Reviews by User: Brad Bleak (7)

I tried the Tubbs 21 Sojourn snowshoes from the gear closet on my hike to the Millcreek canyon yurt last weekend and they worked great on the way up. But on the way down one of the shoes clips broke on me with 3 miles left to hike and I had to hike the rest of the way with no snowshoes!!! It could been the wear and tear of having these come from the gear closet but at least the Tubbs 21 Sojourns looked like something you wouldn't want on a long winter campout. For the prices they look like great deals, but if I wanted something that I couldn't afford to have break on me in the backcountry I would go with a higher end Tubbs product or a higher end snowshoe alltogether.

The DAKINE Terminal Backpack is sick (did I say that right?)!!! My old pack that I was carrying around was so stuffed when I had my laptop in it that I was crushing papers/folders/books & literally had no room for everything when I had to take all my crap along for work or travel. More than enough room; I have to make excuses to venture into some of the pockets because I already haven't been able to use all of the stash pockets etc. Great pack, but it.....NOW!

Every rider I've ever talked to has said that Burton makes good stuff (and at the very least adequate for the everyday rider); I just read some reviews about how quickly the Triad broke down on someone and I've got to say, "RETURN the item, either Burton (through product warranty) or Backcountry.com will be more than happy to take back your defective binding and replace it (any binding that doesn't last you at least a season would qualify as defective in my opinion, unless you are hammering the stuff yourself). So don't be a Burton hater, they make good stuff, they honor their products through warranties and you even have another layer of honor by going through backcountry.com......so relax and return your binding, if it falls apart again then I would be more inclined to believe you but you seem to be the only one to say that Burton's gear sucks...most will say it is plenty adequate or that they make top of the line gear, but I've never heard they suck......do you work for DC or something?

I simply love Salomon shoes and boots, in my opinion their shoes and boots offer the best arch support on the market and my custom insoles fit great inside. I do question their laces however, my "quick" laces snapped on my XT wings (and I had to relace with normal laces) and my Revo laces snapped on my in the backcountry. It could be my fat cankles and I sweat a ton so I wear things out pretty quickly. No one else I've talked to have had their 3D or XT "quick laces" break on them and the revo's just used standard laces so I can replace those. Despite the lace problems I still love their shoes and boots (their Revo boot is the most comfortable and durable {sans the laces} boots I've ever worn), so I guess it shows how much I love the shoe since I've had some lace issues and I still always buy Salomon. A TON OF PEOPLE AT BACKCOUNTRY.COM WHERE SALOMONS WHEN WORKING IN THE WAREHOUSE AND ALMOST ALL OF THEM CITE THE COMFORT AND SUPPORT (can't be a coincidence that more than half the warehouse is rollin' in Salomons can it?).

For years I've been doing the moleskin, liquid skin, and stop to dry my feet out every 3-6 miles so I don't blister up on my backpacking trips. I'm an extreme sweater & an avid backpacker (I'm even sweating right now & it's the middle of winter and I'm in a 65 degree room!). Even with the right boots and high end socks I still will blister up if I don't get my feet dry every few hours. I've also got a really bad hammer toe that I've always had to tape up so it won't get really ugly quick, but these Injinji socks have literally changed all of that for me! I still like to dry my feet every few hours on the trail (but it's out of comfort now instead of necessity); I haven't gotten a blister (and the toe sock design helps cover up my hammer toe so I don't have to tape it anymore) since I've started wearing these and I've even started using them for hockey games because it feels like a naked foot in my skate (which a lot of players like) but I still get the added padding and sweat absorption of a sock so my skate lasts longer. I LOVE INJINJI, EVEN IF THE LADIES TEASE ME WHEN THEY SEE MY TOE SOCKS!

Yo, I sweat! I'm proud to say this people, I sweat when I sleep, eat and even when I sit (and I'm really not that fat, it's just I sweat); so when I go backpacking or go hiking the sweat factor is even worse. This shirt saves my husky arse when it's too hot & I don't get the armpit sweat stains when I'm just chillaxin' n' stuff. Cotton doesn't work for me, this is a great golf shirt, hiking shirt or even work shirt (if you sweat like me or actually have to physically work I highly recommend it).

This pack is worth the extra money over the pallisades II; if you are a serious backpacker and need your dog to help with his kibble then I highly recommend it. It was really nice to have those water bladders in his pack when I ran out of water on the trail or in camp (he doesn't even drink his tap water when there are so many streams and rivers to drink from) and my dog loves the extra work, he's an Aussie Shepherd so they get really into working. My dog took zero time to adjust, he just saw a new pack next to my backpack, smelled that there was his food in it and was stoked to have me put it on him...herding/working dogs definitely will love having this on (even for a walk around the block).