Columbia Outpost Hybrid Shoe
July 29, 2010
Hey, it is my first video review! And my first time directing a movie. Summer blockbuster, here I come!
If you didn’t get the point from that incredibly informative video, I will sum up: I wasn’t sure about these shoes at the beginning. If you are going to get in the water, surely go for sandals, yes? So I had to kind of make myself try them. Wouldn’t you know it, I really like them. I have worn them in the water (see above), sockless on short hikes, and with thin socks on longer hikes. In all scenarios they have been comfortable, no rubbing and no blisters. I love wearing shoes without socks so I greatly appreciate this. Yes, your feet will get dirty, because these shoes are made of mesh, but if you just walk through the water, they will get clean again. It’s like magic. I like how close they fit at the ankle; it keeps the gravel out and also looks cute.
I have found that on very loose, uneven ground, the highish heel makes it slightly more likely to turn an ankle, so watch your step on that type of ground. On well worn trail or in the water, you’re gold.
Horny Toad Gia Dress
July 27, 2010
I really intended to stop with the dress thing for a while, but then this little number arrived for a spot of pre-Outdoor Retailer coverage so, you know, I’m obligated. That was pretty much my thought process when I opened the Horny Toad package. I am the first to tell you that I’m over 35 so “cute” “strappy” and “short” are not really things I tend to look for in a dress. When I pulled the Gia out of the package in all honesty I thought I’d try it out, wear it a few times because that’s my job, and then give it to a member of the younger set that didn’t mind their bra straps showing. Boy oh boy was I just WRONG. Not about the bra straps thing – just bear with me, I’ll come back to that.
I have this method; a process, if you will, of trying things on that have any sort of appearance/fashion component. If it’s not a super technical piece of gear that pretty much means that I use this process on everything. Yes, I care how I look in the clothes I am wearing even if I am contractually or by implication obligated to wear them, so sue me. Hm, perhaps using the words “sue me” and “contractually” in the same sentence is not really the best policy. Anyway, my trying-on process. Here’s the thing: usually when people try things on, they look in the mirror while they are putting them on, then tug and turn and gaze and peer at themselves before they finally decide whether they like the item or not. No, people, NO. That is the wrong way to do it. Do it this way: put the item on without even looking in the mirror, ESPECIALLY not while you are actually IN THE PROCESS of putting the clothes on. Clothes coming off looks sexy and nice, clothes going on looks awkward and unfortunate. You will not like ANY clothes if you watch yourself putting them on. Think I’m kidding? Go put on a tube top while watching in the mirror.
OK, so put the item on, then walk away from the mirror without looking. If you’re at home (I can’t be the only Internet shopper out there), go do something else. If you are at a store, I dunno, go do a lap. Give up your dressing room, it’s OK. Then in a few minutes, casually walk by the mirror and steal a glance at yourself as you walk by. If you think “Hey! Look at that fine thing, there!” your clothing item is a winner. If you still think “hum, hmm, not sure, maybe it’s too tight in the ass?” or what have you, then no, the item is not for you. Stay with this process and you can’t go wrong.
So I put this dress on, with its sheer cottony feel and relaxed lines and kind of ruched, frilly little straps on without looking in the mirror. I really loved the way it felt and thought it would the perfect swimsuit cover up, which is funny because I’ve never needed a swimsuit cover up in my life. Swim suits in Alaska are also known as dry suits so you don’t need to cover them up, and when I go to Mexico I pretty much live in my bikini so this thing known as a “cover up” is a new concept to me. But this dress just begs to be slipped on over a bikini after a day at the lake. It’s soft, light, pretty (the process! I’m not supposed to be looking yet), and comfortable.
My mirror drive-by revealed that this dress is also really, really flattering. I am not just saying that because I am full of myself. In this dress, yes, I am full of myself, but that’s the cause-effect thing. The Gia is adorable. I know this not only because I like what I see in the mirror, but because my Gearguy came home and said “wow, that’s really cute.” He’s not given to observations about my appearance so this was a big deal, everyone.
Now, back to the bra strap thing: skinny straps are usually bad news, especially when paired with a lightweight dress. There are people who are (I accidentally just typed “whoare” which you may choose to take as a Freudian slip if you are so inclined) comfortable with that level of personal anatomy display, but I am not one of them. I find bra-wearing to be highly appropriate in most situations. So I was stunned and quite thrilled to find that the cute little ruched Gia straps are pretty much bra-friendly! Someone is really doing the math, here. Bra straps can’t be seen at all from the front. AT ALL. From the back and side, you can see them a little bit depending on the style of bra you are wearing. That is forgivable for this dress, believe me. I don’t own any strappy dresses because of the bra strap issue, but now I see the error of my ways. There are strappy dresses that can be worn in a tasteful manner and this is one of them.
