Dirt Sweat and Gears is the big mountain biking event in the Southeast US each year. And the Outdoorzy team will be in attendance. It will be happening the first weekend in May, and we have it marked on the calendar and we can’t wait to get down there and have some fun. There will be musical performances, tons of free swag (including bike give-aways), lots of outdoor loving people, oh yeah… and lots of mountain bike races!
Outdoorzy will be giving away loads of gift cards to the Outdoorzy Store so you can load up on cycling gear and any other fun summer outdoor gear and clothing you need. Not to mention lots of other gear and freebies. Just drop by our tent and check us out. It won’t be hard to find us, we’ll be the ones with the big Outdoorzy.com banner. There will be plenty of other vendors there as well.
If you’re looking for something to do that weekend and you’re within driving distance come on up and check out all the excitement in Fayetteville Tennessee.
If you’re not familiar with Parkour, it’s the art of acrobatic street jumping/climbing/life-risking. Most of the time it’s just jumping around, flipping, and rolling. But sometimes the people performing the stunts take on a little more risk than I like to see. Check this guy out… My palms are still sweaty.
Your feet are perhaps the most important body part, besides your brain, when it comes to hiking, backpacking, cycling, and a number of other outdoor sports. If you mistreat them, they’ll pay you back tenfold in pain. Keeping your feet dry and blister free will help you put many more miles down each time you go out.
WigWam has been making socks since 1905. So trusting that they know what they’re doing wasn’t a problem for me. But I am a creature of habit. Although I love trying new things, if I find something that works well, I usually stick with it. WigWam sent me a few pair of their new line of socks to check out, and I went into the test thinking “Well they’re probably good, but I know what socks I like and these probably aren’t as good.” Well I have been known to be wrong, although rarely. Okay, maybe a bit more than rarely…
I first tested the Merino/Silk Scout. For a company that is over 100 years old, they have kept up with technology well. The Scout is a great sock. It combines traditional Merino Wool with Silk, Coolmax, Lycra, and Nylon to form a very breathable, lightweight sock. It wicked sweat well and wasn’t wet after I took my shoe off later in the day. This sock is perfect for warmer weather hiking and cycling. I used it for cycling and was happy with the results.
After checking their website out I realized that WigWam has a wide variety of socks to choose from, including an “Adventure” category, which this sock fits into. I found the sock priced at $12 on Amazon. Normally, other socks in this category, at this quality level, are going to cost you much more. This is a great sock at a great price. I think I might add a few more pair to my wardrobe.
It’s just about here… warm days where you can spend all day on the creek or on the lake. Here are just a few deals we found on fishing gear at the Outdoorzy Store for our fisherman..
In an earlier post about national fly fishing communities, I mentioned FFF, other organization is Trout Unlimited. Trout Unlimited’s mission is to conserve, protect and restore North America’s coldwater fisheries and their watersheds. To date, TU has more than 150,000 members in about 400 chapters from Maine to Montana to Alaska.
In July 2009, TU will celebrate the anniversary of TU’s founding from the banks of the Au Sable River near Grayling, Michigan. From the beginning, TU was guided by the principle that if we “take care of the fish, then the fishing will take care of itself.” And that principle was grounded in science.
The Nashville local chapter of TU, Cumberland Chapter, has monthly meetings with guest speakers covering different topics on fly fishing and/or conservation of trout fisheries. As a member, you receive a monthly newsletter from the local chapter and four times a year, the national organization sends out a magazine called Trout. Trout provides information on conservation of fishery habitats and general information on fly fishing.
“From its hundreds of local stream restoration projects, to helping lead the way to remove the Edwards Dam on the Kennebec River in Maine, to compelling Congress to strengthen the Clean Water Act, TU has a strong 50 year track record of conservation achievements. Perhaps TU’s greatest strength is that it works at multiple levels of society and government to achieve its mission. From the landowner on the stream bank, to the state fisheries agency, to the Halls of Congress, TU is working to achieve its vision.”
This is a question we should all be asking ourselves as we prepare for the upcoming warm weather and all the outdoor fun we’re going to be having. Fist Aid Kits are perhaps the most important piece of gear you’ll take with you into the wilderness.
So what do you need inside? This really all depends on which outdoor activities you’ll be partaking in. Different activities will have different sets of hazards. If you are fishing, you may need to bring along first-aid for cuts or pricks from those hooks. If you are camping you may want to be sure you have everything you need to treat burns since you’ll most likely have a fire and be cooking. Backpacking and hiking often see twisted ankles. And so on…
If you already have a First Aid Kit, now may be the time to pull it out and restock. You can replace bandages alcohol pads and ointments you depleted last year. You will also need to check the expiration dates on any medications.
Here are some excellent First Aid Kits, ranging from basic needs (lightweight) to more advanced kits.
The guys from AEG, who brought you Trout Bum Diaries: Patagonia and Trout Bum Diaries II: Kiwi Camo, are back. For two months the guys travel to five rivers that potentially no other fisherman has floated down in search of a mysterious fish. Their travels in this fly fishing adventure movie take them into inner Mongolia by horse, camel, Russian military vans, and hiking boot in search of the taimen, also known to Mongolians as River Wolf.
Taimen is the largest fish species in the salmon family. In the natural environment, without pressure, taimen can grow in excess of five feet in length and weight as much as 75 pounds. The have eyes that are centered more towards the front of the head which allows them to see prey below and above the water. This allows them to find and eat other fish species as well as mice, prairie dogs, and small water fowl and with rows and rows of teeth, they have no problem taking on that task.
