Table of contents for Spring - Summer 2017 in Outside

a. Petzl Alto crash pad $300 With three layers of dense foam, the Alto has plenty of cushion for big falls. What’s more, the hingeless design means you can sandwich gear between the two halves before zipping it up— handy when schlepping from rock to rock. b. Edelrid Boulder Bag 2 $30 This cavernous container holds all the chalk you could need for weeks of climbing, and the twist closure mitigates spillage c. Ortovox Brenta shorts $129 The Brenta’s Cordura fabric lends hardiness, while a touch of spandex ensures stretch when reaching for toe hooks. d. Five Ten Approach Pro shoes $120 The laces cinch a wide strap of rubber across the shoe’s upper and around the heel, creating a locked-down fit that’s perfect for scrambling. e. Metolius Super chalk…

a. L.L.Bean Pillow bed $79 This 3-by-2.5-foot lounger is plenty big for your dog to stretch out, and the removable polyester cover sheds hair with a spin in the washing machine. b. Mountainsmith K9 pack $60 This is the only bag our dogs look comfortable wearing. Spandex in the straps allows for uninhibited movement, and the 24-liter capacity fits food and a few treats for longer hikes. c. Buff Dog Reflective $12 Yes, a Buff for your dog. The Reflective boosts your pooch’s visibility at night, so you’re both easier to spot during after-work hikes. d. Mountain Khakis Canvas Waterproof bowl $20 The ten-ounce waterproof (and puppy-proof) canvas shakes dry, and the bowl unsnaps to store flat when not in use. e. BlueWater Ropes leash $14 Long leads are a…

Sony a99 II $3,199 The best image makers feature some combination of high resolution, great low-light sensitivity, and smart focusing tools that help you document the action. Sitting at the very top of the heap is the Sony a99 II, which excels in all these categories and folds them into a highly portable package. The a99 rocks a giant 42-megapixel full-frame sensor that allows you to crop in tiny or print huge (think bus advertisement). The wicked-fast autofocus tracking system has 79 points you can use to lock onto your subject, and the ability to shoot 12 frames per second means you’ll get crisp photos of your buddies ripping singletrack every time. It gets better: the ISO goes to an absurd 102,400, and the whole sensor floats on a five-axis…

a. EcoXGear Eco-Boulder speaker $249 Many of the portable boom boxes we test are totally anemic. But the EcoXGear EcoBoulder’s 100 watts of power translates into a thunderous 115 decibels. b. Kelty Loveseat chair $90 With room for two and as many drink holders, the comfy Loveseat will make you sit and stay awhile. The fact that the carry bag doubles as a firewood hauler is a bonus. c. Urban Accents Grill Master set $48 Elevate boring chicken and unimaginative burgers to mouth watering favorites. We liked all eight seasonings, but the Vermont Grill Dryglaze, with hits of maple syrup and sage, was our favorite. d. DrinkTanks Juggernaut growler with Keg Cap kit $109 and $45 A personal, portable kegerator, the 128-ounce insulated Juggernaut keeps up to eight pints of…

New Balance Vazee Summit V2 $100 This year we had our Gear of the Year trail runner from mile one. No other shoe came close to keeping up with the Vazee Summit. It’s everything a fast, technical trainer should be: snug and supremely confident on fast downhills and slope traverses; responsive and tacky on turns; consistent, springy, and smooth on slow, mellow hardpack. Testers loved the way it balanced a close-to-the-ground feel and precise, low-riding midsole with enough cushion and underfoot protection (thanks to a supple rock plate and lightweight toe guard) to go long distances over rubble. You know you have a top-flight shoe when, amid the raving from the test crew, there were only a couple of gripes about faint lace pressure and the narrowish toe box. “A…

Apple Watch Series 2 $599 The second iteration of Apple’s smartwatch earned our Gear of the Year nod for doing one thing insanely well: worming its way into every corner of our lives. It patches through texts and calls directly to our wrists. It tracks daily motion and automatically prompts us to keep active throughout the day. No wearable has simpler navigation, and it integrates that famous ease of use into each of its fitness functions as well. Want to go for a run? Just say “Hey, Siri, let’s run,” and once you’re on the trail you get verbal pace, distance, and elapsed-time updates. When you’re finished, the watch will keep track of your daily, weekly, and monthly mileage goals. Like its predecessor, the Series 2 is more welcoming than…

a. Rhone Sequoia Air pullover $98 This versatile quarter-zip should be in every closet, not just for its slim-fitting design but also for the wicking Polartec fabric, which keeps you dry and comfortable. b. Tracksmith Mission Top Loader duffel $168 Modeled after military packs, this canvas bag is tough, and its 50- liter capacity swallows multiple outfits. The lined leather bottom serves as a shoe compartment to quarantine ripe footwear. c. New Balance 99 Trainer shoes $80 Lightweight and minimalist, the 99 Trainer has a simple mesh upper that allows your feet to breathe and won’t cause hot spots or blisters. The thin but springy midsole soaks up hard landings yet still helps you pop during box jumps. d. Stance Mission One socks $16 Sure, they have a mesh weave…

