Gearzilla » Traveling

Flojos Andre Slides

nborchelt — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 13:00:51 +0000

www.flojos.com, 12 ounces
When some people dream of winter, images of snow-laden trees, deep powder, and glistening icicles dance in their heads. But for others, cold weather signals that it’s time to flee south to white-sand beaches, sun-filled skies, and Mai Thais. For those days when your ski boots aren’t appropriate, we recommend Flojos Andre Slides. We love the slip-on styling that is more dignified than flip-flops, and dispenses with the inevitable rubbing of the thong strap between your toes. The egg crate-style footbed not only provides that aaahhhh comfort we love, but also delivers a massage-like feeling as you walk. We not only like the Andres for the beach, but for apres ski and snowboard wear as well. The vegan-friendly footstrap is wide, which helps keep the slides from sliding off, and it provides some additional support if you’re hiking across rough terrain to the hot tub. The sole is ribbed for traction, but because of the composition, it’s suggested you don’t leave these baking in the sun while you catch a few waves.

Merrell Daily Brief Shoulder Bag

nborchelt — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 13:00:51 +0000

www.merrell.com
Nicely straddling the world of outdoor needs and urban styling, the Daily Brief has quickly risen to the top ranks of one tester’s massive collection of shoulder bags. Much of that’s due to its slew of features: a smart mixture of both cotton-touch poly and water-resistant waterproof, 200D tarpaline makes it a bag that’s a comfort to use while still standing up to the elements. The bag boasts 20 liters of internal storage, including a Velcro-secured padded laptop sleeve, a separate padded slot for tablets, and almost too many pockets. Indeed, sometimes stuff would just disappear amidst all the sleeve and pocket options. But we do love the zip-secure outer pocket (with three internal sleeves) as well as the elastic side pockets (one with a snap closure), which can fit water bottles, small notebooks, or a backup camera lens. The whole thing rides on a 1.9-inch-wide shoulder strap made of nylon seat belt fabric, with an easy-to-adjust buckle and additional padding at the back. Save the profusion of extra pockets, most of these assets are pretty standard in any urban-friendly satchels, but what really set Merrell’s bag above the rest is the waterproof zipper running the length of the weather-resistant main flap. This gives you near-instant access to the bag’s insides without having to unclip the twin buckles. We could grab our camera, swap lenses, produce our passport, or just check our itinerary with blissful ease. The flap also has a clip for a bike light and webbing lashes that fit a U-Lock, but we’d likely forgo the external lashing of the lock as it made the bag a bit top-heavy on longer commutes.

Ibex Crush Felt Hat

nborchelt — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 12:00:13 +0000

shop.ibex.com
Just because you’re hitting the international scene doesn’t mean you have to leave behind your flair for fashion. The Crush Felt Hat achieves what other stylish lids haven’t been able to offer—the ability to travel with a real hat that retains its shape, whether it’s on your head or smashed into your carry-on or the overhead bin. Made of 100-percent felted wool, the Crush will also keep you surprisingly warm. The other all-natural merino wool attributes apply, including wicking without any odor retention, and warm-when-wet comfort. We love the slight, almost pill hat-style brim as well as the circles of gray stitching around the hat base. You’ll love its all-natural, classic fashionable function.

Hop in the Saddle Guidebook

nborchelt — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 13:00:01 +0000

www.hopinthesaddle.com
Beer? Bikes? When two great things come together, we’re left only to wonder why it hadn’t already happened. Released this month the new guidebook Hops in the Saddle marries the best of Portland, OR: its expansive craft beer scene and its copious bike-friendly city streets. Written by Portland locals Elle Thalheimer, Lucy Burningham, and Laura Cary, each bike route has been carefully crafted to show the best of the city’s five neighborhoods, complete with detailed maps and cue sheets, catering to riders of all levels. The book also provides great “Bike Nerd Extended Routes”, and details on the city’s best breweries, bottle shops, and beer-, bike-, and budget-friendly bars and restaurants, written with both in-the-know authority and a sly sense of humor. Oh, and buying this book also means you’ll have to visit Portland—which is something we heartily endorse.

