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Magellan eXplorist GC GPS

Magellan was a great explorer, and we know this because he has a penguin and some dots in the sky named after him. His expedition completed the first circumnavigation of the Earth, although he and all but 18 of the 237 men who set out didn't quite make it, most of them... well... dying. Still, if he had a GPS unit things would have turned out much better. Rumor has it he was offered one, but turned it down as "just a fad." Oh well.

If there's one thing more important than saving your own skin, it's competition. The rising popularity of the sport of geocaching has led the GPS company Magellan to produce a model of its eXplorist GPS tuned for the sport. The Magellan eXplorist GC has a preloaded database of geocaches all over the planet (as well as a worldwide basemap), it syncs with Geocaching.com GPX files and it includes a 30 day premium membership. The GC is rugged and IPX-7 waterproof, meaning immersion for 30 minutes at 1 meter. If that happens while geocaching something has gone horribly wrong.

Pop in two AA batteries, good for 18 hours, and you're staring at a 2.2 inch transflective screen that is very bright and easily readable in most situations, althought it would be nice if you could increase the font size a bit. The interface is streamlined for fast navigation; it would be even faster if it was a touch screen, but that would probably limit the weatherproofing and would definitely increase the price. There are plenty of features that increase the geocaching fun factor like a picture viewer, award tracker and walking compass.

The clip-in point at the bottom is not quite big enough for a carabiner, but you can loop cord or webbing through just fine. There are no topo maps, driving navigation or expandability in the unit, but that's all by design. Magellan designed the eXplorist GC specifically for geocaching, and for all but the most elite competitors it hits all the right notes at a very competitive price point.

$199.00 at Amazon

Moon Pacific Northwest Hiking & Camping guide books

Holy hiking and camping bible! Weighing in at well over a pound and a half each are two new guide books from the travel experts at Moon, extending their reach into the great outdoors. Pacific Northwest Hiking (752 pages) and Pacific Northwest Camping (800 pages) are as exhaustive in detail as they are weighty in heft.

The hiking guide covers over 900 hikes in Washington and Oregon, divided twelve chapters that cover six distinct regions within each of the two states. The introduction section lists best trips by type (beach, kids, views, etc.) and general tips on logistics, weather, safety, gear and ethics and etiquette. Round-trip mileage and time are prominently featured next to the name, along with difficulty and quality ratings, a reference to the page where you can find the map, and a "best" graphic for the author's favorites. Overview and detail maps are plentiful and of outstanding quality. Each description has user groups, permits, directions and contacts.

The camping guide features almost 1,100 camp sites and is organized almost identically, with the same chapters and regions, best list (scenic, fishing, etc.), map references, and an expanded set of icons for all the activities and amenities available at the campground. Each campground also has a Scenic Rating, obviously subjective since it doesn't account for things like noise but appreciated nonetheless. Each description has a map reference, facilities, reservations and fees, directions and a contact.

Between the two of these you will never, ever lack for information on where to stay and what to hike wherever you are in the Pacific Northwest. You will also never, ever have to lift weights to stay in shape because of the combined weight of almost three and a half pounds. The sheer volume of well-organized, high-quality information is impressive. Order them together from Amazon and you'll get free shipping.

Hiking: $16.29 at Amazon
Camping: $16.49 at Amazon