The Outdoor Research Valhalla Softshell Pants are awesome. I haven’t tried these for snowboarding or skiing yet, but I took them on a mountaineering course and some snow frolicking. Then I fell in love.
The CamelBak Aventura backpack is a nifty little backpack that’s great for long day adventures.
This bad boy is a 21L backpack with a 3L water bladder. There are four zippered compartments: a tiny one for tiny items, one small one for small items, a main compartment for larger items, and a separate compartment for the water bladder. Side slip pockets allow you to hold water bottles, map, or if you’re like me, all the wrappers from Clif bars that you eat. And there’s a nice and large slip pocket that can easily fit a Nalgene and readily accessible items like hats. The outside of the pack has attachments to keep your trekking poles handy.
The pack has a sternum strap and a padded waist strap. It also has high abrasion mesh covering channeled EVA injected foam pods for extra ventilation your back won’t get sweaty as quickly.
The right shoulder strap conveniently has a little hook for your bladder hose. However, the hose doesn’t come with a Bite Valve Cover. You’ll need to pick one of those up for $6.
This pack has been my day hike BFF since I first got it in August of 2012 for a trip up Half Dome.. It has lasted weekends of endless abuse, squeezing in tight spots and being thrown over and around obstacles.
I don’t have much to complain about this bag, other than little plastic doohickies are starting to fall off now. And sometimes, if the bag is stuffed to the brim, I think I look like a turtle. This bag is wider at the base and narrows up to the top, so aesthetics look a little funny if you’re hauling a big load.
This pack is now discontinued and on clearance through Camelbak. I’m going to be extremely sad when my pack is on its last legs.
I’ve been drooling over Outdoor Research Incandescent Hooded Jacket after seeing it in various email blasts and gear sites. When Outdoor Research contacted me about participating in #ORInsightLab (What is it? Whitney and Dave explain!), I was lucky enough to have the Incandescent Hooded Jacket arrive at my door. I’m addicted to down jackets; I can’t help it!
The Outdoor Research Enchainment Jacket is yet another softshell I have come to love from this awesome brand. (Remember my Valhalla review?)
The Icebreaker BodyFit 200 Oasis Crew is my body’s new best friend.
It’s an incredibly versatile baselayer that keeps you warm and dry on slopes and on top of peaks, and cool and dry-ish on weird, warm, 70 degree) California winter days. It’s been accompanying me on almost every adventure since it’s a little cold for my Tech T Lite shirt.
It’s made of blah blah merino wool which has magical properties of supreme odor control, which came in super handy on my recent backpacking trip. Oh and because I think I wore this shirt for three days straight before the trip and was too lazy to wash it. I didn’t smell that bad. Really. And of course, merino wool has antimicrobial and moisture wicking properties to keep you feeling fresh throughout your adventure.
One more thing that’s kind of cool about Icebreaker is you can trace the origins of your shirt back to the very sheep that spawned the wool. Feels nice to be connected to what you’re wearing and supporting, right?
They’re kinda pricey, even on sale, but it’s worth the splurge for a do-it-all shirt. You don’t even look that weird wearing it around every day. And they come in lots and lots of colors. I want them all.