Crumpler Headaitch Shoulder Bag

nborchelt — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 13:01:37 +0000

www.crumpler.com
For us, sometimes the best measure of a bag’s usefulness is how quickly someone else swipes it from our testers and makes it their own—which is precisely what happened when the Headaitch entered our testing rotation. What was supposed to be two weeks of hearty use become four months as one girlfriend made it her go-to hauler for just about everything (gym clothes, work documents, grocery shopping, travel carry-on, wine hauler, overnight bag—to list but a few). Look at the bag and you’ll understand why. Constructed of 900D nylon on the outside, with a reinforced 1,000D base and a 150D ripstop lining, the bag can take some serious punishment, from rough handling to rougher weather. We tested out the small size, which offers an ample ten liters of storage, secured by a full zipper (a feature not often found in smaller totes), and supported by two wide shoulder straps to carry the weight. Inside, deep, Velcro-fastened pockets and a full-width zipper pocket are perfect for stuff you want to keep separate from the bag’s cavernous center. And Crumpler’s aesthetic lets you punch up the color with fun patterns, or go for the conservative urban black. We say go bright.
Tested size small; medium size has 17 liters of storage for $70.

Arc’Teryx Alpha SV Jacket

nborchelt — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 13:01:37 +0000

www.arcteryx.com, one pound, 1.4 ounces
Even when conditions outside turn into a monsoon, it remains a desert-like environment inside the Arc’Teryx Alpha SV hard shell. Not a single drop of soaking rain seeped through the three-layer Gore-Tex Pro fabric when I got caught in the clouds at Green Lake in Oregon’s Three Sisters Wilderness. What started as a windy mist became blowing rain in the open basin where I decided to recharge for the afternoon.

Puddles formed on the worn trail as the water beaded off my Alpha SV. I pulled the helmet-friendly hood up and cinched it down. Even with it secure around my face, I could turn my head without being restricted. I pulled the bottom hem tight to keep in some warmth as the temps sagged down to about 45 degrees. While others hunkered down, I stayed dry and comfortable. I could have enjoyed an afternoon tea, were there willing company.

On the trail with rain spitting, I appreciated that the Alpha SV is pack-compatible. I could access two decent-sized chest pockets where I stashed a snack and later put my smart phone to keep it dry. There are two inner zip pockets for small items and a mysterious shoulder pocket, all of which can be accessed while wearing a pack or harness. My sleeves stayed in place with Velcro cuff closures. When I walked enough to generate some heat, I easily vented it through the pit zips. Arc’teryx keeps it light and sleek. It doesn’t have much glitter or glam because it just gives you what you need.: a solid, durable shell that will keep you dry.
-Cristina Rose Mastrangelo

Apres Velo T-Shirts

nborchelt — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 13:00:43 +0000

apresvelo.com
If you worship in the cathedral of outdoors from atop your bike, here’s a line of t-shirts that evoke the spirit of your adoration.We love just about every one of their long- and short-sleeved shirts, made from machine-washable cotton elastine that’s soft to the touch. But our go-to fashionista tester was instantly drawn to the True Religion T, with its sly “10 Commandment of Spin” badge on the side, contrast colored stitching, and fine printing on the front, rear, and sleeve. But we also confess we’re still struggling with the seventh commandment: “Thou shall not covet thy neighbor’s bike.”

Kaenon Polarized Burny Sunglasses

nborchelt — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 13:00:14 +0000

www.kaenon.com
The problem with the binary fashion versus function is that, in order to satisfy one side of the equation, sacrifices must be made on the other. Not so with Burny sunglasses from Kaenon, a company founded by two elite-level sailing brothers in Southern California a decade ago. The Burny provides maximum performance with real style. The frame shape is evocative of a über-popular sunglass model from the mid-1950s, but Kaenon has matched the retro look with good functional design and cutting-edge technology. The Burny improves on a classic profile by molding the super lightweight, flexible, and heat-resistant TR-90 frame to more closely follow the contours of the human face to eliminate light leak over the brow and around the sides. Peripheral vision is not compromised. The effect is like, well, not wearing glasses at all. With lenses measuring 42mm by 62mm set in a large frame (135mm arm length, 141mm frame width) the Burnys provide maximum coverage, even for this reviewer, who literally has a big head. And the lenses! The Burny, like all of Kaenon’s glasses, features impact-resistant, ultra-lightweight, and durable SR-91 polarized lenses. Incorporating Glare 86 polarized film, the lenses reduce glare and offer unparalleled clarity, a claim reinforced by unsurpassed clarity scores awarded by an independent laboratory. Available in a range of tints, I found the G12 lens, the darkest grey tint (filtering all but 12% of visible light) to be perfect in bright conditions in a variety of scenarios—sailing, driving, playing tennis, hiking, and lounging by the pool.

