British survivalist star Bear Grylls of “Man vs. Wild” television fame has a namesake line of knives and survival products made by Gerber Legendary Blades. We caught up with the Bear to talk machetes, snare wires, and tiny kits built for extreme scenarios outdoors.
Our third video episode this fall on fast-and-light adventure debuts today. The video, “The Hardest Hiking Trail in the East,” covers a journey that starts in New York City and includes, literally, planes, trains, automobiles, hiking boots, and a bike at the end to complete!
For a limited few days only, Gerber is shipping a new knife in its Bear Grylls series, the Ultimate Fine Edge Knife, which promises a sharp edge from the top of the handle to the tip of the blade.
Active dogs require specialized equipment to run, ski and play outdoors. In this column, Gear Junkie editor Stephen Regenold looks at a few pieces of canine equipment that have been crucial for outdoors fun with his dog, a 100-pound Weimaraner who runs like a machine.
The Gear Junkie crew is back from the Catskill Mountains of New York and the Devils Path, the “hardest hiking trail in the East.” In its 27 miles, the trail climbs six major peaks and ascends thousands of cumulative feet.
In our new video, “24 Hours on the Border Route,” Gear Junkie and crew traveled to northern Minnesota to traverse a renowned 65-mile wilderness route. Drama ensues when the group gets lost in the night, their compasses malfunctioning due to high quantities of natural iron in the rock. Get ready to trek!
We test Columbia Sportswear’s new airy bug jacket in the depths of the Great North Woods, a.k.a. Minnesota’s Boundary Waters Canoe Area. Our intrepid reviewer bravely offered his mesh-covered limbs to swarming mosquitoes in the test.
Writes Gear Junkie, “In the gear-that’s-changed-my-life category, the line item of ‘small accessible pockets on backpacks’ may seem odd.” This post details a half-dozen products that offer a simple upgrade in backpack accessibility to keep gear always at the ready on the go outside.
Since 2010, Gear Junkie founder Stephen Regenold has spent almost two months of his life in Chilean Patagonia near the tip of South America immersed in the wilderness. This travel feature provides a guide to the region as well as Regenold’s recommendations on the best sites to see in Patagonia’s “end of the Earth” environment.
The GearJunkie crew is back from Minnesota’s Boundary Waters Canoe Area and the little-traveled Border Route Trail. This report looks at the crew’s fast-and-light assault through the day and night on the 65-mile route. Moose, magnetized rocks, and getting lost all a part of the fun!
This weekend, we’re heading north to the depths of Minnesota’s North Woods and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. There, we will lace up our boots (no canoes this time!) and head west to east on the Border Route Trail, a 65-mile hiking path that traverses the BWCA!
Shoot molten metal balls to ignite camp stoves and dry kindling with this new “nano-size” fire-starting stick. Gear Junkie tests it out on a recent mountain trip where flame was required to cook a hot meal at high altitude.
Quick-wicking, sun protective, and durable in the outdoors, the Eco-Speed-T from RailRiders is among Gear Junkie’s favorite shirts for activity outdoors in hot weather.
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.”
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!
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.”
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
No, thanks.
