A PR rep for Coughlan’s, the Canadian company that makes a bunch of little camping accessories you always see at the outdoor stores, has been trying to get me to post something about this gadget from their new spring lineup:…
Gear
Mulling the SPOT Satellite Messenger
by tom • April 1, 2008 • 8 Comments
I’ve been putting off looking into the SPOT Satellite Messenger, but I noticed this morning that the company is based in Milpitas, so it seems like a local connection obliges me to say something. First, how it works: It tracks…
Crafting a pot cozy
by tom • March 25, 2008 • 3 Comments
A blog called Source to Sea offers step-by-step guidance for making a pot cozy. A pot cozy saves fuel and creates and alternative to simmering when you’re using, say, a one-burn, one-setting alcohol stove, but I’d take one along even…
Hiking shoe shopping — a refresher course
by tom • March 17, 2008 • 8 Comments
My REI dividend (all $11 of it — see what a careful consumer I was last year?) was burning a hole in my pocket, and the added incentive of the annual 20 percent off sale was enough to get me…
Backpacks for overnighters: what do you like?
by tom • March 14, 2008 • 8 Comments
I’m fond of my Gregory G Pack — for the fit more than anything else. It’s reasonably light at just under 3 pounds, reasonably affordable, reasonably well built, and reasonably spacious. It has mesh around the exterior that holds oddly-shaped…
Bay Area gear brands
by tom • March 7, 2008 • 3 Comments
Yesterday’s post about Mountain Hardwear got me thinking about other name brands in the region. The North Face is the most obvious — they still have a marketing and distribution arm in San Leandro. Marmot is up in Santa Rosa.…
Mountain Hardwear’s new digs
by tom • March 6, 2008 • 1 Comment
Mountain Hardwear’s moving into the old Ford Assembly Point at Ford Point in Richmond in a couple weeks. Because the company is just down the road from Berkeley, it’s all about the sustainability these days — and plans to use…
Trekking poles video
by tom • March 5, 2008 • 12 Comments
Found this gem on Youtube: Because it’s a local TV news report — and therefore trivialized in the most fingernails-on-a-chalkboard means possible — there is at least one fact error for alert viewers to watch for. Video posted by Trekking…
Calipidder reviews Garmin’s Colorado GPS
by tom • February 29, 2008 • 2 Comments
I can’t seem to pull the trigger on buying a GPS unit, but Rebecca has no such reticence. She has an in-depth collection of first impressions of the new Garmin Colorado 400t GPS unit. Among them: The 400t model includes…