Purchasing down gear is rite of passage for us outdoor types. Remember the joy of stuffing your first down sleeping bag into its impossibly small stuff sack after years of struggling with a monster synthetic bag? Or the first time you donned the down coat that you saved for years
Shoveling 101: Looking Good, Feeling Better
It’s almost President’s Day Weekend, which means families around the country are gearing up to take the Christmas tree down. Or is that just us? Forget skiing and ice climbing, mundane outdoor tasks take up far more checks on our honey-do list than all of the rad adventures we wish
A Four-Stage Plan for Preventing Cold Hands
How can we put this delicately? Cold hands suck. If our subjective analysis isn’t persuasive enough, check out the medical proof. The ulnar and radial arteries deliver warmed blood to the hands. As ambient temperature drops, vessels constrict and blood flow slows overall. With less blood going to the extremities,
Waterproof your Cotton Tees
We all know the old saying: “cotton is rotten.” And to a certain degree, it’s true. While it’s a perfectly fine material for a T-shirt or a hoodie, cotton may be the single worst fabric you can wear in any potentially wet outdoor situation. Any moisture tends to rob even
The Sustainability of Ski Resorts
Pure backcountry skiers need only look at their gear’s supply chain and their own tracks in the snow to see the environmental footprint of their fun. For those of us who enjoy the occasional chairlift ride and hot soup mid-mountain, the sustainability of skiing infrastructure becomes more complex. Ski Area
Thrifting for the Savvy Skier
Ski season is heating up across the country, but the freedom of sliding with gravity comes at a high cost. Most expenses are fixed and non-negotiable – lift tickets, rental gear, après cocktails. With so much money flying, don’t be tempted to scrimp on your apparel. Set yourself up for
Style and Substance: Gloves Are the New Ironic T-Shirt or Heavy-Rimmed Glasses
There’s a reason some gloves are designed for work and some are designed for skiing. But why do the former cash in around $20 and the latter around $120? A few years back, some smarty pants in the ski world picked up a pair of $20 work gloves, slapped some
Nikwax Supports Recent Greenpeace Report to Ban Harsh Chemicals
A recent study by Greenpeace reports on levels of perfluorinated compounds (also known as PFCs) used in the production of outdoor apparel. PFCs are bio-persistent chemicals that are linked to a range of human health problems (see selected bibliography for studies). Many companies use PFCs to add water repellent finishes to apparel and gear. Nikwax has been
Through Rain and Sleet and Dark of Night: Five Steps to Keeping Your Kids Dry and Happy on Halloween
For those of us who didn’t grow up on Maui, we’re sadly familiar with the weather crushing our Halloween dreams. Nothing ruins the perfect pink princess dress quicker than a down parka. Don’t even get us started on the wrecked silhouette of a superhero unitard when the rain starts falling.
BaseFresh: Saving the World from Stink!
It’s an epidemic! Active people around the globe are trudging shamefully around with rotten, offensive smelling athletic wear. Conventional laundry detergents impair the wicking ability of technical next-to-skin garments and do not always remove offensive odors. Thousands of garments have ended up in the garbage and thousands more sad and