Reviews by User: BigBrian (95)

I bought the Heat Shield jacket for my dad, who is working in New Brunswick. He says it keeps the wind out, and keeps him warm all through the fall and into early winter until it drops into single digits at night. And then, he just layers it under a shell and it works great. It is roomy enough for comfort but cut slim enough to also layer comfortably.

I bought the Heat Shield jacket for my dad, who is working in New Brunswick. He says it keeps the wind out, and keeps him warm all through the fall and into early winter until it drops into single digits at night. And then, he just layers it under a shell and it works great. It is roomy enough for comfort but cut slim enough to also layer comfortably.

I've had this tent for about 5 years now, and used it in just about every type of weather Utah has (which is a lot) and it has performed pretty flawlessly. I initially got it because I, like the reviewer below, am quite tall, and this tent had the space I wanted. I also liked the two doors, no climbing over your buddy to go to the bathroom at night. For summer, you can't beat this tent, nice ventilation and durability. Even in the shoulder seasons where it gets a little cooler and wetter, this tent still rocks, the rainfly is functional, and ventilates acceptably when set up correctly. There are lighter and more expensive tents out there, but for the money, you can't beat this one.

I love these shorts perhaps a little too much. The back slash pockets are incredibly useful for jamming just about anything into. I wore them for an entire week on the San Juan river and they performed flawlessly. Very easy to move in, and incredibly versatile.

Gotta wear the skid lid when you get out on the road with the crazy drivers, and this one from Giro definitely makes you feel protected. My last helmet was a cheap-y bell, so needless to say, this is a HUGE step up. Fit is both awesome and totally adjustable, straps are super adjustable even for a very tall head, and the helmet just feels secure on your head, which is probably the most important thing. I would say it even feels more secure than some hard hats I've worn.

These shoes are great for an entry level road biker who wants a pair of shoes that will last forever. Anecdotally, sidis are supposed to last upwards of 7 years with regular use. You can see the workmanship and quality in these shoes, and the wide sizes are a huge plus.

This jacket is awesome, plenty of pockets, fleece liner zips in and out very easily, and is quite warm on top of that. My only complaint is that my sharp point softshell doesn't zip into it. It does fit nicely underneath, but does not zip in.

This towel is awesome for traveling, I used it on a river trip, and it was nice not only for getting dry, but also for cleaning the sand off my feet before changing into shoes for the cooler nights. Has a great chamois feel to it, and is just a handy little item, well worth the price.

These are super comfortable, very well-made, and fit perfectly. They give you a nice, small profile on your board, possibly allowing for a smaller binding size, and less toe/heel drag. Most boots bulk up to give you stiffness, but Salomon just makes them well

I like these pants, but not as much as my other pairs of carhartts (which are more or less the only pants I wear). They seem to fit a little tighter through the hips until it hits about mid thigh. This may be due to the jean-style pocket cut, rather than the traditional carhartt slash pocket we know and love. They're a pretty good pair of nicer looking pants, not as many rivets as the other styles, so you can dress them up a bit more. In short, a good, well-made pair of pants, just a funky fit.

This is a great part of any camp kitchen, and while a bit heavy for backpacking, if you had a group of four to split weight up, it would be great for that too. The blue is very nice looking as well

Got this when I purchased a laptop, and its a great bag. It maintains its shape, full or empty, which makes it super easy to find the tiny thing you put in the bottom. Multitude of pockets, including a nice fleece lined one on top for sunglasses. Holds all my stuff with room for more, and remains comfortable with a computer, anatomy and physiology book, and an EMT book in it.

Like all Carhartt duck products, you get the feeling this jacket will take a solid 8 months to wear in, but once it does, it'll be the most comfortable and durable thing you own. Only complaint is the zipper-with the duck cloth as rigid as it is, it can get in the way and snag the zipper a bit, but that will go away with time. Would definitely buy another if I didn't know this one would last so long.

I bought these after really liking my green pair of these, and wow, what a difference. I'm a big guy who works in a warehouse with concrete floors, I spend 8+ hours a day on my feet just there, plus whatever else I have to do in a day. I also recently had knee surgery on one knee, and tore the MCL in my other knee, so they give me trouble on a daily basis. These insoles make working in that environment tolerable for my body, and keep my feet,back, and all my joints very happy. I can't say enough good things about these.

This is a nice, spacious tent. I'm tall, so I was looking for a tent that I could not only fit into, but get in and out of easily. The non-vertical doors make it very easy to get step up and out, rather than crawling out awkwardly and trying to stand at the same time. This tent has room for two people and gear easily, and probably enough for 3 people if they were all on the smaller side. I can't say enough good things about the design and quality of the tent.

Great little lightweight, simple to use headlamp. To get full use of the 5 modes, you may have to play with it for a little while (I did) or read the instructions (I did not). Very easy to pack, bright light, definitely sufficient for most nighttime activities at the brightest setting, and low enough to read and not blind yourself at the dimmest setting.