At 5′5″ the length falls about an inch above my knees; very nice for summer weather. My sample is a flattering, summery melon color but I believe the dress comes in darker colors as well.
It’s a shaped, fitted dress with enough movement to make you look relaxed and elegant. I asked for a size up because of my trend towards more relaxed dress-fit, but if you want a tighter look, get your regular size; it won’t be TOO tight. To be honest with my readers, I think the price point on this dress is a little high at $63, but you can get it on sale for fifty-something which is completely worth it. It’s one of the most comfortable pieces of the summer so I highly recommend it. It truly is a great swim cover up and would be presentable at all but the snootiest of restaurants (because they don’t allow anything that even LOOKS like it might be made of cotton).
And just to add to the already kind of ludicrous length of this dress post, the official product description says the dress is made of “slubbed” fabric, whatever the hell that is. Maybe that refers to the kind of multi-shade textury feel and look of the fabric, but there you go. It’s slubbed. Have at it and enjoy!
REI Willow Skirt
July 17, 2010
OK, so this is not a dress. It’s a skirt. It’s kind of close, and it’s not like the dress thing will go on forever, so just deal, OK?
This is one hell of a cute skirt, and it would have to be for this over-35-reviewer to give the thumbs up. Really, I am finally becoming familiar with the concept of “age-inappropriate” clothing and believe me, it exists. However, this skirt is thankfully free of anything like that. It’s cute but not limitingly (eh….New Word Time!) so; as in, you can still be thirty-seven and wear this skirt around town without feeling like a junior high student even though the skirt is best described as “cute”. There is a stitched flower detail on the side which admittedly is kind of borderline as far as age range. Call me stodgy but I don’t think grown women should go around with flowers and rainbows stitched onto their clothing unless they are Mariah Carey. No, not even then. But the stitching on the Willow skirt is subtle enough to be forgivable. The skirt’s got four pretty handy pockets, two in front and two in the back, which also lend a bit more styling to the look. You can even actually use the pockets for holding stuff – the front ones are stretchy and fit more than you think they do just from looking at the picture. The length is really nice; just above the knee which, combined with the slight flare of the skirt makes a cute, fun, flattering look while protecting your assets from prying eyes and wayward wind gusts.
Looks, price, ease of use – all thumbs up. Where you are going to run into trouble with this garment is the sizing. I was unable to find the skirt in my regular size on the clearance rack (where I exclusively shop) and REI.com
was out of so I bought a size up because if I tugged it down to my hips I could still wear it. Even so, I do at times get a tad, ah, obsessive about finding the gear that I want, so I kept checking back on the web site. Lo and behold, one day they had one in my regular size! On sale! In a different color than the one I already had. The new color was “gunmetal” and the one I already had was “greystone” otherwise known as “grey” so I thought “gunmetal” would be pretty close, maybe a different shade of grey or black. Well, no, in women’s gear world, “gunmetal” color is purple. Huh.
Anyway, I tried on the new purple skirt right away just to revel in the glee of having a skirt that fit better than the too-big one. However, the purple skirt fit exactly the same! What?? I compared the two, holding them up and matching the seams, and they are EXACTLY the same size. The number shown on the label is not the same, but the skirts are EXACTLY the same. Hmmmm. Off I went to the local REI to take the purple skirt back. I bet you can predict what happens next – yep, I check the sale rack and they have a “greystone” skirt in the correct size! So I grab it and compare it to the too-big one that I happened to be wearing. The smaller skirt was, this time, ever so slightly smaller than the too-big one. So it fit slightly better. It was definitely NOT a full size smaller as the label stated. But, better is better so I did a little fancy wrangling and returned the purple skirt while trading the too-big grey one that I was wearing with the slightly less too big grey one on the rack; which, yes, meant that I had to go take off the skirt I was wearing and hand it back while buying a new one at the same time. This was a return-exchange situation that gave the cashier a bit of an interesting time. But he pulled it off and I’m happy with the skirt I ended up with.
