STI O E D DY
AIRE
Long-sleeve Shirt (men’s and women’s)
BaKRaft Hybrid Packraft
If you can only pack a single shirt, our recommendation is the Eddy. One of our testers took the two-week challenge with the Eddy, meaning he wore it every day for two weeks. He sported it for hiking, stand-up paddling, mountain biking, climbing and spring skiing. When there weren’t sports involved, he wore it for Zoom meetings, to the grocery store and to pick up take-out food. His conclusion? The Eddy LS (long sleeve) is the ultimate go anywhere, do anything shirt. The athletic cut, with plenty of room in the shoulders and not too much bagginess in the chest never inhibited movement or range of motion. The soft nylon/polyester blend material has a slight stretch, nice if you’re paddling, climbing or lifting a keg out of the back of your truck. And while the Eddy is 100% synthetic (read quick-drying and wrinkle-free), it has the drape and appearance of its cotton cousins. While the material looks casual, it’s highly technical, with a water-resistant finish and UPF 50+ sun protection. The tail is 30 inches (men’s medium) so you can wear it untucked or cowboy style. Both shirts are finished with faux-pearl snap closures and adjustable cuffs with three snap adjustments that are easy to roll up. The men’s medium is a featherweight 8 ounces although the shirt doesn’t feel wispy. Plus it stuffs down to the size of a grapefruit if you are stashing it in your pack. The men’s version has 16 colorways to choose from, the women’s collection offers nine. www.stio.com
ARM O RED O UTD O O R GEAR RatSack Cache Bag You learn quickly that food needs protection when your camp gets ransacked by scavengers. Rats and mice smelling a meal will gnaw through tents. Raccoons, ravens, squirrels and roaming campsite dogs will rip apart plastic garbage bags to get to leftovers. Nobody wants that. Enter Armored Outdoor Gear, the creator of the RatSack. Manufactured in Flagstaff, Arizona, the RatSack concept is simple. The knitted stainless steel mesh bags when hung off the ground keeps critters from getting to any odoriferous contents stored inside. The steel mesh is unchewable, won’t rust or break apart. The RatSack comes in four sizes, each made of knitted stainless steel with a tough 2-inch hook-and-loop Velcro closure at the top. Aside from keeping scavengers off your food, the RatSack doubles as a bag in which you can cool drinks in a stream or river. The Sack Pack, an off-shoot of the RatSack, is equipped with straps and a zipperedclosure for use at festivals or events requiring clear, see-through bags. For our testing, we followed the manufacturer’s instructions to hang a foodfilled RatSack between trees at a campsite, which resulted in one frustrated magpie. And when we learned we could test the RatSack in a mouse-infested shed while the owner of the shed placed mouse traps in the corners, we took advantage. We put an enticing bag of snacks in a RatSack and placed it on the floor of the shed over three days. While the mouse traps collected a daily harvest of mice, the RatSack received a daily shaking to rid it of mouse turds. The bag of food remained untouched and the RatSack intact. www.armoredoutdoorgear.com ULTRALIGHT, SMALL, MEDIUM, LARGE
39 $ 4999 $
12900
$
99
TO
The packraft has opened an exciting new world of adventure to explorers. Rather than hiking or biking in and then back out, we can now head into the mountains on foot or bike and either paddle a lake or paddle out on a stream or river. What fun! These individual-sized inflatable boats are designed to be light and small enough to fit in a backpack or on a bike and durable enough to withstand the rigors of hard use. The AIRE BakRaft takes that design and one-ups it with a self-bailing floor and an I-beam construction that resists folding in technical rapids. Also, AIRE didn’t take its basic kayak design and cut materials to save weight. The company actually tweaked the shape of the BAKraft to cut smoothly through all types of water. At 7 feet long and 8.5 pounds, the BAKraft Hybrid is a scaled-down version of the BAKraft Expedition, which is 10 feet in length and weighs 12 pounds. We didn’t get an opportunity to test the BakRaft Hybrid but we do own AIRE boats, a cataraft and a duckie, so we know the quality of the brand. The BakRaft series is made in the U.S. with a Vectran fabric shell, has the urethane AIREcell internal bladder system and thermos/heat-welded seams, and has streamlined in-field repairability. It comes with a seat, inflation bag, hand pump, thigh straps and repair kit. www.aire.com
BAKRAFT HYBRID
1,64900
$
BAKRAFT EXPEDITION
2,19900
$
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