![Peter Mel Barreled at MAVERICKS -JANUARY 8 2021 [RAW CLIP] 0-20 screenshot](https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.gearjunkie.com/uploads/2021/01/Peter-Mel-Barreled-at-MAVERICKS-JANUARY-8-2021-RAW-CLIP-0-20-screenshot-120x90.png "Best Wave Ever? A Must-Watch Charge at Mavericks")
You know that t-shirt you love so much because it fits just right? This top manages to channel some of that mojo. The fabric is silky smooth, and the fit is streamlined but not restrictive. And the Infini T wins extra design points for the angle-cut cuffs that keep your hands bunch-free, plus a soft baffle inside the neck zip that prevents chafing.
Somnio touts its footwear as the world’s first “truly customizable” running shoes. The shoes come in 648 anatomically-unique configurations to ostensibly fit your foot like a glove. . .
Trail-running shoes perform a tricky balancing act. They need to be light, agile, and cushioned for miles of fast trails, so they can’t simply be sporty hiking shoes. But to deliver real stability and protection, they have to be more than road runners with extra tread.
Too cold and snowy to go on a jog? Running outdoors year-round is possible with the right apparel and gear. Here are 10 tips on technique and the essential items. . .
No, this is not an outhouse. The Sqivvy, a “portable pop-up privacy shelter,” is a 4 x 4-foot tent that’s about 7 feet tall. It packs to the size of a bike tire and unfolds to pop into form. . .
Got ice? La Sportiva’s A.T. Grip Hobnail kit allows runners to add industrial-strength traction to their soles via the application of 20 screw-in spikes. . .
Earlier this year, I did something that an experienced trail runner should know better than to do: On a Friday afternoon, the day before a race, I bought a trail shoe made by a company whose shoes I’d never worn, and then I raced the 40-mile Mount Mitchell Challenge in it the following day.
The idea for Atayne, a new sports-apparel company in Arlington, Va., was sparked when red dye from a brand name running shirt unexpectedly bled onto company co-founder Jeremy Litchfield’s skin. Since then, Litchfield and his business partner Michael Hall have developed short- and long-sleeve technical shirts made from recycled plastic bottles that are free of toxic chemicals. They use natural Cocona (activated carbon from coconut shells) as a microbial inhibitor.
This svelte new winter running shell jacket from Sugoi, the $170 Majik, looks nice and fits fine. Too bad it failed the breathability test by a long shot. . .
Newton Running has unveiled a shoe for cold temps and damp days. The Motion All-Weather Shoe, released this week, has a water-repellent upper and a sticky-rubber sole designed for grip in cooler temps. . .
Someone once told me that races are nothing more than an event where you can show off how hard you have trained, and I think that an Ironman triathlon represents this more than any other type of event. The more I am involved in endurance sports — my past is in soccer and more traditional sports — the more I appreciate the work ethic it takes to be good at these events. You can’t fake it, and you can’t walk up to the start line and gut it out. It may not be your day even if you are well trained, but it will never be your day if you are not.
Winter athletes know it can be difficult to find a hat that fits under a bike helmet and stays put for running. But Pearl Izumi has done just that with its Microsensor Skull Cap, an upgrade to a design that’s been around for years.
The Quark Jacket from Mountain Hardwear is described as “mosquito netting with a waterproof and breathable laminate.” It is indeed light weight, though it does its job to keep rain out while granting a noticeable amount of breathability. . .
Developed for sports like adventure racing and mountain marathons where you might run for hours with a backpack on, the to-be-released Laser 20L is marketed as the “best in class for weight, features and fit.” This is my test. . .
From foot lubrication to a (legal) performance-enhancing drug, here are 12 unorthodox tips I’ve gathered on the gear, nutrition, and technique for completing a 26.2-mile marathon run.
Interesting story this week on Inc. magazine’s website. It’s a profile of Newton Running, the shoe company out of Boulder, Colo. Great background and all on the innovative business and its unlikely trajectory to success. But then I got to page No. 4 where the writer sideswipes the ol’ Gear Junkie here. . .
