GearFlogger

Mystery Ranch Full Moon Hip and Shoulder Bag

Mystery Ranch is home to some of the roughest, toughest packs in the world, trusted to perform by firefighters, hunters, military and law enforcement. That doesn't mean they neglect the little things, as evidenced by the Full Moon hip and shoulder bag.

OK, it's a fanny pack, or if that's too anatomically specific for you, a waist pack, with the ability to convert it to shoulder sling carry. Spoiler alert: the Full Moon works well in both configurations. The wide nylon belt effectively distributes the load for comfort, which is good because the Full Moon can swallow a lot of gear. It feels bigger than its 384ci/6.3L rating, probably because of it's efficient rectangular design. There's no unusable space inside, unlike some overly contoured sling bags.

The Full Moon seems to know you're going to overstuff it, as evidenced by the fact that there's a foam pad and a hard plastic framesheet inside to protect your bony hips. Both are removable by turning the Full Moon inside-out and opening a Velcro closure. We see this space as also being useful for storing passports, currency and other sensitive items for travel. There is one external and one external zipped pocket for phone, wallet, etc.

One obvious use for the Full Moon is to carry layers on outings where the weather is iffy. A nice touch on the pack is the inclusion of two compression straps, so after you eat your lunch and don your layers, you can cinch the pack up. In practice the ability to convert to hip carry is indeed pretty useful, for example when mountain biking or cross-country skiing a shoulder bag will tend to rotate around under your arm, where a waist pack will stay in place. With the Full Moon you always have the option. It's a minimalist convertible hip and shoulder pack with maximum storage.

$39.00 at Mystery Ranch

Maloja UrsiaM. Women's Multisport Pant

Maloja recognizes that most people don't want to own a pair of pants for every conceivable sport, especially if said pants cost top dollar to begin with. Here at Gearflogger we fully subscribe to the "buy once, cry once" philosophy of investing in quality gear, we just want it to be as versatile as possible, especially if it's clothing.

The Maloja UrsiaM. pants are as cool as their name is indecipherable. Versatility is built in to these German-made pants in a number of ways; first, the fabric weight is a light midweight, or a heavy lightweight, that is perfect for three-season use in most places. It's tough as nails on the outside, buttery soft on the inside and easily defeats water short of a full-on deluge. Mountain biking, climbing, hiking or skiing are all perfect applications for the UrsiaM.

Extending the usability is the design. Two hand pockets, a right rear pocket and a right front thigh pocket are all zipped for security, and the thigh pocket holds your phone as God and Jonathan Ive intended: vertically, without falling over while you're moving. The stretch fabric and integrated belt give you room to adjust, and the zipped cuffs make it easy to vent or pull the pants on over boots.

Want to wear the UrsiaM apres-sport? Definitely no problem, since the cut and color selection are nothing if not stylish. The contrasting belt adds a splash of color, and the reflective accents will keep you safe on the way home at night.

The only thing we'd like to see is a petite length option for the vertically challenged out there, but otherwise these pants are untouchable. If you're looking for an alternative to the basic black crowd of outerwear out there, take a look at Maloja. Versatile high-performance never looked so good.

$159.00 at Maloja

Garmont Toubkal GTX Hiking Boot

Here at Gearflogger we've always appreciated the companies that focus on one kind of gear and consistently produce great products as a result. Garmont is one of those companies, focused like a laser on building great footwear and nothing else. Based in Northern Italy, it's no surprise perhaps given their location in the shadow of the legendary Dolomites.

Unboxing the women's Toubkal GTX provoked a response that's pretty normal with Garmont: damn, that's a good-looking boot! Full disclosure: having spent a month banging around in Morocco, we are slightly biased given the reference to Toubkal, the highest peak in the Arab world. But good looks and fond memories aside, having tortured a number of other Garmont shoes and boots we had high expectations and looks and feelings of any kind weren't going to alter that.

The Toubkal GTX is built for fast hiking of the serious sort, for when a running-shoe based platform just won't cut it. If you need support, protection and reliability in your boot, but still want to balance those features with waterproofing and light weight, the Toubkal has you covered. About the only thing you don't get is step-in crampon compatibility, but strap-ons will work just fine. The Toubkal is constructed using Garmont's Anatomically Directed Design, featuring things like asymmetric cuffs (higher on the outside for better edging), a tongue that's thicker on the outside to help it stay in place, and a positive heel lock. Lacing starts with plastic-reinforced cord loops and ends with two sets of lugs, so the laces pull tight easily and stay in place for easier tying.

So they look great and are feature-forward, but how do they hike? In a word, great. The high, solid rand provides full armor against the nastiest scree and talus, while the deep Vibram lugs give you secure traction when the going gets muddy. We won't say the boot fits like a glove - because that would be weird, right? - but the fit definitely feels custom: tight where it should be, around the heel and midfoot, with room where you need it in the toebox. We found the Toubkal to be stone cold solid on unimproved trails where the footing ranged from grapefruit-sized rocks to fine gravel. At the end of the trail we have no problem highly recommending the Toubkal as a quiver of one for serious hiking.

$299.95 at Moosejaw

PuroCalm Earmuffs Hearing Protection for Kids

Once you find something that works you tend to stick with it. Puro headphones are like that, featuring great sound, easy controls and features like volume limiting that are especially useful for the Littlefloggers in our lives. Their PuroCalm hearing protection brings the quiet to a whole new level, ensuring that our kids will ignore our sage advice by choice and not because of noise-induced hearing loss. 

The PuroCalm earmuffs are over-the-ear protection that effectively reduce noise by 27 dB. Since sounds above 85dB - about that of heavy traffic or a lawn mower - are considered harmful, there are a lot of situations where this amount of reduction will come in handy. Concerts, air shows, even riding the tractor with grandpa. Since noise-induced hearing loss is usually permanent, err on the side of caution.

We found the PuroCalm earmuffs to be not just effective but comfortable too, with generous padding, light weight and a slim profile. This was true not only for our 8-year-old but for us adults with small to medium heads. They have a good degree of adjustment built in, and the articulation allows for even more flexibility, so they should work for just about anyone who doesn't have a large brain bucket. When you're on your way to and from a noisy event, the PuroCalms fold up into a small package and stow easily in the included microfiber bag. One final thing we appreciated: the bright colors it's available in, so our Littleflogger can find them on his own without grabbing our more expensive adult muffs.

The PuroCalm is a great value for the price, and Puro makes it easy to feel good about your purchase because when you buy a pair of PuroCalm earmuffs they will donate a second pair to the KultureCity SensoryInclusive Program for individuals with autism and other sensory needs. Sounds like a win all around!

$29.99 at Puro Sound Labs