Nemo Losi 3P Gear of the Year Award Winner

The Losi 3P is racking up the awards this year. Already a winner in Backpacker Magazine’s eyes and now Outside Magazine’s Gear of the Year pick. It’s a great tent that’s not too expensive and will serve you well while camping. It’s only 5.9 lbs and fits 3 people. It has tons of room and a big vestibule to protect your gear from the elements as well.

Congratulations to Nemo for their continued excellence in designing tents. Their walls have got to be getting full with all the awards their tents are collecting. Keep up the good work.

Written by on April 19th, 2009 with no comments.
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Great Car Rental Company for Outdoor Enthusiasts

I recently came to know about a car rental company here in Salt Lake City. The company is called Western Road Trips. They had a different approach to the game. They rent hybrid and camper vans. The type of cars you can’t typically get from Hertz or Dollar. Those wishing to rough it or take road trips, this is a great alternative. Hotel not needed with the pop up Volkswagen Camper Vans. However if you are just looking to minimize your carbon footprint while driving around you can rent one of their Prius’s or their Honda Elements. Either way they provide a sorely needed alternative to the big chain rental car rentals. I hear they fill up fast for the summer, so if you’re interested call them sooner than later.

They will even pick you up at the airport to give you you’re car. I met the owners and he seems to be very customer service oriented. I would suggest giving it a try for the next camping, climbing, biking or any other type of outdoor road trip in the Mountain West area.

Written by on June 4th, 2008 with no comments.
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Are Nalgene’s Really that Bad?

I’ve heard a lot lately about Plastic Nalgene bottles leach bisphenol-A into whatever you are drinking. While Nalgene bottles are supposed to be medical grade there is a possibility that they do leach BPA. There is some evidence that this occurs. So much so that Nalgene has already said they are pulling all their old bottles off the market and putting out new product that doesn’t contain BPA. In the mean time authorities are suggesting people use Stainless Steel water bottles such as Guyot Designs “The Bottle” or Sigg Bottles.

These bottles are great alternatives. They are a little more expensive so if you lose bottles as much as I do then it could be a problem. Stainless bottles do look very nice but another down side is that you can’t see through them. No more using it as a measuring cup in camp. They also dent if you get too rough with them. The sacrifices we to make to maintain our health I suppose. For now I’ve retired the sticker clad beat up Nalgenes in favor for a nice stainless steel bottle. It does add an air of sophistication to any camping setup. Just be even more aware of hot liquids since steel conducts heat a lot quicker than plastic.

Written by on May 13th, 2008 with no comments.
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Testing Gear at Indian Creek

This weekend Campman took a trip down to the Creek. For those of you who don’t know about Indian Creek, it’s a world climbing destination for those who want to test their crack climbing skills. Known for its perfect splitters I thought it would be a great place to try out Green Gear’s Hand Jammies, Jetboil Group Cooking System, and Edelweiss Liquid Chalk.

When climbing cracks one usually tapes the back of the hands in order to protect them. The idea behind the Hand Jammies is to alleviate the need for taping. Making tape gloves takes time and a little skill to make. The Jammies just slide on and you Velcro them down tight. That’s it you’re done. Not only are they easy to get on but they also have climbing rubber on the back so they are sticker than tape on the rock. All of these peaked my interest so I thought I’d give them a shot. I strapped them on and started up a route that was hands to fingers sized. I noticed from the moment I put them on that they were really stiff and thick compared to my usual tape gloves. In the thin parts of the crack the gloves actually impeded my process. The few hand jams that I did get they were great. I wasn’t impressed on my first attempt with the gloves but I thought I’d give them another shot just to be fair. It was pretty much the same on the next route. The verdict was I was going back to tape. However after reflecting on the Jammies I figured they would be good for a route that was just hand size or rattly hands. Once you get into finger locks or fingers they are pretty bad.

