Made-with-Bananas ‘Performance Candy’
Growing tired of the mainstream flavors of energy bars and gels? A new made-with-bananas bar hit the market this summer that tastes so good it’s being sold as “performance candy.”
Test: Grape and Coconut Sports Drinks
Thirsty? Our writer tests three new hydration drinks, including grape-flavor Nuun tablets and a crystallized coconut palm nectar with high amounts of maltodextrin added for energy in a liquid form.
$38 Water Bottle: Nau/Klean Kanteen
Made of stainless steel, food-grade silicone and sustainably-harvested bamboo, the new Nau/Klean Kanteen collaboration bottle is advertised as the most environmentally safe, non-toxic water bottle on the market. It’s among the industry’s most pricey bottles, too.
Primer: Water Purification in the Outdoors
Clean drinking water in the wilderness is never guaranteed. In this roundup review, Gear Junkie looks at a half-dozen purification products made for the outdoors.
Campfire Pie Irons
Cook it up! Gear Junkie reviews pie irons, a classic campfire cooking tool. Just add buttered bread and filling, cook on coals, and open to eat a true outback delight.
‘Birdseed’ Energy Bar
A compressed block of nuts and seeds — flax, pumpkin, sesame, sunflower — make Raw Crunch bars appear to be made for the birds. Gear Junkie takes a taste test.
Bite-Size Energy ‘Solids’
Sidewalk chalk or energy food? Gear Junkie tests “the strangest energy food he has yet to try,” Hammer Nutrition’s chalky, hard Perpetuem Solids.
Adventure Racing Food Plan
How do you eat for a week-long wilderness expedition race? Gear Junkie gives a peek inside his race pack for a few tricks from the field.
‘Glass-Like’ Bike Bottle
Specialized Bicycles’ new water bottle has an infused layer of silicon dioxide to promote “the pure taste of drinking from a glass.” Gear Junkie gave the bottle a harsh test in Patagonia this month.
Holiday-Theme Energy Food
Some Christmas spirit with your energy gel? Clif Bar & Company and GU Energy Labs unveiled holiday-themed energy foodstuffs last month.
Interview: Founder of Clif Bar
Clif Bar & Company celebrates 20 years in the energy-bar business next month. Gear Junkie interviewed the company’s founder about Clif’s origins and the future of energy food.
CRUNCH Granola Bars
In a direct affront at a market long dominated by General Mills and its Nature Valley line, Clif Bar & Company debuted CRUNCH granola bars this summer. Gear Junkie gives CRUNCH a taste test.
CamelBak Antidote
Hydration stalwart CamelBak touts a “redefinition” of the water reservoir with its to-be-released Antidote line.
Mini Treasure Hunt: Roanoke – Winner
We have a winner! As part of our Mini Treasure Hunt we received hundreds of correct responses and our random winner is Danny Garcia-Velez of St. Paul, MN.
Energy Food That Tastes Good
Item No. 3 on my list of “Five Gear Innovations” is. . . Energy Food that Tastes Good!
Thinksport Steel Bottles
These double-walled water bottles are made of stainless steel and touted as addressing “the growing concern of toxic chemicals leaching from consumer products.”
Taste Test: Mojo Bar
Sugar takes a back seat. With Clif Bar & Company’s Mojo Bar, the “salty” part of the equation is key.
‘Anti-Energy’ Drink
“Unwind from the Grind” with an alcohol-free relaxation drink. Reviewer Stephen Krcmar finds out if there is better sleep through chemistry.
Energy from Chocolate
Salazon Chocolate Co. touts its bars as an energy food, not a candy.
Justin’s Chocolate Nut Butters
Justin’s Nut Butter is making a series of chocolate-flavor nut butters that will soon be available in jars and squeeze packs.
Sport Beans Go All Natural
When you’re craving junk food during a long ride or workout, nothing is better than junk food without the junk: Sport Beans recently transitioned to an all-natural formula.
CamelBak All Clear Water Purifier
CamelBak designed a bug-zapper-like water purifier that kills bacteria with a dose of UV light.
SIGG bottles contain BPA
The aluminum water bottles many of us have been using over the past couple years may NOT be free of the chemical BPA after all.
Team Garmin-Slipstream Race Food – Healthy Energy Foods for Cyclists
To fuel a squad of bike racers like Team Garmin-Slipstream during the Tour de France and other events it can take upward of 7,000 calories per rider per day. Here’s a peek into the team’s recipe box.
Enervit Enervitene Cheerpack
This ain’t no average energy gel. Each Enervitene Cheerpack costs $4 a pop and is marketed to be “so effective, it’s almost like cheating.”
Gear Review — SIGG Retro Heritage Bottle
Its design has roots in a water bottle made almost 80 years ago. But the SIGG Retro Heritage bottle, available next month, is strangely similar to aluminum water bottles made today. . .
Gear Review — KOR ONE Hydration Vessel
Don’t call the KOR ONE a water bottle. This one-foot-tall elliptical flask is indeed a “hydration vessel”. . .
Gear Review: GU Roctane
You may have recently noticed GU Roctane at your local outdoor retailer. You may also have noticed that this energy gel costs 50 to 100 percent more than its competitors. What you can’t learn from reading the label, or the price tag, is that both Roctane flavors — Blueberry Pomegranate and Vanilla Orange — have a taste that’s worth the hefty price.
BELA-Olhao sardines
It’s a little strange popping open a small tin filled with oily fish that still have bones and scales intact. Sure, the heads and tails are missing, but the potent stench of fish billows from the small metal container as soon as you open it. If that’s not too much for you, then you’ve picked the right nutrient-rich trail snack. BELA-Olhao sardines are reportedly packed fresh within eight hours after they are caught off the coast of Portugal.
New Clif Bar Flavors
I’m a self-proclaimed skeptic of most things — especially if it’s food that “tastes like cardboard,” which is a saying some people ascribe to the category of energy bars. After sampling a few Clif Bars years ago, and not finding a flavor I liked, I hadn’t touched the product until recently.
Project 7 water bottles
Not often would I write about bottled water. I’m more of the mind that you should refill a metal (or non-BPA poly) bottle with filtered H20 from the tap. But Project 7, an outfit in Southlake, Texas, has a new twist on the (recyclable) plastic bottle game. Namely, the company (www.project7.com) has pledged to address… Read more »