Golite Footwear line scrapped.

… And to think I had just reviewed these things.

This always seems to happen to me. I find a product (shoes, specifically) and then it inevitably gets cancelled or replaced by something else. In this case Timberland, who manufactured the shoes for Golite, has decided to put a halt to the entire line. Who knows the real reasons why — I venture that they didn’t sell like hotcakes and might have been too ahead of their time, but this is just my guess.

What was strange about the whole thing was that I had just recieved an email from the folks over at ProLite Gear that they had received their shipment of the new Spring ‘08 models of the Golite Footware line. They even have a promotional web page up for it. Not two days later did we hear about the demise of Golite Footwear as a whole from Backcountry.com.

So, being such a fan of the shoes and wanting to know what was really going on, I contacted the customer support people over at ProLite Gear and I got the information I needed from Lesie (re-printed with her permission):

Ryan,

We were just informed of this a few days ago. It is unfortunate that these shoes
will no longer be produced. I had some spike tails that I liked quite a bit,
and now own a pair of the versa force shoes. I highly recommend these if you
are looking at buying a new pair.

The good news is they will still be available for the spring and timberland
will still provide customer service for the Golite Shoes. The models we have
available are the new spring models which seem to be even better than last
years models.

Leslie
Customer Service
ProLite Gear

So, if you are a fan of these awesome shoes like myself, head over to ProLite Gear and order a pair (or several) of the updated models. Soon, you won’t be able to at all.

Posted in news | Tagged as gear, manufacturers | No Comments »

Protect Alaskan Wildlife

It seems that the big oil companies just won’t give up when trying to drill for oil up in Alaska. Why is it that they always want to drill in the few places that they aren’t allowed to? Regardless, this time…

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is moving to hand over 110,000 acres in the pristine Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska to oil and gas exploration. In addition, they plan to transfer 97,000 acres of subsurface mineral rights to Doyon, Ltd, a for-profit corporation hoping to profit from oil and gas development in the refuge.

This is purely motivated by money and is not a fair exchange. Doyon, Ltd wants to gain access to around 100,000 acres in virgin refuge land and they want to exchange it for 150,000 acres of their own land that has already had development on it, but that they no longer use. What this means is that the new acreage will be open to roads, development, traffic, and the potential for air and water contaminiation, spills, etc. Not good for an area that is supposed to be set aside for the preservation of…

migratory birds, bears, moose, wolves, and caribou; as well as to provide for continued subsistence use by native villagers.

If keeping the Refuge an actual refuge is important to you, you should definitely head on over and have your say. We have little time, only until 23 Mar 2008 to submit comments.

Posted in advocacy, news | Tagged as conservation | No Comments »

Spot Satellite Messenger

If you did not already know, I am a geek; That means that I watch and read geeky things. One such geeky thing that I watch is the Tekzilla podcast. On a recent episode they covered a neat little device called Spot (nice review).

The spot is a one way GPS based messenger. What makes this thing so cool is that it has multiple modes. You can send an “Okay” signal that records your current location and sends it to the Spot servers for retrieval later. It also has a help mode that alerts a list of people, pre determined by the owner, that you are not in dire straits but would like some help. Of course it also has a “Send in the Marines” button as well.

The Spot works on a subscription basis that is fairly reasonable. You buy the unit ($170) then activate it for a year ($100). In that year you can send unlimited Alert, Help and Check-in messages. For an additional $50 you can get a tracking feature that allows folks to track you while you are in the back country.

It is a pretty neat little piece of technology. If I ever make it out to do a through hike on a longer trail I would love to have one of these. It would give my wife some piece of mind and the kids would think it was cool to see my progress on a map. Oh, and most importantly…the product’s spokesperson is none other that the Survivorman, Les Stroud.

Posted in news | Tagged as gear, gps, survival, technology | 8 Comments »

old school, new tech hiking stick

I don’t really see many on the trails these days using just a walking stick. Most have moved up to trekking poles or use nothing at all. For those of you that prefer a walking/hiking stick, Luxury Lite has you covered. But not so quick — this ‘Stik’ is masquerading. Not only is it a walking stick, but the top pulls out to be a knife and the knife can be attached to the bottom to form a spear.

Multi-use gear is one of the tenets of lightweight and ultralight backpacking, and the Luxury Lite Big Survival Stik epitomizes that philosophy. So, travel with a little bit more piece of mind, knowing that your stick is more than just a stick and could really help you out in a survival or self-defense situation.

