GearFlogger

Coleman DayTripper Beach Shade

Kicking off our summer reviews, here's a solution to sun and wind protection on the beach or at the soccer field. Coleman's DayTripper beach shade is a thoughtfully designed shelter for families with small children or really anyone who might need something that provides better access than a tent.

The DayTripper features a UPF of 50+ for sun protection, and a the 180 degree walls provide great windblocking as well. One person can set it up in about five minutes with a little practice; just slip the three poles into the sleeves and pop it up. You can guy it out or use the included nylon sandbags on the beach for great stability.

Once you've got it up you'll really appreciate how big it is. The center height is close to five feet, and two adults and two small children can easily fit inside. The back window can be unzipped for a view and a breeze, and should wind shift suddenly you can zip the front as well. With the front down you've got a great platform for towels or blankets to lay down, and again the large opening just makes it effortless for multiple people to get in and out without disturbing each other. This is priceless with high-energy little ones running back and forth.

There are even storage pockets and a clothesline built in. The DayTripper is perfect for car camping and packs up small enough to fit in a large suitcase for air travel, or just check it by itself. It does take a little practice to fold it up tight enough to get back in the included case, but after a few tries you'll have it down. For the price it's really impossible to beat the utility of the DayTripper, especially for family time.

$34.34 (on sale from $59.99) at Amazon

Black Diamond StormLine Rain Shell Jacket

Hard shells have thankfully come a long way since the crinkly, sweaty versions of yesteryear. Black Diamond has a great example of how nice they can be with the StormLine stretch rain shell jacket.

The StormLine pulls off quite a trick: it qualifies as a minimalist shell with its ultralight weight (8oz), but it doesn't cut features: helmet compatible adjustable hood, rip and stick cuffs, pit zips, zipper chin guard, and adjustable hem are all there. The only thing that's really missing is a chest pocket, but you get the two hand pockets with zippers.

That's the tick list, but you have to wear the StormLine to really feel how great it is. The combination of stretch and a really great cut make it feel like a second skin, you just don't notice it's there. Until the deluge of course, at which point you'll appreciate the water- and windproof fabric. If you're working hard while wearing the StormLine you'll really fall in love with the breathability; even the most prolific sweathogs among you - and we know you're out there! - can always vent the pits if it comes to that.

We'd love to see a version of this with a two-way zipper and chest pockets for belay duty, but don't let that stop you; the StormLine is a quiver of one when it comes to staying dry while working hard in nasty weather. It also doesn't hurt that it travels extremely well, so it's always there when you need it. The women's colors are particularly attractive, so if you're looking for a mother's day gift... we're just sayin', it's a stone cold bargain to boot.

$149.00 at Backcountry

Garmont Sticky Cloud Shoes

Approach shoes tend to be either very close to a climbing shoe - climbing performance over comfort - or very close to a hiking shoe - comfort over climbing performance. The Garmont Sticky Cloud is definitely the latter, and for those looking for a bombproof shoe for via ferrata or long grueling approaches, it excels.

The Sticky Cloud is a burly shoe, no doubt about it. Tipping the scales at close to two pounds for a pair, the shoe is clearly built to take serious abuse: a rock-solid toe cap and thick, high-void tread will protect your precious little piggies through the gnarliest of boulder fields. The sole wraps around the heel, complete with tread blocks, so if you need to land a heel hook you're good to go.

Really the only nod made to pure climbing features are the laces, which go down to the base of the toes for a solid fit, and the flat surface on the sole at the point of the toe, which makes it easier to smear and edge on smaller ledges and pockets. Where the Sticky Cloud really shines is on the descent, with generous padding under the heel that cushions the roughest heel strike.

One nice small touch is the heel lock setup: the cord that wraps around the heel has little plastic grommets for the laces, which keep them from getting too twisted. If you're looking for a shoe that will coddle your feet during long approaches and steep descents and still give you some options for making the occasional class five move, check out the Sticky Cloud.

$159.95 at REI

Swig Insulated Drinkware

 

Listen up gearfloggers, it's come to our attention that some of you actually have mothers, and Mother's Day is coming up fast. And you know what your mother did for you? She gave up alcohol- and maybe even caffeine - for nine months.

