GearFlogger

Crank Brothers Multi 17 tool

So they have a cool name, but what about the gear? Crank Brothers lives up to their name, and they will impress you with their well-thought-out cycling accessories, especially in the tool department.

The Multi tool series comes in 19, 17, 10 and 5 tool versions. We roll with the 17, giving up the second phillips screwdriver head and one of the two torx sizes (t10). There are still plenty of shiny things to fool around with, including an 8/9/10 speed compatible chain tool, 1/2/3/4 spoke wrenches, 2/2.5/3/4/5/6/8 hex wrenches, t-25 torx, and phillips and flat screwdrivers. Seventeen, baby. Count 'em. I know you will anyway.

Everything folds flat with no sharp edges, and at 168 grams you can just throw the M-17 in your saddlebag and fuh-ged-about-it. Until you need it, of course. You get the peace of mind knowing that everything is rock solid, and backed by a lifetime warranty to boot. Now get off the computer and ride.

$19.74 at Amazon

Manduka BlackMatPRO yoga mat

Some days start off bad and get worse. This includes any day that involves running. You know how I feel about that. Or swimming. Or anything that involves a person in a position of authority making you do any of these things. Let's add yoga to the list.

Yeah, I used to make fun of yoga as a sissy thing. I know better now, but it hurt to find out. I tried it recently when a friend recommended Forrest yoga as a way of opening up mein Germanic tighty-whitey hips. Seriously, I can sit on coal and make diamonds. OK, that's a different body part. It's handy at Christmas.

Anyway, the room is 85 degrees, and the instructor is forcing us into some position named after an animal that can insert its own head in its ass. I'm sweating like a congressman who realizes he just tweeted drunk, and I see this guy next to me about to pop a vein. I mean his face is red and he looks like he's on the receiving end of a prison proctology experiment. That's when I realize I'm looking at the mirror wall, and I'm the only male of the species in the class. Dammit. Long story short, I think the instructor had it in for me. She's probably a vegan, and I made bacon that morning, and she could smell it on me.

The only bright spot in the room was my tiny little personal space, defined by my Manduka BlackMatPRO. It's a beefy 71x26 inch yoga mat that you just have to feel. It weighs a ton, in this case 7 pounds, but that's a good thing: no doubling the mat over to cushion your knee, the quarter-inch padding is fine the way it is. Just roll it out and the little traction circles on the bottom make sure it won't move. The surface has a lot more friction than other mats, to get you through your own little private hell. That's all I've got to say about that.

$84.00 at Amazon

Leatherman Skeletool

Some marketing exec at Leatherman is sitting around one Saturday morning, probably stoned, watching Masters of the Universe and eating his third El Capitan-sized bowl of Crunchberries. "Skeletor," he thinks after watching the evil villain be defeated by yet another dumb do-gooder trick, "is a Skeletool!" Hmm, he thinks, I could use that...

Luckily the product engineers are sober and able to convert, and the result is one the best backcountry multitool available. It's light at 4.9oz, and it's efficient, with just what you need: blade, needlenose/regular pliers, wire cutters, four double-sided bits (Phillips #1 and #2, flathead 3/16 in. and 1/4 in.), removable pocket clip and wiregate 'biner clip that doubles as a bottle-opener. A separate $20 bit kit gives you a chromosome's worth more double bits (42 total) including Pozi #1 and #2.

The feature set is impeccable, the quality typical Leatherman high-bar, and the usability great with an adjustable. The fine blade is a versatile drop-point with a thumb-hole for one-hand opening. The CX version costs a worthwhile $20 more over the full stainless version and adds four things: a scratch-resistant coating (nice), a 154CM blade (very nice), a piece of carbon fiber in the handle (um, OK, subtract 1 gram in weight - no, I'm not kidding) and a serrated bottom half of the blade (best for cutting cord and webbing). Kudos to Leatherman, this is the perfect backcountry companion.

$62.97 at Amazon

Omega Pacific Link Cam

There's shiny like a button, and then there's shiny like the sweat on Megan Fox at a car wash. Omega Pacific Link Cams are the latter. They demand to be touched. You've been warned: don't put your nasty bagel-grabbers on one of these solid-single-stemmed beauties up unless you're willing to lay down the lucre.

Link Cams are articulated, with one major axle and two smaller ones on each three-piece lobe. And those luscious lobes are fat to minimize walking in placements, with teeth even for those of you who refuse to believe they don't make a difference. What this means to us knuckle-draggers is simple: significantly increased range and great holding power. The Link Cam #1 allows you to plug-and-pray from .83 to 2.1 inches. That's close to double the range of most other cams of equivalent size. You'll thank every god whose name you can remember from Mythology 101 when you're pumped and need a placement fast, no time for second-guessing size.

