We’ll also continue to profile five great products a week leading up to New Years, along with other gear round-ups, all in an effort to make your holiday season a little bit easier, more joyful, and more fun (indoors and out).

Gear obsession has its ugly side—as much as we always want a new jacket, bag, or an unscuffed pair of shoes, we often don’t really need them. That, of course, seldom stops us. But it does lead to clutter—and more than our fair share of recycled cardboard boxes.  But happily Patagonia is helping assuage our guilt.  Partnering with 1% for the Planet, Patagonia Shoes is hosting a variety of events this fall with both online and brick-and-mortar retailers (as well as at the online Patagonia store) in an effort to raise awareness and funds for conservation efforts.  All participating vendors will donate $10 to local initiatives for every pair of Patagonia shoes purchased. The first online event is currently live with Online Shoes, with proceeds benefiting The Conservation Alliance, and ends on October 22^nd, 2012 The second runs on Zappos.com from October 23 to November 24, with proceeds to the Friends of Nevada Wilderness. A state-by-state list of brick-and-mortar retailers who are also participating (along with the specific dates and the local conservation effort that’ll benefit) can be found at Patagonia’s Advocate Weeks website.

As for which pair of shoes to buy?  We’ve already expressed our enthusiasm for the Patagonia women’s Fore Runner and the Naked Maui Mock. But we also really like their aptly-named Advocate line. These minimalist shoes boast a 20-percent recycled EVA footbed, a 15-percent recycled insole, and a durable, 20-percent recycled rubber tread.  The microfiber uppers are durable, yet soft-to-the-touch. The minimalist shoes weigh around 5.5 ounces (depending on the model) and collapse down to next to nothing for simplistic, pack-and-go travels. Of the eight models (four for men, four for women), we’re particularly drawn to the sly styling of the Lace Plaid ($75, pictured above) as well as the new Advocate Chukka ($80), a winter-friendly version with a recycled fleece collar and lining to keep your feet toasty.

Chris King started the eponymous company 36 years ago, after honing his metal-crafting talents working in the medical tool industry. As with the first hand-constructed piece, everything that leaves the Chris King factory is made in the United States.  All the metals are purchased from North American mills, and most of the machines on the floor have been custom-tweaked to suit a particular purpose. And when something on the machine breaks, they craft a new part—some machines on the floor date back 15 years.

As a metal shop, they’re also acutely aware of their environmental impact. Rather than the standard toxic materials, Chris King uses soy oil as a lubricant when cutting metal; not to mention an in-house tool they created to compress the scraps so that 98 percent of the oil is re-used.  Every hub is hand-buffed for 20 minutes, and all the other parts are finished by an industrial shaker that tosses the metal with crushed walnut shells—polishing everything to a brilliant shine. Each machine also has its own air filter to remove any potentially toxic fumes. The factory is likely the best-smelling metal shop on the planet.

Life for the 96 employees at Chris King is equally bright. A gourmet cafeteria employs two full-time chefs and serves three squares daily, each meal sold without mark-up; the price is dictated by the cost of the ingredients. They’ve developed a great no-car commuting incentive that lets participants who walk, run, bike, or use public transportation rack up meal credits and extra days off. Even the free coffee has been painstakingly chosen by Chris to be of the highest possible quality.

No wonder Chris King was one of the small business owners invited to the White House this year to take part in a discussion about the current state of domestic manufacturing.

Cielo Bikes—some of the nicest, hand-crafted bike frames on the market—also come out of this unassuming Portland warehouse.  As with the components, each rig is crafted not as part of some aggressive schedule to dominate the cycle world, but to aspire to the high-quality expectations that all cycling purists truly desire.  We’re already dreaming up our perfect rig. Hopefully it’ll be one of the 330 bikes they make each year. Thank god they only make five models—or we’d never decide.

The frame of the already-popular Uzzi bike from Intense Cycles will undergo a full redesign for 2013 that will add six to seven inches of adjustable travel in the rear for both all-mountain free riding.  A new hydro-formed tubing will make the frame lighter, stronger, and more rigid, and a new, asymmetrical swing arm configuration will also allow higher front derailleur and tire clearance.  The pink color? We doubt it’ll be the only option…