Red Paddle Sport 11'3" $1,529 The paddleboard industry continues to boom, thanks largely to inflatables. Blow-up boards allow those spacechallenged adventurers among us to reach places rarely touched by a paddle, and are no longer too floppy or too bulky to be considered unworthy alternatives. Take Red’s 11-foot-3-inch Sport. Lightweight at 22 pounds, it can handle everything from alpine lakes to open-ocean jaunts. Included battens make it amazingly rigid, more so than any other inflatable we’ve tested. And given that the Sport is a hair under five inches thick, paddlers can keep a low center of gravity, which translates into increased stability. The upshot is you’ll be more confident— one tester calmly cruised the sea-lion-infested waters off California’s central coast in the dark. On the userfriendliness front, Red’s two-barrel pump…

a. Orvis Battenkill III Disc reel $169 You could blow a mort - gage payment on a highend reel, or you could get the Battenkill. This updated classic has a drag that can haul big rainbows from the Rio Grande. b. Voormi River Run hoodie $129 Weather changes fast on the water, so you need versatile apparel. Voormi’s American wool is so breathable, we wore the River Run with the hood up and sleeves down and didn’t roast. c. Fishpond River Rat drink holder $30 Fishing can be a waiting game. Better to do so with this beer koozie slung around your neck, keeping both hands free. d. Tenkara Rod Company Landing net $99 Carbon fiber strong enough to bring in almost any fish, yet light enough to float if…

ERICA CLIFFORD Art director I DON’T LEAVE FOR AN ADVENTURE WITHOUT asking someone with four-wheel drive for a ride. WES JUDD Associate editor I DON’T LEAVE FOR AN ADVENTURE WITHOUT my Ultimate Direction hydration vest. JAKOB SCHILLER Associate editor I DON’T LEAVE FOR AN ADVENTURE WITHOUT giving my wife a cutoff time to call in search and rescue. BEN FOX Assistant managing editor I DON’T LEAVE FOR AN ADVENTURE WITHOUT making sure my shirt matches my boardshorts. BRYAN ROGALA Tailgating I DON’T LEAVE FOR AN ADVENTURE WITHOUT ...do I have to pick just one? AXIE NAVAS Executive editor I DON’T LEAVE FOR AN ADVENTURE WITHOUT my dog, Topaz—a.k.a. the Creature. MARY TURNER Women’s swimwear I DON’T LEAVE FOR AN ADVENTURE WITHOUT a beat-up old trucker hat and dark chocolate. AARON…

For the past 34 years, Leatherman has been asking its fans a simple question: How has your tool saved the day? They’ve received more than 4,000 stories. Some are funny, others are sentimental, and a few, like the three below, are downright harrowing. STRANDED In the Mountains A er a solo ascent of Moldoveanu Peak, Romania’s highest peak (8,346 feet), I was caught in an avalanche on my descent and thrown o? a cli? .  e fall le my leg broken and pelvis shattered. My pack and supplies were gone. All I had le were two energy bars, a headlamp, compass, map, a broken lighter, and a Leatherman Wave. I spent the next four days crawling through the frozen landscape to reach refuge.  e breaks to my leg…

a. Grayl Ultralight purifier $60 This sleek dual-canister filter basically Frenchpresses viruses, bacteria, and protozoan cysts from your water in just 15 seconds. Simply fill it, press down on the inner cylinder, and drink up. b. Marmot Knife Edge jacket $225 Despite its gauzy weight (just 11 ounces), this waterproof-breathable Gore-Tex PacLite shell kept us dry in dreary Minnesota sleet. And thedetails are spot-on, like an adjustable hood with an elastic drawstring. c. Adventure Medical Kits Day Tripper Light first aid supply $15 Packed with everything for two hikers on a quick trek, this kit helps make emergency decisions easier, with clearly labeled pockets full of remedies for everything from cuts to burns. d. Royal Robbins Jammer shorts $58 Free your legs with these superlight shorts. The simple cut doesn’t…

a. Danner Mountain 600 Low hiking boots $160 The best hikers protect your feet without feeling like cement blocks. The 600 Low fulfills both needs: it’s relatively light (two pounds per pair) yet burly, with a thick, water-proof suede outer and tough Vibram soles. b. Flint and Tinder All-American jeans $98 Good photographers kneel, crawl, jump, and climb to get the shot. These thick, 12-ounce denim jeans will stand up to all that abuse. c. Mountainsmith FXpedition monopod $40 Low-light shooting calls for a steady hand—and a bit of third-party support. That’s when you break out this quick-draw folding monopod. Perk: it doubles as a hiking pole. d. Peak Design Everyday 20L backpack $260 This is the most intelligently designed camera pack we’ve tried. Credit customizable dividers that let you…

