Why do you wear headphones? Where do you wear headphones?

If you wear your headphones to get clean accurate sound in environments where you want to focus without interruptions, these are for you.

These headphones produce a clean clear sound. The fit is perfect, and like the name suggest, they feel very custom. The snug fit produces an almost noise canceling effect blocking out all surrounding or ambient noise. I’d say these headphones would be perfect for the audiophile on the commute, at the gym or for use at your desk at work.

Klipsch is known for powerful, accurate and clean audio. These headphones are a good example and representation of the quality and precision they are know for.

These headphones come with a really nice case that can double as an iPod carrying case, a few options for ear jells to insure your custom fit, and an extension for the two pronged 1/8th inch headphone jacks seen on airplanes. (more…)

Boy things have come a long way since smoke signals. The SPOT Satellite Personal Messenger and Personal Tracker is definitely a piece of gear that any solo trekkers, climbers, hunters, fishermen, and canyoneering crazies should consider. When you are indulging your inner Aron Ralston in the middle of the Utah desert, wouldn’t it be nice to just push a button and know that people will be dispatched to your exact coordinates?

That’s what the SPOT Satellite Personal Tracker does, via commercial satellite. It can also send “OK” messages, and can even send and save points along your route to Google Maps. When you get home you can send your friends a view of all the cool remote places you’ve been.

Of course, if you don’t have a clear shot of the open sky then you may still have to amputate your arm and get out of that slot canyon before it will work. (more…)

Looking for a comfortable 2-3 person tent that won’t break your back on your next backpacking trip? Look no further than the MSR Mutha Hubba, which is still a roomy 3-person tent, but tips the scales at a reasonable 6 lbs. 2 oz. for the body, full-coverage fly and aluminum poles. Sounds like you don’t have to cram into a miniature cocoon anymore.

To lighten up the Mutha Hubba for 2008, MSR revised several areas of the best-selling Mutha Hubba including: 1) a frame upgrade by using smaller, more durable plastic pole hubs, 2) removed 2 air vents from the fly, thus reducing seams and the flexible plastic sticks to hold them open and 3) eliminated zippers and seams on the fly body that were used to access the vents on the fly. The result is a 10 oz. reduction in weight and, after testing, it has virtually the same ventilation properties. (more…)

Apple is simultaneously admired and hated — sometimes by the same people. On the one hand, their stuff is constantly cool. On the other, they are even less open than Microsoft. But one thing we can now agree on with Apple CEO Steve Jobs — Teton Gravity Research rocks!

At Macworld this year Steve Jobs was demonstrating AppleTV (which is definitely a piece of gear that I want to nab & review) which now allows you to rent movies right over your AppleTV…in HD…Dolby 5.1…all that jazz. No more slogging to the video store, or Redbox, or waiting for dvd’s in the mail. And of course, you can watch podcasts….so which one does he pull up? An excerpt from Teton Gravity Research’s film “Lost and Found”. (more…)

Why in the world would Burton release a new snowboard backpack in the Spring? Well, the name should give it away: the Burton AK 30L Pack. That’s “AK” as in Alaska. With such short days during the winter in Alaska, the great skiing and snowboarding starts ramping up in the Spring. So this pack was built for the lucky few who get to ride helicopters all Spring in the Chugach. And some of the features tell that tale pretty well.

You can tell that this pack was designed by folks that not only like to ride a lot, but they like to ride outside the confines of the ski resort. There are features to accommodate any type of avalanche gear you may need, as well as particular design elements that better allow for easy snowmobile-accessed riding. Basically, it’s a pack for riders designed by riders. And isn’t that what Jake Burton and his company are famous for? Ever since he broke his collarbone & couldn’t make the ski team, I think it was fate that sent him down the road to building killer snowboard gear that even skiers get jealous of. If it weren’t for his vision, we wouldn’t have snowboard gear like the Burton AK 30L to drool over. (more…)

A wacky little product showed up on my doorstep the other day. Sometimes when something like that shows up it is total junk — like key chain flashlights and stuff. So I spare you guys the reviews of that stuff. But some nutty little things are actually great & thoughtful products. The Hitch Safe is one of those. Why isn’t this on Oprah’s favorite things or something?? (more…)

Keen sandals alone are some of the most versatile footwear on the market today. Going from the river to the trail and around town has never been so easy. And all that with the extreme toe protection to keep your toes intact–something that can’t be said for other sandals from Teva or Chaco.