You can repay that sacrifice with the Swig lineup of insulated bottles, cups, tumblers, flutes and assorted other drinkware. Start with the 50oz travel bottle, which just coincidentally holds two bottles of wine, or close to a growler if beer is her thing. Contents will stay hot for 24 hours, cold for 48. That's enough for a camping weekend with a couple of friends, so chardonnay away!

Got a mom who nurses her drink longer then she nursed you? Try the Swig stemless wine cup. The 20 and 30oz tumblers are great for coffee, beer and the like; the stock lid doesn't close, but you can order one that does from their website. The best part is you won't have to look far to find your mom's favorite color, because there are approximately six zillion to choose from. OK, maybe not quite that many but there's a lot.

Swig bottles have a very nice finish, are BPA free and are have a few nice design touches: the tumblers fit in standard cup holders, the travel bottle has a very useful handle - hey, two bottles of wine weighs something! - and Swig even has optional handles you can buy if that's your thing. What's that, you want more? Well here's the kicker: you can even order them with mom-specific sayings on the side. Check out the entire lineup, you'll find high-quality vacuum sealed drinkware at reasonable prices.

Various prices at www.swigbyom.com

TrailKeg

Admit it, we had you at Trail + Keg. It's a short, sweet name that tells you all you need to know. And best of all, we're here to tell you it works as advertised.

TrailKeg has a simple mission: to enable you to transport craft beer to be consumed at the time and location of your choice, in the way in which god intended - from a tap. We tested the Gallon TrailKeg package, which includes a ONE GALLON GROWLER!!! along with the internal thread lid, two taps, two CO2 cartridges and a regulator.

The Growler itself is pretty sweet: a ONE GALLON GROWLER!!! with double walls, great for transporting anything you want to keep hot or cold. Got a mob of kids going sledding? That's sixteen 8oz cups of hot chocolate, ready to pour. Cold water for your baking hot desert splitter project? Done.

And then there's the beer. We proudly marched into one of our local craft breweries and presented the TrailKeg to the bartender like we were bringing home a bison to feed the village. He was duly impressed, and $20 later we eight pints of IPA rolling cold. At home we swapped on the internal thread lid, attached the chrome pub-style tap and pressure regulator, screwed in the CO2 cartridge and adjusted the pressure. Four pints later (with friends helping!), we pulled the tap and regulator and put it in the fridge. A week later we pulled it out, snapped the tap and regulator back into place and saw it had kept it pressure with nary a drop the whole time. Four more pints and done.

The TrailKeg is well-engineered, with quick-attach sockets on everything and everything easy to clean. The inclusion of two different taps - a pub-style handle tap and a picnic-style flex tap - and even a couple of CO2 cartridges make it pretty much idiot-proof. Even better, the lid package is available in two styles with internal and external threads compatible with a whole bunch of other growlers. But why wouldn't you just get the TrailKeg ONE GALLON GROWLER!!! and call it done? A seriously great piece of gear.

$199.99 at TrailKeg

Arc'Teryx Konseal FL Shoe

Arc'Teryx entered the footwear market a few years back, and they are clearly committed to producing shoes that match the quality and performance of their gear and apparel step for step. The Konseal FL melds excellent hikability with approach shoe features for all-day comfort and performance.

A quick search of the intertubez reveals the word Konseal to mean, "A form of capsule for enclosing a dose of medicine that is offensive, caustic, or the like." OK, so they've seen our feet, fair enough. Being the jaded gearfloggers that we are, we threw the shoes on and took off into springtime slush immediately. We immediately appreciated the grip of the Vibram MegaGrip sole in wet conditions, but imagine our disappointment when the shoe leaked and our delicate - and caustic! - little piggies got wet. Back at the ranch we finally got around to reading the description: turns out, not actually waterproof. Totally our bad, we assumed from the sleek, welded look of the Konseal FL that it must be waterproof, but that's what you get from not RTFM.

So after some weeks of daily use, we're happy to report that this is a fantastic shoe that does everything well. It's not a traditional approach shoe, due to the laces not going down quite far enough and the extra cushioning, but we see that as a good thing. We loved the original Five Tennies because they didn't sacrifice comfort for climbing ability, but somewhere along the decades since approach shoes seem to have become more of a heavy and inefficient climbing shoe. The Konseal FL's attributes let it excel at trail hiking, thanks to the decent rocker in back, and long approaches where you might need to do a bit of class six scrambling, e.g. some shallow pockets and low angle smearing. The tread pattern has a lot of voids, so it handles mud pretty well, and the shoe is a pleasure on the downhill thanks to the extra padding.