These tubes are definitely sufficient, they haven't flatted on me yet. Seem like a really nice set of tubes for a decent price.

My girlfriend loves these sandals. She recently recovered from a stress fracture in her foot, and needed a pair of flips that provided good support so she didn't re-injure it. These are approved by the American Podiatric Association, and were recommended by her podiatrist. They are durable and look very nice too.

These may even be more comfortable than the sandals! I was excited to find out that Chaco was going to start making shoes again, and even more excited when I picked up a pair of these. They fit great right out of the box, even for my large, wide, and high-volume feet. They breathe well, grip well, and look good. These are my new everyday summer shoe. I wish they had slightly more padding/shock absorption, but they are great light hikers and everyday shoes. Would buy again and again!

Nothing earth-shatteringly cool about these, but they keep your tender parts comfy and wick moisture well. I would like to see PI put out a tall size option, but that's a pretty minor gripe because these certainly stretch enough to accommodate my 6'5" frame.

I love these sandals for just about everything but snowsports. I prefer the Z/1s to the Z/2s because you can throw a pair of socks on if it gets chilly in the woods at night. Incredibly durable and comfortable.

I wanted to like these shorts, and I suppose I do like them, but there are too many pockets placed in odd places that I didn't find super functional. They also seemed to fit a fair amount larger than two other pairs of Mountain Hardwear shorts I bought at the same time. I would recommend the Kurtis short and the Coolidge trunk as more functional alternatives.

Got these for car camping, and they do not disappoint. Might be a little heavy for backpacking, but taking a single component for backpacking wouldn't be bad at all. A nice cookset at a good price, these are nicer pots than the ones I use at home.

This is a great set for the car camping kitchen, and unless you're an ounce-counter, grab a single fork and spoon to go with something like the fairshare mug for backpacking. Doesn't roll up as neatly as I would like it to, but that's a small quibble.

Great pair of hiking shoes. Fit is just a touch narrow for those of us with the wide feet, but probably fits great in a normal foot. Seems quite durable, haven't had any breakdown issues with the shoe. Keeps your feet dry too, which makes it a great everyday winter shoe.

Even on the coldest ski days, I still go for these under a shell pant, and I've never needed any more than that. Comfortable as can be, great wicking, and great warmth to weight factor

Great wicking performance out of this baselayer. It is quite comfortable, no movement issues, and keeps you dry, even if you sweat a lot. I love the zip neck for comfort and for extra heat blow-off.

Great pair of gloves, but don't expect the full waterproof/breathable benefits of a full gore-tex gloves. Will definitely be wet at the end of a good long day of skiing, but your hands, in general, will still be warm and basically dry. Not an expedition glove, but a pretty darn good ski glove for the price.

I was a little surprised at how baggy this pant fit, even though it is listed as a baggy cut. Even though I bought the size that corresponded to my pant size, I had a ton of extra room, and had to tighten up the velcro and will most likely have to wear a belt next time. I bought it mainly as a nice weather pant, and it is doing just fine with that task.

I had water in this bottle for about a week in my car in decently warm temperatures, and it didn't develop any kind of weird taste like a Nalgene does. My only complaint is that I dropped it when it was full, and it dented quite easily. Hasn't impacted its utility though. Definitely worth the extra money

I love this pad, I bought the XL, because I'm a larger guy, and it works perfectly with my marmot trestles X-Wide bag. Easily the most comfortable pad I've ever used, probably not for backpacking, but I would consider it because I was so comfortable. I slept on rock, and had no shoulder or hip discomfort when I woke up. Easily more comfortable than probably three out of the last four real mattresses I've had.

Bought these for my girlfriend, and she uses any excuse to wear them. Yoga during the week, and everywhere during the weekends. Look great, fit great, good quality, and a well thought out design.

I love how light and easy to carry this chair is. Super comfortable to sit on, and really adjustable. A good sleeping pad in a pinch too. I think the pockets on the back are pretty worthless, but I just cut em off.

This tent is pretty damn cool, and I definitely stayed mostly dry throughout the gnarliest rainstorm I've ever seen in Utah's high Uintas. That said, one side of the tent did collapse briefly under the weight of some ice/snow mixture whose weight was increased by the constant rain. The problem is that the front of the tent does not drain all that well, it pools and then runs off all at once, resulting in a slightly startling phwooooop when the water hits the ground. Setup is easy, once you figure out how the pole goes, and the vestibule is a nice size and keeps everything dry. The floor did not leak one little bit during the aforementioned rainstorm, and I had no condensation problems whatsoever, even in heavy rain. As far as size goes, it would be comfortable with three people on pads, I was with my girlfriend, and it was a nice size for the two of us car camping with car camping pads and bags and duffels and whatnot. The peak height is somewhat misleading, as it is only that high right at the door, and then it slopes down as you go back. Very comfortable for my 6'5" frame, but definitely not a stand in the middle kind of tent. Overall, I definitely recommend this tent, it is constructed incredibly well, and is very comfortable to sleep in. The fly could use a small redesign, but it only became a problem when the snow came, which isn't necessarily three season weather, so I don't hold it against Mountain Hardwear's designers. Great tent, possibly a little expensive for what it is, but I stayed dry as could be, and that's worth it to me. I'm sure I would not have been as comfortable or as dry in my Kelty tent, the seam sealing and attention to detail is where this tent excels.

