Gear Patrol | Spirit of Adventure, Passion for Gear

Lessons from Green Berets in the Colorado Rockies

“Open Road” is an ongoing series of dispatches written and photographed by guest correspondent, Foster Huntington, during his epic cross-country adventure for his upcoming book by Harper Collins. Foster is the creator of Arestlesstransplant and The Burning House. Check out previous parts of the series here. My alarm went off at 2:15am on Thursday, the [...]

Box of Awesome

Surprise the chip off the old block or just re-connect with your inner child by picking up the Summer Camp Care Kit ($145) from Best Made Company. Jam-packed with a horde of nostalgic treasures including Latex slingshot tubing, a four way vintage Swiss army flashlight, a three blade whittling knife, an engineer’s compass, a 45x [...]

A long way from YMCA Summers

Drive three hours south of Sydney to New South Wales’ Jervis Bay and tucked away on preserved land you’ll find Paperbark Camp. Founded in 1998 by Irena and Jeremy Hutching, the eco-friendly glamping upscale camping lodge touts everything from white-sand beaches with secret coves to pre-breakfast kangaroo spotting. Canoeing and torch-lit night hikes through eucalyptus [...]

The Original Mashup

This is not the KFC spork of yore, so dispel those flash backs of middle school field trips and cellophane packaged cutlery. Made entirely of titanium, the super light Triple Aught Design Titanium Folding Spork ($39) reduces arm fatigue as you stuff your face with last night’s left overs. Plus, it has a bottle cap/can [...]

The Comfort of Home Minus the Bulky Bits

I’ve preferred air mattresses over sleeping pads for as long as I can remember, but when it came time to buy a lightweight alternative, I immediately turned to the Z Lite by Therm-a-Rest ($30). Many folks who spend a good deal of time sleeping on the ground swear by them, so I wanted to give [...]

Your Head As A Beacon

Head lamps have come a long way since we were on our last scouting trip. No longer do you need to have a glorified Mag Lite strapped to your head, bobbing around and weighing your head down. Petzl’s new Tikka Plus 2 has opened our eyes and become quite a convenient piece of gear to [...]

A Watched Pot Does Boil

At Gear Patrol, we look for excuses to be outdoors. Any weekend we can steal away from the comforts of home are welcomed and testing gear is always a bonus. On our weekend adventures, hot water is an absolute necessity. With a splash of hot water, coffee and food can be conceived in no time. [...]

Clean, drinkable water is critical to life on this planet and is a resource that those of us in first world countries often take for granted. That is, unless you’ve traveled far enough to know otherwise. In the past, though, portable options for purifying fresh water while traveling have been pretty dismal. Boiling, of course, [...]

Man make fire. Gwaarrrg!

You might call us latter day Boy Scouts, but we at Gear Patrol have been riffing on a certain theme of late: Be Prepared. It’s just that you never know in what situation you might find yourself, and, when the unexpected strikes, a man wants to be able to be decisive and take charge, knowing [...]

Every Man Needs A Rain Jacket. Else, Be Wet.

The Marmot Essence Jacket is just that – the essence of what you need in a rain jacket and nothing more. It keeps you dry, is light and breathable, and you’ll find it eminently packable. The Essence gets a sound GP recommendation in the rain jacket department.

Camping doesn’t always have to be so rough. The Eureka N!ergy 1210 tent brings you the ability to sleep eight in two rooms with two doors and a gear loft. It has 4 windows, 2 mesh roof vents and sidewalls to let in light and air. Even more interesting is it’s ability to use the [...]