MORE T-SHIRT WISDOM
In time for Halloween?


Another shirt for the collection. Couldn't resist glomming onto this one on a recent trip to NV, CA, and, of course, Death Valley.

NEW IS GOOD. BACKPACKER MAG SAYS SO.
Review the lastest outdoor stuff.

The latest issue of Backpacker is out with their GEAR GUIDE. It's nicely formatted with "Smart Charts" for the selection of Packs, Boots, Tents, and Sleeping Bags. Eleven other categories follow from Stoves to Car Camping. Check out "high tech." Neat stuff. The neater the "stuff" becomes, of course, the more expensive. Reviewed are GPSs, GPS cell phones, and digital cameras. There's a Nextel BlackBerry 7100i (you know it's upscale when lower case "i" is attached). The 7100i has to-die-for features an astronaut would buy out-of-pocket.

Cool, but... if you're a clumsy, careless but frugal sort, can you afford to drop one of these pricey gadgets into a crevasse, lose it in whitewater, drop it on rock, or forget you left it behind on a pile of moose skat for a satellite read? Too, wouldn't you just hate being eaten by a big brown bear after spending all that money on the high tech gear you were wearing then? (This reminds us of recent documentary, Grizzly Man. Timothy Treadwell, the bear guy, was eaten by one, wristwatch included).

Disclaimer: The crew here doesn't work for Backpacker nor are we anti-BlackBerry, whomever. We're just free-lance-tell-it-like-it-is info-sharing folks hoping that works for you. Note BPs "Best Buy" picks for optimal gear. Their field-testers work hard to evaluate the latest offerings. Hey, who else is providing consumers with the gear-info they need? www.backpacker.com/