Category: gear

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Camp 4 Bearier 700 canister

A prototype unit just shown at the Outdoor Retailers show in Vegas Salt Lake City.

… The Bearier 700 is two polycarbonate halves (production models will likely be a translucent color) that can be carried separately while hiking.

Backpackers can split them up between hikers, or carry the halves separately in or on their packs, for easier access and packing while hiking …

… at less than 2 lbs, if the Bearier 700 passes the National Park Service’s bear test, it could be a contender for the lightest canister, space-to-weight. …

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

You could see these on the market as early as May 2011.

If interested, click over to Trailspace for the specifics – Outdoor Retailer: Baffling bears with the Bearier 700

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do you want a hiking Kindle?

Andy Howell has been using one for a few months … and gives it quite a favourable review:

… The key to the Kindle is its weight. This is a properly portable machine which can slip into your case or pack quite happily. …

First off, this is a very light way of carrying a lot of books …

With the wifi link usually off I have been able to get three weeks usage without any problems at all. If you are backpacking you should be able to rely on three weeks, maybe four, so long as you keep the machine warm at night, although I must say I’ve not noticed any great degrading of battery performance in the cold.

When backpacking you will want to keep the Kindle in a waterproof sleeve of some kind — I use an Ortlieb map carrier which I know to be watertight. Phil Turner has devised his own protection system details of which he has published here so you can knock one up yourself. …

The really big downside is that you can’t share books or pass them on to someone else. You can register up to 6 Kindles with one Amazon account, which might get around things a little. But this system is still far too inflexible and Amazon need to sort this out quickly, even if it is to let you pass books on a limited number of times. …

read the rest of the review

I’m quite happy with audio books and podcasts on my iPods (normally carrying two) but wouldn’t mind trying a kindle on a longer adventure.

I mostly read in the tent. And it seems a pain that a headlamp is required to read a kindle. In fact, that might even be a deal breaker for me. Perhaps I’d use the built-in audio jack or rear speakers to listen to my audio books via Kindle.

Leave a comment if you’ve tried taking a Kindle on the Trail. Either here or over on Andy’s review.

_____

DAVE PIDGEON will not take his iPad on the Trail.

Compass Points Media via flickr – original photo

But he does review a few Apps on this post – A Backpacker’s iPad

(via Tom Mangan on Facebook)

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no Monowalker for Christmas

I’m disappointed that nobody was thoughtful enough to gift me one of these …

Perhaps it’s the price … $1000 and up.

… Weight: 7 kg/ 15.5 lb

Payload: 45 kg/ 100 lb

Upgrade: Can be reconstructed as backpack or bicycle trailer

Monowalker.com

… the Monowalker is specifically geared towards hikers, trekkers and backpackers who want to hike without weight on their shoulders. Instead of busting your back and shoulders to the next campsite, the Monowalker places all of the weight of your equipment on your hips and on the back wheel of the contraption.

The makers of the Monowalker claim they haven’t found one trail in the Alps that has stopped the Monowalker from following them – this includes scree and root covered trails. …

Smokey Mountain Hiking Blog

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New Balance MT101 Running Shoes

Buzz of the Adventure Running blog recommends the New Balance Men’s MT101 Trail Running Shoe.

My stockpile 4 pairs of minimalist New Balance 603 Country Walkers are plum wore out. … I’m due for a new New Balance shoe, assuming I can get them in very wide sizes. (serious bunions!)

Thanks Buzz. I’ll buy myself a pair for Christmas.

review by runningandrambling.com

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minimalist footwear

Have you tried any of the new ‘barefoot’ shoes as yet?

Gear Junkie has a guest post on what’s available by journalist and author Bill Katovsky of ZERO DROP, a new blog about barefoot and minimalist running.

I wear a fairly flat, but conventional approach shoe myself. No plans to go even more minimal.

Certainly this concept, presumably by Nike, is out of the question:

Has Nike Invented A Second Skin?

Leave a comment if you have an opinion. Is this just a fad? … Or is minimal footwear here to stay?

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award winning hiking video

A bug’s eye view of a day hike. Mellow. I’ve never seen anything similar before.

Day hike on the Six chutes trail in Mastigouche Provincial Park, just outside of St-Alexis-des-Monts. (Quebec)

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

This was one of the winners of the Mountain Equipment Co-op Sweet Spots outdoor video competition.

Thanks Rocco.

… Have you seen hiking stilettos, as yet?

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my BearVault is stuck

I love my clear plexiglass BearVault, happy to carry the extra weight for the convenience of tossing my food anywhere I like.

But if I tighten the lid enough for the simple plastic clip to “click”, it can be tough to open. Sometimes I need strip down, call on super human strength, and sit on the thing to squish it a little bit oblong.

Turns out that’s normal for this gear. Check this rant from thruhiker Crow:

It was 4am and I was lying in my frosty tent in the Sierras, thinking how splendid a hot beverage would be right now. I was hungry as I hadn’t eaten dinner the night before because I was low on food and one of the ways I ration my food is to skip dinner.

I was thinking: for the same weight as the bear canister I could have brought my stove, pot, fuel canister, and 5 snicker bars. Right now, I could be drinking a hot beverage and eating a snicker bar. That would be good, but instead I have a bear canister.

I reached out of my tent, grabbed my frosty bear canister, tried to open it—it didn’t budge. I straddled it and tried to open it, it wouldn’t turn a bit–it was completely locked up. And that is when I renamed my BearVault 450 bear canister: my “G…

read more – Gear review: BearVault 450 bear canister

I too leave mine as threaded as possible, but not quite locked.

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free Gronell boots

Matthew Huff emails:

Gronell is famous for their traditional stitched leather-lined boots. The brand has been in Europe since 1937 but we are only introducing them in North America now.

As a promotion, we are offering 3 people who have interesting treks planned in 2011 free Klondike boots ($349 retail value). We will ask they they update the Gronell Facebook page from time to time. Anyone who wants to apply for this promotion should go to our site, sport-hansa.com , for more information.