Reviews

First, I must confess. I'm a cheapskate when it comes to sunglasses and for years I've been wearing cheapies when I climb out of fear of dinging up my nice pair. Two weekends ago, I was halfway up a route when my grip started to loosen on a precarious pinch and the last thing I ...read more

Jamaicans often make the 7-hour round-trip hike of Blue Mountain Peak (7,402 feet) in no-name gym shoes or even rubber flip-flops, but I was sure glad to have LOWA’s Aerox GTX Lo Surround on my feet.At first blush, the Aerox looks like the dozen or so other low-cut trail shoes in ...read more

Since early June, I’ve logged well over 300 miles with the Osprey Eja 38 on my back. (The men's equivalent is the Exos, which my 15-year old son tested in the same timeframe.) Throughout the summer I hiked almost daily with the Eja, which weighs a scant 2 pounds 8 ounces on my ...read more

For 9 straight days in August, I wore the Native Distillers in the high alpine sunshine from sunup to sundown on my 110-mile Tour du Mont Blanc hike.Here’s what I love most about these glasses: The coverage. I have super-sensitive eyes. I’m one of those dorks who wears sunglasses ...read more

For years now, we’ve been hearing how synthetic fills are becoming more and more down-like: lighter, more packable, warmer. It’s become somewhat of a tired refrain, and one that many of us quickly write off as marketing hype.Enter the Patagonia Micro Puff. It fooled me, and I ...read more

At Salomon headquarters in Annecy, France, designers and engineers have been working on a groundbreaking manufacturing process that could be game-changing in the world of custom gear. In September, the design center’s ...read more

• Member Exclusive

After a seven year hiatus, Tecnica will once again begin selling hiking boots in the U.S. And not just any hiking boots. The new Forge collection is the first ever heat-moldable hiker, and it just might change the ...read more

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Now, you can enjoy free Snooze pancakes while catching up on the latest industry news. Out here in Colorado, everyone thinks we're servers at the breakfast restaurant, Snooze, when we say we work for SNEWS. So we finally decided, what the heck. It's time for us to join forces. ...read more

Simple Squares bars are indeed simple, with ingredients you can list on one hand. It’s not too often that you come across a sage-flavored trail bar, but Simple Squares has a lot more to offer where that came from. Its line of clean trail snacks, made with nuts, honey, coconut, ...read more

This week, we tried Coast's cricket protein bars. Spoiler alert: we apparently really like eating crickets. This week, SNEWS is introducing a new series called Trail Food Friday. Each week, we’re going to review a different trail snack. We’ll try anything that has been packaged ...read more

We put the Tepui Kukenam—and the idea of car-top camping—to the test in Maine’s rugged backwoods.IT WAS DARK WHEN WE PULLED INTO OUR CAMPSITE at the end of a dusty, bumpy road. I had been driving for more than 11 hours and the last thing I wanted to do was wrestle with a tent in ...read more

In Sure Winner, you get the earliest possible scoop on products we think your customers will love. This time, Gear Aid's Arc LED Light Power Station, which is one hell of a charger. Adios McNett, hello Gear Aid. The company we all know and love for their awesome gear repair ...read more

In our new video series, Sure Winners, we give you the earliest possible scoop on products we think your customers will love. This time: Primus' PrimeTech Stove Set. The new PrimeTech Stove Set from Primus hits a sweet spot for backpackers who are conscious of weight and space, ...read more

SOG's new multitool packs a lot of useful features into a svelte package. The Reactor is a new multitool by SOG with a 2.5 –inch spring assisted blade that pops open with the flick of thumb, no fumbling required, and locks open with a little red thumb tab, a nice safety feature ...read more

Go ahead, leave it out in the rain. Mountain Hardwear's OutDry Duffel will keep your stuff bone dry. Mountain Hardwear's new OutDry duffel line represents a new use for parent company Columbia's waterproof/breathable fabric construction. Up until now we’ve seen OutDry ...read more

Columbia's new OutDry Extreme ECO Shell takes a huge leap toward sustainable outerwear. For years, technical apparel makers have been searching for a way to produce a rain jacket that’s PFCfree but will still keep you dry in extreme weather. (PFCs are perfluorinated compounds or ...read more

MSR's new Trailshot Microfilter is light, packable and easy to use. The MSR Trailshot is a superlight, superpackable water filter. MSR bills it as ideal for speed demons--trail runners, mountain bikers, fastpackers and the like--but this filter will appeal to any backpacker at ...read more

Carrying a solid line of insulated bottles can really beef up your bottom line. Stanley's new Master Series is a sure winner. Investing in a good lineup of insulted bottles just might be the easiest thing you can do to boost your bottom line. According to NPD, you get a return of ...read more

In our brand new video series, Sure Winners, we give you the earliest possible scoop on products we think your customers will love. This time: The Arc'teryx A2B Hardshell Blazer You likely have lots of lifestyle clothing in your shop--stuff that works for hikes and still looks ...read more

Women's gear is niche no more. It’s hard to imagine a world in which women didn’t have access to outdoor gear that’s optimized for them. But that wasn’t always the case: Ill-fitting apparel and hard goods were the norm for women as recently as 20 years ago, and even now, ...read more

Throughout the next month, SNEWS will recap its coverage of Outdoor Retailer Summer Market 2012 with select stories from the O.R. Daily we published at the show Aug. 2-5. It’s an opportunity for you to catch up on stories you might have missed in O.R.D., and for us to update and ...read more

We’re fans of simplicity, durability and comfort in our packs, all of which have been the staples of design at pack maker Granite Gear for the past 26 years. The tradition continues with the Granite Gear Nimbus Trace 62, which we tested this summer in variety of environments, ...read more