At first they guys have a hard time locating taimen. What does taimen water look like? Where do they hold up in the river? These are the questions the guys have to answer during their 14 to 20 km river floats. In the beginning, the crew is catching lenok, which is the Mongolian equivalent to trout. The crew tried a multitude of flies: tungsten head streamers, top water streamers, giant grasshoppers, and so on, but all they could catch was lenok. It wasn’t until one guy had on a lenok and after releasing the fish back to the river, a giant taimen come out of nowhere and ate the fish. That is when the guys realize that they were not fishing flies that were big enough.
The movie has some spectacular views of the mountains and rivers of Mongolia as well as plenty fly fishing footage. The guys spend their nights sleeping in tents or on the ground, drinking beer, tying flies, and fly fishing for the mysterious River Wolf and once again the deliver a great fly fishing adventure movie. I can’t wait until the next movie.
Tour De Nez is a six day cycling festival featuring anything that has to do with 2 wheeled motion. (not related to 3 wheel motion)
The festival takes place in Truckee, Ca. This is a new venue for the 16th annual event, which is scheduled for June 17-22nd. So if you’re in the area and want to see what’s up in the cycling community, it sounds like this is your place. It is being hosted by Northstar Resort which looks like a pretty sweet place. (hint-hint Nez… if you want a reporter on the scene)
“Our partnership with Northstar™ Resort has enabled us to take the Tour to a new level,” explains Tim Healion, Tour de Nez Supreme Commander. “We will be able to really showcase the area as a destination for cyclists and people who enjoy the outdoors.”Healion said, “With the Tour largely moving to Lake Tahoe, everyone from the top domestic pro teams to cycling enthusiasts and families looking for a fun day outdoors will find Northstar Resort’s location and the Tour’s activities to be the best ever.”
I am your typical weekend warrior. I work all week to play hard on the weekend. I used to do a lot of backpacking, but now
I am the fly fishing river warrior. The one thing that has not changed with the switch from backpacking to fly fishing / kayaking is restroom breaks. For guys most of the time it is easy, but there are those instances when guys and gals are looking for that tree to hunker down by.
Last month I received The Outhouse from Sea To Summit for review. Simply put, The Outhouse is waterproof dry bag for toilet paper. The Outhouse retails for about $14.95, which makes this very affordable, so you can throw away that old zip lock bag. The bag is made of rip-stop nylon with an interior material to prevent water coming through the bag. Attached to the top of the bag is a cord that allows the user to hang the bag near the “dumping” ground or around your neck.
Inside the bag there nylon tubing that has a hard insert that the toilet paper slides into that is similar to a home toilet paper dispenser which makes it easy to pull off the TP when needed. Plus this allows the bag to stay open while hanging and the TP will not fall out of the bag and roll away from the user, which could create an awkward moment for a fellow hiker. At the bottom of the bag, there is a closure similar to all dry bags; a nylon buckle and hard plastic piece to turn over and over to seal the bag.
I tested this product in shower to see how it would withstand a “rain shower”. I mistakenly used a double roll of TP, which made the bag hard to seal and after the shower, water was inside the bag and the TP was slightly wet. After realizing my mistake, I replaced the double roll with a single roll and The Outhouse perform exceptionally well in the “rain shower”. I tested the The Outhouse hanging while open and sealed tight. The Outhouse is now a permanent fixture in the boat bag.
The Outhouse would work great on multiple night backcountry trips where a “restroom” is established. You can leave The Outhouse in the elements and not have to worry about water ruining the precious paper.
I used to hate coffee. I loved the smell, but just couldn’t understand how people drank it like it was going out of style. Enter marriage. My wife absolutetly loves her java. So I began experimenting with foo-foo coffee at Charbucks and other coffee shops. Now I actually like coffee, and drink it most days. Granted, it is about 20% sugar and cream when I partake.
So I’m planning a solo backpacking trip for a week this summer and got to thinking, can I have coffee? Is there such a thing as ultralight coffee? After a little research I found that there are several methods for camp coffee. These include bringing a small percolator, using brewing bags, or making cowboy coffee. The percolator isn’t exactly ultralight. I read some bad reviews on the brewing bags, saying they were pretty crappy when it comes to taste. Then cowboy coffee is where you bring some water to a boil, drop your grounds in, wait til they settle, and try not to get a mouth full of sludge toward the end. This isn’t exactly what I had in mind.
So I went into my kitchen and started playing. The solution I came up with worked pretty well. I’m sure this has been done plenty of times before, but I didn’t find anything about this method, so I’ll just pretend like I’m the first person to think of this.
Step 1 - Put your coffee grounds into a coffee filter.
Step 2 - Place the filter into the top of the bottle.
Step 3 - While holding the filter in place just inside the bottle, slip the sipper into the opening to secure the bag.
Step 4 - Slightly tilt the sipper so the drinking side is lower (causes a slide for the hot water to fall down)
Step 5 - Slowly pour your boiled water into the bottle. It will drip down over the grounds making the coffee.
Okay, so this isn’t rocket science. And BlowSnow will most likely point out that I’m nowhere as great as his hero Eli Whitney. But, this is an effective way to make coffee and the only extra items you probably wouldn’t have had with you in the first place are the filter and coffee. Weighing in at practically nothing.
Just be sure to put the sipper in snuggly. If it falls… you get cowboy coffee anyway.
The festival takes place in Truckee, Ca. This is a new venue for the 16th annual event, which is scheduled for June 17-22nd. So if you’re in the area and want to see what’s up in the cycling community, it sounds like this is your place. It is being hosted by 
