The latest crop of outdoor GPS units with high quality mapping has been a bit of a mixed bag. Magellan’s Triton series launched with great fanfare, but had quite a few software issues. It took about a year before the company worked out the bugs, but the damage was done. Garmin’s Oregon series recently launched…
Monthly Archives: May 2009
Hot Issue: Guns in National Parks
Back in March, I wrote about the US District Judge that blocked the ruling allowing guns in our National Parks and over the past few months I have paid close attention to the topic. Yesterday, I learned that the Credit Cardholders Bill of Rights Act of 2009 passed in the Senate 67-29. At first glance,…
Cool Product: aLOKSAK
I was doing the rounds on the outdoor blogging sites today and ran across a review of aLOKSAK. This product is essentially a very heavy duty zip top bag that claims to be waterproof to 200 feet. While I don’t plan on scuba diving with my cell phone anytime soon, aLOKSAK looks like it would…
First Ascent: Eddie Bauer goes back to their roots
First Ascent is the new line of mountaineering clothing and gear created by Eddie Bauer, Whittaker Mountaineering, and Rainier Mountaineering, Inc. The line is a total collaboration between Eddie Bauer’s designers and a team of six experienced mountaineering guides: Ed Viesturs, Peter Whittaker, Dave Hahn, Melissa Arnot, Chad Peele, and Seth Waterfall. Working with the…
Proposed 2010 budget includes $2.7 billion for National Park Service
The recently released fiscal 2010 budget by President Obama includes $2.7 billion for the National Park Service. This is great news for the NPS, as it is a $171 million increase from the 2009 fiscal year budget. Within Obama’s new budget proposal, here are some of the highlights: A $100 million increase in the NPS’…
Cool product: AquaSeal Map Seal
While browsing the map section in my local REI recently, I ran across this cool product: AquaSeal Map Seal. Map Seal is a high-polymer coating that you can brush onto your maps to provide a permanent waterproof coating that will not be compromised by repeated folding and unfolding. While I prefer to purchase trail maps…
Cool Product of the Day: SteriPEN Adventurer
While SteriPEN may not be brand new on the market, it is quite a neat tool. Typical water purification methods require heavy filters or chemicals to kill any nasty things in your drinking water. SteriPEN takes a completely different approach by using UV light to kill anything that may be lurking in your Nalgene full…
Review: New York-New Jersey Trail Conference Maps
If you are planning any hikes in the New York/New Jersey area and looking for maps, we definitely recommend checking out the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference (NYNJTC) trail maps. Before we moved to the West Coast, we did a lot of hiking in the New York Hudson Highlands and always carried these maps with us.
Bear Safety While on the Trail
With the recent news that the National Park Service is requiring all overnight hikers to carry and use a bear canister for their food in Rocky Mountain National Park (click here to read more), we thought we would take the time to put together some safety precautions you can follow when hiking in the wilderness….
Meet and greet Matt Hart & Sean Meissner
Ever want to meet some of the more famous runners in the world? Well if you’re in the Seattle area on May 13th, you’ll get your chance. Montrail runners Matt Hart and Sean Meissner will be at the Seattle Mountain Hardwear store taking questions from anyone that stops by. So, if you’ve ever wanted to…