CK N. from United States, NH Public Profile

The one pair I owned of these was 10+ years old, utterly faded, but without a loose thread, lining not stretched, waistband still solid elastic, great quality shorts. These new pair are just about exactly as good, which is a great surprise (they use a flat rather than round drawstring.) Worth the $$ you pay.

Different strokes, I like these 5" for hiking as they allow free leg movement. Only qualm is that the very durable elastic waistband can seem to be a little bit too thick under your backpack. A+ stuff.

I just spent almost half an hour on the phone with a SOTO rep who called me from Oregon, after I wrote challenging him that his stove does not get a cold can to burn, as implied in the ad. He lost the debate, not that physics is debatable.

There is no free lunch in physics! You get the pressure in the can, that is all. There is no pump, there is nothing to ADD pressure.

Nice unit, great price. Do not believe the hype. On their site they use an ice water bath, I noted to the rep that that would warm up a can in many situations, he fell rather silent ...

This is one of the better UV tools for water. Criticisms:

1. It does not attend to water on the threads so that must be kept in mind when using. Water on threads is contaminated water!
2. Very often (in NH) a stream is dangerous to reach, with very steep banks and fast water. So, hand dipping is impossible. (This is why filters with long hoses are worthwhile.) And you would in practice have to refill this numerous times, to get 2-3qts to fill your water supply between sources. So you have to risk dealing with the dangerous water a number of times.
3. Sounds odd, but the battery life is too long. The choice of long life makes the unit heavier than needed. I would buy a lighter weight hiker version. Weight is everything, it's why you carry a water purifier rather than lots of water.

These three criticisms are just opportunities for improving this solid product. a loop for attaching a cord for dipping would be great but it has to be foolproof and strong. A lighter day hiker version would be great. The threads you just pay attention to and wipe dry.

I called the Salomon rep (in Barcelona Spain as it turned out) to talk to him about this product. We chatted and he eventually went into his showroom when I asked if there are laces under the zip (there are, very thin.) His description, product in hand, was; "It's not really a boot, more like an approach shoe." He also said people report the ankle area acquiring a heavy wrinkle and becoming uncomfortable. Great service reps at Salomon!

I wanted to know how one goes about attaching a gator. I asked here and got a nonsense reply in my email; "It does have laces to attach a gator." No kidding, that's why I asked! Anyway many boots have a "D" ring attached at the toe. No matter, it's not a boot!

I bought one and sent it back, it's a flawed design.

1. It's not waterproof! Read thru-hiker recommendations online: everyone starts with one of these, then it fails in the rain. I called the factory, they do not guarantee it against being dunked! How crazy is that?
2. You can't use it without spreading contaminated water everywhere by virtue of the fact that it does not seal the bottle while you stir. I saw seals for sale somewhere, who needs the hassle?
3. The battery box door is not well made or well designed.

Great for tourists in hotels!

Super goggles, do it all, great price at the time!

These are gorgeous crampons. But they won't fit for instance a Vasque Snowblime flexible winter boot, which have non-Vibram soles with a lot of "rocker" (curve) and big fat heels and large front "bumper." They are both too narrow and too short.

They are maxed out (last hole) & over stressed for length, addressing an old school leather, Euro size 44 (US 10.5) Vibram soled boot, so no they do not fit up to Euro 46 as advertised. Hated to, but I sent them back.

If you have any sort of traditional Vibram soled boot under size 10.5, these are fine. On a 10.5 they are overstressed as the boot flexes.