So the lessons here are that REI has a great return/exchange policy, but they have pretty unpredictable sizing and could up their QA/QC component, as this is not the first time I’ve talked about REI brand sizing issues. Skirts should not be leaving the factory with different size labels if they are exactly the same size skirt. We can’t do much about that, admittedly, but we can take from this the important idea that sizing is just a number and that label means nothing. If the garment fits then just buy it. Don’t take that little number on the label personally. It’s not about you. It’s about what fits. In general, I would go for a size down from your usual with this skirt, but be prepared for anything. For all I know they’re just stitching labels on random skirts just to have a laugh.
Patagonia Vitaliti Dress
July 15, 2010
The dress obsession continues – and leads to the inevitable letdown. I thought dresses could do no wrong! They are the answer to everything! Buy thousands of them! Well, buy one more, anyway. I saw a picture of this dress in a catalog and fell victim to the siren song of the Catalog Model. She looks so great in it! It’s perfect! How can it NOT look equally great on me?
Well, er, it doesn’t. This dress doesn’t seem to know what body type it wants. It’s kind of A-line, kind of empire waist, kind of small on top and big in the middle…I don’t know. Maybe it wants a much skinnier, taller person, I thought. Then I read a consumer review from a tall woman who thought this year’s Vitaliti was too short for her; she didn’t like it either. Maybe it wants a curvier person. Who knows. All I know is that it didn’t flatter me. I’m sure there are some body types for which this dress will work well. They’re just not mine. The product info says this has a “slim fit” but on my body type it was only slim on top and on bottom. The middle was kind of boufy and pouchy (not a good look, and not a slim look either), which kind of leaves me thinking “buh?” Because of my experience with the Patagonia Bandha dress, I bought a medium instead of my usual small, but had I bought the small, I would have been mortified by the uber clinginess. Also not a good look. Well, maybe for the meatpacking district, but not for my ‘hood.
Other than that, it’s a nice, pretty dress with good features. The wrinkle-free fabric would be nice for travel and the simplicity is appealing. It’s got a helpful built in shelf bra, which, in fact, was another eye opener for me. In this review I made fun of padded bras, and the manufacturers of the item replied, letting the readers know that the padding is for concealment as much as for enhancement. Well, I never quite understood their point until now. Needless to say, the Vitaliti dress did not have enough concealment for my comfort level. And it is not a bra-friendly dress (spaghetti straps are just kind of like that, eh) so if you are the modest type, maybe this one isn’t for you either.
I’m sure there’s some lucky model girl out there who looks great in this. I look great in a lot of things, but not this. I’m disappointed, but not discouraged. Bloody, but not bowed? Whatever. Tomorrow: yet another dress review.
Patagonia Bandha Dress
July 11, 2010
I told you that you’d be seeing a lot of dresses on this site these days, so here we are, with two dress posts in a row. The short story is that this is a gorgeous little number; very classy. I can’t bring myself to try to hike or to do anything rough and tumble in this one. I can see bringing it traveling, as in, civilized traveling, not trekking or bushwhacking or anything. It’s a no-brainer choice for a stroll down the banks of the Seine or a relaxed evening dinner (which was the sum total of my “test” for this dress. The dinner, that is, not the stroll down the banks of the Seine. Which would have been a great gimmick for this review though). Incredibly flattering and sophisticated, it features a rather sexy bandeau-style bodice while retaining classy and reassuring full coverage. It’s bra-friendly and features fabric stout enough to soothe see-through worries. The length is a little above mid-calf so it’s a pretty low-pressure number, though you’d never really guess it when seeing it on. It looks much more expensive and “time consuming” than it is, if that makes any sense. And if you’ve had to struggle to find that perfect ensemble for a pack-light-stay-versatile-look-nice type of trip, that makes perfect sense.
I learned my lesson about leaving out the sizing info last time, and it’s worth noting that this dress is “slim fit” (it even says so on the tag). This seemed to translate into “tight fit” but not uncomfortably so. If you like a more clingy line, buy your regular size. If you want it a bit more forgiving, go a size up. I’m usually a small but I went with a medium on this one because I’m getting old enough that sucking in the tummy after a big pasta meal is not only uncomfortable but also too much of a pain in the ass to bother with. I didn’t want to have to think about it so a size up was right for me. The bodice is still flatteringly form fitting but I don’t have to obsess over underwear choice, if you catch my drift. So, another day, another great dress. As of this writing, it’s on sale, too, so click the picture above and get a great dress for a great deal.
