GearFlogger

Mountain Hardwear Absolute Zero overboots

Overboots are tricky for two reasons. The first is that they can be difficult to put on, and difficult is something you really want to avoid when operating at high altitude. The second reason is that overboots interfere with the fit of crampons.

Mountain Hardwear's Absolute Zero line is built for high altitude mountaineering. These overboots have velcro almost down to the toes making them easy to fit. The closed cell foam pads are removable, so you can mess with them to get them to gracefully accept your crampons.

There are other good overboots out there such as the Forty Below Purple Haze and the Outdoor Research Brooks Ranger. They weigh about 26oz. per pair, however, compared with the Zero's 14oz.

$99.95 at Backcountry.com

Ex Officio Buzz Off hat

Another mandatory piece of gear for extended outdoor activities is a sun hat. This one does the job well, with the added benefit of being treated with Buzz Off insect repellent. As if my B.O. wasn't enough.

It's super-light and fast-drying, made of thin but fairly durable nylon. The brim is solid, and there's a drawcord in back for snugging up the fit. The cape has a button to secure it in front of the neck. It would be nicer if it were a snap, but that's easily changed.

The nicest touch is that the cape wads up inside without any trouble, making a seamless conversion to a normal (i.e. non-dork-looking) baseball-style cap.

$28.00 at REI

Manzella Silkweight gloves

I love gear that I can put in a pocket and not even know it's there. These Windstopper gloves do that perfectly, folding so flat you can keep them just about anywhere. Yes, even there you pervert.

They have a grippy fingers and palms and elastic cuffs, but they are not cut out for work beyond using them with ski/trekking poles. I put a hole in them flicking my bic, although to be fair I was at 17,000 feet and had to flick it about forty times every time I tried to light my stove.

For running, hiking or just-in-case portability they fit the bill perfectly.

$30.00 at REI

Petzl Ultra Light pulley

Gram-counting weenies like myself just expect to pay more for less when it comes to ultralight gear. Petzl shows us a little love with this nifty .35oz. pulley for only four Washingtons.

Truly minimalist in design the pulley requires a 'biner with an oval cross-section to operate smoothly. It's not prussik-minding of course, but that's not a concern for two of the three pulleys in a ZxC haul system, for example.

I use the SMC CR pulley for the prussik-minding anchor; for comparison it weighs 2.2oz. (thanks Zach you weiner for pointing this out), so two of these instead of two Petzls adds about an extra 1/4lb. to your pack. You do have to use the heavier oval 'biners but we're still talking more than a quarter-pounder saved.

$4.00 at REI

Psolar BX balaclava

Luke, I am your father. This Darth Vader looking setup is a basic medium-weight Polartec fleece balaclava with a unique feature: the mouth opening is covered by a little heat exchanger thingy.

The thingy purports to store warmth from your exhaled breath and use it to warm incoming air. Benefits of the thingy are that it warms your core and humidifies somewhat. I used it last winter on some below-zero cold trips, including Denali. It seemed to work, but I'll be the first to admit that I could be imagining.

It does impart a "taste" to the air you breathe that some people might find off-putting, and some might find it claustrophobic because of the thingy covering the mouth. Bottom line: no scientific but lots of anecdotal evidence that it works; but then, there's lots of anecdotal evidence for alien abductions too. Sorry, you'll just have to try this one yourself. The good news is it's a high-quality 'clava and the thingy is removable.

$40.00 at Psolar

Grundig Mini 300 radio

Stormbound in your tent with nothing to listen to except the labored, snot-gurgling breathing of your partner? You should have brought a shortwave radio, then you could be fighting with that same partner over which music station to tune into.

At under 5oz. this is worth bringing along on any extended trip. It also has an alarm function, wake to music and headphone jack. Comes with a case.

$30.00 at REI

Wild Things Spectra Andinista pack

Yes, this pack is made almost entirely of spectra. Yes, it only weighs 3lbs. 2oz. Yes, it costs a lot of money. Yes, it is extraordinarily well-designed. But does it work on big mountains?

I asked a lot of people that question before I bought one to use on a trip up Denali, and got a lot of different answers. The bottom line is yes, it works for expedition use, with a few important caveats.

The biggest one is that there is only a foam pad for a framesheet, so if you have a twitchy back go with something like a Gregory Denali Pro. Sure it weighs five more pounds, but it carries much more comfortably under heavy loads.

What is a heavy load? Over fifty pounds pack-weight. Pack it carefully and make sure it's adjusted correctly; there's less margin for error with this pack.

As for capacity, as long as you take a "light is right" approach to packing there's sufficient room, assuming you make liberal use of the external tie-downs of which there are aplenty.

$650 at Wild Things Gear

Black Diamond Cobra ice tool

Ice tools are like boots in that they are very personal gear. What works for one climber may drive another climber crazy. Application matters as well, with tools these days falling into two broad categories: leashless for vertical ice and leashed for alpine and mixed routes. You could add a third category for hybrid ice ax/ice tools.

Black Diamond covers all the bases, and the Cobra is their solution for leashed alpine use. I use it with their Android clip leashes and I find the combination to be excellent across the board.

The Cobra has a fairly straight shaft, helpful for plunging in snow. The carbon fiber construction dampens vibrations from hard alpine ice, and with the oval cross-section being aligned perpindicular to the direction of swing the tool has a noticeably softer feel than most others. Tools are a big investment so it's worthwhile to compare, and a day of swinging these and a pair of Petzl Aztars would provide an excellent comparison.

$269.95 at REI

Petzl Elios helmet

The marketing buzz is "more than just a foam helmet with a hard shell." Which is a little strange, because upon examination that's exactly what it appears to be. But as the kids say these days, whatevs.

I find it hard to get excited about a helmet, although I'll give the highest praise I can think of to the Elios: I don't notice it at all when I'm wearing it. Petzl knows what they're doing with climbing gear, and there are many thoughtful touches on this helmet: one-hand adjustment of the headband, great ventilation and lightweight at about 13oz.

It's also available in youth sizing, and with a face shield for use in ice climbing and, presumably, riot control applications.

$59.95 a REI

Better Climbing Through Chemistry

I don't make this stuff up: researchers have found that Viagra, the little blue pill that some men (not me or you, but some other men) use to increase blood flow down under also helps some men "compensate", if I may, for the effects of high altitude.

This is not the first study to show Viagra's effect of improving performance at altitude. The new study notes that the subjects who showed the most improvement were the ones who otherwise performed the poorest at altitude. There were no effects for anyone at sea level.

So when you break out "big blue" in the tent in front of your climbing partner, he'll know that you're not having Brokeback Mountain flashbacks, but are merely "compensating" for shortcomings in other areas.

Story in the LA Times