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Favorite Gear Blog
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Apr 23, 2013 at 9:08 am #1302090
Any threads out there that have collected BPLers favorite gear blogs? There is something about UL and blogging that go together. I like Hikelighter. Where are you going for UL information, tips, tricks, reviews? Thanks,
Apr 23, 2013 at 10:16 am #1979727Hiking in Finland is one of my very favorites, and I also like SectionHiker.
Apr 23, 2013 at 12:03 pm #1979769I like sticksblog a lot. Also Hiking in Finland as well etc.
Apr 23, 2013 at 12:24 pm #1979772I'm not a fan of all the blogs.. I feel like most of em just like to play with gear in their backyard and not actually trail test it.. or just like to brag about how much they claim they've hiked.
Apr 23, 2013 at 1:12 pm #1979782"Where are you going for UL information, tips, tricks, reviews?"
I like to be a little bit unorthodox so I go to BPL…
Joke aside, I find most outdoor blogs so called reviews completely worthless.
"look at what I've got from brand x, it's awesome. I don't dare saying anything else or I might loose my sponsorship".Apr 23, 2013 at 1:23 pm #1979790I like reading Andrew Skurka's blog (updated a few times a month). He covers a lot of ground not just gear although his Costco gear articles are great: I also find Hike It Like It to be a great source of reviews that aren't press release copy/paste jobs.
BPL is of course the best place for gear info :)
Apr 23, 2013 at 1:59 pm #1979802I'm with Jason. A lot of the blogs seem like trumpet blowing more than anything else. There are a number of guys out there boasting about how small their spreadsheets have gotten. I mainly read them because they have more money (or conned themselves into pro deals) than I do so they get to put hands on gear and provide some subtle unboxing nuances between different items. I take most of their "trail" reviews with a grain of salt.
Maybe it's just my style, but I find when I'm hiking that my gear pretty much fades into the background. It's all fairly simple gear at this point anyway.
One area I do focus on though is clothing, especially for cold weather. For that I find Dane over at coldthistle to be a great source. The dude does a lot of cold weather activities (primarily climbing oriented) and has been for decades. So he knows what works and what doesn't in inclement weather. I live in the desert so I don't get as much time to practice cold weather sports…so I've gotta learn from those who do.
Apr 23, 2013 at 2:33 pm #1979810I tend to come here to BPL for most of my "gear" needs; the articles published by BPL tend to be high quality, if a bit infrequent and there's usually more than enough good info available in the forums on any gear item I can think of. I'll admit to looking over some of the other sites like Hiking in Finland, Hikelighter, SectionHiker, Hike it Like it, but I rarely do more than skim them.
I prefer checking blogs for trip reports, technique pieces, "philosophy" pieces, etc. I find these topics more inspiring and interesting. The gear is just a means to an end; I'm more interested in how and where the gear gets used.
Apr 23, 2013 at 3:01 pm #1979820I tend to enjoy Stick's Blog, Hiking in Finland, and occasionally Section Hiker. Have most of them on Facebook so when I see something interesting pop up I take a look. I think there is value in them, as someone who enjoys gear reviews. But totally understand the above comments on why you may not like them. BPL is the first thing I look at just about every morning though :)
One thing I would really like to see are more reviews and blogs popping up in the Southwest. It's one thing to set up a tarp that needs 94 stakes in nice soft ground but what about us down here in the land of hard ground? Would be cool to see some of this stuff reviewed in the desert!
Apr 23, 2013 at 5:04 pm #1979866Sectionhikers blog is the only one I specifically enter the address for as some of his winter articles are very good, I do read other blogs but that's only when I come across them when googling various bits of kit.
Apr 23, 2013 at 5:44 pm #1979883I find the comments about sponsorship interesting and I have been looking at several bloggers I like pick them up. The bloggers disclose this information, but I agree, it colors every review they make going forward.
Apr 23, 2013 at 6:05 pm #1979886Not too interested in gear blogs. It's very rare that I don't skip right over gear posts in search of something else.
I like blogs simply about experience and storytelling far more. With good photos.
Two of my outdoor favorites at the moment:
Joe Grant: Alpine WorksBoth are heavy on great photos that always inspire me to get out, not too heavy on text, and best yet, zero pretentiousness. A very straightforward shared experience.
Joe Grant really kicks my ass. I can't seem to look at anything he posts without feeling like I should be out there, right now.
Apr 23, 2013 at 9:36 pm #1979942Hike it. Like it. is THE only blog that I will check up on specifically for gear reviews, due mostly to the well crafted presentation Jacob D. puts forth with every post.
Bedrock and Paradox is always entertaining. If you're familiar with Dave C., then you know by now that he will chop the hell out whatever piece of gear comes into his possession until it yields to his every command.
Apr 23, 2013 at 10:45 pm #1979962I like outdoorsmagic.com for a strait shot of techy gear nerdery. They seem to have a good understanding of clothing systems, they cover the euro brands like rab, and the writing can actually be pretty fun.
It might irk Dave to have bedrockandparadox.com brought up in this context, but certainly his blog has plenty of useful and interesting gear-related insights. I like his emphasis on 'using' rather than 'having' gear, and how his reviews are often integrated with a broader outdoors philosophy. Bedrockandparadox.com also helped get me psyched on other stuff than just walking with a backpack ;)
coldthistle.com
Is a gear blog for alpinists, but I can think of no better proponent for the importance of good gear than Dane. Returning to ice climbing and skiing after I think about a decade (?) off, Dane brings the perspective of an alpinist who just hopped out of a time machine to discover he's climbing harder, faster and safer, and he knows its not just him, its the gear. For sure, you can happily wear a wool sweater backpacking, but tech bindings, skimo boots, and modern ice tools/screws fundamentally change whats possible in the mountains.Thanks eugene for the hikeitlikeit.com recommendation. I hadn't seen that till now. I like the photos and the 'about' was enough to have me add it to the rss (I will miss google reader when its gone!)
Apr 24, 2013 at 3:16 am #1979990Hi Serge,
Just so folks know outdoorsmagic is more similar to bpl and us free to post.
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