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Gear

Gear

Archive

This is America's version of the Tour de France. So why is it hemorrhaging cash?

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Columbia Sportswear announces it will pay two people a full six-month salary, plus benefits, to test gear around the world

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Now that you can actually shoot decent photos on your phone, it's time for a best-of-the-best battle

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Those who enjoy seeing nature on two wheels are increasingly conflicted about legislation that would protect it

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Whispbar makes gorgeous, finely honed bike and gear carriers. But are they worth the premium price?

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The best new next-to-skin layers for a ramblin’ man

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Outdoor kitchen, quilt-top mattress, hot water. Who says you have to forgo the niceties while camping?

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ARTCRANK, which sells limited-edition cycling posters from local artists, is hosting an event in Breckenridge this week to coincide with the USA Pro Challenge rolling through town

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A lightweight companion for preppers and smart hikers alike

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We want one of these on our wall. Stat.

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When the founders of Litespeed decided to get back into the bike business in 2006, they chose to stay in the city they'd always called home. Now in their eighth year, Lynskey Performance Designs continues to create some of the coolest titanium bicycles you can buy.  …

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Our first impressions of the all-new 2016 Toyota Tacoma

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Google's virtual climbing projects are getting most of the press, but Mammut beat them to the punch—by nearly a year

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Electronic shifting comes to mountain bikes. Hallelujah?

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The company's response was fast. And honest.

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The best backpacks and organizers for your GoPro-centric life

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Take the appropriate precautions so you can concentrate on your ride, not the pain coming from your inner thighs

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Have a blast while keeping your bike tire side down

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Pedaling to work is a lot more fun with the right setup

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This may be the coolest set of bike tools we've ever seen

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Sick of carrying a heavy cooler into rugged or hard-to-reach spots? Igloo has you covered.

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We give the big outdoor brands a lot of love at OR—and for good reason. This year, however, we also wanted to highlight the little guys.

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Lowepro just made the new go-to adventure photo pack that features four-season protection and enough storage for a pro camera setup

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A resourceful, cozy escape overlooking Puget Sound

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A lush hideout just a few miles from the city

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The coolest outdoor toys don't always cost a fortune

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In Jay Blahnik's first extended interview since Apple hired him to help launch the Watch, the company’s director of fitness for health technologies insists activity tracking is overemphasized, elite athletes have a sitting problem, and the real breakthrough apps for the device will probably be created outside of Cupertino.

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If you want clean, safe water in the backcountry, this is the only purifier you should be buying

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This may be the coolest car-camping stove we've ever seen

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Columbia just reinvented the rain jacket, and it works great

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Lighter, softer, and more stylish than we thought possible for a performance top

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The portable shower has gotten a much-needed reboot

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Gear companies from around the world released their brand-new summer 2016 products this week at Outdoor Retailer in Salt Lake City. We pored over all of it, and these five products—from a brilliant new water filter to a totally reinvented waterproof jacket—were our top picks for Gear…

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In a time when “enduro” has become a tired epithet, the Nomad virtually reclaims the genre with downhill manners equal to any big bike and a weight that rivals many trail machines

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Don’t feel like making friends with bears and raccoons? Keep your campsite locked down with these simple tips.

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Chip timing: The practice of using a small wearable transmitter to track race participants’ times at regular checkpoints along a course.

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Dropper Post: A mountain-bike component that can be raised or lowered with a button mounted on the handlebars.

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Lifa Shirt: The first commercially available base layer made from polypropylene, released in 1970 by Helly Hansen.

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Crowdfunding: A method of raising capital to launch commercial ventures in which small individual donations are made through an online platform.

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Utility bike: A bicycle built for hauling children, gear, or grocery bags full of organic quinoa and local honey.

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Sports Bra: A groundbreaking invention that lets women participate comfortably in a range of vigorous athletic activities.

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Direct to Consumer: A business model in which a company sells its products via its own website, catalog, or store, reducing retail markup and passing the savings along to the consumer.

