Recap: Gear Junkie’s Summer Shoe & Boot Reviews
From minimalist trail shoes to full-leather boots, Gear Junkie offers a roundup of some of this year’s most intriguing footwear makes. Pick out your optimal shoe and lace up to hit the trail!
U.S. Army Bans Vibram FiveFingers
As reported around the barefoot-minded blogosphere this week, the U.S. Army has banned Vibram FiveFingers and all other “toe-shoes” because they “detract from a professional military image.”
Rx Shades: Costa Del Mar
With the solstice past, it’s summertime now officially! And with it, we’re wearing sunglasses most days, even in Minnesota where GearJunkie is based. This review covers a pair of lux sunglasses with a prescription lens from Costa Del Mar.
High on Argon: Q&A with Founder of Inflatable Jacket Company
Handheld cartridge air pumps are usually reserved for bike tires. But Utah-based Klymit thinks it’s found a better way to insulate jackets and sleeping pads with tiny cartridges or argon gas. Our contributor interviews the company founder and CEO.
Stingrays and Pixie Dust: Columbia Sportswear 2012 Product Peek
Last night, at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, amid dinosaur bones and live stingrays undulating in a shallow pool, Columbia Sportswear previewed its spring 2012 product line. Gear Junkie gives a run-down of the ceremonies and the company’s unique new wares.
Skinny Carbon Trekking Poles
Skinny but stout, the new ultralight trekking poles from Black Diamond borrow tricks from probe poles used in avalanche rescue. Gear Junkie goes on a test trek.
Quick-Draw Camera Belt
This belt holster system gives photographic cowboys a new and faster way to transport a camera while on the go. Our resident writer/photographer, T.C. Worley, gives the holster a multi-month test.
Best OfView All
Power Pack: Equal to 70,000 Batteries!
Need off-the-grid energy? Our writer, a professional photographer and adventurer, conducted a long-term test of Goal Zero’s portable solar power kit, the Sherpa 120, which is touted to offer the equivalent output to tens of thousands of AA batteries. Plug it in!
Off-Grid Family Camping Trip
Gear Junkie founder Stephen Regenold gives a report from his family’s off-the-grid camping trip over Memorial Weekend to northern Minnesota’s Bear Lake.
Coleman ‘Instant Tent’
Easy-to-setup camping tent strikes out on several fronts in Gear Junkie’s test. As per its name, the shelter goes up with ease. The compromise is a poor-performing design.
Vino for Outside: Clif Bar Wine
Wine in a pouch from the makers of the Clif Bar. That’s what you get with Clif Bar & Company’s “Climber Pouch,” a take-on-the-trail wine vessel filled with 1.5 liters of Chardonnay or Cabernet Sauvignon. We take a taste test.
Boot up! Wolverine Leather Hiker
A waterproof liner, Vibram’s “Mutant” soles, and a spinning rubber disc in the heel area of the boot make the Fulcrums from Wolverine among the more interesting hiking boot introductions of late. Our writer gave the to-be-released boots an out of the box test on a backpacking trip this month.
Review: Micro Waterproof Pack, Ultra-Sil Dry Day Pack
It packs into a hand-size pouch and weighs scant ounces. But unfurl this pack and you have a roll-top closure waterproof bag complete with shoulder straps. GearJunkie reviews Sea to Summit day pack.
UK Gear Shoes: 1000-Mile Guarantee
Running shoes designed with aid from a British military unit and rated to go 1,000 miles? That’s the claim from UK Gear with its PT-1000 running shoes. Our writer puts some miles down for a test.
Torture Test: Olympus ‘Tough’ Cameras
We ran one Olympus camera over with a mountain bike. A small boy taped another one to a skateboard to record. This torture test pushed Olympus’ “Tough” series of cameras nearly to their breaking point.
Chimney Stove: Boil Water with Sticks and Grass
The Backcountry Boiler is a camp stove of sorts that combines the functionality of a cooking pot and a stove into one. It eliminates the dependency on gas or other liquid fuel to heat water in the outback.
Break-Apart ‘Micro’ Trekking Poles
New for this summer, the Micro poles from Leki link together with cord like tent poles. The advantage: Full-length trekking poles that break down small enough to store inside a backpack. Our writer gave them a test for a week this winter in South America.
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.
Outside ‘Gear of the Year’
In its next issue, due on newsstands at the end of this month, Outside magazine will announce the Summer 2011 winners of its Gear of the Year awards. Here’s a sneak peek. . .
Review: Nimbus Trace 62
It’s built to carry loads of 40 pounds or more. A strange, gill-like panel was made to “fit the topography of your back.” Our writer tests the burly new Nimbus Trace 62 from Granite Gear.
Test: 3 oz. Jacket
It weighs about 3 ounces and packs in a tiny stuff sack smaller than a fist. But the Cirrus Pull-On from Rab can add enough warmth to save the day on a hike or a remote climb.
Test: $20 Gerber Machete
The $20 Gerber Gator Jr. machete is no heirloom piece. But it does the work of two tools and might make you look tougher, too.
Adidas Enters U.S. Outdoor Market
Athletics behemoth adidas AG is entering the U.S. outdoor marketplace with footwear, apparel, outerwear, and optics. Gear Junkie gets a Q&A with an adidas managing director for a peek at the company’s ambitious plans.
‘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.
$220 Benchmade Pocketknife
Lovers of high-tech materials will geek out on this titanium and carbon-fiber knife from Oregon-based Benchmade.
12 Questions With Andrew Skurka
Back from his six-month “Alaska-Yukon Expedition,” ultra-light backpacking phenom Andrew Skurka sits down for a Q&A with Gear Junkie.
‘Best in Show’ awards (part II)
Part II of Gear Junkie’s “Best in Show” series highlights top products from the Outdoor Retailer trade show and includes touchscreen gloves, an alpine “smock” jacket, and a GPS device that connects to your smartphone.
‘Best in Show’ awards (part I)
The twice-annual Outdoor Retailer trade show, held in Salt Lake City, is an exhibition of the best outdoors equipment in the world. Gear Junkie offers part I of our “Best in Show” gear list from the hundreds of new products that debuted in Utah last week.
OR Trade Show: 2011 Teaser
The Gear Junkie crew is off to Utah this week and the twice-annual Outdoor Retailer trade show. Here’s a quick visual tour of a few new products that have already caught our eye.
Six Outdoor Essentials
Equipment can break. Your body can wear down. These six items have helped Gear Junkie endure and work through bad breaks, gear malfunctions and pain.