GoLite Cayambe Dress
July 8, 2010
You can expect to see quite a few dress reviews coming up, and you can thank GoLite for that. They send this cute little number for me to try out, and I promptly fell in love with it and became obsessed with dresses. Dresses for hiking, dresses for biking, dresses for travel, dresses for everything. And this is the one that started it all. I’ve had some sort of epiphany and I don’t know what I was thinking all these years. Planning out ensembles and outfits – I could have just grabbed a dress and gone. This sounds elementary, but as a woman who spent most of her girlhood AVOIDING dresses, it wasn’t that intuitive a leap for me. Dresses were for events and formal occasions, not for, you know, fun. When I first started this site, I never would have thought I’d be reviewing dresses and calling them “gear” but these days, they really are. It’s common now to find me on my daily hike in a dress, or running in a skirt, and even wearing dresses to casual occasions. And I am getting very sick of hearing “you look like a real girl!” or some such comment from, well, everyone I know.
I just love the concept – a super packable, wrinkle-free, quick drying reversible travel dress that doubles as a hiking outfit and can easily go out to a fancy dinner as well. I was skeptical of the reversible idea, as in past iterations (meaning: my second grade wardrobe) it has not seemed to be implemented all that well, but the Cayambe is perfectly designed to serve as two dresses in one. My favorite color combo is the one shown above, the light blue paired with dark grey – it’s gorgeous and with the dark grey on the outside, you even have a hope of keeping it at least looking clean after a hike or other adventure. There is a variety of color options available so you’re bound to find something you like.
I appreciate the bra-friendly straps and bodice, and the well-thought out ruching at the bust which prevents gappage. That’s right, bend and stretch as you please; you won’t be giving a peep show while you do it. Well, it IS a dress, so you know, bend and stretch as you please within reason and you won’t give a peep show.
Dresses are one of those options that women don’t appreciate as much as they should. Sure, we typically don’t get as many gear options as the dudes (and Geargals is of course working to help change that) but the humble dress has certainly come a long way. It’s no longer a hindrance to outdoor sport – it’s an enhancement. Now, WE get the best gear: the simplest, most versatile, and easiest-to-pack gear option on the market. Now, I have no problem with dudes in dresses and I do know a probably higher-than-average number of men who are willing to wear a dress or skirt. But I think dudes are really missing out, here. I love hiking in a dress; it’s cooler and simpler; a nice space-saver. I don’t have to think about the whole shirt-pants-shorts-capris thing; just throw on the dress and there you are – dressed. I love it. The hiking/travel dress concept is so good that my gearguy has started wistfully talking about wanting to wear a kilt. This I gotta see.
Anyway, back to the Cayambe – for those worried about the modesty factor, you don’t have to worry. The full, swishy skirt can be easily arranged to properly cover yourself in any sitting position, and there is more than enough drape to hide panty lines and other bulgy bits – a good thing, for this is a very lightweight item with thin fabric. The cut is a bit empire-waistish, which some will like and some will not. I don’t tend to like an empire waist, but I don’t mind this one since the cut of the dress is fitted enough to avoid the pregnant-lady look. It’s a cute, attractive cut but modest enough to wear to work with no qualms. Most importantly, it’s a great functional option for travel or hiking. Enjoy!
EDIT – A reader wrote in to ask me about sizing, so here’s the skinny. The Cayambe is true to size, maybe even a little generously. I usually wear a small and that’s just about right for me in this dress as well. I tried a size M as well and although it worked OK, it was just a bit too voluminous. Very comfy though. Long story short: order your normal size.
Mountain Hardwear Ramesa Short
July 4, 2010
The coming of summer weather means breaking out the summer wardrobe! You know, finding those shorts and capris you’d forgotten about since it has been so long since the temperature made its way above fifty. And speaking of forgotten about, I found these shorts peeking resentfully from last year’s summer pile. How had I overlooked these, I (and surely Mountain Hardwear) wondered? For they are really great shorts. It could perhaps possibly be that I last tried to wear them on a weekend in which I’d traveled from sea level to ten thousand feet in one day and pretty much everything I tried to wear made me feel like a puffy, sloshy water ballon, and perhaps on that particular day they felt or looked a tad bit too tight and I subconsciously squirreled them away so as not to remind myself that they, my regular size, were too small. And then accidentally on purpose forgot about them. Denial, so powerful. Ego, so easily bruised.
