GearFlogger

Stuffitts Shoe Savers

Everyone knows Stinky McClimber. His shoes smell like ass, and his attempt to treat the situation with humor usually devolves to "does anyone smell cookies?" It's his shoes, man. So tell him to Stuffitt.

The clever business model of Stuffitts is paying money to not vomit on a regular basis. Simple in design, Stuffitts come in four sizes and feature two cedar-chip filled shoe-shaped inserts connected by a removable leash. The cedar chips are removable in their own inner bag, so you can zip them out and wash the outer skankiness-wicking cover.

You wash everything you're wearing after a sweatfest, except your shoes. To give your doghouse a little love just cram some Stuffitts in. The cedar smells good and is not overpowering, and they really do take the ass out. Shoes dry noticeably faster and smell way better. A great gift for your dirtbag climber friends. Replacement cedar inserts run $9.95 a pair, not so bad given the bennies.

$24.95 at Stuffitts

Wilderness First Responder, 2nd Edition

This is hard for most of us backcountry bandits to admit, but there are people out there who aren't navel-gazing while dreaming of tick-list nirvana all the time. These people have bigger concerns, like saving your ass when your next epic gets effed.

For those who go above and beyond basic wilderness first aid, since 1984 there has been Woofer: Wilderness First Responder certification, usually an 80-hour, two week course that trains participants in legal issues (yes you do need to know), patient assessment, traumatic injuries, and environmental, medical and special emergencies.

Wilderness First Responder, 2nd Edition is a standard textbook for the course wherever it's offered. Updated in 2004 from its original 1998 first edition it's well organized: each chapter begins with "it could happen to you," a brief overview of a scenario, and concludes with outcomes of the scenario after covering the subject in between.

It's got good stuff for the general outdoors crowd: basic wound management, heat/cold/altitude injuries, and a subject everyone should know and prepare for: chapter 36, wilderness transportation of the sick and injured. Note the CPR recommendations are out of date: they call for 15 compressions to 2 breaths, but current CPR guidelines call for 30:2 or even, as the American Heart Association recommends, eliminating the mouth-to-mouth entirely and simply maintaining the 100 compressions a minute rate.

$25.51 (with free shipping) at Amazon.com

DeLorme Earthmate PN-30 GPS

So you want to have an affair with Mother Earth but you're not sure where to begin?

$299.95 at REI

Gear Junkie Choose-Your-Adventure Sweepstakes

GearJunkie has launched a new Choose-Your-Adventure Sweepstakes, where one winner and a guest will pick between five adventure-vacation itineraries in the Alleghenies, a mountain range in the southeastern United States. The winners will travel this fall on the all-expenses-paid vacation, which includes airfare plus gear from sponsor companies. Gear Junkie readers and the general public can sign up now through Sept. 15 for a chance to win:

www.gearjunkie.com/sweeps09