Latest from The Spokesman-Review

• Gear Junkie: Knives and multitools you can pack on an airplane

  April 14, 2013 in Outdoors on Page C11 In a dramatic policy change, the Federal Aviation Administration is still planning to allow small knives on commercial airplanes. Starting in late April, airline passengers can carry pocketknives with small … 1

• Gear Junkie: LuminAID provides portable light source

  March 10, 2013 in Outdoors on Page C11 It looks like a pillow with a cell phone glued on the side. Closer up, you see a solar panel and a tiny red light. Odd products come across my …

• Gear Junkie: It’s the sleeping bag of the future

  February 17, 2013 in Outdoors on Page C11 Time for bed. It’s below-zero outside, and you’re camping out under the stars. A to-be-released sleeping bag from Nemo Equipment is made for snoozing through some of the coldest nights …

• Gear Junkie: Low-cost holiday gifts

  December 23, 2012 in Outdoors on Page C11 The holiday season isn’t just here, it’s almost over. Here are a few low-cost items I recommend to bail out family and friends who want to give the gift of …

• Gear Junkie: MicroRocket stove weighs little, heats quickly

  November 4, 2012 in Outdoors on Page C12 This camp stove is small enough to fit inside a coffee mug. But screw it onto a fuel canister and you’ll quickly have a flame that can only be described …

• Ten picks worth celebrating

  October 21, 2012 in Outdoors on Page C11 Ten years ago, I penned the very first “Gear Junkie” column, covering a small camp stove from MSR. Fast forward a decade and you can guess I have tested my …

• ‘Mac in a Sac’ jacket does its job for low cost

  October 7, 2012 in Outdoors on Page C11 The misty climes of Northern Ireland are fertile ground for the development of clothing that can withstand the weather. Based in Belfast, Target Dry is a rainwear brand with a …

• Fixie bikes offer Premium Rush ride

  September 30, 2012 in Outdoors on Page C11 Last month, Columbia Pictures debuted “Premium Rush,” a blockbuster movie starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a bicycle messenger who gets mixed up in a criminal plot in New York City. The …

• Gravity feeds pure water to campers

  September 2, 2012 in Outdoors on Page C13 Procuring clean water in the wilderness can be a pain. Pumps are hard work. Purifying tablets require a long wait. But on a recent trek in Northern California, I simply … 4

• Gear Junkie: Wood-burning camp stove generates heat, electricity

  August 26, 2012 in Outdoors on Page C9 With my camp stove, I am boiling a pot of water. I am charging a cell phone on the side. Meet the BioLite CampStove, a wood-burning wonder machine that generates …

• Gear Junkie: Standouts at Utah Outdoor Retailer Show

  August 19, 2012 in Outdoors on Page C11 More than 1,000 brands and tens of thousands of attendees gathered last week for the twice-annual Outdoor Retailer trade show in Salt Lake City. I was on site for four …

• Gear Junkie: Specialized jersey blocks sun

  July 15, 2012 in Outdoors on Page C9 Applying sunscreen in the outdoors can be a pain. As such, whenever possible I wear clothing that can do double duty by blocking the sun’s harmful rays. Wide-brim hats and … 1

• Gear Junkie tries out Altra Running’s Lone Peak trail shoe

  May 6, 2012 in Outdoors on Page C9 After finishing the 12K Bloomsday road race today in Spokane, perhaps 40,000 or more runners will be looking for a bit of solitude and fresh air – both of which …

• Bikers put bright ‘eyes’ on their tail

  April 8, 2012 in Outdoors on Page C9 As bike gear goes, illumination is one category where I go all out. For safety while riding on roads in the evening or at night, I’m going to be that …

• Skiing class has steep learning curve

  March 25, 2012 in Outdoors on Page C11 Cliff walls lined the chute below my skis. Clouds whirled overhead, snow bulleting in big flakes and filling in ski tracks almost as fast as we could make them. It …

