Reviews by User: Sam Reese (12)

I do almost all of my skiing in the Sierra or Cascades, only rarely venturing into the central (drier) US. The Transfer 3's shovel blade was made for heavy wet snow, in my opinion. It is a great size for chewing through snow to dig pits, caves, or the unmentionable. I've dug through hardened debris, but never in actual anger, and it has worked great for me. Why? Because I can't overload the blade as easily as I can with my girlfriend's Voile big-shovel (size of the transfer 7). If you have the intelligence not to fill up a blade with heavy snow, or you live in light fluffy snow land, go for the 7 or a bigger blade. If you live in a coastal region or are an over-eager shoveler, go for this one. Your back will thank you.

So a big heads up about this jacket. It does not have pit zips, and the hood is pretty sloppy in comparison to other competitors. The jacket is pretty much an on or off thing. I am generally cold. With the jacket unzipped, and minimal activity, it is good from around 40F to 20F, zipped, it is good from 30-10 or so. If I start doing anything mild cardio, It's got to go off, (except for that one day it was -31 in Wyoming...). The hood. On its own, the hood doesn't work that hot, because the hood can fit over a helmet, or inside another jacket. If you don't tame the hood some, it'll cut down on your peripheral visibility (like all hoods did, before Arc' revolutionized them...) Bottom line for me: get this, a pro shell jacket, and a backpack to throw it in. You'll be set for foul weather from around 40 to -25 comfortably. Don't look at any other puffy, TNF redpoint, patagonia micropuff are thin compared to this, and OR Chaos' windstopper will choke out breathability when you layer it with a shell.

I've had this for about 3 months now, and have started using it on a daily basis for bicycle commuting. The pack is surprisingly waterproof, and I trust it to carry my computer when I bicycle in California rain"storms" (read: showers). I've packed it up for an overnighter backpacking trip (that got aborted, ARRG!), and it sits extremely well with up to 25 lbs, about the limit of what you can fit into it without having gold bars. It's basically the best things of the Gregory Z30 RT and the Z55 put together, and surprisingly capacious for a 35 liter. Again, though, it is an exceptionally good pack for medium-to-large day trips on a bicycle. Trad rack+rope, swallowed, shoes on the outside. Computer, books, raingear, change of clothes for work? Perfect fit. Six month update: Zippers in straight lines (like this bag and my BD bags) WORK every time. Zippers in curves and arcs (Gregory, Osprey, I'm looking at you) Do not zip well when stuffed! Thank you MHW for being sensible.

I find it really odd that this is the bird's most popular jacket. I was getting a jacket gifted to me, and got to choose from any, price not an object. I've used it on three trips so far, two backcountry skiing, one lift-op skiing (as well as some city walking in rain.) It fits great, it's waterproof, blah blah. It's a quality piece, of course. The parts that stand out about this jacket in comparison to TNF or Marmot equivalents are the hood and the elbows. The 3 degree adjustable hood is amazing, fits like a ball cap, and can tame a puffy jacket's hood if you get into a cold day. (Did great with MHW Compressor in -31F Jackson Wyoming day). The elbows and shoulder cut sortof pull your arms out to the sides, and make you feel like you are wearing body armor. Great cut for skiing in my opinion, a less aggressive arm bend than the Sidewinder jacket. Negatives: Goretex pro shell feels clammy or rough against skin. If you plan on wearing this against your skin anywhere, get a Conduit Silk, Hyvent DT, or Packlite shell, trust me. It has NO HAND POCKETS. If you like putting your hands in your pockets, do not buy this jacket. The pockets on the chest are from above nipple level to mid rib-cage, not comfortable for hands. Get some gloves when you pick up this piece. Also, the velcro on the cuffs is surprisingly low tech, and iced up in a wet snow on the Sierra crest. It's funny with everything else on the jacket being top line, to see regular old velcro... Also, This jacket runs long. Sub butt level long on me, (6' 150lbs, in Medium). This is great for BC Skiing, Mountaineering, etc. It is lame for lift op skiing, where you sit a lot, and the jacket rides up a whole lot. If you want to do a lot of lift op skiing, get a shorter jacket and some stingray bibs. Also, it might feel like body armor, but it's not! Enjoy.

