If you are a dog lover like me, you know the importance of high quality gear for your favorite four-legged friend. Ruff Wear is known for making amazingly high quality gear for pets, and with the K-9 Overcoat, Ruff Wear spares no expense. With eco-friendly material and your pet’s comfort and protection in mind, Ruff Wear developed a [...]
If you are in the market for an all-weather, winter hiking boot, take note. The new Delta Boot by KEEN is made for both men and women, and is a very capable option for you winter activities. While KEEN is best recognized for their summer waterfront shoes, their sturdy boots are also very [...]
Mammut’s Arctic Mitten features a combo of 600-fill goose down and synthetic fill. Together, the insulation is designed to keep your hands toasty regardless of the temperature or type of adventure. I am a good mitten/glove tester because my hands are typically colder than most, even when sitting around the evening fire. Therefore, I have [...]
If you haven’t heard of Looptworks, it’s time, www.looptworks.com. The Portland, Oregon, company started in 2009, and uses pre-consumer manufacturing excess materials to create quality, limited-edition products. In addition to creating unique and functional products from t-shirts, to computer bags to coats, Looptworks ‘aims to rid the world of waste while inspiring a generation to [...]
When you hear the name, Dale of Norway, images of wool ski sweaters probably jump into your mind. For over 125 years, Dale of Norway has been producing woolen goods that take advantage of wools natural insulating and moisture absorbing properties. These days, the trend toward sustainability is of utmost importance and fortunately wool is [...]
Ok, so the photo above makes the Adrenaline Multi-tasker Pro look a little scary and masculine. However, I was recently very very thankful that I packed the Multi-tasker Pro into my pack while spending a full day on the mountain. As we all know, weather can change quite suddenly and a sudden drop in temperature [...]
Finding a good pair of waterproof-breathable ski pants can be a difficult task for many women, including myself. Thankfully, the gals at Mountain Hardwear gave me a chance to test out their updated Women’s Synchro Pant and made my job a tad easier. In this review, I hope to give you all the information to [...]
The Mantra Jacket, by Sherpa Adventure Gear, is designed to keep you warm during all of your cold weather aerobic pursuits, without bothersome bulk. Cross country skiing, skinning and skiing, climbing and running, it’s meant to perform. The sleek, fun design looks like a wool hoodie under a puffy vest and functions equally well on [...]
Eddie Bauer has a long and impressive heritage of equipping some famous expeditions but has lost a lot of its prestige over the last decade. With the 2009 introduction of the First Ascent line, I believe they have made a phenomenal return to high-quality expedition-ready apparel. They have worked with mountain guides and professionals to [...]
Helly Hansen’s Women’s Verglas 3L Jacket features top notch fabric that provides ultimate weather protection. The Verglas 3L feautres HH’s Helly Tech R O2 that comes with the highest waterproof and breathability rankings; with 20,000m waterproofness and 20,000g breathability. You get all of this weather protection in a super light-compact package that can be easily [...]
Versatility is an extremely important quality for a jacket to have. The North Face Eurus Jacket has this quality and many other excellent features. The Eurus is a new jacket within TNF’s Summit Series collection and is designed for aerobic alpine adventures and received approval from some of the most extreme outdoor athletes. I have [...]
Orange shoes? Sounds pretty wild, eh? However, I love my new orange Keen Howser slip-ons. First off, Keens calls the color rust, don’t want to confuse you all. If orange is not your color, there are 4 other great colors to check out: mauve wine (purple-ish), English ivy (green), gargoyle (smoke blue), and black. The [...]
Salomon includes sweet design features I didn’t even know I needed in their new Swift Mid-Layer Hoody ($110, www.salomon.com), making it a perfect piece to grab for cold-weather aerobic activities or as layering piece for downhill skiing. First of all, the super soft interior of brushed fleece, with flat lock seams and ribbon tape at [...]
As athletes look to use their gear for multiple activities more and more, companies like Marmot are starting to come out with hybrid gear versions that allow you to use your gear in a multitude of activities. Recently, I’ve been testing out the Marmot Variant which is a hybrid version of a fleece and synthetic [...]
This winter you can stay warm, look stylish and go easy on the environment in the Stone Ranch Fleece, $150, from GoLite, www.golite.com. Its super warm with eye-catching details reminiscent of a shearling coat, but made from 100% recycled materials in colors bright enough to give you a boost on the darkest winter day. Don’t [...]
I have been testing out Patagonia’s newly designed R3® Hi-Loft Hoody in the ever fashionable purple hue. The R3 Hi-Loft Hoody has quickly become a personal and family favorite. I say this because we now refer to the purple R3 as “Grimace”. For instance, one might say, “the weather may turn a bit chilly, why [...]
When a company names a product Ultimate, immediately the performance bar is set pretty high. Mammut’s Ultimate Hoody is pegged as wind-proof yet breathable softshell jacket that can just about do it all. In my testing I found that this softshell delivered on every promise. The fit is close to the body, perfect for alpine climbing, [...]
SmartWool is known for their ability to incorporate merino wool into active wear that is not only fun, as well as functional. We recently tested out their arm warmers and were pleased to find that they far exceeded our expectations. The arm warmers are constructed from merino wool (63%), nylon (32%), and elastic (5%). Because [...]
Looking for the perfect pair of winter boots that you can wear out to the bars and restaurants and then take them for a hike the next day? Ranger Smith might just be the answer for you. With a durable full grained leather outer and Polartech inner, we found these boots to look great with [...]
Native’s Mission Goggles were an immediate hit with our female testers. Despite being a unisex goggle, the Mission fits small to medium faces quite well and can easily be snapped onto a helmet, as they are helmet compatible. The Mission’s feature a double spherical polarized lens that comes in either an Amber or Chrome Reflex [...]
The Core Concepts Sprint Zip Neck has added a new twist to your traditional running top. The Sprint Zip Neck has the “Zip Flip & Stash” system; at the lower back there is a wide zipper storage area which turns inside out to store the entire top inside and has a small buckle system to [...]
The Smith Variant Brim Ski Helmet is the best helmet that we have tested thus far. This helmet seems to match every need of ours and then some. We took this helmet out in all conditions, from warm and sunny to frigid, wind blown, and snowy. One of the features we enjoyed on the helmet was [...]
Looking for a new beanie to keep your noggin warm this winter? Chaos hats have a unique line that caters to those of you that like a lot of flair to those that like a little bit more of a conservative look. We found the Chaos design team to be extremely eclectic as we were [...]