• Gear Junkie gears up for SkiMo race

  March 4, 2012 in Outdoors on Page C13 The start gun went off at 7:30 a.m., launching a pack of 130 racers poling and striding in sync and moving uphill toward mountain peaks far beyond. It was Day …

• Yaktrax offer traction to active winter goers

  February 26, 2012 in Outdoors on Page C11 Steep and snowy, the race course jutted almost vertically in front of my face. It was my third day in Vail, Colo., where earlier this month I competed in a …

• New SteriPEN makes water purifying even easier

  February 19, 2012 in Outdoors on Page C11 For the past couple of years, while backpacking in the wilderness and on international trips, I have relied on a device called the SteriPEN to purify water. The battery-power “pen” … 3

• New gear stands out at Outdoor Retailer

  February 5, 2012 in Outdoors on Page C12 More than 1,000 brands and 20,000 attendees: The twice-annual Outdoor Retailer trade show, held last week in Salt Lake City, offered a peek at the future of gear. The Gear …

• The Gear Junkie offers tips for winter bicycling

  December 18, 2011 in Outdoors on Page C11 Be it for fun or utility on a daily commute to work or school, bicycling does not need to end when the snow flies. I have ridden year ’round in … 1

• Gear Junkie: Bright idea for survival knife has its limits

  November 20, 2011 in Outdoors on Page C12 A blade, a light, and a whistle – that’s the formula for the Core Lite, a hybrid “survival tool” made by Adventure Medical Kits of Oakland, Calif. The company, known …

• Freeze-dried meal nixes boiling

  September 4, 2011 in Outdoors on Page C11 The quest for camping food that is simple to make just moved a notch. With its new chicken salad product, Mountain House offers campers and backpackers a freeze-dried meal that …

• Gear Junkie: Tips on going fast and light up high

  August 28, 2011 in Outdoors on Page C10 While touring Europe recently, a jutting limestone peak in Austria’s Kaisergebirge Mountain Range was on my schedule. But a problem: I had only one day to climb it. The circumstances …

• Shoes with independent toes gain popularity

  August 7, 2011 in Outdoors on Page C9 The phenomenon of shoes with articulated toes is one of the strangest product trends in the outdoors and running worlds. But the funny footwear is popular and indeed becoming almost …

• Buck knife flicks open to fit most outdoor needs

  July 3, 2011 in Outdoors on Page C9 With the subtle pull of a single finger, the FlashPoint knife flicks open to reveal its stout and serrated three-inch blade. Unlike pocketknives of yore, which could sometimes bend a …

• The Gear Junkie surveys 5 options for purifying water

  May 1, 2011 in Outdoors on Page C9 Clean drinking water in the wilderness is never guaranteed. No matter how pristine the lake or stream, giardia and cryptosporidium and other microbes can inhabit the waters, threatening illness that …

• Powder-light package for backcountry skiers

  February 27, 2011 in Outdoors on Page C11 Big Cottonwood Canyon, one of three iconic alpine valleys outside of Salt Lake City, was glaring in whiteness. Ten new inches of Utah fluff, was at my feet and sprawling …

• New outdoor gadgets revealed at Outdoor Retailer Show

  February 13, 2011 in Outdoors on Page C11 The twice-annual Outdoor Retailer trade show held in Salt Lake City is an exhibition of to-be-released outdoors equipment from manufacturers around the world. After six days in Utah last week …

• Gear Junkie: Keep in touch with radios

  November 28, 2010 in Outdoors on Page C13 The handheld radio crackled with static before coming to life. “Roger that,” came a voice. “What’s your location?” I was standing near a swamp, remote and deep in the woods …

• Pack, wallet lighter with nifty new Nano

  May 2, 2010 in Outdoors on Page C9 It won’t be in stores until this summer, but at $199, the Nano Puff Hoody from Patagonia is worth putting on your gear radar right now. I have been wearing …

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