Gear Patrol

There’s a reason bouncers at clubs look like suited-up gorillas with earpieces—perception is a key proponent to security. If you look like you shouldn’t be messed with, chances are, you won’t be. The Knog Strongman ($100) follows this line of thinking with its aggressively designed, silicone-molded steel frame, and backs up its looks with a…

Developed with the Special Forces in mind, the patented, flameless, anodized-aluminum Heatstick ($460) can quickly and turn your 1L Nalgene into a disinfecting kettle. Just attach the fuel, hit the igniter and integrate Heatstick into the included water container, or your own, and boom: hot, clean water. Ideal for turning freeze-dried rations into a outback…

Even with the best of locks, pieces of your bike can still be snatched up by enterprising hoodlums. So for years the only way to achieve complete peace of mind was to bring your bike inside. UK based Atomic 22 has finally created a simple solution that could change the commuting game for good —…

Now that beach season is here, we all could use a little help shedding the last of our hibernation weight. Luckily, the Fitbit Aria Wi-Fi Smart Scale ($130) leverages high-tech tools to help speed up your battle of the bulge. Like the portable Fitbit Ultra, the scale tracks a variety of useful health metrics including…

Looking like a hefty version of an everyday cell phone, the IsatPhone Pro packs a well-designed punch. Features include: a case resistant to any harm that might befall it, reliable global coverage, and most importantly, a battery that actually has a life — 8 hours talk time, 100 hours standby — and it can function…

While we’re big fans of running (barefoot or not), it’s hard to beat swimming for a full-body, heart rate jacking workout. Unsurprisingly, what keeps people out of the pool is the fear of breathing, or, rather, lack thereof. Well fear no more, we’ve found what could be the solution to all you oxygen lovers sitting…

Bushnell boasts that if their award-winning waterproof 0×42 Legend HD Ultra Binoculars ($217) aren’t the best damn bino’s you ever used in your life, the company will happily refund every dime you spent. No questions asked. Do they have any right to be so cocky? Absolutely. The set’s ED Prime Extra-Low dispersion glass and Ultra…

Our collective taste buds have been maturing at a rapid rate, and no longer will charcoal laden processed meats satisfy the hunger achieved after a long day of hiking the wilderness. The Primus Firehole is the essential tool for any outdoor enthusiast who also knows the secret to a great meal is a controllable, consistent…

Make like Lady MacBeth when you get tagged for KP during your next foray into the “wild” with the Coleman All-in-One Portable Sink ($50). This camp cleaner sports a pressurized spraying system, powered by either the included battery cartridge and four “D” batteries or Coleman’s CPX 6 rechargeable battery pack (sold separately) that provides a…

Perfect for remote work sites, camping, a day at the beach, or after muddin’ on your favorite trail, the Nemo Helio Pressure Shower will have you smelling like a rose on your birthday deathbed (end lyrics). The Helio shower boasts an 11 liter (2.9 gal) capacity, good for 5-7 minutes of steady water pressure, and…

There’s nothing like the great outdoors, and for your money, that first cup of coffee on a cool wilderness morning is as good as it gets. But such serenity is easily undermined by a flat, bitter cup of instant coffee. Your delicate French press doesn’t really fit in the woods, but that shouldn’t keep you…

Interval training is a widely used fitness technique that has generated measurable benefits for many dedicated enthusiasts. While the concept is simple (intermittent bursts of high-intensity work followed by low-intensity work), the resulting workout session is anything but. Apart from a large towel and a CPR kit (you never know!), the most effective tool for…

One of the best things about technology is how it can mediate mundane or annoying activities, such as hopping on the scale to see the damage caused by the last few months of winter. Enter the Medisana TargetScale ($207), which transforms the entire notion of the bathroom scale into a device that any UFO fan…

Looking good should never be your first priority when trekking, but that doesn’t mean feeling dirty is fun. The Scrubba Portable Wash Bag ($30) is a new project started by Ashley Newlandon on the Kickstarter competitor IndieGoGo. The idea came to her while prepping for her summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro. As she saw it, soaking…

