EZ Fit Snow Insoles

ezfitinsoles.com
Nothing ruins an epic day on the mountain faster than aching feet after the first few runs. The solution—buying a new pair of ski or snowboard boots—certainly tantalizes. But the problem could very well be your footbed—the removable foot-shaped pad (insole) that sits directly under your foot in the boot. That’s where EZ-Fit comes in. Application is a breeze: free the old factory insoles from inside your boots, use them as a pattern to trim the Snow insoles with a sharp pair of scissors, then drop ‘em in. They start to mold to the contours of your feet the moment you put on the boots.You’ll quickly notice better stability, less foot fatigue and improved control on edging and power transfer. The cushioning and comfort provided also helps you avoid pain in the foot, knee, hip, and lower back, breathing new life into your ski and snowboard boots—and hopefully to your next outing to the slopes.

Product Type
Snow Sports Gear
Good For
,
Tested In
Season-long use in five-year-old ski boots.

Sierra Designs Discovery 30 Backpack

www.sierradesigns.com, two lbs, 12 oz
This is a great pack for an overnight or long weekend. Its 30 liters of storage proved roomy enough to hold a tent, small sleeping bag, and food. The pack fits quite well on a medium-length torso, with seemingly endless adjustment possibilities. Due to a perforated 3-D framesheet that keeps the pack off your back, there’s little to no sweat build-up, even on sweltering summer days and uphill slogs. Our testers carried a 25- to 35-pound loads through scrub oak thickets and fallen deadwood without issue, attesting that the pack’s durable, nylon-coated pack-bag won’t rip or shred. A thermo molded hipbelt and lightly cushioned shoulder straps are easy to adjust, providing a hot spot-free carry over rough terrain. One tester wished for lash straps on the bottom of the pack for additional room for a bag or sleeping pad on longer trips, but after packing light for long weekends, was glad he didn’t have bulky items swinging around and compromising the pack’s sleek design. The pack comes with a removable rain cover, although our tester had a tough time fitting it back in the mini pocket on the bottom of the pack.
-Adam Devitt

Product Type
Day Packs, Weekend Backpacks
Good For
, ,
Tested In
The mountains of Eastern Oregon; Squaw Valley, CA; Reno, NV

K2 Pilchuck Kit Backpack

www.k2skis.com
I need a backpack that I can forget I am wearing, otherwise, I may choose to forget to wear it.  K2′s Pilchuck Kit keeps my rescue shovel and aluminum avy probe close enough to my body that it does not affect balance or require removal on a chairlift.  This is the pack that I use for in-bounds pow skiing and sidecountry skiing, often at times when I’d contemplate going with out.  I now have no excuse for preparedness–and I don’t wish that I did.  The included Rescue Shovel can lock the shovel blade at 90 degrees, which I use for digging out my car in the morning and testing snow in a pit, and the handle is long enough that my back thanks me after I finish building a jump take-off. It also has features that I hope to never use, like ability to build a rescue sled and a metal blade burly enough to hack through hard avalanche debris to save a buried friend.  The avalanche probe is stiff, strong, and as light as anything on the market, and I hope to never use it.  It all comes in a minimalist backpack that is strong and simple.  I strap my skis to it for hiking, and stash an energy bar or two inside for when the powder warrants skipping lunch.
-JT Holmes

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Product Type
Day Packs
Good For
,
Tested In
Countless side- and backcountry skiing, as well as in-bound runs.

Coghlan’s Storm Matches

www.coghlans.com
These matches definitely qualify as a must-have survival item, but damned if they’re also a lot of fun to…just burn.  Wind and waterproof, developed specifically for the UK Ministry of Defense, and NATO-approved, they work as advertised. We submerged a few in water and they took a flame moments later in a powerful display of sputtering fire. Then we tried to blow ‘em out. No go. They’re like the trick birthday candles that re-light themselves, except these matches burn with serious intensity for ten full seconds, and are perfect for starting fires in the harshest of conditions.  The waterproof case includes 25 matches with two striking surfaces

Product Type
Camping Accessories
Good For
, , ,
Tested In
In as many wet, wind scenarios we could concoct.

Smith Optics Maze Helmet

www.smithoptics.com, 11.5 ounces
Smith’s Maze is the world’s lightest certified snow helmet.  I prefer it to any helmet I have ever used because it looks cool, keeps my ears and head warm, and it can be stripped down for warmer missions or for wearing a beanie or balaclava underneath.  It has less venting and airflow features than other helmets, but that adds to its clean look and warmth in storm days.  Often, airflow features open and get crammed with snow and ice in the event of blowing snow or high-speed tomahawks in powder.  The straps are adjustable and allow me to cinch the forehead down for high-speed use like wing suit flying and ski racing, or to simply be sure to eliminate dorky looking “goggle gap.”  We used these helmets during the filming of Transformers 3 while flying wing suits in downtown Chicago and we looked and felt pretty bad-ass when doing so.
-JT Holmes

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Product Type
Snow-Sport Helmets
Good For
, , ,
Tested In
Filming Transformers 3--oh, and while skiing, wing suit flying, and traveling all over the world.
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