Or the instructions weren't that clear. For set up. Connect those thin little ribbons that go across from the Key Corner (one with the pockets. Stake in the Key Corner. Then pull tight, and stake an adjacent corner. Now, the third corner, you pull tight to the second stake, as well as pulling the ribbon tight. Do the same for the next corner (#4), then corner #5 will be really easy to pull tight between 1 and 4. You basically start from the key corner (back of the tent), and go around in a circle. If you do that, it gets quite tight on the walls, and won't flap very much in the wind.

I've got two of these bags. One is for Top-Roping days, the other for my firespinning gear (duvetyn rag, dip can, poi, meteor, et cetera). The closure system is designed for quick stuffing, not maximum closure. If you are using this for climbing, you just wrap your rope up in the attached tarp (quite large) and jam that in the bag, then pull the drawstring. If you wear it like a backpack, don't use the cinch straps, if you sling it, do. I love this bag, I'll probably end up buying more of these for random things. Oh: they are completely worthless for trad, so don't bother.

This bag can be overstuffed to the gills and still work great. It is tough as nails, and carrys quite well on my narrow frame. I really like the thin shape of the pack, especially when on long ski tours, or carrying a bunch of gear on a brutal climbing approach.

I was planning on getting a BD megalite, but got one of these instead. The first few times I set it up, I had some difficulty getting it all tight. I drove back up to Richmond and talked to mr. Zamedis, and he said to pull out three oppositional points, then put the pole in, and then tension it around that. It's seemed to work great since then. No complaints. Pentagonal structure takes wind pretty darned well. at the end of : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeqAsQWy-2A Andrew McLean has breakfast in an alaska storm. It's pretty serious.

I love this binding. Same as everyone else says. It skis really well, better than some cheap alpine bindings I've used, only weakness is that your release area is very short, meaning that a release-recovery is very difficult. None of that "Oh, I just almost caught an edge, but was able to stomp back in." Also, it is way quieter than most other AT bindings on the touring. It's not a big thing, but it sure is nice.

My girlfriend and I mostly ski in the Sierra. If you don't ski the sierra, let me tell you, Snow here is HEAVY. Avy debris and consolidated snow is therefore also heavy and heavier than, oh, say, Utah or Wyoming. I bought my girlfriend this shovel, because she is 5'3 and thought a smaller shovel would work better for her (allow her to more quickly dig my a-- out of an avalanche without hurting her back). I am now a convert, and downsized to a BD transfer 3 shovel, but I really like her Mini's shape better. Digs great snow caves, dug out my car three times with it. If you live in a place with a heavy snowpack, give this and other smaller shovels a serious though. This is one of those pieces of gear that when you need it most, it performs best.

It's a probe, and it's better than not having one. The probe's deflection (angle it can be bent by snow) is somewhat higher than others you can buy, but this one fits a good niche for being inexpensive and light. The dyneema cord is a little slick, but you've got the ferrule to pull. The probe straightens out pretty easily, not best in class, but not bad at all. If you are going to use this for some SAR or ski patrol, might want to think of a stiffer/heavier pole. If you want a light probe for the unmentionable, It'll do the job better than a pole sans basket. (Disclaimer: I've never used this in actual avy rescue, only in practice and drills and messing around) Also, the depth markings have either improved since I got mine, or the picture is a tad misleading. Mine is marked once on each pole, which is again not the best, but perfectly adequate.

And they are stiff high speed skis. I give these a 3, because I imagine for some skiers, these are a 5, and for me, they are a 1. These skis are hard, unforgiving, and all about the carve. They are not an all mountain ski that behaves how you drive it. This is a one-trick pony, and pretty good at that one trick, which is high speed groomers. It is quirky on soft snow, behaves slowly on chop or spring slush, and is abyssmal in bumps. Whoever calls these "all mountain" either assumes that the the whole mountain is groomed, or is full of lies.