THE PLAYERInstead of carrying your iPod in your jacket, stow it safely in the padded compartment of this 1,281-cubic-inch pack. The controls and phone jack mount on the ergonomic shoulder straps, and you can work the buttons with gloves on. Tunes or no, the Audex has ample room for day…

Outside reviews the best gear in the 2011 Summer Buyers Guide, including the Mountain Hardware Fluid 48 pack.

Outside reviews the best gear in the 2011 Summer Buyers Guide, including the Arc'teryx Aerios 14 pack.

Outside reviews the best gear in the 2011 Summer Buyers Guide, including the JanSport Versteeg pack.

The 76-year-old artist Christo has sunk two decades of work and $11 million into hanging 6 miles of translucent canopies over the Arkansas River. Yet he’s still fighting local opposition and waiting on a decision from the Bureau of Land Management. Will his Over the River project ever go up?

IMAX mogul David Breashears aims for another really-big-screen hit with Kilimanjaro

She survived a near-fatal accident in Laos, only to be told that her adventure travels were over forever. Why one woman refused to listen. Read Wright's current story and then read If I Can Only Breathe from Outside's May 2001 issue.

I just dropped a bunch of bucks outfitting a used road bike I traded my mountain bike for. Rack, fenders, computer, lights, new helmet, bags. Whew! Now I need to know what to wear for my 18-mile commute in Seattle. I have a light rain jacket and padded bike shorts to get me started, but I want to buy a jacket, bike shorts, underwear (yikes, they’re $20 a pop), some kind of wool knickers for pants, and a couple of undershirts. Is that the right stuff? Lukas Seattle, WA

I was recently looking at an altimeter for climbing fourteeners. My concern is that it works on barometric pressure, so changes in the weather could give me a false reading. First, was the salesman right in saying that the impact from weather would be miniscule, and if not, are there altimeters (other than those with expensive GPS) that would not be impacted by weather? John Colorado Springs, Colorado

1. We’ve tested overnight packs this big and light before, but none as stable as the 2.3-pound, 2,800-cubic-inch Exos 46. The usual ultralight materials and buckles are in play, but it’s the suspension system—a superlight aluminum skeleton securing a mesh back panel—that makes the Exos stand out. In addition to…