear sliding cover can be slid open to have the light focused primarily on one spot so that the light is distributed evenly. When the light is diffused it is a medium-high brightness that sheds uniform clear light over the area. The XP has a light booster that will shower the area with extremely bright light – and it IS a nice bright light. However, you must hold the small little button on the top of the body of the XP in order for it to work. I haven’t used it much because I am of the lazy sort and can’t be bothered to hold my hand up to my head for a few seconds. It would be much more helpful if the booster button can be activated for the 20 seconds with just one push. Another addition to the XP is a battery charge indicator. It is a small little hole covered with a piece of plastic. Apparently, it is supposed to turn green, yellow or red according to the battery charge. Granted, I just bought these lights two days ago and may not be working them correctly, but. . . there are no lights coming on in the hole. I don’t miss it though. The Tikka Plus seems brighter overall. It has an extremely bright center in the beam and a medium-high brightness surrounding the center so it seems to appear brighter than the XP. It doesn’t have the options that the XP has but does function well. Both the Plus and the XP ratchet up and down on the housing. However, the XP can ratchet about twice as high or low as the Plus. Overall, is the XP worth the extra dollars? In my opinion, yes, due to the additional ratcheting and the uniform brightness of the light in the XP. However, both these lights are good and I would be satisfied with either of them. If you want to save money, buy the Tikka Plus and you will be happy. By the way – who needs a strobe? That is the most worthless “value-added” function on both the two lights.

My son uses these pants skiing in -8 windchill weather and also 30 degree weather and is comfortable with both. He just wears a pair of thin Hot Chillys with them and stays warm. The size is large, however. He is 10 1/2 and we have to double over the elastic waistband. Although waist does has the hook and loop expanders, the smallest size is not small enough for my son. My son is 68 lbs and about 4'3" so he is a little on the small size for a 10 year old. The pants are also too long but with ski boots they are fine. I suspect that it is Spyder's sizing because his last pair of size 8 pants he wore for the last two years. At this price, however, I am hoping we will get three years out of the pants.

I am on my third pair of these glasses in the last three years. I lose about a pair a year and try to keep a spare pair. I love these glasses because they are so lightweight and the optics are great. I have tried other sunglasses when I have lost my Oakleys on vacation but I am too spoiled with the optics and the weight. Especially the weight. I have a small face and these are versatile to fit anyone.

I bought this jacket for my husband for Xmas and he loves it. It replaced a 5 year old Mountain Hardware jacket that I was tired of looking at. Although he is normally a perfect Large, the jacket seems a little short but it's not a problem. He is 6'.

After one year, I still love this fleece. It has a form fitting look and it is extremely warm. In fact, it is so warm, you usually cannot wear it indoors also they advertise it as a sweater. It fits very snug, so I ordered up a size.