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You can now use clipless pedals with sneakers when you want to ditch your bike shoes

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Camouflage: A varying pattern of earth-colored prints designed to obscure the wearer from view, worn by hunters and members of the U.S. military

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Dithering: The intentional degrading of a satellite’s signal to discourage unauthorized use, which deterred citizens from tapping into the Department of Defense’s Global Positioning System, or GPS, for ten years.

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Denali Jacket: A popular performance fleece garment made by the North Face and commonly seen on mountaineers and college students.

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Bill Bowerman: A legendary Oregon track coach who cofounded the shoe company Blue Ribbon Sports in 1964; 14 years later, it became Nike.

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Teva sandal: A water shoe that came to define a generation of river athletes.

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Carabiner: A gated aluminum fastener used with rope and other equipment to arrest rock climbers’ falls.

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CamelBak: A hands-free hydration system that can be carried in a backpack.

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Tough-ass pants: A term for rugged work trousers that are particularly good at handling abuse.

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Royal Robbins: Climber, businessman, and archetype for the modern clean-climbing ethic, which espouses the use of removable protection instead of pounding pitons into rock.

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Rollerblade: A roller skate with soft, linearly arranged wheels offering fast, smooth glide.

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Rubbermaid Bin: A polyethylene storage container commonly used for gear.

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Gear companies know how to make packs lighter, jackets more waterproof, and skis burlier. The only problem: young people couldn’t care less.

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Jacques Cousteau: A French explorer and arguably the most prolific marine scientist and ocean conservationist of the 20th century.

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Double Plastic Mountaineering Boot: A highly reliable style of footwear that prevents frostbite in alpine environments.

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Duct tape: A cloth-backed metallic gray adhesive that fixes anything worth saving.

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Snowboarding: A snowsports alternative to skiing.

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The raw materials that make up the tools for hiking, running, paddling, skiing, and cycling. These 36 building blocks are indispensable to the design and function of gear, from mankind’s first wool layer to the latest lab-born membranes. (Some things just look better in print. To see this in all…

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Tech binding: A lightweight binding system that transformed backcountry skiing and put telemarking on the path to obsolescence.

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A tubeless tire tool that will fix holes too big for sealant

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An incomprehensive history.

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What do world-famous pilots like Jeb Corliss and Joby Ogwyn have in common? They all wear suits sewn by Tony Uragallo, a garden-loving designer who helps daring men zoom through the sky.

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SUP: Short for stand-up paddle-board, a stable floating platform that combines the cool of surfing with the practicality of a spin workout.

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Chamois: A diaper-like pad first used by cyclists around 1900 to prevent saddle sores and chafing on their nethers.

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BMW GS: An iconic adventure motorcycle introduced in 1980 to compete in the Dakar Rally race, the famed long-distance off-road endurance event.

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Base-Camp Duffel: A large, 155-liter bag often seen loaded on yaks in Nepal’s Khumbu region for a few simple reasons: it can take a beating, it has straps that convert it into a backpack, and mountaineers know that it can carry all their gear.

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Howard Head: The founder of ski brand Head.

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The surprising tendency for technical products and trends from the outdoor world to find their way into mass culture.

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Dutch Oven: A large cast-iron pot and the campfire cooking vessel of choice for pioneers, cowboys, and river guides.

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Repurposing: Taking a product and adapting it for a different use.

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Little Things: Those items that mark the difference between a miserable experience and a joyous one—pit zips on jackets being a prime example.

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Catalog: A magazine-like print presentation of a company’s or retailer’s products.

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Vibram: A vulcanized-rubber sole that revolutionized footwear.

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Greg Lowe: Inventor of the internal-frame backpack.

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Kite: A lightweight aircraft—often erroneously considered a toy—propelled by the wind and controlled by a user on the ground via a line or set of lines.

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A packable device producing fire for camp cooking.

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Westfalia: A breed of Volkswagen camper van prone to expensive repairs, yet beloved by those who own them and coveted by road-trip dreamers everywhere.

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Portaledge: A collapsible sleeping platform for climbers.

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