Gear Review: Artisana Raw Organic Nut Butters

Artisana Nut Butters Line

Peanut butter is a staple for many outdoor enthusiasts. As a backpacker and having hiked long distances, I have tried to embrace the love/hate relationship with peanut butter, love the calories, hate the container weight, and get sick of the taste. So I was really excited to see that Artisana not only carries nut butters in individual serving sizes, but they have a whopping 10 different flavors of nut butters to chose from. I am now in nut butter heaven and don’t have to put up with plain peanut butter again.

Gear Review: Bridgford Ready to Eat Sandwiches

Bridgford Ready to Eat Sandwich

One question that perplexes a lot of outdoor enthusiast is what to eat when in the backcountry. Almost everyone I ask what they eat for breakfast, lunch or dinner all have completely different answers. I admit it’s hard to pack in food that tastes as good in the backcountry as it does in the front country.

Gear Review: Sea to Summit Delta Series Dishes

Delta Series Plate and Insul-Mug

I generally hate to use my pot to cook food in and eat from. I would rather cook in a freezer bag or the bag the food comes in just to avoid the messy pot clean-up. The Delta Plate from Sea to Summit is actually great for eating out of both from a clean up point of view and not getting my fingers dirty on the food bag.

Gear Review: Mountain House Wraps!

Buffalo Style Chicken

Mountain House has long been a main player when it comes to dehydrated meals. When they came out with their “Wraps” line we were excited to try them out. With the Mountain House Wraps, Mountain House provides dehydrated filling which needs to be reconstituted with water. Warm treated water or boiling water are preferred of course. The fillings can be eaten alone as a meal or added to user-provided tortillas to make trail wraps.

Gear Review: Clif Crunch Bars

Clif Bars have long been a staple in the outdoor industry.  As an avid fan I was excited to hear of them developing a new product called Clif Crunch Bars which are all-natural granola bars.  The bars hit markets this year in four introductory flavors of: Chocolate Chip, Peanut Butter, Honey Oat and White Chocolate Macadamia.  Clif Crunch Bars are 70% organic, contain between 4-5 grams of protein and provide a good source of fiber and organic whole grains.

Gear Review: GU Chomps

We play hard on the trails to put our gear through the test.  In order to play hard we need to keep our bodies fueled.  Having something to replenish our electrolytes and fuel our body is definitely a plus on our trips.  Consuming GU Chomps are a great tasting way to satisfy our hunger and help maintain proper electrolyte balance.

GU Chomps are a gummy chew containing electrolytes, vitamins C and E, and amino acids.  Each package of Chomps comes with eight Chomps inside which amounts to two servings of 90 calories each.  Each serving contains 100% of the daily recommended serving of both Vitamins E and C.  There are currently four flavors available; blueberry-pomegranate, orange, cranberry-apple and strawberry.  GU is currently introducing a new watermelon flavor.  Cranberry-apple and strawberry both contain caffeine while the others are caffeine-free.  According to the packaging, each package will fuel 1 1/2 to 2 hours of activity.

Gear Review: Evernew Ti DX Stove System

The Evernew Ti DX stove system is a new multi-fuel stove system from Evernew made from titanium.  The system is composed of 4 pieces; an alcohol stove, upper outer ring, lower inner ring and performance plate.  The pieces stack nicely together forming a compact bundle that stays together.  There are no moving parts but the four components can be stacked together in differing configurations depending on type of fuel used and cooking technique.  The system can support the use of solid fuel, such as Esbit, wood, or tea candles and liquid fuel, such as alcohol.