They have a smooth-like-buttah trigger, with a comfy grooved thumb-rest and a four-inch Spectra sling, making for easy placements. Link Cams are must-have gear, but this doesn't mean you'll want an entire rack of 'em for two reasons. First, they're heavier than most other models: 6.4 ounces for the #1. Second, they're 'spensive. What you will want is one of each size to save for the last, desperate placement that you can't see yet. Alpinists, this means you too: do you really want to be halfway up Denali's West Rib and find that the last of your three cams doesn't quite fit that splitter?

$108.25 at Moosejaw

Mountain House Chicken Salad Wraps

Mountain House Wraps have been out for a while now. They're a great idea: bring along a bunch of easy-to-pack tortillas, heat some water, and ten minutes later you've got a tasty wrap. Mountain House is the GearFlogger fave for dehydrated rations, so far so good.

Well, now for something a little different. The Mountain House Chicken Salad Wrap goes the same way as any boil-in-a-bag meal, except for one important detail: you use cold water. I know, I know, this is not natural. Pretty soon we'll have cats and dogs sleeping together, it'll be total anarchy.

Turns out it actually tastes pretty good. The hot meals definitely have more zing to them, but the chicken salad has more texture, in a good way, with cranberries and pumpkin seeds. Bring some salt and pepper and you're good to go. Bonus: high protein (18g) and low sodium content (290mg) per serving. Bonus bonus: it's a whopping 520 calories of food before you add the tortillas, so you get two good sized portions out of the bag that fit larger tortillas, or even four smaller portions that fit perfectly in small tortillas. Can't go wrong, unless of course you forget to remove the little nonedible iron oxide packet inside. Not that we did. Or didn't. Nope.

$6.50 at REI

MSR Flex 4 System cookset

MSR knows cooking, and the MSR Flex 4 System cookset is a strong entry in the trend of transformer cooksets, where everything nests within everything else until a singularity is created that will devour the world. Until then, enjoy!

The four-person set includes twelve - 12! - pieces: four 12.5oz insulated mugs with drink-through lids sandwiched between two 7.5" plastic DeepDish plastic plates inside a 3.2L nonstick DuraLite DX pot with a strainer lid sandwiched between two 8.75" DeepDish plastic plates inside a 5.3L hard-anodized pot with a strainer lid. It's like the twelve days of Christmas, backcountry-style!

The design is very clever: the DeepDish plates protect the pots from being scratched, the small pot has an integrated potholder that folds over the lid, and the large pot has two insulated handles and two roller-clips that hold the whole enchilada together, no need for annoying straps. Being able to drain water from pasta through the strainer lid is a big bonus. There's a little extra space between and inside the mugs for spices, sponges, etc. You can even lay a few utensils on top of the small pot before you put the lid on.

Aluminum is the best choice for people who actually care about cooking, because it conducts heat quickly and evenly, is durable and cleans up well. DuraLite is MSR's most efficient material for boiling water. At 3lb 10oz the Flex 4 is definitely a basecamp item and is properly classified as such by MSR. If you're a backcountry gourmand serving it up for a hungry crowd, definitely check out the Flex 4.

$159.95 at REI

Black Diamond HotWire Quickdraw

Have a climber infestation in your home? Just put out a bunch of bear traps and bait them with shiny things like the new hot-forged Black Diamond HotWire carabiner. Snap! It's just too pretty for us neanderthals to ignore.

The new HotWire is in our humble opinion the best BD draw for all-around climbing. It's got a Positron keylock solid gate biner on the bolt end for snag-free cleaning, a non-icing, non-lashing HotWire wire gate biner on the rope end. A generous basket will take even our fat German sausage fingers with a rope attached. The price is a buck or two more than the lower-end non-keylock QuickWire and non-wiregate Quicksilver models, but worth it when the going gets tough and the tough get tired.

The HotWire is light at 3.3oz with a 12cm by 10mm (!) Dynex dogbone that includes the rubber Straightjacket on the rope end to minimize the little bugger dancing around while you're going for that desperate clip. If the Dynex is not thin enough for you, we've heard rumors that 8mm and maybe even butt-flossier bones are on the way. The new HotWire biner has a slightly different angle on the nose to ease clipping, and is 20% lighter than the previous model thanks to BD's new first-in-the-industry in-house hot forging capability. Hot forging allows the funky fluting and minimalist design that make the HotWire draw our new BFF.

$15.95 at REI