The antithesis of ultralight backpacking? Hauling your own oven to bake 12′ frozen pizzas in the great outdoors. We’re not saying there’s anything wrong with the drag-your-home-into-the-bush mentality (we’ll wolf down a DiGiorno as fast as the next desperate soul after days of dehydrated meals), but at 41 lbs, Coleman’s new outdoor portable oven and…

Your average snow shovel works great for cleaning out the driveway or dispatching amateur crooks pestering a prepubsecent Macaulay Culkin. K2′s Rescue Shovel Plus ($60) is the snow shovel of the future. Thanks to a unique modular design, the handle can be affixed to the blade to transform the Plus into a hoe for faster…

GoPro may be the leading provider of tag-a-long video equipment when crazy adventures call, but that doesn’t mean their solution is the only way to let your body be the camera man. Pivothead is peddling a new line of video recording eyewear. At the moment, four styles of glasses are available, all of which look…

Plenty of goggle brands have introduced interchangeable lens systems over the last several years. The ability to swap lenses tailored for specific conditions has been a boon for powder hounds seeking an edge, but the changing process is still too tedious to do on the mountain. Rimless iterations made things slightly faster, but users still…

No matter what the law dictates in your particular state, not wearing a helmet while riding is one of the dumbest things you can do. That doesn’t mean lugging around a bulky dome guard is any fun for commuters. The Overade aims to make riding slightly more convenient and just as safe. Designed in France…

Nike has finally decided to compete directly with startups like Fitbit to help consumers keep track of how much energy they’re burning throughout the day. To do it, the sports leviathan first had to develop a consistent measuring stick for comparing various activities (and people) head to head. So-called NikeFuel is the metric they came…

Bike rack maker Kuat (Koo-at) has released a convenient and clever contraption for keeping your wheels safe. What looks like a typical bike water bottle from the outside actually contains a five foot internally coiled 8mm cable thats designed to lock back into itself. The bottle also sports a lower storage compartment for stashing keys…

All headlamps are about the same, right? Not quite. Basic LED headlamps do a decent job of lighting up dark places, but lack the intensity and flexibility needed for a range of night-time situations. This is where the LED Lenser H7 ($54) shows off its abilities. We got our mitts all over this new release…

If you’re a runner, cyclist, hiker or skier, you (hopefully) know how important it is to carry emergency contact and medical information. It’s also a good idea to carry some money in case you bank far from home or just if you want to get a mid-ride ice cream. The problem is, where do you…

Access to potable water is always a concern for adventurers. The Sawyer Squeeze Filter System ($60) is a welcomed new alternative in a field typically limited to iodine tablets, filter pumps, or good old fashion boiling. Its included 12, 16, and 32oz reusable containers are built to hold contaminated water, which is then cleaned by…

Agent Smith: “Do you hear that sound Mr. Anderson? … that is the sound of inevitability”. And pictured right is also an inevitability. Merging the infinite possibilities of apps and the relenteless frustration of putting, Ping has developed the iPing App (free), and a corresponding cradle ($30). When combined the two serve as a bona…

We love a good mechanical watch, but when it comes to workouts, our obsession with analog craftsmanship takes a backseat to functionality. The Beat Workout Watch ($TBD) checks all the boxes of the ultimate exercise companion. Pairing a shoe based sensor with a chest strap heart rate monitor and a 16GB portable music player isn’t…

Kids think finding small objects at the bottom of the pool is a chance for adventure, but we all know losing your keys in the lake while jet skiing can ruin your week as an adult. That is, of course, unless you had the foresight to keep a WaterBuoy ($13) clipped to your key chain….

If you do any amount of running year-round, unless you live in milder climates or you choose to don your Gore-Tex lined Yeti running costume, the winter pushes you indoors and onto a treadmill to perform Hamster 2.0. ProForm aims to make this part of your fitness routine a more enjoyable experience with their Trailrunner…

Their cameras have been known to improve the shots of photographers, so the question is, can this update to their high-performance range finder do the same for your golf game? Upgrades to the new model include an improved LED read-out, which can provide accurate measurements for up to 825 yards (that’d be one hell of…

It goes without saying that technology has the ability to enhance your outdoor experience, but too much reliance can also be a curse. Limitations like battery life, the weather and even Earth’s magnetic regions can affect your adventure tech’s performance. So, when determining your navigation needs, consider the Suunto MC-2G Global Navigator Compass. The MC-2G…