Hitlist

While it’s Top 10 for a lot of newspapers, I’m ready to give you The Hitlist. This The Hitlist has been prepared to give you the gear reviews for the hits and the misses, for my advice and the downright “Don’t take my word for it; you’ll have to try it yourself!”s. Let’s be honest: don’t you watch those movies with bad reviews if you had your mind set to it anyway? I can tell you which of these poor performing beasts to chase down for yourself!

5.10 Daescent Shoes. Here’s what I did with these approach shoes that can also be handy for casual bouldering. I took care of them. I bouldered V5 in them in the gym. Then I tore across the US, Ecuador, Peru, Chile and Argentina with them, hiking, running, sandboarding, sliding, slogging, you name it. All of that, in all sorts of conditions that aren’t in the longevity contract for these shoes (SEE: dirt, snow, rain, combinations thereof). And so I find myself with a less-than-6-month-old pair of shoes, already flapping in the wind. The sides have blown out wings and my toes seem to be pushing to get fins installed. Although I can still wear these shoes as long as I don’t mind getting loose gravel or sand under my feet and thus the sensation that I’m wearing sandals with socks on…I feel a little silly hanging on to this pair of shoes.

BOTTOM LINE: This is a pair of shoes that you might want to give a ride, yourself. However, for my money I’d just as soon buy a pair of Asics Tiger shoes and boulder or do whatever with those, like I did back in the day! They lasted 9-12 months of my beatings.

Osprey Porter Pack. I have taken this pack everywhere with me. It’s been slashed and treated. It kicks butt. If I could change anything about this pack, though, it would be to simplify and toughen its design even more, since that’s what it’s been good for at least for my purposes. I am now finally using it as a climbing bag and rope feeding back and its as if I didn’t just trudge it through 5 countries! Unless you already have whatever you need, I’d suggest this duffle backpack bag for just about any sort of traveling or hauling.

BOTTOM LINE: I would like to work for Osprey’s design team because they are doing awesome work!

Sporknife: This plastic three-in-one utencil convention is cool. It’s a gadget. It’s plastic. It’s cheap. It’s good for easy eating. And it snaps when you push too hard because it’s plastic. So, use for cereal, not for steak.
BOTTOM LINE: In this age of compact convenience, it was bound to be made, and bound to be broken.