I’ll let you in on a little secret. For the longest time, I only had one pair of non-technical pants: my Baldwin Denim raw skinnies. I either lived in those or my Norrøna pants, because they were all I really needed. But when you only have two pairs of pants, sometimes things get tattered. Sometimes you want to mix it up. Sometimes you want pants for both work and play. That’s when the Royal Robbins Ranger Twill Pants came into my life.
When you’re huffing and puffing away in varying temperatures, you want insulation that works with you and not against you. The Outdoor Research Uberlayer Hooded Jacket does just that.
I’m starting to think that approach shoes are it for when you need something that kind of does it all. Commuting? Check. Actual approaches? Yep. Hiking? You got it. Lounging around because you’re lazy? They do that too. With its retro design and delightful colors, the La Sportiva Boulder X shoes are something you can rock 24/7.
“What are those things”, said the kiwi inspecting all my hiking gear and pointing at my boots at customs. He’d never seen anything like them, and I guess I hadn’t really either.
Futuristic, Tron-esque boots, what? When Arc’teryx broke into the shoe market last year, I was a little skeptical. Don’t get me wrong, they’re the creme de la creme of the outdoors. But footwear? Not really sure if they could pull it off. When the Arc’teryx Bora Mid GTX boots arrived at my doorstep, I couldn’t turn down the opportunity to try them out.
I’m a fan of hard shells for every occasion: the basic multipitch jacket, that jacket you shove in the bottom of your pack for rainy occasions jacket, that jacket for snow sports. The Black Diamond Liquid Point Shell is a jacket that does a little bit of everything but excels at nothing.