After only a dozen days use so far the DWR appears to still be doing its job. Those dozen days of touring confirm the breathability claims of venting better than Gore-Tex®, but I’m not sure if it is better than Schoeller®. It feels darn close.
Archive for the ‘Gear’ Category
Review: Rab Stretch NeoShell® Jacket
by
Posted in Apparel, Dostie, Craig, Rab 
Tags: backcountry skiing, breathable, jacket, NeoShell, waterproof 
2 Comments »Hand-rolled, Mean Green Fat Skis
by
It only took about 18 years but the light bulb finally went off for me about boutique skis. What did it was riding another pair of planks that, by outward evidence, were merely another pair of custom made skis that were undeniably beautiful to behold, but couldn’t possibly ski that well.
Review: ABS Vario 25
by
It is hard to argue against the ABS Vario system. To date, the only serious complaints revolve around the quality of the packs available. That changes this year with the Vario25. It is large enough for a day pack, well suited for going hut-to-hut, and it packs simply and easily.
Review: OR’s Trailbreaker Pants
by
When the zipper on the right hand pocket of my Mammut Champ pants went south (after something like 700 days of use) it was time to look for a new pair of ski pants. They had to be breathable softshell with an ability to shed snow, not cling to it, with cargo pockets but not [...]
Review: SnowPulse HighMark22 Airbag Pack
by
The Highmark22 from SnowPulse does a good job of balancing the need for organization with multiple compartments, without getting overly complex.
Review: Spark R&D resurrects Verts™
by
So it was a revolutionary moment when Paul Ramer sent me a pair of his Assault Snowshoes – an oval shaped platter of stamped aluminum with cookie cutter edges. As usual I thought it was a kooky idea, but as with his Ramer Classic alpine touring bindings, their beauty was only visible after experiencing their performance.
Posted in Accessories, Climbing Skins, Dostie, Craig Tags: Ramer, Snowboard, splitboard, Verts No Comments »Review: Voile Vector BC – One ski to farm it all?
by
Depending on what your fave form of sliding is, Voile’s Vector BC is one of the few skis that spans a broad enough range of usefulness to qualify as a backcountry quiver of one. The more time you spend mixing it up with kick ‘n’ glide tours, or casual strolls in the woods and foothills, to earning turns, the more appropriate the Vector BC is.
Posted in Dostie, Craig, Mid-Fat Skis, Voile Tags: metal-edged, tele-lite, waxless, XCD 3 Comments »Review: BCA’s Float 36 Airbag Pack
by
…it has a lot of solid, well done features like the buckle pocket, the waist belt & leg loop, vertical carry loops for your skis or a snowboard, a helmet sling, goggle pocket, and the best feature, zippered access from the inside back panel to the cavernous bottom of the pack and a separate compartment for the airbag hardware.
Review: Pieps DSP and DSP Tour
by
It doesn’t take long before you realize that Pieps is the range leader when it comes to modern avalanche beacons. In test after test the DSP or Tour have the longest, most reliable receive range available (circa Jan. 2012). Whatever the configuration, single, multiple, best or worst coupled, other beacons can only hope to equal [...]
Posted in Beacons, Dostie, Craig, Pieps Tags: 3-antenna, digital signal processing, masking, triple antenna No Comments »Review: Marquette Backcountry skis
by
When the concept of the Marquette Backcountry ski was first explained it sounded like a great idea. Kudos to the marketing department for truth in advertising. The sticker adorning the ski says these planks are 30% snowshoe, 70% ski. After having ski toured with them I concur one hundred percent with that assessment. One of [...]
Posted in Dostie, Craig, Super-Fat Tags: fat ski, patterned base, snowshoe, waxless ski 2 Comments »