The end result is a shoe you're happy to put on and leave on. Perhaps the best compliment we can give the Konseal is that you just don't notice them while moving over and transitioning between terrain ranging from trail hiking to scrambling. The light weight - 2lbs 10oz for a pair - and sleek profile help a lot, so don't be surprised if you're suddenly wearing them everywhere. Just remember: not waterproof, despite how they look!

$165.00 at Backcountry

Thule AeroBlade Roof Rack System

Ah, the roof rack. Prepare to spend hours figuring out what components of what system will work on your vehicle with what equipment carriers, and then break open your bank account to pay for it all. We're nonetheless pleased to report that after this painful process we found a roof rack that we're happy with: the Thule Aeroblade system.

For both our 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee with factory rails and our 2012 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited we needed three things from Thule: bars, feet and fit pack. We chose the AeroBlade bars because they're strong, quiet and they're available in both brushed aluminum (for the GC) and black (for the JKU). These are the bars in the top two pictures. The bar shown in the bottom picture is the AeroBlade Edge, which is an all-in-one system that doesn't require separate feet, so it's cleaner looking but doesn't have the option of extending past the feet for more carrying space. Also available is a contractor bar that's even beefier.

The AeroBlade recommended for the GC was the 47" width, but looking around online we found that we could go a step up to the 53" bar and get a bit more usable space. It mounted fine on a set of Rapid Podium 460R feet attached to the Podium fit kit. Total cost: about $425. Using our 20 percent off coupons helped, but this is still a hefty expenditure, more so considering we can't actually carry anything until we add the appropriate carrier.

That said, we were looking for a solution to mount a roof box so we could throw in a Chariot child carrier, skis, backpacks or whatever else we wanted to cart around for a family of three plus guests. The Jeeps are awesome four-wheel drive vehicles, but interior cargo space is limited, especially when you've got a child seat in the back.

Now, we have to say we love it. It's quiet at highway speeds - we don't even notice any additional wind noise - and it'll mount a roof box and kayak carrier side by side, still leaving room for our hitch-mount bike carrier. The only caveat is the instruction manual, which uses only pictures to guide you to a state of screaming frenzy before you just dive into it and figure it out. It actually doesn't take that long, but beer really, really helps the process go smoothly. Challenging instructions aside, we can highly recommend Thule gear in general and the AeroBlade system specifically. This is a case of getting what you pay for, which is really all you can reasonably ask.

AeroBlade bars $199.95 a pair at REI
Rapid Podium 460R foot pack $199.95 set of 4 at REI
Podium Fit Kit 3142 $109.95 set of four at REI

Slumberjack Wheeler Lake 20 Sleeping Bag

Slumberjack makes tents, sleeping bags, clothing and other gear targeted at people who go outdoors to find something to bring home to eat. Having been raised hunting and fishing in Alaska I can certainly appreciate the appeal of reasonably priced gear that can take some abuse, and as a bonus Slumberjack gear can pull double-duty car camping with the family and standing up to a certain six year old who tries his best to dismember every piece of gear he comes into contact with.

The Slumberjack Wheeler Lake sleeping bags are built to take it. We looked at the 20 above version, which at over five pounds is designed for very short hauls and car or UTV camping. The Wheeler Lake is a good-looking bag in earth tone colors and with a nice camo interior that definitely appealed to the aforementioned six year old boy.

For the extra weight you get a bag that will keep most people warm easily at 20 above, and probably below that for most people. The Wheeler Lake is also a very roomy bag, thanks to the rectangular cut and the very generous 34x84 dimensions. There are two zippers that make ingress and egress painless; the right zipper as you lay in the bag is only about 16 inches long, and the left zipper goes all the way around the foot box so the bag will convert to comforter use if desired.

What surprised us was how much we liked the zipper and hood design. By unzipping both zippers 16 inches the hood lies open and flat, like a traditional open top bag. The hood however has two very cool tricks hidden in its design. First is the shallow pocket that will keep a pillow in place when fully open. Second is how that pocket, when both zippers are up all the way, converts to a really nice hood that you can further dial in with a drawcord. We'd love to see this feature on some high-end mountaineering bags, because of the flexibility in comfort and venting that it allows. Kudos to Slumberjack for a useful innovation that we hope becomes more popular.

$89.95 at Slumberjack