Last November, some friends and I went to the Mountain Hardwear factory sale held at the MHW headquarters in the Bay Area California. A friend of mine was lucky enough to pick up a pre-production version of the EV Direct 2 for quite a steep discount. At the time we couldn’t find anything about the…
Monthly Archives: March 2009
Omnibus Public Lands Act to be signed today
Last week the US congress passed the Omnibus Public Lands Act of 2009. This act is a combination of 164 separate bills loosely related to public land use. The bill added protection for over 2 million acres of wilderness in nine states. As a result, thousands of miles of trails are now protected from commercial…
Review: Patagonia Drifter Hiking Shoes
As you can probably tell by the pictures in this article, I’ve had these shoes for a while. In April 2008, I saw a pair of Patagonia Drifters on sale and decided to give them a try. So, this is our longest term review yet at 11 months of use.
Review: Millet Prolight 55+20 Expe
Since 1950, Millet has been making some of the best outdoor gear out there. Originally manufacturing backpacks for climbs of 8000m peaks, Millet now makes every kind of gear you can imagine short of ascenders and carabiners. Today, you can find Millet’s gear a staple of ultra-high altitude mountaineers. While I don’t plan on climbing…
Energy Gels and Chews: Wrapping Up
Last month we tested and reviewed some of the available energy gels and chews on the market. However, there were still a few products that we wanted to feature but couldn’t get our hands on at the time of the testing.
Judge Blocks Rule Allowing Guns in National Parks
In a welcome turn of events, a US district judge blocked the last minute Bush-era rule allowing concealed weapons in US National Parks. The regulation that took effect January 9 of this year allowed visitors to national parks and wildlife refuges to carry concealed, loaded weapons. In the past, weapons could only be brought into parks if they were unloaded, stored, or dismantled. The rule posed impacts on wildlife in the parks from poaching, as well as increasing the risks to visitors of the parks.
Mountain Hardwear Launches Social Network
Mountain Hardwear launched a new social network last week aimed squarely at those interested in the outdoors. As of writing this there are only 219 members. I’m not quite sure what MHW is going for here, but I’ll be watching for some neat videos and pictures. My initial impressions are that this seems to be…
Energy Drinks: Part Two
In the second installment of our energy drinks review, we tracked down a few more energy drink mixes that are available on the market today. While you will find that these brands are readily available at larger outdoor retail stores, they might be a little harder to find at your local outdoor shop.
The Logistics of Mountaineering Photography: Part Four
For the final installment of our mountaineering photography series, we cover some added items to bring to base camp if you have some extra space and a few links for added reading.
The Logistics of Mountaineering Photography: Part Three
Now we know the basics of what equipment to bring and how to carry it. Part three covers cleaning the camera in the wilderness and some accessories to make life a bit easier.