Roka Phantom $275 To glimpse what’s ahead in sunglasses, look back to the fashion-forward styles Grandma and Grandpa loved in their youth. The current updates, however, are much better than the originals: they have superior optics, lens tints, and coatings, and they’re more comfortable and safer, with lightweight, high-impact materials that can take a punch. The Roka Phantom is a clear example of the new paradigm. The classic wireframe, teardrop-lens aviator takes an epic retro-futuristic leap that redefines performance-sports sunglasses—and in turn earns these specs Gear of the Year. Credit goes to materials engineers for changing the game without messing with the look and badass vibe of old-school aviators. More specifically, Roka subbed in wonderfully sharp nylon Zeiss lenses for glass and titanium frames for heavier steel. Combine all that…

Juliana Joplin CC XO1 $6,499 as tested / Santa Cruz Tallboy $6,600 as tested There are two bikes on these pages for one simple reason: the Joplin and the Tallboy won the hearts and legs of the overwhelming majority of our female and male testers, respectively. They’re also essentially the same bike: the Juliana adds some women-specific details (saddle, grips) and a shock tuned for lighter riders, but since the Joplin was introduced in 2013, both have been built from the same basic, exceptionally capable template. (Juliana and Santa Cruz are sibling companies.) For 2017, that includes slacker geometry, shorter chainstays, and more travel (110 millimeters in the rear, 120 to 130 up front) than previous versions. What’s more, you can now get either with 29 or 27.5+ wheels, depending…

a. All Good SPF 30 Sport Sunscreen spray $22 This push-button zinc spray rubs in without the greasy finish of some other sunscreens and offers 80 minutes of water- and sweatresistant shielding. b. Fits Ultra Light Runner No Show socks $16 The Runner No Show plays to folks who value ground feel above all else. The thin wool-synthetic blend hugs without being overly constricting. c. Spy Hunt sunglasses $160 Any company can make shades with good polarized lenses, but few can keep them in place when the sweat starts to roll. That’s why we love the Hunt’s half-rubber arms, which help the robust plastic frames stick. d. Polk Boom Bit speaker $30 Nature’s nice, but sometimes you want to rock out while training. The tiny Boom Bit, which pairs to…

Runners wearing trucker hats? Yeah, it’s a thing. You may have noticed Ryan Hall or Jenn Shelton rocking one. Truckers are a hell of an improvement over the alternatives. Previously, our headgear was limited to a stained cotton baseball hat or a low-profile, running-specific cap. The former quickly smelled bad, and the latter just looked dumb. So runners’ adoption of this particular lid—once reserved for crusty blue-collar dudes or Brooklyn hipsters—is a good thing, not least because it injects a bit of swagger into some otherwise dorky kit. Our favorites—including the handc rafted Blowfish Designs Signature Series (above; $24) and Elm Company MSMR ($24)—do a good job of corralling sweat and keeping it from dripping into your eyes. Big brims on hats like ASICS’s Fuzex Structured ($26) shield your face…

MSR Access 2 $600 If you haven’t upgraded your hiking shelter in a while, you’re missing out. Weights are tumbling, while living space, durability, and feature sets continue to grow, making for tents that perform year-round. MSR’s Access 2 is at the extreme end of this trend. Until it came along, most options fell into one of two categories: three- or four- season. Take a light three-season shelter winter camping and you’ll be cold and miserable. Four-season tents, with their extra poles and thick fabric walls, are heavy—and overkill in the muggy summer months. With the Access, MSR bridges that gap, using top-of-the-line materials to cut heft and beef up performance. Despite weighing half as much as most winter shelters, the Access barely flapped in an alpine windstorm. It took…

Loki makes it look so easy. Sure, the four-year-old Husky, Malamute, and wolf mix’s naturally rugged good looks go a long way. And so does his cool name—Loki is the name of the Norse god of mischief. But like any legitimate Instagram star— his @Loki_the_Wolfdog handle boasts more than 1.4M followers—it’s his charisma that really makes him unique. And for that to shine in nearly every picture, he can thank his loving adventure companion Kelly Lund, who has devoted himself to making sure each photograph conveys Loki’s true nature. “The most important thing to shooting Loki is getting down on his eye level,” says Lund, “but also it’s keeping his personality in mind as I take and select the shots.” “When I was a recreation coordinator, my role was to…