Luckily Denial decided to take a day off and Ego went to play with someone else’s wardrobe decisions, and I gave the shorts another try. And lo and behold, I had been missing out on a whole year of wearing great shorts, all because Ego and Denial had come to visit for a day. Houseguests, I tell you. Anyway, I do quite like these shorts. They are low rise, slim/trim fit style, with kind of interesting half-moon pockets. The waist, booty, and hips all fit my athlete’s build nicely, and the thighs are even cut well enough to allow room for my biker/skier quads while still keeping a slim profile. The 9″ length is quite nice; a little lower than mid thigh; just enough to cover what I want to cover while avoiding that bermuda look. At first I was wary of the slender fit because I tend to choose baggier pants, but I have grown to love the look of the Ramesa short. The waist and rise is my favorite part; low enough for comfort but not so low as to display anything ending in “crack” or “line” and beginning in “butt” or “bikini.” Mountain Hardwear calls this design a “conical” waist, so, er, okay then. I like a “conical” waist evidently. The back waistband is even a special, low profile design to allow for wearing a pack without getting chafed. They think of everything, those people. As I mentioned, these are pretty true to size, so order your regular size (size up if you are in between) and you’ll be good to go.
Columbia Ravenous Trail Running Shoe
June 30, 2010
My gear has an interesting life. I love hate to brag but I travel to some pretty unique places. Nothing worthy of a reality show or anything, but definitely places that most people never get to go to at all. Lots of such places, lots and lots. Most of those types of places are not exactly known for their amenities or easy ways to restock with supplies. As a result I have learned the knack of the packing balance; the fine art of bringing exactly the things I need to survive and those few extra things that will make survival fun. So on a recent trip to the wonderfully remote Aleutian Islands, I considered my packing balance carefully. I like to pack light (because, remember, I hate to carry things) but I also don’t like to suffer, so I had to pack my food, cooking gear, clothing, sleeping bag, decent work attire (like, normal work, not gear testing work) and research materials into one medium size duffel bag. I chose well, as far as duffels went, so I didn’t worry much about my gear getting wet as it sat on the open deck of the 100-foot crabbing vessel that was making its way through 15-foot seas to take me to my destination. I told you, things get interesting when I travel. However, seeing my tiny duffel teetering on top of an overflowing crab tote, swinging wildly in the wind while being hoisted over the water to the deck brought a flash of alarm and one thought: “My shoes!”
You see, my essential luxury item for this trip was running shoes. Running shoes are a tried and true way to get a workout in the bush (that’s what Alaskans call remote communities). I knew I wouldn’t be able to run out of the main village because of the very real and very substantial threat from grizzly bears, but even running circles around town is better than nothing. So I packed my latest true love, my Columbia Ravenous trail running shoes.
The Ravenous(es? Hm. Grammar conundrum) made the cut out of my impressive collection of trail running shoes in large part because they are my lightest pair. If I have to schlep bags I may as well make my life as easy as possible. I had a few running days on the Ravenous before this trip, but I wanted more time before writing a review so that I could get to know them better. The Ravenous shoes also came along because they are, quite simply, exquisite running shoes.
I’m a neutral runner with high arches, strong quads, and a penchant for running fast when she shouldn’t and therefore need a lot of padding. I put in a lot of miles, all of them off road, so I need good tough soles. However, I’m a delicate running flower with high, sensitive arches and touchy shins thanks to a healthy dose of pain-ignoring back in my team sports days. This is a balance that most shoes cannot strike, hence my joyful hysteria when I find good ones. The Ravenous hits the mark squarely and surely; appealing to a broad spectrum of runners while addressing the very specific (some might say fussy) needs of a small number of runners who just like it the way they like it.
I admit, I had my doubts about the Ravenous. It was so lightweight and flexible that I didn’t take it seriously as a trail running shoe. Until I ran in it. My first few runs in the Ravenous were in the Pacific Northwest of the US and the lower mainland of British Columbia, with loamy, smooth(ish), winding forest trails under my feet. I immediately knew the shoes were something special; they conformed to the trail yet kept my heel anchored in place. Ninety minutes into my first Ravenous run, my shins weren’t complaining, which is rare. On those first, early runs, I found that the Ravenous’s one weakness is twisty trails; the shoe is just too flexible to give a ton of support in those conditions. The heel cup helps to stabilize as much as possible, but I did experience ball-of-foot slippage during high-speed sharp turns. What can I say, I run on “interesting” trails. Anywhere else, though, you can’t go wrong. The soles are grippy and dependable, the heel cup is just stupendously cuppy, and the light weight minimizes fatigue. They are unbelievably comfortable with zero break-in time. If you encounter water, you will get wet; these are not waterproof in the slightest but they are not supposed to be. The good news is that they will dry fast and stay light.