I'm a pretty big fella (6'5" 290 lbs). I purchased the Mtn. Hardwear Switch bag a couple years year ago because it has a feature that allows the bag to be expanded by 8 inches. Even with this fully unzipped, so as to get the greatest girth out of the bag, I felt much more constricted than I would like from a 3 season bag. This Marmot bag is just awesome! I fit in comfortably, and there is still room to sit up (with the hood on!) and move around a bit when sleeping. From a big guy, this bag is just awesome. Get the extra wide, it's worth it.

I bought some of this for my girlfriend to use in marathon training, and decided to steal a tube for work. It makes a huge difference in a hot warehouse, normally I crave salty foods about 5 hours into an 8 hour shift, but not with these. I don't have to worry about getting hyponaetremic from intaking so much water and sweating it all out. Also, as an EMT and wilderness first responder, I would be 100% comfortable using these in cases of dehydration, they are lightweight, easy to use, and never messy. I can't say enough good things about how easy and awesome these are.

I really wanted to like these socks, and on one day, I did. And then on the next day I hated them. I'll tell you why. These socks are great at keeping your feet dry, keeping the funk down, and being a cozy sock. If your day consists mostly of sitting, with an occasional trip somewhere, these are great socks. On the other hand, if your day consists of standing for long periods, or doing a lot of walking, or hiking, these socks will destroy your feet. The problem lies in the cocona fabric. It is designed to provide more surface area on each thread by bonding carbon to the polyester. This is fine until you put an 8 hour workdays' worth of pressure on that fabric, then it starts to give you little micro cuts, and your whole foot feels raw. I could actually pull my skin taught and see where these little cuts were. So long story short, good for sitting (would be a KILLER dress sock) but bad for standing or hiking.

This is not a bad kit. It will be totally sufficient for most of what anyone does. With that said, it is not perfect. You would be better off replacing a bunch of the band-aids with more gauze and tape, and dumping the re-hydration mix (which is a nasty messy spill waiting to happen) in favor of some nuun tablets or something similar. This is a great start, and a good carrying case, but needs a little help to be as helpful as it can.

I was looking for a nice lightweight jacket to throw in my bag on cloudy days, and this is it. Cut well, very comfortable compared to many of the Italian brands I've tried. Very nice material as well.

It is worth buying one of these when you buy the tent, your tent will thank you, and over the course of a few years, your wallet will too. Much easier to replace a footprint than to replace a tent.

I have a freaky long torso, and finding shirts that actually cover all of it can be a chore, but the BC shirts are awesome in this regard. Crack kills, these shirts do not. Well, they kill it, but that's totally different.

I like this bag, it seems durable and fairly well thought out, but I bought it in part because I thought my helmet would fit in th emesh sleeve, as shown in the picture. I was most certainly incorrect. This may have something to do with me having a large size helmet, or the particular helmet that I have (Giro Monza) but I was unimpressed with that aspect. It also seems to not want to stand on its own unless fully loaded, and it would take A LOT to fully load this thing. I've got shoes, tools, helmet, extra lock cable, and some other random stuff in there, and it is STILL not full. So if you're looking for a go anywhere and do anything bag that you can fill with gear, this is it, but if you just need a place for your shoes, change of clothes, and a couple of tools, I would look for something a little smaller.

If you're going to own only one book on wilderness medicine, this should be it. Well, this or Medicine for Mountaineering, but this one is a lot more practical and easy to read. It is my go to guide when I need to look something up, and I've even carried it with me on trips where weight wasn't a huge factor(rivers and basecamp) Overall, you can't beat it for the clarity of information, illustrations, and ease of reading.

This is great for the daytime, and for those warm, buggy nights by the water. Keeps you from looking like a giant human polka-dot.

Great baselayer, does exactly what it is supposed to do. Looks nice while doing it too.

When it's a little warm, this shirt wicks well, and still retains some insulating qualities when it's wet. Great choice for the river.

You can wear socks or neoprene booties under these, which is why I got them for my girlfriend before our river trip. They're super comfortable and extremely durable. Great pair of sandals.

I liked these trunks a lot, but the other reviewers are correct, these fit HUGE!I ordered a similar size in 3 other swim trunks and boardshorts, and I had to return these because they were so large. No integrated belt or belt loops for tightening them up either.