Return To Colorado and Some Long Term Gear Reviews 05Oct18

It was great to hike the parks of southern Utah but it is very nice as well to be back in Colorado. We are pleased to have real beers again; we are grateful to no longer endure kitschy cowboy decor; we are more comfortable without the ever-present influence of LDS; we are thankful for a hot tub where we can work out the aches; we are pleased to have real pizza. Kala & I first stopped in Fruita in CO (not far across the border) @ the excellent Hot Tomato for pizza and beer and fine Colorado biking decor...

Coming off a vacation like the Utah NPs one prompts me to also offer some long term gear reviews - simple things really, but those I depended on and which performed gr8 every day. First is my 1.5 yr old RTIC cooler ($80)... this soft sided Yeti knockoff keeps stuff colder than my bigger steel and plastic coolers with 4 cold packs. The only downside is that there isn't a valve to release water (hence my exclusive use of cold packs in this beauty). I use this daily for fishing lunches with beer and soda as well as daily on the road for everything else.

Next up is my 4 yr old Osprey Raptor 14/3L hydration day pack ($100). It is perfect and stable for mtn biking but useful daily for day hiking too. I've been noticing a lot of Osprey out on the trails now and bully to them, a Colorado company, for upsetting the staid market with great designs. The Raptor and their other designs are worthy, comfortable, hydration bladder superior, fully suspended, and best of all reliable. I think I might need to clean mine in the washer soon though.

Third is my amazing 15 yr old Canon PowerShot Pro One (~$350 long ago) automatic zoom camera. Despite my owning much better 35mm bodies and lenses - the weight and range of this camera is the go to when the phone-cam is just not good enough. Killer optics with 7X zoom, a simple UI, reliability and low weight, and gr8 results place this item in the car all the time. The only downside of this aged weapon is the response time of focusing.

Now simply... socks. As a hiker, biker, fisherman and the like, socks which are warm/cool, comfortable, long-lasting and dry are key. Never go short on socks. Two years ago I switched from SmartWool to Point 6 merino wool (yep another CO company) and performance and fit are superior. Here's my hiking preference when going with low-top shoes, the medium weight hiker in short length. They even mark each sock at the cuff so if you buy many weights and sizes (like our family now) you can actually sort them out. Watch out SmartWool.

Shades are also critical and to be appreciated in depth. They've gotta be cool, killer transparent in optics, comfortable, scratch-resistent, available in prescription and fit/feel great. I've had many coolers and choose my 2 yr old Costa Mantas with grey iridescent lenses (~$300) for my driving, hiking  and almost all uses now (including river fishing 50% of the time). I chose grey for the true color reads and I chose Costa when a mate, Rob Haine, alerted me to their quality. Awesome on this recent trip.

Not for everyone, but why not? My 2 yr old $8 (China/Amazon) remote shutter selfie stick (with $30 Apple lightening adapter) is critical to include yourself and friends, and surroundings, in an image from your phone-cam. It's been good so far and I bought a pack of 3 just in case; why not? Didn't go Bluetooth for latency and pairing issues - one can't beat hard wiring for reliability.

One key piece of the kit is camera carry technology; I have tried many - from chest harnesses, wrist carry, in-the-backpack, over-the-shoulder and on & on. My 18 mo old Peak Design Capture Pro (~$70) is the shizzle. It is light and durable aluminum with definite holding power, easy access and versatile installation and use. I primarily secure it to my pack shoulder strap (as shown above) and have "boots" for my big cams, GoPro Hero and Pro One to attach it. Completely awesome and discovered after a long set of trials of other schemes. I use this 
boot to also to set my cameras on tripods now, so I don't have to remove the custom boot.

Boot utility, for feet, of course, depend most on fit - choose wisely. I do choose waterproof and will typically use GoreTex as experience with other fabrics has been quite variable. My choices of the  1 yr old Arcteryx Bora2 GTX (~$250) for mid-tops (long hikes or backpacking on tough terrain) and the 2 yr old Patagonias (~$100) or  3 yr old Lowa Renegade GTXs (f~$140) for low-tops are for fit 1st, gummy rubber soles 2nd, weight and shank 3rd. I can say that all these are worthy of going long, every day... with or without "custom" inserts. Patagonias (discontinued) did all the damage on the Utah hikes - I floated like a goat.