Obermeyer Iconic Jacket

www.obermeyer.com
Learning to help your kids love winter is a snap when they’re wearing the right apparel. We love this jacket as it allows you to outfit your teen with a highly functional piece that survives the fashion crucible without costing a fortune. The Iconic Jacket is sized to fit girls up to the age of 18, with a slight shape (no slacker look here) and flattering, longer waist. The waterproof/breathable jacket held up to storm days on Oregon’s Mt. Bachelor, when winds reached 40 and temps plummeted to single digits. Our tester, a respected junior alpine racer, raved about the warmth, suppleness, and fit of the Iconic—the coat moved with her, whether she was running gates or hiking the Cone. Obermeyer, one of the most respected brands in ski apparel, was founded in 1947 in Aspen, Colorado, by Klaus Obermeyer, who at 93 is still leading the company. The brand specializes in high-end but fairly-priced mountain apparel—and is one of the few brands that serve youth and teens with equal seriousness as men and women. The Iconic really mimics its name with a classic, feminine shape that never goes out of style. Inside the jacket’s clean lines and longer silhouette you’ll find 140 grams of warm Permaloft insulation in the body and 100 grams in the sleeves to provide warmth without bulk.  The exterior is a striped jacquard made of a polyester/CD polyester print with HydroBlock V (Obermeyer’s proprietary microporous waterproofing). Obermeyer’s CZV, a control zone ventilation system, maintains warmth, but breathes and wicks moisture, so there’s no wetness, even on crazy pow days. As with all youth and teen Obermeyer products, the Iconic jacket uses the company’s innovative EWS (extended wear system) to maximize wear time—meaning the jacket will last several seasons, not just several runs.

Product Type
Insulated Jackets, Snow Sports Gear
Good For
, ,
Tested In
Both horrible and heavenly conditions on Mount Bachelor.

Alite Twig Pod

www.alitedesigns.com, 1.6 ounces
The self-portrait may be the reigning Facebook profile photo trend, but all those close-to-the-camera, off-kilter shots with your arm extending into the great beyond shouldn’t dominate your wall.  Alite’s Twig Pod offers an easy solution, ideally suited to help you document your outdoor adventures. This quick-to-assemble monopod has a rugged stake at one end so you can literally plant it in the earth, angle the shot, set the timer, and let the world bear witness. The 30-inch height is perfect for a from-the-hip angle, and the ball-head mount lets you position the camera in all imaginable angles. Then, when you’re done posin’, the Twig Pod collapses (much like a tent pole) to fit into a seven-inch-long stuff sack. Then you can stash the 1.6-ounce device and forget about it until you need it again. You can also use the Twig Pod to take long exposure shots, and it’s suitable for point-and-shoot cameras (as well as iPhones when accompanied by the $15 Glif, a one-piece stand and tripod mount). Serious photographers are better off with a true monopod, but for lighter cameras and people looking for fun ways to get real self-portraits, this one’s a low-cost winner.

Product Type
Camera Accessories, iPads and iPad Accessories
Good For
, , , , , ,
Tested In
Car camping in Maryland, Backpacking in West Virginia

Salomon Instinct Ski Boots

www.salomon.com/us/
If you invest in one piece of alpine ski gear this season, consider new boots. We’ve tested literally dozens of women-specific alpine ski boots, and Salomon’s Instinct became our favorite due to its excellent power transfer and pain-free ride.  The boot helped us float through heavy Oregon powder, and then transition to hard-pack groomers.  It is designed for front-side carving, with an extraordinary nimbleness and control. You quickly notice that turning is easier as the boot has amazing sensitivity—almost as if it were reacting to your thoughts; it’s easy to see why they named these boots “Instinct.” It combines the performance of a World Cup racing boot with all-day comfort, which is saying a lot if you’ve ever skied in WC boots before.  Credit the heat-customizable PU shell (with the same World Cup technology used in race boots, designed to expand precisely to the width of your foot for optimal fit and performance), and a heat-customizable liner that conforms to your foot. The liner is warm and cradles your foot with no sloppy dead space.  This four-buckle boot comes in three flex patterns, 70, 90, and 100. We like the 100 flex for aggressive “expert” skiers, but if you’re under 120 pounds and a beginning or intermediate skier, definitely go with the softer 70 or 90 which will allow you to get more out of the boot, so that you’re flexing your ankles to initiate turns. The cuffs are designed for a woman’s calves, with padding that is soft and comfortable without being squishy.  Extra control is via a Velcro power strap that cranks in the fit and locks your foot into a forward, aggressive position to help keep you out of the back seat, with your weight on the balls of your feet where it belongs.

