Julbo Revolution Goggles
April 25, 2009
Sometimes my clients’ incessant (and much appreciated!) sample-sending backfires, and they send me something so fabulous that everything else in the shipment is cast off and forgotten. The Revolution goggles are one such item (sorry Julbo, I really really have been testing those other ones you sent, too. Honest). I just freaking LOVE these Revolution goggles. I’m obsessed with the Zebra lenses – you might remember them from the Julbo Trail sunglasses I reviewed last year – they are photochromatic and can go from Cat 2 to Cat 4 in a matter of seconds. They’re the best lenses EVER. They transition so seamlessly that you’ll never notice. I love the cool amber color of the lens at its darkest, the low profile of the frame, and the feather-light weight. They fit over my helmet and don’t even interfere with its fit. The strap has a fastener so you don’t have to awkwardly stretch it around your helmet; you just unhook the fastener and re-hook it around your helmet (or head, if you’re naughty and don’t wear a helmet). So handy!
I use these so much that it’s been difficult to get around to reviewing other goggles. I’ve set out to test other pairs, trying as hard as I can to leave the Revolutions behind, but I always end up stuffing them in my pack and using them instead of the test pair. And you know how much I hate carrying extra stuff – if I’m willing to tote two pairs of goggles around just so I can wear these, you know they’re good.
Dynafit TLT Vertical Ski Bindings w/Comfort Brakes
April 22, 2009
(uh, brakes not shown in picture above. Sorry.)
It didn’t take many backcountry ski outings before I realized what I chump I was to not have Dynafit bindings. I got really sick of plodding and wheezing in my 8 pound Densomatic boots with bindings heavy enough to be made from the scraps of the Schwarzenegger-era Terminator, trailing at the back of the pack as my Dynafit-outfitted ski partners scampered blissfully to the tops of our target peaks, condescendingly patting me on the head as they shot past me on the uptrack, time and time again. There was just no way these guys were more fit than me, so there had to be something to those tiny bits of metal they were using as bindings. These bizarre contraptions look like they were pounded together in someone’s garage, but they are the ski binding of choice if you eschew the resort. They’re MY ski binding of choice even at the resort, but with 50+ backcountry days and 2 resort days each year, it doesn’t matter much what I do when I’m there (although the ski patrol may disagree).
Dynafit bindings work by clicking your boots into two spring-loaded prongs on the toe piece, which naturally require a special Dynafit compatible boot. Many manufacturers are making their boots compatible these days, so if you have a little metal divot on each side of your boot toe, you’re golden. If not, get some Dynafit-compatible boots, because you need these bindings, believe me. The skin track will be faster and more fun! You can take cruel enjoyment out of blowing past any poor Dynafitless struggler you can find. Of course, the day that someone in alpine boots laps you despite your Dynafits and lighter-than-air Dynafit-compatible boots, you will be humbled. But that hardly ever happens. Well, it happened once, and it still stings.
Anyway, because of the different click-in action and a few extra steps required to secure your boots to these bindings, it might be a frustrating first outing. As one of my partners put it: if you have trouble at first, it’s not the bindings, it’s you. With a little bit of practice, you’ll be in and out of these in no time. To get into tour mode, click into the toe piece and pull up on the little lever until you get a series of clicks. Then you’re locked in. You can raise and lower the heel riser by twisting the heel piece. When you first get them, chance are you’ll try to tour in ski mode and fall out of your bindings all the time, or twist the heel piece too far and end up locked in. All I can say about that is “Ha ha! Newbie.” For ski mode, you have to push down on the toe lever and completely release the toe clips – sounds cumbersome, but once you practice, it’s really quick – and then step back in WITHOUT pulling up on the lever. Click your heels in, and you are now in releasable ski mode. Easy!
