GearFlogger

Java Juice Pure Coffee Extract

We first reviewed the original "Adventure Travel Coffee" two years ago, and it's just gotten better. There's nothing quite like a pounding, blinding, please-god-kill-me-now caffeine withdrawal headache at altitude, brought on by the weak-ass instant coffee you packed because you didn't want to deal with the royal pain of pressing the good stuff.

No more, I say. Java Juice is a liquid coffee extract made from fair-trade, shade-grown, 100% organic kosher Arabica beans, probably packed by little lawful good hobbits with velvet gloves. The individual single serving packages are nitrogen flushed so they can go to altitude safely, and they have a PSI rating of 190lbs, so they won't break in your pack. It's true, I tried to crush one with my ginormous posterior and it successfully resisted.

The new flavors are just the right intensity, not too overpowering: you've got a choice between hazelnut, french vanilla and original. Oh yeah, and decaf, purpose unknown. The taste is great, as close to fresh-brewed as you're going to get. Preparation is simple: just add hot, but not boiling, water. No fuss, no muss, and best of all: 100mg of caffeine straight to your brain.

$1.30 at REI

Seattle Sports Pocket Bucket

Shortest. Review. Ever.

This is a bucket. It weighs 2.7oz and holds 12L of water. It tips easily when full but can be hung from strap. It folds up small and is durable.

Very useful to haul and store water, as a sink or to isolate wet gear. Nuff said.

$16.50 at REI

MSR HyperFlow water filter

Water is very important. For one thing, it's used to make beer. If that's not enough for you, try slogging through the desert with nothing but a bag of peanut butter sandwiches and nothing to wash them down with. Not so smart now, are ya?

Even on long day trips it's a lot lighter to carry a filter than all the water you need. MSR's HyperFlow has a lot going for it, but if you don't like to really get to know your gear it may just drive you crazy. The HyperFlow requires a stout arm to pump, and the more you use it the harder it gets. There's a backflush procedure that, if you do it right and often (every 8 liters), will "reset" the unit. You actually have to learn and practice the procedure, which may turn some folks off. Searching YouTube for "hiperflow" will assist.

On the plus side the filter really puts out, about 2oz per pump. The prefilter is super-thin and will drink from the shallowest sources; if it floats around too much you can use the velcro strap to secure a stick or other object to keep it down. The bike-pump style design is overall very solid with no breakable levers or flimsy parts, with one caveat: the hollow-fiber filter design is not supposed to be frozen, dropped or kicked around too much. The clean cap is not leashed to the unit, so be careful not to lose it.

The wide-mouth bottle adapter works great and can be attached to Camelbaks without taking them out of the pack. You can also hook up a piece of tubing to fill just about anything, or just aim carefully. The whole unit with included storage sack is 10.5oz. You gram weenies can cut weight by carrying only the pump and prefilter and trimming the intake tube a bit. Bottom line: If you're willing to put in the time and trouble to learn the system, you'll get a light, compact, efficient and effective filter. If you want simple, look elsewhere. Free advice: as with any filter, always carry a chemical backup.

$99.95 at REI

Clif Shot Recovery drink

I'm all about recovery these days, so when I saw the new Clif Shot hot recovery drink mix in - hallelujah, please - chocolate flavor I grabbed it, ran home and used my roommates meth cooker to mix up a batch.

I was nervous because the name includes "Clif Shot" which is a separate product that tastes like crap. How do I know what crap tastes like? Long story. Anyway, this stuff tastes great, like a good hot chocolate mix. Made mostly from organic ingredients, presumably not including greasy grimy gopher guts, the recovery part is the six grams of protein plus electrolytes, etc.

It's 140 calories of chocolate flavored hydration at the end of the day, and anything that serves up a little extra protein for muscle recovery is OK by me. Try mixing it up with soy milk for a little extra oomph. It would be nice if it was sold in bulk.

$1.70 at REI

Clif Builder's Bar

Not just for the Bobs of the world, Clif bar lovers everywhere will rejoice now that they have a candy bar of their own. The Clif Builder's energy bars are protein-heavy complements to the regular carbo-loaded Clif bars, for apres-goat rope rather than prior to.

They taste great, as they should with 20g of sugar - sorry, "organic brown rice syrup" - packed in. That's actually only a couple grams more than a regular Clif bar; the real difference is the 20g of protein in the Builder's v. ~12g in the regular. Oh, and only 6g of complex carbs v. 17g regular. Calories at about 270 are roughly equivalent.

Basically you're paying extra for the protein and the candy-bar like taste, and the Builder's bar definitely delivers there with great texture to boot. Caveat: I've only tried the chocolate because... well, it's chocolate and I don't have to explain why.

$1.95 at REI (20% discount by the box)

Nuun Active Hydration Tablets

Nuun, which is pronounced... hell, I don't know how it's pronounced. If you're dsylexic you probably shouldn't even look at the packaging or you'll go into seizures.

Whatever it's called, the damn bottle contains 12 tablets that when added to 16oz of water each will give you the following boost: 360mg of sodium, 100mg of potassium, 37.5mg vitamin C, 500mcg riboflavin, 12.5mg calcium, and 25mg magnesium. More than what it gives you is what it doesn't: simple carbohydrates. Most "hydration" products load up on sugar, but Nuun is a sugar-free electrolyte replacement supplement.

I've never been a big fan of Gatorade-type drinks because of their sugar content: I saw a friend's Camelbak bladder turn into a fungus infested penicillin farm after too much of that stuff once. Nuun is a great way to get the essentials without the added sugar. Available in four flavors, one of which (Kona Cola) contains caffeine.

$6.50 at REI

Kellogg's Pop Tarts

You want to talk calories? Two words: pop tarts, and I ain't talking Britney Spears.

Your vegan tentmate is slowly wasting away at altitude because (a) her food tastes like crap so she doesn't want to eat it and (b) organic celery with hummus just isn't stoking the fires. You don't care: you just pounded over 400 calories in under ten seconds by pouring the crumbled remains of a packet of Dr. Kellogg's finest down your piehole.

As  an added bonus your heart rate is through the roof from the sodium shock treatment, so you are mo-tee-vated. Never mind that your arterial plaque just doubled in volume, you got the mojo working now, blood pressure be damned. Try that with granola.

Kellogg's Pop Tarts

Kirkland Trail Mix

Some people are serious about their snacks. I just read a review where a guy threatened to never shop Costco again because they messed with the ratio of almonds and cashews to peanuts, raisins and M&Ms in Kirkland Signature Trail Mix, Costco's house brand. He was some pissed, lemme tell ya.

All I know is it comes in four pound bags, enough to choke a small moose. I usually replace some of the almonds (they give me a scratchy throat) with chocolate chips (they give me love).

At over 1,100 calories per 8oz this stuff gets me from breakfast to dinner on a big mountain day. It's almost 140 calories per ounce, about as calorie-dense a food as you'll find.

$9.99 at Costco

Mountain House food

Psychologists say that food is not love, but they are so terribly wrong. Case in point: Mountain House Chicken Teriyaki at high camp. I admit that food choices are personal, but in my opinion Mountain House entrees are head and shoulders above the competition.

I've tried AlpineAire, Backpacker's Pantry and some of those organic disasters (spam is organic, right?) but they don't love me long time like Mountain House.

Remember that with serving sizes your mileage may vary. You'll see recommendations for 5,000 calories a day for high-altitude mountaineering, but for me it's virtually impossible to choke down that many calories. Use the nutritional information to plan accordingly.

$7.00 at REI