This online quiz from Newsweek’s a good way to find out you aren’t quite as global as you thought. I just took about half of it and completely lost my ass. I should remember most of the answers though, so I’ll clean up next time. The quiz ranges from travel to politics to economics with [ more... ]

Let your friend eat a spoonful of instant coffee before you tell him you packed the Coleman 9-Cup Aluminum Coffee Percolator. Carrying it would show quite a commitment to coffee on a backpacking trip, though it’s more suited to car camping. You can brew some Peets over the campfire or heat it on your stove [ more... ]

Check out ThirtyTwo’s entire boot line for next year at Snowboard Mag. ThirtyTwo has an insane array of styles including some collaborative work with Airblaster and these workingman boots. I had a chance to dance around in their upcoming Ultralight boot, which they call “the lightest boot ever,” and the things weigh less than most [ more... ]

I know that a lot of cyclists are anal-retentive, mechanical engineering types who get off on the sport’s tech side. Still, I think most of these people are able to keep their quirks within the bounds of biking’s wide range of accepting behavior so they move about largely unnoticed. Here’s a good way to see [ more... ]

You’ll just have to tell your friend that he’s bringing too many clothes if there’s enough garbage in your campsite to cover a clothesline. The applications of Sea to Summit’s Clothesline are limited. On a car camping trip it wouldn’t make sense to buy an ultralight, packable clothesline since it’s easy to toss some twine [ more... ]

While the rest of the world is making messenger bags in their bike shops from recycled truck tarps and old vinyl signage, Timbuk2 is still banging their heads against their cubicles trying to come up with a material for their own recycled bags. Timbuk2’s upcoming bag is called Lamitron—probably named after the process of fusing [ more... ]

The nicest thing you can say about GSI’s Ultralight Backpack Kitchen is that it only costs $10—the worst thing you can say is that it’s responsible for all the ills of mankind. Either way, you’d be giving it too much credit. The $10 GSI Kitchen package sends you into the woods with a mini spatula, [ more... ]

When your body washes to shore the locals will probably steal your board shorts before they take the SwiMP3 Surf MP3 player. The waterproof rig only gives you 256MB of playback for about $220—it’s just embarrassing when so many waterproof iPod cases are about. At least you won’t be able to hear the locals harassing [ more... ]

This guy used the security camera footage of his bike wheels being stolen as a music video for his lame band, Shank Bone Mystic. It’s a little funny, but not nearly as good as The Decembrists’ Apology Song, which is about Colin Meloy leaving his friend’s bike unlocked outside a grocery store to be stolen. [ more... ]

Several years ago when I was in Europe with a girlfriend, the young woman weighed down with a massive backpack looked at me through foggy glasses, hoisted an encyclopedia-sized tome with both hands, and said, “This is a great guide book because it tells us how to blend in like locals.” This new AARP Filson [ more... ]