Speaking of releasable, if you fall and your skis come off, which they should, you might want them to come to a rest relatively close to you. Anyone who has seen a ski rocketing down a mountain free of the cumbersome load of a skier will know what I mean. So suck it up and get some brakes for your Dynafits. I know, you won’t look as cool on a day to day basis, but think of how much MORE cool you look than that guy trying to use his one remaining ski as a scooter to chase his other ski down the mountain. And if you ever do go to a resort, you will be required to have brakes or retention devices on your skis, and Dynafit brakes are much more cool than those HORRID leash things they come with. Serious dork alert, those leashes. Not only do they look stupid, but if you need them to release, say, when you’re caught in an avalanche, you actually have to reach down and manually unhook them. If anyone thinks that is actually possible in the turbulence of an avalanche, I’d like them to show me. Not in a real avalanche of course, because digging for buried people sucks, but perhaps these folks would be willing to stand in the bed of my pickup as I drive down a potholed, washboarded logging road at 50 mph and demonstrate the ease of leash release. Also, “Comfort Brakes”, what the hell? I don’t understand the name at all. They’re not Dr. Scholls insoles, they’re just brakes. Unless the name refers to the comfort you feel while you are tumbling down the back side of a booter, feeling your skis torque off and thinking “it’s such a comfort that I have brakes to stop my skis from sliding down the slope without me.” Or something.
All that said, Dynafit brakes are not the most awesome things ever. I mean, they work as brakes, but they make the whole Dynafit experience kind of annoying. First you have to compress the spring to get your bindings in tour mode. Sigh. Then it’s just that much harder to swivel the heel piece if you need the riser. If you turn them the wrong way or turn them too far accidentally, click! You’ve deployed your brakes! Now you have to compress them again. Then, if you are dork enough to need to take your skis off to remove your climbing skins, you’ll have to manually deploy the brakes to get any use out of them whatsoever. Worst of all, the brakes will make the heel piece rotate if you’re in tour mode on uneven ground, which is surprising to say the least. HikehikehikeCLICK “ack!” *crash* has happened to me more than once. It’s annoying, but less annoying than losing a ski. I guess.
To sum up: Dynafit bindings good. Dynafit brakes meh. But you must have both, grasshopper. Unless you weigh a billion pounds and really do need a mega DIN, of course. In that case, I give you leave to use non-Dynafit bindings, but I’ll still pity you. Until you lap me on the skin track, of course.
Tech40 Accelerator Pulse Watch
April 22, 2009
Everyone thinks that being a Geargal means you’re an expert on anything and everything that has anything remotely to do with gear. I’m not going to argue with that assumption. Just kidding – there’s some gear that I know, and some gear I don’t know. I’m not particularly techy nor am I particularly interested in becoming more techy, but since tech is novel for me, I was really excited about trying Tech40′s watch with heart rate monitor function. I don’t even so much have an odometer on my bike, so I’ve no idea what my heart rate is, can be, or should be, and I figured this cool gadget would help me learn more about how to manage my heart rate.
Sadly, I could not get the heart rate function working for the LONGEST time. My assumption that my lack of tech savvy was to blame kept me fooling around with the device way longer than I should have. Finally I mentioned my troubles to the Tech4o folks, who advised me to replace the battery in the heart rate strap (duh), and once I did I had no problem syncing everything up. Sheeeeeesh. When in doubt, ask.
I have to admit that once I got the heart rate function working, I promptly lost interest in tracking my heart rate and stoppped using that function (again: I am not techy), but at least I know it works and for any of my readers who are really into counting their heart beats: you can count heartbeats any which way with this gadget. Max, average, resting, etc. etc. So if you’re into that, you can strap in and start gathering data about your speed, distance, heart rate, exertion, and your deepest emotions while you work out, and then run home and download all of it into a spreadsheet to chortle over. Last summer a runner here in Alaska got charged by a bear and he was all sorts of tickled about how his heart rate monitor recorded the adrenaline spike in the form of a new max heart rate. Seriously, it was in the paper and everything. You have to be a real tech nerd to make news with your new max heart rate. Anyway, so if you want to know what your heart rate is after being charged by a bear, the Accelerator Pulse can help out.