The bottle-cap-size SiGNAL light from Petzl is a “multidirectional performance safety light,” according to the company. It’s a backup light source and blinker made for keeping in a backpack or stored stuffed away in the seat bag on a bike. This is my review of the product, a tiny, triple-bulb L.E.D. that may well have saved my life last week. . .
In this feature story on the Minnesota Orienteering Club’s annual Rogaine event, I chronicle a six-hour backwoods race involving swamp swimming, flag finding, brush crashing and constant map and compass utilization in the thick and buggy Chequamegon National Forest of northwest Wisconsin. . .
Preparing for outdoor adventure, be it backpacking, biking or mountain climbing, can require ample time training indoors. Here are a few pieces of apparel — for men and women — that make the sweaty work (maybe) somewhat easier. . .
OK, clear your throat. Now let out a hearty laugh. Yes, these are gloves for your feet, and they look silly. Now listen: Vibram USA is onto something here. I have run close to 100 miles in a pair of FiveFingers, and darn if I’m not becoming a convert. . .
Take some tea tree oil, add jojoba, mix in some lavender and neem leaf extract and you have the base formula for Brave Soldier skin care products, a line of natural ointments, salves, creams, gels, and lubricants developed a decade back by a dermatologist and his mountain biking buddy. . .
The inspiration for Gracie’s Gear Inc.’s debut product came two years ago when founder Lauren Grace Updyke was training for her first marathon. She had tucked energy gel packs under the strap of her sports bra, an easy-access point, though not without some chafing consequences. And then it hit her: Why not incorporate a pouch on the front of the bra. . .
Can you say ‘spanked’? Out of my league, maybe. This weekend I raced in the Big Blues Ramble orienteering meet outside Chicago, where a hundred or so top orienteers from around the country gathered to sprint like deer through the woods. But I felt far more the tortoise this weekend than the hare. . .
Tonight I head south from Minneapolis on the long drive to Chicago, where the Big Blues Ramble orienteering meet is taking place in the woods west of town. This is a United States Orienteering Federation sanctioned A-Meet, with people coming in from around the country to hunt and sprint for flags. Here’s the gear I plan to use to (hopefully) make a good showing. . .
If you’re going to run with your child — and I mean really run, with serious training sessions, multiple times per week — then you want to put the cash down on a serious jogging stroller. You need it to track straight. It should roll almost effortlessly along with the slightest of nudging. And your kid should be cozy and safe inside.
Walk a mile through any woods, run down a ragged trail, and the chance of collecting a twig or pebble in your shoe is fairly high. For backpackers and hikers, a tiny intrusion — say a small stone wedged under your sock — can easily sprout a hot spot or blister.
This is the second part of my recap on last weekend’s END-AR, a 12-hour adventure race in North Dakota. My team, Covert Loons, took first place, pushing hard for 75 miles and 10+ hours straight on the bikes, feet, and in a canoe. Here’s a summary of some gear that worked, and some that did not. . .
Last weekend I competed in the END-AR, a 12-hour adventure race in North Dakota. My team, Covert Loons, took first place, pushing hard for 75 miles and 10+ hours straight on the bikes, feet, and in a canoe. This blog is the first in a short series about the gear that worked (and some that did not) on our race to the finish line. . .
Well, I lived. My epic weekend — a 12-hour adventure race on Saturday, then a marathon on Sunday — went pretty much as planned. Both events went well. Except for almost getting shot. That’s right, during the adventure race errant bullets whizzed by my head at one point, ricocheting off the ground then zinging by my partner and I as we pedaled through the desolation west of Grand Forks, N.D. . . .
I’m likely in over my head this weekend: At 1 p.m. this afternoon I’m heading to North Dakota to race in the state’s first-ever adventure race, the 12-hour Extreme North Dakota Adventure Race. (It’s an event being put together by my Great Plains yoga buddies, Jason Magnus and Sam Salwei of YogaSlackers.com fame.) Then, on Sunday morning, I’ll toe the line at the Twin Cities Marathon to run 26.2 miles through my home town of Minneapolis. Ouch.
Innovation in the realm of running shoes often comes in the form of new colors, added padding, or subtle — sometimes gimmicky — design tweaks that do little to increase performance on the run.
No, thanks.