Now, combine the Keen Newport sandal with an SPD-compatible sole and you’ve now got the all-new Keen Commuter sandal. Part sandal, part bike shoe and a whole lot of versatility. Commute to work, slog around at the office from 9-5 with these sandals on, then slip out after work for a ride back home–all with the same pair of breathable sandals. I never would have thought that a pair of sandals could be this versatile. (more…)

Holy smokes… they say that this headlamp/handlebar-mounted bike light system illuminates enough of your path to safely reach speeds of 55 mph! Now that’s a powerful night lighting system! Not that anyone will want to be going that fast on a road or mountain bike (unless they have a deathwish) in the middle of the night, but you know that you can.

The new Pro III from FoxFury looks to be the standard by which other bike lights are measured. At 520 Lumens, the PRO III Bike Light offers extreme illumination for cyclists no matter where they ride. Boasting 4, 3-watt CREE XR-E LED’s, this represents by far the brightest headlamp in the FoxFury lineup. In dark or night-time conditions, the light offers up to 500 feet (152 m) of distance vision and 60 feet peripheral vision (18 m), and permits a rider to reach speeds of up to 55 mph (88km/h). That’s a powerful light! (more…)

Springtime weather can be unpredictable and it’s always smart to carry around an extra lightweight shell just in case. Or, on early-morning trail runs or bike rides, it’s downright chilly–making a lightweight and breathable shell mandatory.

Outdoor Research has been stepping up their outerwear line over the past few years and the all-new Mens Avido Jacket is a great example of a functional and versatile, lightweight shell. Perfect for cool springtime or autumn weather or unpredictable summer days while scaling windswept ridgelines, the Avido Jacket provides just the right amount of stretch and ventilation to keep you comfortable under all conditions. Style looks to be clean and simple with two front handwarmer pockets and a rear pocket to stash extra goodies.

Nothing fancy… just the basics, but the basics done right. The Outdoor Research Avido wind jacket is a solid piece of outdoor gear for mountain bikers, trail runners, peak baggers or city chillers. (more…)

The new SteriPEN JourneyLCD water purifier looks to be a great tool to have on-hand any time there’s a need to purify water. Although it won’t filter the water, it does purify it and kill any harmful bacteria, viruses and parasites in a matter of 90 seconds. So long as you’ve got a clear-running river to pull water from, this thing looks to be money.

The SteriPEN JourneyLCD uses SteriPEN’s proven technology, ultraviolet (UV) light, to destroy the DNA of disease-causing bacteria, viruses and parasitic protozoa. What makes the NEW SteriPEN JourneyLCD different is its ability to communicate through an LCD screen, making this the most user-friendly system available today.

The SteriPEN JourneyLCD uses universal symbols that take the guesswork out of the process and provides the user with added confidence that the SteriPEN is being used properly. (more…)

We’ve known the day would come–what with Backcountry.com crushing the outdoor gear market and all–but they’ve finally pulled the trigger… the SRAM X.9 trigger that is! Backcountry.com, one of our long-time favorite outdoor gear retailers has now expanded their product line to include bike gear: clothing, accessories and parts.