The best travel bags can’t get by on just style or durability. These days they have to nail both. Call us picky, but we want luggage that can sit on the roof of an Indian tuk tuk in a rainstorm but also look good rolling into a swanky hotel. Case in point: Fishpond’s Thunderhead Submersible duffel (above; $299). The orange body and climbing-rope handles add visual pop, but the bag is built to take a punch. We dragged the nigh-indestructible, 840-denier Thunderhead behind a car for a mile (just for fun) and barely scratched it. The 39-liter interior remained bone-dry in the face of hot-tub submersion and a power-washer thrashing. Should you prefer a travel companion with the same level of steez but with wheels, there’s the Sitka Gear Rambler…

a. Nemo Puffin Luxury blanket $150 This cushy cover has become a camping essen tial, with nylon face fabric to add ground protection for picnics and syn thetic fill for cool nights. b. The North Face Thermoball Booties II $80 Say hello to the most versatile piece of footwear you will ever own. Insulated with Primaloft, it’s warm and rugged for rocky hikes and cozy enough to replace your fireside slippers. c. Goal Zero Yeti 400 Lithium battery $699 This is the tool you bring along when throwing the wildest party your local campground has ever seen. The Yeti pumps out 328 watts of power to keep speakers bumping or gadgets juiced. d. Miir Camp cup $25 We use Miir’s attractive steel Camp cup—with its double-walled insulation and powdercoated exterior—at…

a. Darn Tough Vertex Tab No Show Ultra-Light socks $16 The thin merino-nylon fabric in these socks does a lot with a little: it dries fast, staves off blisters, and makes foot and shoe feel like one. b. Altra Provision 3.0 shoes $120 With a stiff shank in the midsole that keeps your foot from buckling, this meshy 8.5-ounce shoe helped both road and trail runners avoid ankle sprains. It also made us feel stronger on uneven terrain and into doubledigit mileage. c. Outdoor Research Boost jacket $99 Wind and rain protection at the shoulders, chest, and arms combined with breathable panels everywhere else meant this shell didn’t steam up during hilly slogs. d. The North Face Better Than Naked Split shorts $55 Kudos to TNF for gifting these shorts…

a. Lululemon Reversible (Un) mat $48 Thin, durable, and sticky, this pad was made for commuters and travelers who want to get yogic without lugging around a foam bazooka. b. Brazyn Morph collapsible roller $68 A full-size foam roller that folds down to the size of a textbook—impossible? Nope. And at a scant 1.6 pounds, the Morph can still support 350 pounds when expanded into its circular shape. c. Metolius Portable Power Grips holds $23 These wooden holds come with slings that can be tied around any sturdy horizontal surface, so you can crank out pullups just about anywhere. d. RYU Quick Pack Lux 1.1 $185 This sleek 22-liter bag has a burly drop front that folds outward for easy, locker-like access. Mesh pockets inside are tailored for water bottles,…

a. CEP Dynamic+ Run Ultralight Low socks $20 Some compression socks feel as tight as tourniquets. Not these. The Ultralight Lows are just snug enough to reduce swelling, increase circulation, and support muscles and joints. b. Adidas Women’s Voyager jacket $99 Made from a surprisingly silky, 90 percent recycled polyester, this 9.8-ounce windbreaker was an impressively strong buffer against the elements on damp, 45-degree days, offering no excuse to stop training c. Coeur sports bra $45 Designed by veteran Ironman Kebby Holden, this buttery-soft bra has a hidden cleavage pocket and wears perfectly on its own—all the better to show off the retro wraparound stripes and shapely racerback. d. TriggerPoint Grid STK foam roller $35 Look no further than Trigger Point when it comes to quality, compact rollers. The Grid…

a. Raen Wiley sunglasses $135 A classic wide silhouette with 100 percent UV protection means you won’t be blinded during a lateafternoon surf check. b. Mr. Zog’s Sex Wax $2 Funny name. But good, sticky results. c. FCS Premium leash $27 Surfing at a warm beach sans leash is one of summer’s great pleasures. But if you must tether your stick to your leg, FCS’s seven-millimeter Premium is great for everyday use. It features a swiveling joint near the ankle strap for freedom of movement and a small wax comb near the base. d. Mayde Jervis towel $70 Frilly ends aside, we love the Jervis for its preeminent softness. Constructed in Turkey from a cotton-bamboo blend, this towel even has a little Velcro pocket for stashing keys and beer money…