Next on the list was the Jetboil Group Cooking System or GCS. It includes the pot, self lighting stove, and covers for the pot. It was incredibly easy to use. Put on the Jetboil fuel can, bottom stabilizer, pot stabilizer, turn on the gas, and push the lighter. It started right up and I was cooking. I decided to make breakfast burritos that morning. So I tossed in the hash browns, sausage, eggs, and cheese. 15 min later I had a feast. I did notice that the pot got really hot and I had to turn it all the way down. Once all was said and done I don’t think that the this stove is great for cooking dry food such as hash browns, but when I boiled water it was extremely fast. So as a backpacking stove this is great. When car camping I would bring along the dual burner stove and fry pan. Definitely the best backpacking stove I’ve used. It’s extremely simple and works great. The only down side I could see in the backcountry is that I would bring a fresh fuel canister every time to ensure I don’t run out of fuel. So the possibility to collect half full canisters is a likely possibility.

Last but not least was the Edelweiss Liquid Chalk. It comes in a small bottle so I was wondering how long it would last. I tried just a small amount at first, about the size of a quarter in my palm. I spread it around my hands and it dried pretty fast. Once it did my hands were dried out from the alcohol and chalked up. I was pleasantly surprised. This is a great way to get a good base layer when starting for the day or anytime before a route. The bottle should last awhile if you use sparingly. Which is all you need to use it anyways. Definitely worth the pick up for the avid climber.

Written by on March 25th, 2008 with no comments.
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Coaxsher comes out with new products

The boys at Coaxsher have come out with a bunch of new products for the coming year. They have expanded the Wildfire packs and developed some SAR specific packs. The FS-1 Ranger has been upgraded this year as well as the RCP-1 Pro. The new additions include the Transporter Duffel, the FS-1 Spotter, the SR-1 Endevor, and the SR-1 Recon. The SR product line is a modification of the FS lines. While the products are similar there are a few tweaks that make it more suitable for the search and rescue. Of course all the packs are made to be indestructable, but if something happens the lifetime warranty kicks in. This year the there are even colors to choose from. You can pick up the packs in red or black making it easier to accessorize.

Coaxsher has also come out with some new accessories as well. These include a Dual Flagging Tape Dispenser, Water Bottle Attachment, and Medical Case. These will work with existing packs but work best with Coaxsher packs.

Written by on February 18th, 2008 with no comments.
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Wanna be a extreme althlete superstar? Record yourself.

The latest thing to hit the market is video cameras to record your extreme exploits. They typically strap to your helmet or some other adventure accoutrement. They take hours of video and usually are ready to upload right into YouTube. Do you think you’re the next viral internet superstar? Make you can land that huge sponsorship with the backflip of the 60 ft cliff landing switch.

Some of the better models I’ve seen are the GoPro Hero. It isn’t as compact as some of the others but takes decent videos. They have mounts that fit onto helmets, bikes, or paddles. It records into easy to upload formats. Not only that but it is one of the least expensive ones. You can pick one up for around $140.

Another option is the VIO POV cam. It comes in at the high end. The price starts at $750. However it has tons of features that cater to people who are looking for a little higher quality video shoots. You can shoot and then tag the sections you wanna keep. The software manager allows easy sharing. It has a wireless remote so you can easily operate the camera while on the fly. It also has a mini LCD screen so you can watch your exploits immediately after they occur. So you can determine whether the mute grab is sweet enough or you have to do it again with a tail grab.

Bottom line is that you don’t need a big film crew to get some sick shots. Record yourself or your friend with a compact digital video camera.

Written by on January 31st, 2008 with no comments.
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Campman goes to the Outdoor Retailer Show

The week has come to Salt Lake, home of Campman, for most of the Outdoor Industry to show off their wares. The first couple of days were spent mostly walking around trying to take in the overwhelming amount of gear. Right now its the winter market and so most companies are showing off next years fall lines. You can still see what is selling now but the excitement usually revolves around what is the next hot piece of gear. The Gear Junkie did a nice little write up on some of the bigger manufacturers new products. However my goal was to find some smaller companies with some cool new products. Here are the few that caught my eye.

