Trail-Running Gear Reviews

Gear Review: Petzl NAO headlamp

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Petzl NAO

Headlamp
Petzl NAO
$175, 7 oz.
petzl.com

Stepping outside my tent during a black night in Oregon’s Eagle Cap Wilderness, I turned in the direction of our food stuff sacks hanging from a tree more than 300 feet away—and saw them lit up brightly in the beam of this headlamp. Then I swung my gaze back to the ground before me to watch where I was walking, and the Nao’s beam instantly switched over to wide-area mode, brightly illuminating a broad perimeter around me. And it did this without me touching the device.

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Gear Review: The North Face Apex Lite Jacket

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The North Face Apex Light Jacket

Ultralight Wind Shell
The North Face Apex Lite Jacket
$130, 6 oz. (men’s medium).
Sizes: men’s and women’s XS-XL.
thenorthface.com

An ultralight wind shell can save you from a serious chill and is all but mandatory gear for a long trail run or ride, especially in damp, windy, and cool spring and fall weather.

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Gear Review: CW-X Pro Shorts

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CW-X Pro Shorts

Trail Running Shorts

CW-X Pro Shorts
$72, 6 oz. (men’s small)
Sizes: men’s S-XL
cw-x.com

After numerous hilly trail runs in my local Boise Foothills—ranging from six miles to a 25.5-mile, 4,600-foot, seven-hour July morning trail run-hike—I’m completely sold on the physiological benefits of these compression running shorts. Even on that 25-miler (running about three-quarters of the distance, walking the rest), a distance that would typically leave my quads feeling very worked and bloated with lactic acid, I felt strong right to the finish. My recovery from that run was faster, too, with much less stiffness and residual fatigue than I’m accustomed to after that long an outing.

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Gear Review: Native Eyewear Blanca Sunglasses

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Native Eyewear Blanca

Sports Sunglasses
Native Eyewear Blanca
$129 to $149
nativeyewear.com

Hiking, rock climbing, backpacking on blinding snow on a sunny day, road and mountain biking, trail running—I’ve turned to these wrap-around shades to protect my eyes for all of these activities. The standard N3 lenses rendered the glacier-fed, emerald-colored lakes and rivers and blue sky of Norway’s Jotunheimen National Park in vivid color.

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Gear Review: Vasque Velocity 2.0 Shoes

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Vasque Velocity 2.0

Lightweight Trail Shoes
Vasque Velocity 2.0
$120, 1 lb. 9 oz. (men’s 9)
Sizes: Men’s 7-12, 13, 14 and wide 8-12, 13, women’s 6-11
vasque.com

Hot feet are the fastest route to blisters. Keep your feet dry and cool and you’ve eliminated two of the three factors necessary for developing blisters (the third being friction, caused by imperfect fit). Several trail runs of four to nine miles each in the non-waterproof Velocity 2.0 convinced me they may be the most breathable low-cut trail-running shoes I’ve worn, thanks to very airy uppers that are virtually all mesh. I ran on some days so hot that my synthetic T-shirt would be soaked—but my feet and socks completely dry when I finished.

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