GearFlogger

Razor Dirt Quad SX McGrath

We generally prefer to get our backcountry adventures through human-powered means, but being true Alaskans we are not averse to firing up our mechanical friends on occasion. With our nine-year-old Littleflogger tagging along, we were looking for a way to safely introduce him to power toys, and the Razor Dirt Quad SX McGrath was just the ticket.

The Dirt Quad SX is a small electric quad inspired by pro racer Jeremy McGrath. It hits a max speed of about eight MPH, so you can sprint after your little speedracer even if - OK, when - s/he puts the hammer down. We first deployed the SX when winter was still hanging around, and it was great to watch the little guy start to appreciate the joys of spinning donuts in the street - under close supervision and with a helmet, of course!

The SX maintains its charge for half an hour to 45 minutes depending on usage, and it will support a child up to 120lbs. The seat is comfortable, steering is responsive, and the build quality overall is quite good. There are tube bumpers front and rear that double as handles, which is handy as there is no reverse gear. A twist throttle on the right smoothly delivers power, and a brake handle on the left reins it back in through a beefy rear disc. It charges overnight by plugging into a normal 2-prong power outlet.

The only thing we'd swap out would be the 12 inch tires, which at the recommended pressure don't provide the greatest traction on anything loose. On normal roads and hard pack offroads they're fine if you run them lower than recommended; we didn't throw a bead or anything, but knobbies would be a nice option. At the end of the day it's great to see kids getting some wheel time and learning to make the links between throttle, steering and braking without worrying about them being able to hurt themselves too much. They'll have plenty of time for that later!

$489.99 at Razor

Costa OCEARCH Spearo Polarized Sunglasses

We hesitate to contradict the bards of ZZ Top, and don't get us wrong, we do love us a pair of cheap sunglasses, especially when we know they are likely to get scratched, lost or broken. But there are also times where we're going to be on water, snow or ice and we want the best optical clarity we can get, regardless of conditions. For those times Costa has our eyes covered with their OCEARCH Spearo polarized shades. Sales of OCEARCH collection sunglasses help fund that organization's mission to protect sharks. You might have heard of the OCEARCH shark tracker app, a very cool way to get to know your local shark population. So good on Costa for pitching in and giving us a chance to direct our dollars to a worthy cause.

The OCEARCH Spearo is a damn good looking set of shades, with a two-tone dark-over-light gray frame clearly inspired by the Great White shark. As befits a premium product like the Spearo, the lenses are glass, the best choice for scratch resistance and ultimate optical clarity. There are two tints available: blue, for bright light conditions like you'll find on open water, and green, for more mixed conditions.

Wearing the blue Spearos in Hawaii recently we found the lenses to have superb clarity, and colors just popped. Even now, sitting at our desk back in Alaska, we can pop them on and look out the window at our recently snow-free yard to enjoy the saturated colors. The technology behind the glass, what Costa calls 580P, is pretty fascinating; check out the slider on their website to get a pretty accurate depiction of what a scene will look like through different lens colors.

The Spearo fits our medium-sized face perfectly, and the styling draws "hey where'd you get those?" comments. The straight temples are easy on/off, and the flush-mounted nose pads keep them securely in place. Overall the construction seems pretty bomber, and we're careful to store them in the included protective case. If you need prescription lenses, Costa has you covered there too. We like the Spearo so much it's our everyday choice for venturing outside, and the enhanced colors through the blue lenses are helping us deal with post-Hawaii depression and drab spring foliage until things start to green up in a few weeks.

$269.00 at Costa

Kodiak McKinney Composite Toe Boot

As an Alaska-based reviewer we will freely admit to having a bias for anything named after Kodiak, the second-biggest island in these United States behind the big island of Hawaii. Kodiak is known for big-ass bears that are definitely tougher than you are, and Kodiak boots gives a solid nod to our ursine friends with boots designed for difficult conditions.

Whatever the season, when we head outside to get some real work done we usually reach for the easiest thing to put on. Kodiak figured this out, and they offer the Kodiak McKinney boot as a slip-on work boot that functions as a personal protective equipment.

The Kodiak is built from burley full-grain leather, and is rated EH for electrical hazards and ESR for electrical shock resistance. The toe is designed to save your little piggies from all manner of blunt force trauma, with a composite cap that is CSA/ASTM/ANSI approved. The same composite construction is used in the foot plate, so you're pretty well armored all the way around.

The McKinney is available only in wide sizing as far as we can tell at the moment, but we found it comfortable even on our relatively low-volume feet. Some people seem to think it runs a little large, but personally we didn't really see that - it seemed true to size, but we're just letting you know. We wonder if people meant the width in this case.

The sole plate doesn't interfere with walkability at all. The McKinney is a very comfortable all-day work boot, and traction is superb with an oil-resistant, non-marking outsole that performs just as well in mud as in snow. The boot even cleans up nicely, which is great because the McKinney is a nice-looking boot to begin with. Kodiak has done their island namesake proud with a great boot here.

$150.00 at Kodiak

Hiking Lassen Volcanic National Park

Falcon publishes some great guide books, and their hiking series is fantastic. Hiking Lassen Volcanic National Park third edition by Tracy Salcedo is a perfect example, winning a 2020 National Outdoor Book Award.

In addition to this very fine guide to a major Northern California attraction, Tracy also penned Best Easy Day Hikes Lake Tahoe, and she knows her way around a guidebook. Her knowledge and Falcon's proven format go well together. The book covers all the basics up front: history, geology, gear and a comprehensive safety briefing with lions, tigers and bears. OK, no tigers, but lightning!

Camping and trails are illustrated with beautiful color maps throughout, and Tracy gives us her author's picks: 14 hikes in 14 days. How can you not want to visit places with names like the Eye of Vulcan and Bumpass Hell? The latter is not descriptive of what might happen to your delicate derriere, but is actually the name of a guy who burned the crap out of his leg in the area.

The guide is endlessly entertaining and will help you get the most of your time in the park. In addition to her 14 hikes, Tracy also helpfully provides a one week schedule and a bunch of "best of" lists of hikes for history, kids, meadows, waterfalls, you get the idea. Worth every penny if you're planning a trip here, and even if you're not it will help you dream.

$24.95 at Amazon