Just as Murphy’s Law dictates that toast lands buttered-side down, so too will sunglasses inevitably fall, lens-down, especially on rocky terrain or concrete. Amazingly, given the number of trials I have (accidentally) conducted over the past 18 months, I have managed only to inflict a single tiny scratch on one of the lenses. It is an injury I don’t have to live with forever, happily, as the super friendly and helpful folks at Kaenon will set up a lens replacement (for a reasonable fee). In an era of multinational conglomerates that churn out hundreds of indistinguishable and mediocre products under a plethora of brand names, it’s a real pleasure to encounter an independent, family-run company dedicated to innovation, integrity, quality, and aesthetics. Sunglasses, in truth, function not only to keep the sun out of our eyes. They also operate as a statement about who we think we are and what we think we stand for. For this large-headed reviewer, the Burnys are a statement—about fashion and function—I’m very comfortable wearing on my face.
-Adam Greenhalgh

Eagle Creek EC Adventure Upright Suitcase

nborchelt — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 12:00:11 +0000

www.eaglecreek.com, eight pounds, ten ounces
As much as we strive for minimalism in our active lives, outdoor obsessions typically means that every trip we take includes a bike helmet, bike shoes, climbing shoes, trail runners or day hikers, a puffy mid-layer, a rain jacket, soft shell hiking pants, and—ya know—all our other clothes. Thankfully, the EC Adventure Upright accommodates all our gear-centric activities with aplomb. We tested the 25 model, which boasts a cavernous 75 liters of storage space (that can expand to 82 liters), for a West Coast jaunt that included all the afore-mentioned gear specs as well as camera gear, extra bags, and space for wine and beer from California’s Russian River Valley and Portland, OR. The pack interior gives you tons of storage space—just one big, open container for your goods, along with compression wings on clipped straps to tie everything down. The large interior panel in the door also kept our folded laundry (which we love putting in one of Eagle Creek’s Pack-It Folders) from the rest of the guts of the bag, while the large zippered outside pocket let us stash our jacket before checking the bag; the smaller one is great for travel documents. The whole rig rides on a pair of durable wheels that handled copious abuse in both urban and outdoor environs, but when the bag was packed to capacity, the collapsible handle didn’t glide out as easily as it had at the start of our trip (read: before we acquired WAY too many bottles of rare beer). Other details—like the “piggyback” clip that lets you attach your day pack to the roller, a slip-away luggage tag, and exterior compression straps—round out features of this durable suitcase, and the colors schemes (black, green, and a burnt orange) will also let you tailor your pack to your own on-the-road aesthetic. Oh yeah, it also comes with Eagle Creek’s famed lifetime warranty.
Specs and testing were done on the Upright 25 model ; comes in two- and four-wheel versions in sizes ranging from 39 to 123 liters.

Action Wipes

nborchelt — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 12:00:02 +0000

www.actionwipes.com
Cotton may kill, but sweat stinks. For those on-the-fly cleanups, we love the pre-moistened, alcohol-free Action Wipes. The 100-percent natural wipes are made with plant-derived ingredients that moisturize while they clean. On a particularly rough, dirty ride along the McKenzie River Trail, our intrepid tester encountered sweat, dust, dirt, mud, and even poison oak.Despite multiple forays into the underbrush, she emerged at the end of the ride looking and smelling like a daisy (okay, a dirty, somewhat pungent daisy). The disposable fabric is strong enough for multiple uses and our choice when there’s no shower in sight—like those marathon days at Burning Man. Note—it’s easier to mop a sweaty brow than underarms, but the wipes work for both. And you’ll love the calming effect of the soothing tea tree and eucalyptus scent.