Trusted Gear

There's a saying "There is no bad weather, just bad clothing" and living in the greater Seattle area you have to believe this if you want to leave your house. I grew up playing in the snow and cold of Wisconsin winters learning at an early age how important it is to dress for the conditions. Six years ago I moved to Washington and the conditions I play in change, but the need to be prepared for them hasn't. Every time I head out to the mountains I pack gear expecting the worst and rarely using most of it, but hearing stories time and again about people being caught unprepared in the wilderness motivates me to carry it none the less.  Here is a list of some of my favorite tried and trusted gear.

I'm a big believer in The Ten Essentials. These things are designed to be the bare minimum need, along with some knowledge, to make it through a bad trip and home again. I carry most things on this list stuffed into an improved version of my first aid kit. I started with a kit from Adventure Medical Kit and then added a compass, some iodine water treatment, a small, very sharp folding packet knife, and a pack of REI Storm Proof Matches. I toss this kit in every pack I take on every trip I go on. It gives me a good base to start with and covers most of the ten essentials making my packing list smaller. Every time I use something from the kit, I replace it as soon as I get home.

I always pack a windproof, waterproof, lightweight, packable shell. If the weather turns nasty this will keep you dry and keep the wind from robing you of your body heat.  I pack the First Ascent BC-100 (picture above) it's light weight, packs down small into one of its pockets and is breathable as well as being water and wind proof. Its is a very minimalist shell, but being designed by professional mountain guides it isn't lacking anything. Several items on this list are from First Ascent. I like their gear, its all bare bones, well built gear that has everything you need and no extra weight. They cut their products to be a little more fitted, which I like and their products are available in tall sizes, which being 6'1" I am a big fan of. Nothing is worse than a cold lower back on long hikes and climbs. First Ascent is Eddie Bauer's high end line of outdoor gear available at your local Eddie Bauer store and online from places like my favorite outdoor outfitter Moosejaw.

The next piece into the pack is a super warm, light weight, packable insulation layer. Down is the king of warmth and its super light weight as well. The fact that down is still the go to insulation for ultimate warmth and weight is amazing. You would think that after all these years of man kind trying to build a better mouse trap we would have topped down by now, but no. I always thought puffy jackets looked dumb until i tried one and was amazed by how it weighed nothing and was the warmest thing I had ever put on. The First Ascent downlight sweater (pictured above) is the down jacket I pack. It is super light weight, packs down small into its own pocket, filled with 800 fill down, the exterior fabric is wind, water and tear resistant. Once while digging something out of my pack, this jacket stuffed into its own pocket and zipped up fell out of my pack, bounced of the rock I was on and into a nearly frozen lake. I was amazed when it hit the water and floated, I was able to grab it out before the water resistant outer fabric soaked through. As amazing as down is, it loses all its insulating properties when it gets wet so I was lucky. There are some synthetic insulation options out there that are almost as light, almost as warm and almost as packable as down, but they will continue to keep you warm even when soaked. Because it will keep you warm even when wet synthetic insulation is a good choice for wet climates. I have a Columbia Shimmer Me Timbers synthetic insulated puffy jacket coming my way to test out just for this reason.

Some people have that one type item in life they are obsessed with, my wife has shoes, I have technical packs. I have at least 10 packs ranging from bare bones hydration packs to week long expedition packs and everything in between. After trying out several top companies I now only buy Osprey packs. I have 4 of them and they are the only ones i grab. I have their Exos 34 day pack (pictures above), the Kode 30 ski pack, the Kestrel 85 weekend pack and the Raptor 18 hydration pack. All of their packs are bomber constructed, well designed and very comfortable. They have a pack for everything and you can't go wrong with them.


I will post more gear and detailed reviews of new stuff and stuff I love as the blog develops. I have two new pieces of gear I am looking forward to trying out. I mentioned the Columbia Shimmer Me Timbers jacket earlier, this jacket features Columbia's new OmniHeat technology that uses small reflective dots lining the jacket to reflect body heat back to you. Columbia was once known for making some top gear, but in recent years have kind of faded a bit to more of a mid table clothing company making stuff for the weekend warrior more than the top end gear for the hardcore outdoors man. They have recently rededicated themselves to advancing technology in outdoor gear industry and making high end gear again. I am looking forward to trying out this jacket. I also just got a pair of La Sportiva FC ECO 4.0 GTX hiking boots that I will be writing about soon.