gear

Sorry for the delay, but I assure you we have some reviews in the pipe and we wanted to let you know what they were, so here are some photos of what we’re testing. Have you seen or tried any of these? What do you think?

WAHOO! I’m seriously a bit giddy about this week’s giveaway! Can you believe it? A huge pile of survival gear in all the truest senses of the word! Are you ready?

For the last couple months, We at The Outdoor Adventure along with in no particular order: My Life Outdoors, Wilderness Dave, A Little Campy, Hiking the Trail and Trail Sherpa have been working together with a whole bunch of outdoors companies to bring all you guys more than a month of giveaways.

This week we’re super excited to be giving away awesome gear to keep you surviving… in style. I recommed you subscribe to the feed for some awesome gear reviews coming up highlighting this stuff on the blog! Oh and we’ll be updating this with links to all the reviews!

Now you want to know what we’re giving away! Wait no further… I mean Look no longer… never mind, just read it and enter to win:

As seen on Survivor™ on CBS® (…and now also on www.TheOutdoorAdventure.net! )

“Seamless, multifunctional headwear was first established with the all-season Original Buff^®. It’s the most versatile, simple and effective article of technical clothing you can own. Made from seamless 100% microfiber, not only is Original Buff^® durable, it’s breathable, wicks moisture and dries quickly too.” Quoted directly from their official website:  www.buffusa.com

Simply stated, Buff® headwear is a seamless tube of fabric that can be worn in an assortment of ways. Be it biking, hiking, yoga, or chasing a toddler through the park, the Buff® is designed to offer technical performance and protection from the elements no matter what your adventure! Those just happen to be the adventures on which I embarked to test the claims of the merino wool Wool Buff^®.

In the evening I wore the Buff® in a modified “Foulard” for my yoga class. I like to wear my hair loose during yoga to avoid any tension of a hair tie, but trying to huff and puff wispy hairs out of my face while in Adho Mukha Svanasana is far from relaxing. I followed the steps to create the “Foulard”, contained all my hair into the tube, and then tucked the back flap underneath the seam at the nape of my neck. Ta Da! No more hair wisps to huff and puff about!

I wore the Buff® in the “Neckerchief” while buying groceries at the local grocery store, and received two compliments on the pattern and style of my “scarf”. So there you go, ladies, with all the many style options available from Buff® you too can be the envy of all those in your local produce isle. The “Neckerchief” is my favorite neutral way to wear the Buff® in this chilly winter weather, because the material is lightweight and breathable I don’t feel the need to take it on and off repeatedly while out running errands. It’s the perfect seam connection between my jacket and the neckline of my shirt. No more frosty breezes sending chills down my spine while loading my enormous haul of grocery bags into the trunk!

On a separate occasion my daughter and I went exploring in a local forest, during which I wore the Buff® in the “Wristband” method. Not gonna lie, the wristband method is super useful for wiping toddler snot when you forget to pack tissues. It’s gross, but it’s legit. In my defense, I had to test out how well the Buff® held up in the laundry anyway! I’m happy to report that my Buff® is snot-free, odor-free, and looking good as new! (Don’t worry, it’s not the same Buff® included in any of our giveaways…)

Reviewed By:
Tabea B
The Outdoor Adventure Team

Always on the look out for a more natural and safer sunscreen for myself and my children, I was thrilled that Beyond Coastal gave me a chance to review some of their products.

I have tried a number of brands in the past but Beyond Coastal is definitely one of the best that I have tried so far.

They gave me Active Sunscreen SPF 30+, Natural Clear SPF 30, Active Face Stick, Natural Lip and Face Screen SPF 30, and a variety of flavors of their new line of flavored lip balm to try. Here are my thoughts:
Active Sunscreen SPF 30+

This sweat and water resistant, non-mineral broad spectrum UVA/UVB protection sunscreen is gluten free (great news for my son) and also free of all those nasty oxybenzone, paraben and petroleum stuff which, though not conclusively proven, has me worried about what chemicals and toxins are entering my body through my skin.

So it doesn’t contain any of those nasty chemicals, so what does it contain? Healing aloe vera, revitalizing green tea, nourishing Vitamins C and E, moisturizing shea butter, soothing yerba mate, hydrating panthenol and algae extract is enough to make any skin happy. The sun protection (active ingredients) come from octinoxate, octisalate (that gives it that lightly sweet scent), octocrylene and avobenzone (which protects against UVA rays). Ocinoxate makes up the majority of the active ingredients at about 7.5% and avobenzone makes up only 2%.

I liked that it has no noticible scent and that it applied invisibly to my skin and after 5 minutes when I checked again, it was almost unnoticeable. No white residue.

