Gear
Archive
Outside reviews the best gear in the 2011 Summer Buyers Guide, including the GE DV1 Mini Camcorder.
Outside reviews the best gear in the 2011 Summer Buyers Guide, including the Canon EOS 60D camera.
Outside reviews the best gear in the 2011 Summer Buyers Guide, including the Rusty Dwart surfboard.
Outside reviews the best gear in the 2011 Summer Buyers Guide, including the First Ascent by Point 6 Lightweight Hiking Socks.
Outside reviews the best gear in the 2011 Summer Buyers Guide, including the Apple iPad 2 tablet.
Outside reviews the best gear in the 2011 Summer Buyers Guide, including the La Sportiva Quantum running shoe.
Outside reviews the best gear in the 2011 Summer Buyers Guide, including the Yurbuds Ironman Performance Raising Earphones.
Outside reviews the best gear in the 2011 Summer Buyers Guide, including the Olympus E-5 camera.
Outside reviews the best gear in the 2011 Summer Buyers Guide, including the Firewire Dominator CBD surfboard.
Outside reviews the best gear in the 2011 Summer Buyers Guide, including the Outdoor Research Echo Duo Tee.
Outside reviews the best gear in the 2011 Summer Buyers Guide, including the Bollé Vortex sunglasses.
Outside reviews the best gear in the 2011 Summer Buyers Guide, including the Montrail Fairhaven running shoe.
Outside reviews the best gear in the 2011 Summer Buyers Guide, including the Suunto M5 watch.
Outside reviews the best gear in the 2011 Summer Buyers Guide, including the Pentax WG-1 camera.
Outside reviews the best gear in the 2011 Summer Buyers Guide, including the Orvis Access rod.
Outside reviews the best gear in the 2011 Summer Buyers Guide, including the Ibex Shak Lite Half Zip Long-Sleeve.
Outside reviews the best gear in the 2011 Summer Buyers Guide, including the Nikon D7000 camera.
Outside reviews the best gear in the 2011 Summer Buyers Guide, including the Saucony Progrid Peregrine running shoe.
Outside reviews the best gear in the 2011 Summer Buyers Guide, including the Highgear Axio HR watch.
Outside reviews the best gear in the 2011 Summer Buyers Guide, including the Panasonic DMC-LX5 camera.
Outside reviews the best gear in the 2011 Summer Buyers Guide, including the L.L. Bean Wicker Creel fishing basket.
Outside reviews the best gear in the 2011 Summer Buyers Guide, including the Mammut Ajungilak Alpine 3-Season.
Outside reviews the best gear in the 2011 Summer Buyers Guide, including the Elie Strait 140 XE kayak.
Outside reviews the best gear in the 2011 Summer Buyers Guide, including the Brooks Trailblade running shoe.
Outside reviews the best gear in the 2011 Summer Buyers Guide, including the Brunton Solaris 4 USB solar charger.
Outside reviews the best gear in the 2011 Summer Buyers Guide, including the Leupold BX-3 Mojave 10x42 binoculars.
Outside reviews the best gear in the 2011 Summer Buyers Guide, including the Orvis Premium Brodin Guide Net.
Outside reviews the best gear in the 2011 Summer Buyers Guide, including the Big Agnes Mystic SL 15.
Outside reviews the best gear in the 2011 Summer Buyers Guide, including the New Balance Minimus Trail running shoe.
Outside reviews the best gear in the 2011 Summer Buyers Guide, including the Patagonia Go To shirt.
Outside reviews the best gear in the 2011 Summer Buyers Guide, including the Motorola Brute i680 cell phone.
Outside reviews the best gear in the 2011 Summer Buyers Guide, including the Carson 3D Series 8x42 binoculars.
Outside reviews the best gear in the 2011 Summer Buyers Guide, including the Patagonia Rio Gallegos fishing waders.
Outside reviews the best gear in the 2011 Summer Buyers Guide, including the REI Radiant 0.
Last month, our SAR team responded to lost hikers in Warren Creek, a steep, thickly-wooded, snow-covered canyon that terminates in a cliff. In the past, Warren Creek rescues were all-nighters, sometimes spilling into the next day. But for this mission, smart phones helped us rapidly find the lost. We…
By Stephen Regenold Take some fashion cues from a sticky-sole river shoe, sprinkle a dose of design direction as per the current barefoot/minimalist footwear zeitgeist, and add heavy some field-test feedback from a Jesus Christ lookalike and ultra-runner wonder named Anton Krupicka,…
By Stephen Regenold Asphyxiation is rarely a concern on a family camping trip. But this month, on a stormy night in northern Minnesota, my wife and I awoke lightheaded and out of sorts. “I feel on the verge of hyperventilating,” my wife said. It was after midnight, and our tent…
By Stephen Regenold The bike shirt from Outlier Inc., a New York company, is made of cotton, a special blend tightly woven with fibers stitched intentionally to swell when wet. The fabric, an offshoot of a relic material from the World War…
I realized the knock on single walled tents is moisture and condensation. What are your thoughts on the new The North Face Phoenix 2 tent (made with DryWall membrane)? Would you recommend seam-sealing this tents or single walled tents in general? Bill Billerica, MA
I am trying to decide between the Asolo Superfly GTX (sold in Europe) and Asolo Spyre GV (sold in USA). Do you know much about these boots and have any recommendations? Any help would be appreciated. Do you know of any problems with ordering from Europe? Roy Mooresburg, TN
By Stephen Regenold The car headlights were surging up from behind. I was on my bike, and it was 10pm in the city. I glanced down and back toward my rear wheel, the pulse of my seatpost-mounted light a reassuring red glow on the road.
