Cooped Up? Get Uncooped.

Splitboards typically refer to boards that are split down the length of the board, turning into two skis for ascending mountains. Dual Snowboards has what you could call a downhill splitboard. The board is split into two across the width, giving you two separate snow skates of sorts. Why would you want two separate boards? Quite frankly, I have no idea. These things look like a twisted ankle or ball-numbing split waiting to happen. I'd...

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The holidays are over. The family is back home (thankfully). The leftovers are tucked neatly in the way back of the fridge (better get rid of those). Once again, it's officially life as we know it. One problem: All the fanfare, the twinkling lights, the booze, the wrapping paper ... and you still haven't gotten what you wanted. Hopefully what you did get was a couple of Christmas cards with checks or bills in them,...

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Growing up, the patriarchs of my family made a Christmas tradition of the “big gift." Similar to Ralphie’s father saving the Official Red Ryder carbine-action 200-shot range model air rifle until after all the other presents were accounted for, my grandfather and father would save the biggest gift for last. Sometimes they’d tell me to open a certain gift last; other times they’d hide the gift in a distant corner of house or car, revealing...

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At the summer's Outdoor Retailer, I came across a new piece of gear that is actually more than a century old. The Kelly Kettle was invented in Ireland in the 1890s but is just now making it over to the United States. The kettle is an all-in-one solution for boiling water for cooking and purification. Its double-wall design leaves a hollow center that fuels the flames like a chimney stove. Simply start a fire in...

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For the past several years, I've been looking for the ideal apres ski shoe - essentially a I've warm, waterproof shoe that I could get on and off easily without dunking my foot in cold, muddy ski-parking swamp (I prefer standing outside my hatch when I'm changing in and out of my snowboard gear). I've found it in the Baffin Scott clog after testing a sample last winter. The insulated shoes are rated down -4...

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  Recon Instruments has already revolutionized the way we track vert, distance and other measures on the ski slopes, now it's leaping off the mountain. Recon's new Flight HUD goggles use the sensor and GPS hardware from its ski goggles to provide a direct-to-eye read-out of forward speed, glide ratio and altitude for informational purposes. The system is designed for skydivers, BASE jumpers and wingsuiters. As in its ski system, the information appears on a...

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Ordinarily I don't buy outdoor gear at kitchen supply stores, but the Cuissential SlickBoil looks pretty..well, slick. Like those collapsible cups that some people use for camping and backpacking, only in kettle form, the silicone kettle packs small (2.5 inches thick) and expands into a cooking tool. I'd imagine you'd want to avoid a campfire, but its stainless steel base should be plenty comfortable on a stove. It boils up to 4 cups of water....

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After much of ski country suffered one of the warmest, most disappointing winters on record, hope is on the horizon. The 2012-13 is weeks away, and hopefully it proves a little colder and snowier than winter 2011-12. Because the winter outerwear market, which already seems flush with competitors, is about to get even bigger. Last winter, several outdoor industry staples announced the launch of a new outerwear line, which was just a tad ironic given...

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For me, grilling is a year-round affair. Whether it's a blizzardy, 0-degree night in January or a warm, humid afternoon in June, dinner (and lunch) tastes better when served sizzling and smoking off the grill. There may be no better time than the early fall, though. Mid-summer may be the most popular grill season, but cool sunny days, Saturday and Sunday afternoons filled with football games, and exploding colors make autumn an ideal time to...

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GSI is adding to its already impressive line of alcohol-in-the-wild accessories. The 750-ml Highland Fifth ($9.95) and 275-ml Highland Flask ($5.95) are basically just repackaged Scotch versions of GSI's soft polypropylene wine bottle. The bottles combine with the new Highland Glasses ($7.95 ea) for the perfect pour. Whether you like your whiskey Scotched, bourboned or Caniadianed, you can now enjoy it anywhere, in style. The Highland accessories are part of GSI's 2013 collection.

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