Best of all is that they do have a women’s specific version. Of course they do, or else why would I be reviewing it here? The fit might be a tad bit better for long, slenderish feet, but I have normal sized, average feet with (as I mentioned) high arches, and they fit just fine in my regular size. For the first time in years, though, I’ve been able to run long enough for my feet to swell, making me wish I had 1/2 size up. So if you are buying the Ravenous you may want to consider that – it’s such a great shoe that you will want your runs to last forever.
So, all that is why I took them on my trip. And, no lie, I had two of the best runs of my LIFE in these shoes on that trip. I will never forget those runs. True, there were some other factors involved in making those runs so good, but as any runner knows, when you get in that zone you remember every detail. I remember the strange, particular volcanic gravel that made up the roads and how it felt like miles and miles of ball bearings, making things not slippery but easy, feeling like the world was rolling away from under my feet and rising up to meet my steps, and knowing that my next stride will feel the same. And I remember the shoes, the light, marvelous shoes, making me surefooted and strong, propelling me forward and on, under the Arctic sun. Which is really more like Arctic fog, where I was at. Regardless, now, when I head out for a workout, I just think back to those runs and remember that feeling, and try to get it back.
Brooks-Range Avalanche Safety Gear
June 26, 2010
Why am I always doing reviews on things that are just plain out of season in North America, I have to wonder. I don’t wonder long, because the fact is that I have an “interesting” travel schedule and the seasons at my destinations tend to not match up with the home hemisphere of the web site. While North America is breaking out the bikinis, I’m bundling up and heading South – way south. To where it’s still winter, south. Oh, and also north, way north, where it is ALWAYS winter. I am usually going to these destinations for work, but where there is work, there is also play, right? And research and trips to be had, skis to be brought along and used, and new toys to play with courtesy of the Geargals “needs to be reviewed” pile.
So, to my latest excursions in the many lands of snow and ice, I brought along a pile of fantastic Brooks-Range avalanche and snow safety gear to check out. Brooks-Range is a company out of California, which is NOT in fact named after the Brooks Range of Alaska. This makes Alaskans huff and puff, but considering there is a whole airline named after Alaska that really has nothing to do with Alaska and they don’t seem to mind that, they really should just get over it. Brooks-Range is in fact named after its founder, Matt Brooks, whom I actually know nothing about beyond the fact that he has designed some pretty sweet snow gear. What can I say, we are the Geargals, not the Outdoor Personality Review Gals. Though, you know, some outdoor personalities really could use some review. But probably not Matt; he’s probably all right.
A consistent goal of mine is to stay educated about snow safety and avalanche hazards. This means that I have to spend a lot of time digging snow holes and shifting grains of snow around on little cards, punching pencils into the walls of my snow hole, and stomping on blocks of snow to see what they do. This sounds simple, but in reality requires some pretty decent tools to accomplish. Brooks-Range has developed a line of admirable snow safety tools that can help you on your path to preparedness.
First up is the snow saw. Sorry, no pic of this one, but I do have a handy link for you, in the very next sentence! The Igloo 35 Folding Snow Saw is no lightweight; it’s a burly, sharp tool that rips through the stoutest of crust layers. I remind you that it is sharp, because you will need this info when putting this saw into your pack. The fact that it folds will help you out immensely, but don’t forget to cover those wicked blades with something that will protect your lightweight pack material. Really, I can’t emphasize this enough – Brooks-Range says this saw can cut both snow AND wood, and I believe them. You know, maybe it is called the Igloo because it is good for cutting blocks for igloos – that would make sense. I am not at all a winter camper so I’ll let someone else weigh in about that part. The Scientist snow saw series from Brooks-Range also folds and is lightweight (more so than the Igloo 35) but has smaller teeth and isn’t quite as damn scary. For most skiers/backcountry travelers, the Scientist saw will be fine for checking out avalanche conditions. If you climb in the alpine, are a professional avalanche person, or just like to saw through ice and wood, then the Igloo is your tool.