As some of the active ingredients (such as Avobenzone) start to degrade within an hour when exposed to UV rays, Beyond Coastal added Solistay to prolong and stabilize its effectiveness. As I burn easily, I will be curious to try it this summer and find out how effective it is at keeping my fair skin from turning an unflattering strawberry color. I like this sunscreen because of how quickly it disappeared on my skin, how a little went a long way, that it had no scent and that it was water resistant. I am not wild about the fact that it still contains octocrylene (4% of the active ingredients) which some studies have linked with increased incidences of malignant melanoma.

Natural Clear Sunscreen SPF 30
If your plan for the day is to cheer on your favorite team, a stroll in the park with your best friend (be it four footed or two) or taking a spin in a convertible then this is the sunscreen of choice. It is a good everyday sunscreen which one can easily apply makeup over it without the makeup caking and no one will know that your skin is protected (even without makeup).

What makes Natural Clear Sunscreen a good every day sunscreen is that it only has one active ingredient (the very safe and non-toxic zinc oxide). It also nourishes your skin with rose hip oil, jojoba seed oil and shea butter.It repairs and hydrates with cococa seed butter, alpha lipoic acid (an anti-oxidant), pro vitamin B, algea extract, and aloe vera.

Fragrance free like the other sunscreens, it has only a very faint sweet smell. The zinc oxide sits on the skin’s surface and is not absorbed into the skin while protecting the skin from both UVA and UVB ultraviolet rays and is not destroyed by the sun like some other sunscreen ingredients.

I like this sunscreen because it absorbs so quickly into the skin and leaves no noticeable residue while still giving my skin powerful protection against the sun. I also love the active ingredient list. Even though the sun protection will rub off with a towel, wash off while swimming, and sweat away when exercising, I think the hassle of frequent application is worth it because of the lower risk of strange (and potentially harmful) things being absorbed into the skin.

Natural Lip and Face Screen

I did not like the Natural lip and Face Screen. Even after 10 minutes there was still a noticeable white sheen on the skin. It has a very light, hardly noticeable scent and comes in a tub which meant that the sunscreen got under my nails.
The active ingredients are in equal amounts Titanium Dioxide (which does get absorbed into the skin) and Zinc Oxide (which stays on the surface of the skin). For moisturizing and hydration of the skin there is aloe vera, coconut oil, safflower oil, Vitamin C and E, Shea butter, beeswax and Mango butter.

Like the other sunscreens by Beyond Coastal it is gluten free, and Paraben and Petroleum free. It offers strong UVB and UVA protection but I still prefer Natural Clear Sunscreen SPF 30+.

Active Face Stick

The Active Sunscreen Face Stick’s biggest advantage is that one can apply it without getting one’s hands greasy. It comes in a stick form (kind of like deodorant) and is great for people who don’t want their hands to be slippery every time they apply sunscreen. One could apply this sunscreen half way up a cliff face and still be fine to keep on going.

It has a pleasant unobtrusive scent. Easy no-mess application, no drip, no sunscreen in the eye, no inhalation (like with spray-ons) and no greasy fingers.

After 10 minutes the face still felt sticky and greasy to the touch (but not more so then most normal sunscreens).

The active ingredients are Avobenzone, homosalate, octinoxate and octocrylene (boo!). It nourishes and hydrates with aloe vera, Vitamin E, Beeswax, shea butter, yerba mate, and orange oil extract (which gives it a light hint of citrus scent).

If I was in any sort of active sport which would make slippery hands dangerous then I would use this product. It is water and sweat resistant and oxybenzone, paraben and petroleum free but it still contains octocrylene which turns me off.

SPF 15 Active Lip Balm


Coming in four fun flavors (Citrus Grove, Mint Leaf, Cherry Blossom, and Vanilla Bean) these Active lip balms nourish and hydrate (beeswax, aloe vera, shea butter and yerba mate) while giving your lips protection (octinoxate, octisalate, octocrylene, avobenzone) against UVB and UVA rays. I normally don’t go for scented lip balms as I find them too cloyingly sweet but that was not the case with this brand. Applied to dry, slightly chapped lips it instantly gave relief and moisturized my lips leaving them feeling luscious. They stayed on even after drinking some tea and giving my husband a kiss (he didn’t mind the scent either). It left my lips feeling smooth and not sticky and kept them soft throughout the day.


by Thamar A.
The Outdoor Adventure Team


Products provided by http://www.beyondcoastal.com/

You’ve been waiting, I’ve been waiting, we’ve all been waiting for this moment! That’s right, Today is the day that we kick off the first giveaway in our Spring into Adventure Gear Giveaway!


For the last couple months, We at The Outdoor Adventure along with in no particular order: My Life Outdoors, Wilderness Dave, A Little Campy, Hiking the Trail and Trail Sherpa have been working together with a whole bunch of outdoors companies to bring all you guys more than a month of giveaways. 


