Mountaineering gear news, reviews and tests
I try to keep the posts in this blog free of commercial garbage, but given the excitement over Icebreaker’s outdoor clothing I thought I’d post a quick heads-up on the fact that there is a huge Icebreaker Sale coming up over thanksgiving. Black is the New Black. 30% off all Black items and 15% off [...] Read more »
The great news is that summer is in full swing, and were I’ve been its been beautiful. The sad news (BIG SAD FACE) is that its already coming to an end. The silver lining is that most of the major gear retailers have already started launching their end of summer sales with up to 50% [...] Read more »
A lot of tops and pullovers promise warmth without weight. And to be fair, most of them deliver on the promise, whether they are made from Polartec, company specific fabrics such as Patagonia’s own brand of fleece or even cheap no-name fleece. The difference between the various products is firstly cost: a no-name fleece will [...] Read more »
Almost since the dawn of time people have tried to figure out funky ways of staying warm in the cold. Even poor old Otzi the iceman, who fell into some snow high up on a glacier in the Alps about 5000 years ago, only to pop out near the bottom of it a few years [...] Read more »
Once people decide to change from synthetic base layers to ones made from merino wool they get hung up on which brand to choose. A lot of people wonder whether Icebreaker or Smartwool is a better choice. Frankly I think that the bigger decision is the one you’ve already made, namely to invest a bit [...] Read more »
I’m a huge fan of SmartWool and Icebreaker’s merino wool as a fabric for base layers. It may not be quite as soft and silky as synthetics like Polartec or Capilene but I’m convinced it is every bit as warm. More important, it stays fresh far longer when out on the trail. That’s because wool [...] Read more »
Think of a dumb animal for a second. Okay, I’ll bet it was a sheep! After all, how much intellectual prowess does it take to hang around in a field all day eating grass. They can’t even think for themselves and follow each other around like, um, er, sheep. Sorry to say this but sheep [...] Read more »
Talk to people about the legion of climbers racing up the world’s 8000 meter peaks and you’ll likely get a comment that it’s easier now because of modern clothing and equipment. In fact most climbers these days think it’s safer to climb on Everest now than it was in the age of Edmund Hillary and [...] Read more »
I’m still on the Backcountry.com newsletter and they’ve got a cool article on the four hottest items in their store for this winter season. Among their top picks is the Arc’teryx Stingray Jacket. Now this is a pretty repsectable jacket in its own right, made from Gore-Tex Soft Shell and all of the the great [...] Read more »
Patagonia is a company well known for putting the environment high on its agenda. It gives a percentage of sales to environmental groups, only uses organic cotton and tries to use recycled materials in its new products. Now it wants your smelly old base layers and briefs to recycle and turn into brand new capilene [...] Read more »