1. Brooks Range Mountaineering Sled
This ingenious little item allows mountaineers, search and rescue, and guides to tow injuries people out on their own skis by making a sled out of them. The compact system folds up extremely small so it easily fits in a packs. Its a great addition especially for professional guides. This company also makes mountaineering tools like their map tool and ski guide reference cards.

2. Hydroid by N2K Corp
They make a little gauge the slips in between you hydrations bladder hose and bite valve in order to let you know how much water you have in your bladder. While you could just stop and take you pack off and look this will let you know without you having stop what you are doing. It will also allocate you reserve so you can keep a steady flow of liquids in you while out and about. Its light and compact so you won’t be inconvenienced by it. It would work great for hiking, biking and skiing. You’ll never have to wonder how much water you have left.

3. Skins Compression Clothing
A new line to the US of performance clothing. A big hit in Australia the company has its sights on the US market. Going up against the likes of Under Armour and 2XU. It supposedly reduces soreness, increases endurance, and increases venous return. The technology is proven and used in the medical field to help with ailments associated with circulation problems. These guys have just modified it for everyday use. I was given a free pair at the show but I haven’t tried them yet. I am still a little hesitant about rocking the spandex again, but next training session I’m putting them on. They have all sorts of sizes and designs depending on your needs.

4. Ground Clothing
These guys are an up and coming brand. We started carrying them about 2 months ago. They have great product design and if you are hardcore about performance apparel then check out their jacket and pant lines. They use eVent in a lot of their jackets, which is more breathable than Gore-Tex. I just got their Extension Shell and its an amazing jacket. It fits nice, looks good, and incredibly breathable. I got a peek at their new designs for next year and they all will have Recco reflectors built in.

Written by on January 25th, 2008 with no comments.
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Campman has expanded its lines again

We are in the process of picking up products from Mountain Hardware, Big Agnes, and The North Face among others. If you have something you really want and don’t see on our site give a shout and we’ll see if we can get it for you. We appreciate input from our customers and usually hook them up with something for their time. So let us know what we can do for you.

Written by on January 8th, 2008 with no comments.
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We keep rolling because now we sell Jetboil and National Geographic Topo Maps

We keep expanding and Jetboil stoves is the latest edition to be added to Campman. Not only that but we also added National Geographic Topo Maps. Now you can find your way to that remote campsite and not have to carry in a heavy stove.

Jetboil has won numerous awards for its intelligent and well made designs. It easily packs and fits into your backpack. Jetboil Stoves boil water incredible fast. It comes in the a Personal Cooking System as well as a Group Cooking System. Jetboil also produces a lot of great accessories for backpacking and their stoves.

Stop by and check’em out.

Written by on December 14th, 2007 with no comments.
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Golite Neve Jacket Review

Since we just started carrying Golite, I figured I should try it out. I first tried the Neve Jacket. It is a performance soft shell jacket. Golite claims it is as bomber as a storm shell with the benefits of a softshell. Initially I just wore it around town to see how it feels. The fleece liner is really comfortable and the jacket fits fairly nicely. The only problem I had with it was the high collar. When the jacket is zipped up the collar can be a little obtrusive due to being a little stiif. This eventually became better when the jacket was broken in.
The jacket is highly breatheable as I found out when I tested it out during some hiking in Europe. Germany in November is quite cold and wet. However the jacket held up against the elements extremely well. The rain and snow beaded up and it performed as well as any storm shell I’ve owned.
The jacket is well thought out and has many nice features. Pit zips for when it gets a little too hot as well as a MP3 player pocket on the inside. Overall the jacket is really nice. The initial fit isn’t great but once its broken in its great.

Written by on November 21st, 2007 with no comments.
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