This week, our COLD Week, 2 People will walk away… from their computer… with some awesome REALLY AWESOME gear. and the rest of you? well, you’ll just be more excited to win the next week’s Gear Giveaway!


As a reminder, here’s what’s up for grabs:

a Rafflecopter giveaway<a href=”http://rafl.es/enable-js”>You need javascript enabled to see this giveaway</a>.

For the last couple months, We at The Outdoor Adventure along with in no particular order: My Life Outdoors, Wilderness Dave, A Little Campy, Hiking the Trail and Trail Sherpa have been working together with a whole bunch of outdoors companies to bring all you guys more than a month of giveaways.

•  SilLite™ silicone-impregnated ripstop nylon: ultra-lite, ultra-tough, ultra-waterproof
•  2 beaks
•  Lots of tie-out points
• Compatible with both Lair Nest and Lair Nest 2
•  3-season, 3-person
• Area: 89 sq ft / 8.3m2
• 19.5 ounces

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• It’s a really light and super compressible.
• It takes up almost no space in my pack.
• It can be set up in a whole bunch of ways to suit the weather and group size.
• The tie-out points on the sides really allow for a nice cave-like setup that gives a lot of space to move, even while pitched right to the ground.
• Being able to pitch flat to the ground is a huge bonus

Pitched with poles underneath on a trip this summer. We had 3 guys inside with the nest.

• Trying to pitch it by one’s self is a real pain.
• I found it easiest to peg out the sides first and then set up the poles for the ridge.
• The tie-out points are small and weak. Mine was used and the corner points are worn half through.
• The beaks can only be pitched tight at one angle, otherwise they flap. Not a big deal, but when it is advertised as having any type of setup that you want, it makes it a draw back.
• It says it is compatible with the Lair 2 Nest, but I find the Lair 2 Nest is a bit too wide at one end to use when pegging the tarp near the ground.
• Too many tie out points!

Again, pitched with poles inside on a trip last summer with my daughter. As you can see, here it was pitched right to the ground because of wind and cold.

I have long rejected the thought of cooking ‘systems’ in preference for the flexibility afforded when I can pick the pot and stove best suited for my trip. The Jetboil Zip, and by extension the whole Jetboil cooking system has challenged that preference with an efficient and well-designed system demonstrated in the Jetboil Zip.

 

A few days ago I tried to make a brief case for backpacking quilts. The idea is this: any insulation that you lie on doesn’t insulate very well. If it doesn’t insulate it’s wasted space and weight in your pack. Of course if you wiggle around in your sleep you’ll need to have that insulation, in case you roll over. If not, I’ve got a cool project.

bag with all seams removed on the bottom

I picked up a sleeping bag using points collected from a store that although a “technical” bag, was a bit bulky for my tastes. It’s a 0 C (32 f) bag, but because it uses cheaper hollow fiber insulation it is heavy. Over 3 lbs. I decided to use it as a practice project on saving weight by removing all insulation on the bottom of the bag and replace it with a pocket for a custom cut closed cell foam pad. My future plan is to take a down bag and shift all the bottom insulation to the top to not save weight, but make it warmer.

I cut right above the shoulders to be able to slip the pad in.

In the end, I cut off 5 ounces from the bag and 1 ounce from the sleeping pad. This was in a bag that already only had half the insulation on the bottom (as a technical bag, the maker understood the waste of insulation on the bottom.) In a normal bag you could probably save double that.

My suggestion is to start by weighing the bag and pad and measuring how large it is in a compression sack so you can tell how much you saved.

Here’s what I needed to do that:

• sleeping bag (mummy)
• closed cell foam pad.
• scissors – to cut open the bottom of the bag to get access to the insulation and to cut the sleeping pad.
• seam ripper – to remove horizontal seams and separate the insulation from the fabric.
• marker – to trace the shape of the bottom of the bag onto the sleeping pad.

1. On the bottom of the bag there should be two layers of fabric (inner and outer). Cut a horizontal line from one side to the other of the inner fabric just above shoulder height.
2. Remove the horizontal seams from the bottom of the bag (ONLY the ones that hold the insulation in place).
3. Carefully cut the insulation out from between the layers , leaving the bottom 10-12 inches of insulation in place to provide a foot box to keep your feet warmer.
4. Place the bag on top of your foam pad.
5. Trace the bottom seams of the bag on the foam pad. Make sure it will be snug along the bottom so as not to let air in the pad.
6. Cut the foam pad along the lines.
7. Slide the pad into the bottom of the bag.
8. Weigh the final results and note the size. Oh and post below with how it went!

2.9 lbs, Compressed: 8″x10″