Secondly, if you compete in any outdoor events this coming year (cycling, trail running, triathlon, ultra, trail clean up events) demand that the race directors either eliminate bottled water from their race or that they become 100% committed to recycling every last bottle that is distributed. Get yourself a Klean Kanteen and refill it with a water filter or with water from the tap - GASP! - Believe it or not tap water quite often is the same quality of many bottled water brands. Here's my challenge to you for 2008:įirst, stop buying bottled water, especially for camping, climbing, skiing and other outdoor adventures. I doubt that I've drank more than 15 bottles of water this past year but I still feel responsible to do my part. The article contained some disturbing data about our love affair with bottled water but the one statistic that has stuck with me the most since reading it was this (in bold below):Īmericans went through about 50 billion plastic water bottles last year, 167 for each person.our recycling rate for PET is only 23%, which means we pitch into landfills 38 billion water bottles a year-more than $1 billion worth of plastic.Which means that of those 167 bottles per person 129 will be tossed. You may have missed the Fast Company cover story a couple months ago that talked about the incredible impact upon the earth that is bottled water.
gets cold during the winters (and you're looking to avoid having their cold hands thrust into your warm parts), I *highly* recommend this jacket. I still keep the old jacket for cold weather climbing, camping, backpacking, etc, and wear my new (smell free!) one around town. I'm now on my second jacket - the first held up to four years of repeated abuse and my only complaint is that it now smells distinctly manky despite washing attempts (which is my fault and not the jacket's- I would recommend early washing as soon as mank begins to set in). I don't ski in my jacket as it is only water resistant, and it typically ends up being too hot to ski in anyway. The pockets (on both men's and women's jackets) and collar (women's only) are lined with soft fleece. The hood is really nice for those extra cold days or nights at camp, and there are pull cords in all the right places to reduce the space between you and the jacket- effectively keeping out drafts. The zipper is two way, so you can unzip the bottom to get at your belay loop and device much easier.
I find the jacket to be excellent for cold winter belays. The sub zero is extremely warm (the baffles are not sewn through- and it makes a difference!). It wasn't until the next Christmas when I received a Mountain Hardwear Sub Zero jacket that I was finally able to enjoy winter just as much as fall and spring (the jury is still out on Utah summers).
My first jacket wasn't anything special- I bought it at a gear swap, and it did okay. That first winter was pretty miserable until I finally gave up and accepted that wearing two sweatshirts at a time simply was not cutting it. As a grad student, I didn't exactly have a large budget for new clothing and gear, so I started out trying to make do with what I had. I moved to Salt Lake from South Texas with a few sweatshirts and absolutely nothing in the way of jackets. (If anyone has hints or suggestions I would truly appreciate the advice.) For me, if there is a single piece of gear that I have appreciated most- it is my Mountain Hardwear Sub Zero Hooded jacket. There is a preponderance of gear out there, and sometimes it's difficult to identify the "best of the best". As they say, "Christmas is just around the corner", and I imagine that more than a few of the people reading this blog are trying to come up with the perfect "gear gift" for that special someone.