I'll be traveling in Italy and Spain in the summer, and am looking for a pair of go-to pants for the trip. They need to be light enough to walk the Camino de Santiago in August, washable enough to clean in a hostel sink, and understated enough to wear to restaurants and museums. Gear Guy, tell me, is there such a pant? Paolo Santa Fe, NM
By Stephen Regenold Of all the strange and unlikely athletics trends of the 21st century there are none, in my book, nearly as strange or unlikely as shoes with toes. By this I am referring primarily to Vibram and its now…
I am looking for a good hybrid bike to ride on weekends with my kids and to also ride to work a (a 30-mile trip one way). I visited a local bike shop recently and they recommended the Trek 7.1 FX. What would you recommend? Seth Wayland, MA
By Stephen RegenoldIt packs to the size of a hockey puck. It weighs just 3.5 ounces, as scant as a single Clif bar. But unfurl the Leggero Jacket from Castelli and you get a significant layer to protect against inclement weather…
By Stephen Regenold With the subtle pull of a single finger, the FlashPoint knife flicks open to reveal its stout and serrated three-inch blade. Unlike pocketknives of yore, which could sometimes bend a thumbnail before they opened up, today companies like Buck Knives seem to thrive…
Fire. Air. Wood. Water. Those are the essential ingredients for the Backcountry Boiler, an esoteric stove-type product called “the world's first ultralight chimney kettle.” It is made in Pittsburgh, and the stove is marketed to ultra-light backpackers and other wilderness types in need of hot water in the backcountry with…
In the past, I've ridden men's frames. I'm 5'10″ and there's been a lack of options in women-specific frames, especially for taller women. But recently, a lot of companies have been logging R&D overtime in order to design frames fit for all women. Women tend to have shorter arms, narrower…
Over the past six months, I’ve been in charge of testing 56 bicycles, with the goal of picking the best bikes on the market for 2011. I’ve plowed road bikes to 10,000 feet in swirling New…
What is the benefit of compression clothing? The Editors Santa Fe, New Mexico
By Stephen Regenold In the past few years, a trend of super-sizing sports equipment like tennis racquets, golf clubs, and downhill skis has caught on with consumers. Whether it's more power,…
What is the best casual, but functional, mountain biking pant? I'm looking for something breathable, high-backed, durable, and not fully waterproof. In other words, something I can ride in Moab, then pull on a clean T-shirt and sit down for a served dinner. Eric San Diego, CA
Jake the Snake (2009) I put thousands of miles on my Jake the Snake before calling Kona to ask if my bike was really named after a reptile. Turns out Jake…
Over the past six months, I’ve been in charge of testing 56 bicycles, with the goal of picking the best bikes on the market for 2011. I’ve plowed road bikes to 10,000 feet in swirling New…
I am going on a Grand Canyon Rim-to-Rim day hike in several weeks. I have done a lot of hiking mainly in light boots but I am wondering about using trail runners for this one. Any suggestions? Mark Henderson, NV
—Stephanie Pearson writes the Gear Girl column for Outsideonline.com As a general rule, moms rule. A great way to show your love and appreciation for the woman who likely nurtured you through pimples, proms, and pre-marriage jitters is…
By Stephen Regenold I previewed the fancy Salomon EXO Sensifit line in my column earlier this week, “Gear Junkie Runs ‘America’s Toughest Road Marathon.'” Today, I want…
What type of sleeping pad is best for backpacking, the self-inflating or the tubular kind? Also what's the best, thickest pad out on the market? Rich Sycamore, IL
By Stephen Regenold They are touted to combine the “versatility of a utility trailer” with attributes found in a haul-behind unit made for gear. SPACE Trailers, a new company based in Burnsville, Minn., has a neat product in its hitch-ready equipment haulers, which come in three…
I'm looking for a kid's bike helmet and would like to know if there is difference in a $10 helmet compared to a $50 model. In addition, are there any exchange programs when the child out grows the helmet? JonathanClegg, ME
Oakley Inc. is known for its iconic (and often iconoclastic!) sports-oriented sunglasses, including innovative as well as simply strange frame and optics designs. Recently, I got a pair of relatively “normal” glasses from the company. Oakley's Deringer frame now serves as my “wear-everyday” prescription glasses for work and home life.
Who can say no to free gear? Not too many here at Outside, that's for sure. If the same is the case with you, then you'll want to check out Transworld Surf's 30 Days of Giveaways before the month-long…
What are the best travel apps? The Editors Santa Fe, New Mexico
Louise Kobern earned the nickname La Ruta Lou by becoming the 4-time winner of arguably the hardest mountain bike stage race in Costa Rica. Recently, she set a new course record…
Louise Kobern earned the nickname La Ruta Lou by becoming the 4-time winner of arguably the hardest mountain bike stage race in Costa Rica. Recently, she set a new course record…