Their current selection is mainly soft goods with helmets, jerseys, shoes, etc. But, they are expanding fast with a fair selection of Shimano and SRAM components as well as Crank Brothers, WTB and more. It may be awhile before they are selling bike gear on the volumes of a JensonUSA, PerformanceBike or PricePoint, but I’m sure they will get there within a season or two. (more…)

By raise of hands, who here has seen “The Collective”? Wow — almost everybody! Well, then you know who Ryan Leech is. The sick trials guy from Portland who biked on that handrail with the hanging chain? Yep. And he does all that nutty stuff on a Norco bike. But homeboy doesn’t just do trials all the time — he also has to have a bike for just plain riding. Cross-country, all-mountain, whatever — and that’s when he pulls out the Norco Fluid LT 2. And since I’m a mere mortal, aspiring to someday not be such a hack, I think I’ll give myself all the help I can get and just pick up a Fluid LT as my main mountain bike this year. (more…)

Let me tell you about a very neglected piece of gear that never gets a gear review because sometimes folks think that electronics gear isn’t really outdoor gear. Let me tell you, they are wrong. The gear I’m talking about is your trusty digital camera — and I consider gear like this to be critical gear because when you have an adventure outdoors, nothing helps you reminisce like browsing the pics you took while you were out there in it. So just FYI — you’ll be seeing more of this kind of gear on GEAR.com for this reason: Just because you can’t mount your ski bindings on something, doesn’t mean it isn’t gear. And I write about the gear I rely on every day, and that includes a killer digital camera. And that’s what the Canon PowerShot SD1000 is — a killer digital camera. (more…)

Depending on who you are, the word “ideal” evokes either thoughts of nobility and striving for good or it evokes thoughts of foolishness and a lack of realism. Frankly, I have to confess that lately I have been more in the latter camp. I guess I’ve often heard the phrase: “If you’re under 30 and you’re not a liberal you have no heart…but if you’re over 30 and you’re not a conservative you have no brain.” Honestly I don’t remember who that quote is from (Churchill?) and I hate that it seems more & more like reality to me…but I’m over 30 now and I think there’s definitely a grain of truth in it. Coming from Seattle I can’t help but feel a twinge of nostalgia when I think of hippies and Democrats, but being conservative-leaning I always try to see things through a practical lens. And just to make things more complicated —– since I grew up spending every weekend in the Cascade mountains, I fell in love with what nature has to offer and I want to support those efforts that will ensure that we don’t see it disappear. (more…)

I have had my eye on a tent recently — the Mountain Hardwear Helion 2 Tent. It’s a gorgeous and functional tent, but what’s even better is how it is such a lightweight tent.

I grew up slogging around the Pacific Northwest in tents that were often less than ideal. I remember a rainy weekend trip to Lake Talapus in Washington State that resulted in a foot-deep river flowing through the middle of my tent…and my sleeping bag soaking it up like a sponge. It was in that moment that I realized two things: 1) Be careful where you place a tent, and 2) No matter where you place your tent, make sure it is a waterproof tent.I guess that’s why I ponied up for a proper REI tent when my wife and I got married. Nothing says I love you like outdoor gear, am I right folks? (more…)

Okay — here are a few more key mountain biking events in and around Utah for the Spring/Summer 2008 season. I assume you’ll be spectating at the NORBA event at Deer Valley on June 26-29, but after that it gets HOT in Utah. No worries — these rides will have you sucking wind, but at least you’ll be doing it on a high alpine trail with (hopefully) a mountain breeze to cool you. (more…)

I love vests. They are one of the most versatile pieces of outdoor clothing there are. As a lightweight and unobtrusive layering piece, they are always tops on my list. On backcountry ski trips, I always carry one in the bottom of my pack just in case.

Several years ago, I lost my Marmot DriClime Vest somewhere between apartments or mountain biking trips to Moab. I’m still bummed that I don’t have that vest. It was the perfect vest for spring or fall and provided just enough insulation and plenty of wind protection.

Well, back to the vest at hand… The North Face Windwall Vest. Utilizing proprietary windproof Windwall fabric from The North Face, (more…)