Other functions include a stopwatch, and, well, a clock. There’s also something called a chronograph that evidently is good for 50 laps, a lap timer, an alarm, a split time clock, and some other geeky stuff. There are so many buttons to press that you will never get bored. I admit that it’s probably a little too stuffed full of features for the non-tech set, but for you runners and racers this gadget has you covered. Since this is a women’s blog, I do have to mention that the heart rate strap might be a bit inconvenient for ladies whose cups spilleth over, so to speak. I wonder if the heart rate monitor would even work if one’s anatomy dictates that the strap can’t go around the upper rib cage. But that’s a design issue not limited to this particular heart rate monitor, I’ll wager. I was also a little surprised at the size of the wrist strap; I’m about average in bone and I had to cinch the watch down to the very last notch to keep it from fitting like a bangle; I looked a few times to make sure I didn’t have a men’s version by mistake. Smaller women might not be able to tighten the strap enough.
Just writing this review has re-sparked my heart rate curiosity again, so maybe I’ll give the tech life a try again now that it’s bike season. Let’s hope no bears are involved…
Ibex Arm and Leg Warmers
April 21, 2009
It’s spring in Alaska! Which means it’s…..cold. And snowy. As usual. But the simple fact that it is above freezing means that I will find a way to get on my bike, and these leg and arm warmers from Ibex came at just the perfect time.
I just noticed that the pictures above just kind of look like a random array of body parts. I guess that’s a hazard of reviewing arm and leg warmers….
I’m well known for deluding myself about the outside temperature and dressing just perfectly inappropriately. Within 10 minutes of leaving, chances are I’ll be in a flop sweat and stripping layers like Pamela Anderson, or be holding up the whole show by digging in my pack looking for my jacket. Ok, so I’m not THAT bad. It’s the weather, honest! You never know what the weather might do in Alaska. So when the weather is unpredictable, you’d better have some way to compensate. When I leave for an evening bike ride in 50 degree weather, I know it will be hovering around freezing when I’m riding home. Wearing long pants makes me too hot at the beginning but I’m too cold in shorts by the end. Ibex to the rescue! These leg and arm warmers are toasty warm but breathable, and are just the thing when layers are a necessity. Thanks to the ankle zippers, the leg warmers are easy to tug on over bike shoes, and the arm warmers are just the perfect length. They also don’t have that weird grippy rubber stuff on the insides, but somehow stay up nonetheless. They are not billed as gravity defying, but I can’t figure out how else they stay up. Wool goes hand and hand with antigravity technology, who knew?
Random ramblings alert: most people will say that keeping their core warm is the important thing, so they wear vests during the shoulder season (pun intended? You decide). But for me, my core stays pretty warm but my arms tend to get cold. Bizarre. I guess it can’t be JUST me, or else no one would even bother to make arm warmers. Anyway, my point is that the arm warmers are really nice for people whose arms get cold. And both arm and leg warmers are really great for those times in summer when the cow parsnip (the poison oak of Alaska, look it up, it’s nasty) is in full force. Once a friend rode 20 miles through cow parsnip without really thinking about it, and a day later her legs looked as if they’d been literally whipped. This lovely effect lasted for two months. Scary. So I always carry some leg covering when I’m riding cross country, and I think these Ibex leg warmers will be just the ticket – much easier to get on and off than long pants. Plus they just have that extra ‘gear’ factor that lends a much-needed aspect of cool when you’ve got to stop and de-layer (or re-layer) AGAIN. You can tell your riding partners that if they had such nice arm and leg warmers, they’d stop to put them on too.
Dakine Cougar Gloves
April 5, 2009
Embrace your inner feline with the Cougar Gloves from Backcountry.com.
OK ladies, here’s your big chance to try the gear that nets younger husbands. With these gloves, you’ll be unstoppable at your local apres-ski haunt, preying on those out-of-towner twentysomethings and worshipping your goddess, Demi Moore. No, just kidding, these aren’t for THAT kind of Cougar. Actually, I really don’t know why they are called “cougar” gloves, but I DO know that I repeatedly turn to these gloves when the pow is flying. They’re really well-padded (read: not nimble) and moderately warm, which is nice, but what keeps me coming back is the well-sized wrist cuff that keeps wayward snow out of my sleeves. Dakine has thought of everything; giving you a nose wipe patch AND a goggle squeegee, one on the left glove and one on the right. Of course I keep forgetting which glove has which, and I’ve had some painful nose-squeegeeing incidents. You’d think I’d learn….
