Category: Tech
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Osprey Rev 18; discontinued brilliance
Osprey is an easy company to dislike, largely due to their unapologetically Google-esque ownership of the pack market, but more substantively because of their tendency to emphasize specialization to an absurd degree. However, they are good pack makers and brilliant pack designers, and often enough come out with a pack whose coherence moves the bar…
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How the Kifaru Duplex Works
When it comes to modern, internal frame load haulers for big game hunting Kifaru has defined the genre and, web traffic and analytics would have one assume, sells more than any of their competitors, by a considerable margin. Recently I had a chance to borrow an older Duplex frame and spend a decent amount of…
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The packraft in 2017
Left to right: Double Duck, 2015 Yukon Yak, Doomiyak, Scout. When I last sat down to write a treatise on this subject, 4.5 years ago, there wasn’t really all that much to say. Alpacka Rafts where the only acceptable option for serious use, wilderness or otherwise, and everyone else was dancing around being a serious…
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Sandal hiking with the Bedrock Cairn
Many moons ago I lived in a pair of Chaco sandals, almost year round, save for specific pursuits like climbing or more involved hiking. Around 8 year ago I was well into a transition to minimalist shoes for hiking and backpacking, and the changes that wrought in my feet made the arch support Chaco used…
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Your mid wants a liner
The two biggest complaints folks have with floorless pyramid shelters are lying with the creepy crawlies in the dirt, and rubbing up against condensation on the walls. The first complaint is largely, though not entirely, a matter of changing context and expectation. The second is a serious issue that can be both a nuisance and…
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Rab Windveil, windshirt evolution
I’ve written a lot about windshirts over the years, because they’re the most versatile piece of outdoor clothing. When it comes to the range and frequency of appropriateness, nothing else comes close. Until waterproof breathable laminates make vast strides in breathability, this will remain the case. The only question is which windshirt will suit you…
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Backpack problems, and answers
In the last few months I’ve had impetus from several directions to hit the reset button on backpacks as completely as possible. Shake off and re-examine as many assumptions as possible before I put them into practice. This bag, and this post, are only a first step towards that end. Problem 1: Seams are the…
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Evaluating backpack capacity in the real world
…aka the most exciting topic ever. It’s important to get the right size pack. For evidence, I refer to the above photos. Having to strap stuff outside is occasionally necessary, but it’s almost always bad style, and often somewhat hazardous (lost water bottles, paddle blades, etc). Evaluating how big a pack will actually be once…
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NAHBS 2017; bikes and components
It’s Sklar, not Skylar. According to Adam himself a common mistake. Thankfully his last name isn’t Smith, but rather the name of some Finnish metal band. So if you see any outlets with the above photo and the later name, talking about how he won best mountain bike, you know they didn’t go and are…
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NAHBS 2017; bikepacking bags
Towards the end of 2011, when I was putting this series together, there were only three established bike bag makers: Carousel Design Works, Revelate (then Epic) Designs, and Porcelain Rocket. (Bedrock, and likely a few others I overlooked, were getting off the ground.) Carousel, who invented the category as we know it, is no more. …
Bedrock & Paradox 
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