Product Type
Ski Boots
Good For
,
Tested In
Mount Bachelor

CamelBak All Clear Water Bottle

www.camelbak.com, one pound, one ounce
Anyone who has paid the price for drinking questionable water knows the peace of mind that bottled water brings. But when you’re on the go, especially in the backcountry or traveling, pure stuff can be hard to find. The CamelBak All Clear offers a great solution. The All Clear employs a built-in UV-C light bulb that kills all illness-causing organisms in just 60 seconds.  I really like the simplicity of this system. The lid, which houses the UV bulb, battery, display, and charging port, only has a single button. Push the button, the UV light goes on, you wait a minute, and the bacteria and viruses are zapped. The light and bottle do all the work, with an easy-to-see LCD display that counts down the time remaining, so you know when your water is ready. It’s that easy. One big difference between the UV purification and more traditional filtration is taste, color, and particles. With UV purification systems (like the All Clear) the water you put in the bottle is exactly the same as the water you get out—only it’s safe to drink. If you’re drinking from puddles and swamps, you might prefer a standard filtration system that not only purifies the water, but cleans it as well. But, as our testers found, most of the time they weren’t limited to pond scum or mud puddles as a hydration source.  The bottle is slightly heavy for backpacking and does take five hours to fully charge but it’s ideal for any trip where the prospect of drinking local water sends a shiver up your spine. I also found that it works as lantern in a pinch, even if it does only runs for a minute at a time—likely the longest it’s taken me to pitch my tent after dark. When you first charge the All Clear, you need to do the full five hours—otherwise you’ll get an error message (and the UV light doesn’t glow).
-Chris Boyle

Product Type
Food and Drink, Water Treatment
Good For
, , , ,
Tested In
Oregon Cascades

Sierra Designs Gnar Lite Down Jacket

www.sierradesigns.com
According to hangtag copy, Sierra Design’s 800-fill DriDown down insulation used in their Gnar Lite jacket has a hydrophobic finish that, “keeps sweat, rain, or melting snow from soaking into the down while allowing internal moisture to escape.” My initial response to that? ”Yea, sure. And pigs fly.”

But before exploring that claim, let’s look at the jacket itself. This is a classic “what’s-not-to-like” product, a jacket who’s beauty lies in its simplicity and versatility. The fit proved perfect. Having two zippered handwarmer pockets and three internal open pockets is always a plus. But best of all, the jacket is light enough to be an excellent outer layer in milder conditions and a superb insulating layer under a shell in colder conditions. Having thumbholes at the cuffs makes it easy to get a shell on over the Gnar Lite, and adds a bit more warmth for your hands.

Okay, so all was well with the jacket’s design and basic function. Now to prove or disprove the DriDown concept. That theory was tested  twice when I purposely took a hike in pouring rain. Both hikes took me up a steady half-hour climb where I worked up a good sweat. This was followed by a long descent when I started to cool off dramatically. In short, two hard hikes in perfect hypothermia weather, The jacket got soaked both times but performed as advertised, expelling excess internal moisture buildup while ascending and  keeping me warm as I started to cool down on the descent.
If I was to rate the jacket on performance on a 0-to-5, yuk-to-supreme scale, I’d give the Gnar Lite a 5.

A caveat is in order. I am a Sierra Designs alum from the company’s early days (1970 to 1976), back when we made tents, sleeping bags, jackets, and packs in Berkeley, CA. I put that bias aside when it came to the Gnar Lite’s test, thinking there’s no way they can make a down jacket better than we used to, back when down insulation and water made for tragic conditions. Boy was I wrong.
-Bob Woodward

Product Type
Insulated Jackets
Good For
, , ,
Tested In
Several day hikes in variable conditions, including two drenched experiences in a total downpour.
« Previous Page
See More Gear »