Gear Review: Oboz Crest Low BDry Hiking Shoes

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Oboz Crest Low BDry.
Oboz Crest Low BDry.

Hiking Shoes
Oboz Crest Low BDry
$150, 2 lbs. 5 oz. (US men’s 9)
Sizes: men’s US 8-14
moosejaw.com

Finding one ideal shoe or boot to cover your feet for dayhikes in any conditions, and crossover to light backpacking, poses a real challenge. Finding one that achieves those lofty objectives at a relatively affordable price can feel like winning a lottery. Encouraged by its design and price—and having plenty of experience with other Oboz models—I wore the new Crest Low BDry on outings ranging from dayhikes in humid, hot Costa Rican rainforest to a three-day, 40-mile backpacking trip in May in Utah’s Dark Canyon Wilderness. I found much to recommend them and a couple of minor nitpicks.

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Gear Review: REI Flash Insulated Air Mattress

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REI Flash Insulated Air Mattress.
REI Flash Insulated Air Mattress.

Insulated Air Mattress
REI Flash Insulated Air Mattress
$100, 15 oz. (regular, 72x20x2 inches)
Sizes: regular, regular wide, long, long wide
rei.com

Spending significantly less money on gear usually means getting significantly less performance, but that’s not the case with REI’s newly updated for 2017 Flash Insulated Air Mattress, I decided after sleeping on it for several nights, on a 40-mile May backpacking trip in Utah’s Dark Canyon Wilderness and camping at Idaho’s City of Rocks National Reserve in June. While it doesn’t rank number one for any usual measure of air mats (like most comfortable or lightest), it just may deliver the best value, dollar for dollar, of any air mat designed for backpacking.

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Review: Sierra Designs Clip Flashlight 2 Tent

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Sierra Designs Clip Flashlight 2.
Three-Season Tent

Sierra Designs Clip Flashlight 2
$200, 3 lbs. 6 oz.
sierradesigns.com

After it was first introduced in the early 1980s, the Clip Flashlight became an iconic tent among backpackers and bikepackers—you’d see them everywhere, and I used one for years. So when the updated version was introduced this spring, curiosity and a little bit of nostalgia prodded me to try it out—and see how this classic shelter holds up in comparison to modern tents. On high-desert trips from southern Utah to southern Idaho in May and June, the Clip Flashlight held up well through serious wind and rainstorms. While I found faults with some aspects of its design, its strengths—and a good price—make it a backcountry shelter worth considering.

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Gear Review: The North Face Ultra Gore-Tex Surround Mid Hiking Boots

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The North Face Ultra Gore-Tex Surround Mid boots.
The North Face Ultra Gore-Tex Surround Mid boots.

Hiking Boots
The North Face Ultra Gore-Tex Surround Mid
$190, 2 lbs. (US men’s 9)
Sizes: men’s 7-14, women’s 5-11
backcountry.com

The heat and humidity fell onto us like a wet blanket; I broke into a sweat just lacing up my boots for the dayhike of 3,740-foot Cerro Chato, a dormant volcano with close-up views of its larger and more-famous neighbor, Arenal Volcano, in Costa Rica’s tropical Northern Lowlands. And yet, I wanted waterproof-breathable boots for Costa Rican trails notorious for slick mud. The crazy-steep path up Cerro Chato would not only challenge us physically, it would challenge the breathability of The North Face Gore-Tex Surround Mid boots. It would also help me assess whether these very lightweight mid-cuts are the answer to chronically wet hikes in persistently hot, humid conditions—which you don’t have to go to Central America to find, as any hiker in the Eastern U.S. can confirm.

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Fishing at Lake 8522, Sawtooth Mountains, Idaho.

Photo Gallery: Father-Son and Father-Daughter Adventures

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By Michael Lanza

The annual tradition began when my son, Nate, was five years old, and we hiked about a mile up a trail in the Boise Foothills, starting at a trailhead a 10-minute drive from our house, and camped beside a creek small enough to step over. It was the most mellow trip we’d take, and the closest to home, on the annual father-son outdoor adventure that we’ve come to call our “boy trip.” My daughter, Alex, two years younger, adapted that name and gave me a pass for my inferior gender when we began taking an annual “girl trip” together. Now it has grown into something bigger than any one, individual outing.

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