Every week, we bring you five gear-related stories, from all over, that you won’t want to miss. Here are this week’s highlights:
Tour Divide Winner’s “Bikepacking” Gear List
If you’re not familiar with the Tour Divide, it’s a 2,745-mile, self-supported mountain-bike race from Canada to Mexico. Last month, Josh Kato, a 40-year-old nurse from Washington, set a new course record of 14.5 days, averaging nearly 190 miles per day. Pedaling Nowhere has the rundown of his packing list, ranging from his ultralight camping equipment to his waterproof apparel to what he affectionately dubbed his “butt kit.”
“No, I never weighed the entire kit,” says Kato. “Could I have gone faster with less and or lighter equipment? Possibly but the psychological comfort of having a few extras can go a long way.”
DIY Camp Kitchen Chuck Box
Last month, we highlighted a rad-looking, prefab camp-kitchen setup—yours for just $6,120. If the price tag on that seemed steep to you, REI published step-by-step instructions this week on how to build your very own camp-kitchen box from scratch—using little more than plywood, screws and a few other knick-knacks available at your local hardware store.
*For a few more DIY gear ideas, here’s a shameless plug for a list of 12 cheap running-gear hacks I wrote for Trail Runner magazine this week.
First Peek at Jetboil’s 2016 Camp Stove
Gear Junkie got their hands on Jetboil’s yet-to-be-released Genesis Base Camp Stove, and they are stoked. The two-burner stove weighs in just under 10 pounds, runs on a propane cylinder and each burner puts out 10,000 BTUs—“and they simmer like almost no other stove we’ve tested,” reports Gear Junkie. “This thing has a better simmer than my gas stove at home.”
The $250 stove will be available in January 2016.
A Brief History of the Bicycle
This week, The New York Times detailed the history of bicycling in America—opening with Mark Twain’s first attempt to ride a bicycle in 1884. Inspired by a new exhibit at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History, the article examines how “the impact of the bicycle on the nation’s industrial, cultural, emotional and even moral landscape has been deep and long lasting.
“In addition to air-filled rubber tires, we can thank the bicycle for essential technologies like ball bearings, originally devised to reduce friction in the bicycle’s axle and steering column; for wire spokes and wire spinning generally; for differential gears that allow connected wheels to spin at different speeds.”
28 New Fishing Rods for 2016
Wired2Fish just published an extensive preview—including photos, brief descriptions and some pricing assessments—of fishing rods that will debut next year. Among those in the roundup are new offerings from companies like Lew, Daiwa, Abu, Fenwick, and Forrest Wood Cup champion Anthony Gagliardi’s new venture, Level Rods.