New to me was the Snow Density Gauge, which measures water content in snow with a simply balance mechanism. It’s a very lightweight and very cool tool, perfect for avalanche forecasters and enormous avalanche nerds. It’s unlikely that I would carry such a thing for a day of backcountry skiing, but if you really need precise snow pit data this is a simple and accurate tool that will help you increase your snow sense (apologies to Fredston and Fesler. Incidentally I have run into them a few times in the mountains and they are quite lovely. Way back in the day Doug Fesler gave me the best winter camping tip ever – fill your Nalgene with hot water and tuck it in your sleeping bag. You’ll be warm and comfy all night. I still use that tip on chilly nights and pass it on to all my students. Thanks Doug).
Brooks-Range also makes a great series of field organizers, from skiing to racing to professional guiding. I use mine for search and rescue stuff, but they are useful in many situations. The lightweight covers hold a small field notebook and a pen as well as the info cards. Most of the organizers come with map tools and field info such as helicopter safety, and kit-specific things like guide cards and snow cards. The ski and guide cards contain avalanche safety info, field checklists, briefing checklists, and other standard information good to have on hand. Personally I find that I don’t need to carry the info cards with my everywhere, and have custom built my kit to have a map tool, snow card, pen, field notebook, compass, snow pit probe (otherwise known as a pencil) and lat/long ruler. It is handy to have all my writing/mapping utensils in one easy-to-find place. I also love that the organizer does not use velcro; it uses string to tie it shut. I despise velcro and I think I’d hate having to fight getting my base layer stuck on my notebook all the time. So yay for string!
So there you have it, some more tools in your arsenal for staying safe in the backcountry.
Sugoi RS Short
June 24, 2010
FINALLY some bike shorts I can say only good things about. Except for one thing: these shorts snag on stuff. Stuff like Velcro, brush, sticks, etc. So there, the bad stuff is out of the way. Now I can tell you the good: the RS short is a lighter weight short than your typical spandex offering. It’s also kind of textured, as in, not really smooth and shiny. Which is good! At least from my perspective. I think this is some sort of aerodynamic roadie thing to which I say pffffft. Stop worrying about the texture of your shorts and start worrying about your training. Seriously, the aerodynamics of spandex shorts CANNOT be the deciding factor here. What can I say, I’m not a racer and not a roadie. Maybe I just don’t get that fussy roadie thing where you have to worry about whether your spandex is textured. I like the fabric because it’s nice and light in the heat. I’ve taken these out mountain biking and I really like them for hot weather, especially because the chamois has little ventilation holes that provide a refreshing breeze on the downhills. Now, you have to understand; heat is not typically a significant problem in Alaska so heat-reducing features are all new to me. But I like this one, because there is no chamois in the world that has enough ventilation for the fairer sex, believe me. And the way my boyfriend’s laundry smells, there’s not enough for dudes either, but let them hash that out on a dude blog.
Like most bike shorts, the magic is indeed in the chamois, ventilation holes or no. Sugoi seems to really “get it,” or at least gets the simple fact that women’s chamois should NEVER be textured. Soft and gentle is the only option, and Sugoi chamois are smoother than most. They are pretty nicely padded, too, and I’ve not yet experienced any significant discomfort from the RS chamois. As is typical, I am left feeling as if the, um, frontal central area as well as the seat bone area can never get enough padding, but I pretty much feel that way about ALL bike shorts so this small weakness is not a standout. Others with less sensitive nether regions might not even notice.
A Sugoi strength is the length of their typical bike short, a category in which the RS fits nicely. It’s a lovely length, juuust after the hamstring tie-in, reducing muscular discomfort and self-consciousness-induced discomfort as well. Since I’m a mountain biker, I spend a lot of time out of the saddle, and I don’t like shorts that are so short that the saddle rubs my thighs. The RS does not ride up or cause such unfortunate chafing. The fit is standard; I’m not a fan of insanely tight shorts so I stay with a medium and all is well. The RS is not too snug in the thigh for ladies with big biker quads, and even if you do have bigger legs than most, the well-thought out length will ease your mind since the legs hit at the slimmest part of the thighs.
My pair came in chocolate brown which is unusual for bike shorts but also kind of fun. The short comes in other great colors including of course the standard black, but watch out for the white, because it is, like most things white, see-through especially when wet. Er, good luck with that. Oh, and speaking of wet, when these shorts get sweaty they will regale you with some pretty interesting squeaking when they rub against the seat. If only Alaska was hot; squeaky bike shorts would be a good bear-avoidance method. Don’t let the squeak factor deter you, though, these are good shorts.