Posted in news | Tagged as gear, manufacturers, self-defense, survival | 2 Comments »

Energy independence advocates pull the terror card

Instead of just pasting or restating content that is already reported well on another site, I will just link to it instead. Before I do that though, I just have to say that the following is one of the most idiotic and absurd things I’ve ever read. Now, I’m all for energy independence, but this is just stupid. What the AAE is basically saying is that by supporting wildernesses you are supporting terrorists. They call for the opening up of wilderness areas and a halt to the creation of new wilderness areas so that they can be used for oil drilling, etc.

Bin Laden & Ahmadinejad Love American Wilderness

Why is it that oil companies and their ilk always want to drill/explore in the few places that they aren’t allowed to?

Posted in advocacy, opinions | Tagged as conservation, energy, FUD | No Comments »

Marmot goes green, sort of

I’ve read quite a bit lately from different sources that seem to think attempts by manufacturers to “go green” is fizzling out. Well, apparently Marmot missed that note and has announced a new sleeping bag. Named the Marmot EcoPro 15, the bag billed as a three-season bag and uses synthetic insulation. What makes it “green”? Well, the shell and lining are comprised of 100% recycled fabric and the insulation is 80% recycled materials — from recycled plastic bottles. Three cheers for Marmot and movement towards greener products and processes!

The bag is rated at 15F, is mummy-style, and comes in right at 3 lbs. Retail will run around $175 and it is already starting to show up on retail shelves and in online catalogs.

Related
- Patagonia’s Common Threads Garment recycling program

Posted in advocacy, news | Tagged as bags, conservation, manufacturers, technology | No Comments »

Finding/Generating Power in the Backcountry, part 2

We recently discussed a new way to generate power in the backcountry for your gadgets, but how about generating power from just wearing a shirt?

Posted in news | Tagged as fabric, gadgets, technology | No Comments »

decent “Ten Essentials” list with links

From cascadegear.com, here is a list of your “Ten Essentials” from someone who is gearing up to do a thru-hike of the PCT this summer. The nice thing about this list is that it has links to buy all the pieces listed therein.

Ultralight 4lb (with water!) Ten Essentials Kit

But wait! Four pounds?!? That’s almost right at half the weight of my entire pack! Oh, I see, there are some clothes and a litre of water included in the list.

Posted in wisdom | Tagged as essentials, lists | No Comments »

Finding/Generating Power in the Backcountry

Most of the time when I go backpacking I have some sort of device that requires power. That is just part of it for me, I like having at least a camera and a camcorder with me. Recording my adventure is part of the fun and allure of going. Soon I hope to have a GPS device to carry along as well.

One of the major issues that I have, especially on longer hikes, is keeping these things charged. Recently I have been using the AC/USB power changer that is part of the Black & Decker VPX system. The VPX system is great for working in the shop but the charger and batteries are a bit bulky to carry on long hikes.

At one point I considered sewing a flexible solar panel on the back of my pack. There are several potential issues with solar power though, overcast days, hiking under trees, not enough power, expense, etc. I think solar power will get there one day but I still think it is too soon.

So what is the point of this post? The point is to mention a new product that is being developed by several universities. It is a knee brace that generates power by walking. Since hiking is nothing more than walking, it is the perfect power generating device. The prototype is a bit bulky at 3.5 pounds but I am sure they will get that way down in the future. Making power required less than one watt of extra metabolic power for each watt of electricity generated, that is extraordinarily low. Needless to say I am a bit excited about the possibility. Cnet also has a nice article about the device.

It is also worth mentioning that there are other bio-mechanic devices that people have created to harvest energy. One of the more notable is made from a CD-ROM drive and captures energy from the chest while breathing, something we all do all of the time.

My thought is wear the knee brace during the day while hiking, then wear the chest device while sleeping. Effectively making oneself a perpetual motion machine. I cannot wait until these devices are ready for mainstream use.

Posted in news | Tagged as gadgets, technology | 1 Comment »

Another reason to get outside

CNN has a good article, ironically in their ‘Technology’ section, about the connection between people not getting outside as much and those said people’s waining interest in conservation of important wild areas.

While I wouldn’t go so far as blaming things on video games (I am an avid video gamer and have no problem striking a balance), the author(s) connect the decline in the US and Japan starting in the 80s and 90s with the rise of video games. I would believe it has more to do with the shift in our cultures and the rise in numbers of parents using media (TV, movies, and yes video games) as cheap baby-sitters.

Excuse my tangent, as the point of this article is to get people outside more. Once they are out there, they’ll appreciate it more and be more willing to protect it.

Posted in advocacy, opinions | Tagged as articles, conservation, games, rants | No Comments »