Polarized sunglasses are required to not smash into anything, see the fish, and not wrap lures around all the logs. This is a problem for me. I prefer to wear photochromic sunglasses, lenses that change tint with the light.

The Smith Guide’s Choice sunglasses are polarized, photochromic and bump colors and definition with their ChromaPop tech. they have wide lenses and templates for better coverage, anti-slip nose and template pads and Italian spring hinges.

This frame has other lenses as well in blue, green, brown, black around 12-14% VLT (Visual Light Transmission) or yellow with 30% VLT as well.

Details

ChromaPop

One of the main features of many Smith sunglasses is their ChromaPop technology in the lenses. It’s supposed to make colors show up clearer with more definition. Does it work?

Smith says, “The eye has trouble distinguishing colors where the blue and green as well as the green and red wavelengths cross over.”

“ChromaPop filters these crossovers, allowing for greater definition, natural color, and clarity.”

When I first put the Guide’s Choice on I noticed a huge improvement in the color and definition of everything. Greens and blues are a lot of what I look at being outside on the water or in the woods and they are all a bit more saturated. It’s still natural color just a little ‘more’ of it. Green’s are greener, blues are bluer.

It’s not like look at an HDR photo thought, with the colors all pushed to the max. It’s just a slight increase but a good one.

Smith tunes the ChromaPop to the type of environment the lenses will be used in. Snowboard goggles will be used on the snow, with some rock and trees around. Biking glasses are in the trees with lots of green and brown. Fishing glasses are on the water with a lot of blue and bright sun.

For being on the water and fishing these water tuned lenses let you see through the water better because of the polarization but they also help separate the water colors from other things. Logs, vegetation, and most importantly, fish are more defined and easier to see under the water.

Polarized + Photochromic = Polarchromic

Polarized sunglasses reduce glare. This can be reflected light off the surface of the water, off wet vegetation, or the road when it rains.

Polarization is required on the water. There’s just no other way to see properly. If there’s too much glare, that’ll be reduced. If you need to see through the water for obstacles or fish, they help so much with that too.

But most polarized lenses are dark. They filter out a lot of glare and a lot of light. This is great in the middle of a bright sunny day.

When it’s cloudy or you’re on the water at sunrise or sunset, it’s not as bright. There are some sunglasses out there that have lighter lenses but are still polarized. I’m not fond of carrying around extra gear. I’d rather sunglasses that can go from sunrise to sunset.

Enter Photochromic lenses.

Photochromic lenses tint automatically when the light is brighter. The change in tint happens in only a couple of seconds and it’s very smooth. I never notice it on the Guide’s Choice.

The tint change on the Guide’s Choice goes from category 2 to 3 (11-20% VLT). Categories in sunglasses goes from 0 to 4. 0 being completely clear up to 4 for glacier travel, open water, and too dark for driving. 2 is perfect for overcast days or under cover in the trees and 3 is great for brighter sun and out on the water. I find I rarely need cat 4 as it’s quite dark.

I would love to see a version of these that tint cat 1 to 3. Cat 1 is great for dark, dusk and darker days. It would really make these all day, every day sunglasses. 2 to 3 still handles all but those darker times of day.

After wearing photochromic sunglasses, I can’t go back. Pair that with polarization and they are the ultimate lens.

Leash

I prefer my sunglasses on my face at all times. They are the most secure there and actually serving their pupose to protect my eyes and see better. But there are just always times when they need to come off. All but the tightest frames have always fallen off my head if I forget their there and move too fast. Leashes just don’t work well with beards.

The Guides’ Choice comes with an integrated leash that’s removable. It’s made from thin, line wire, I think made out of plastic. The cord is quite stiff so it easy to loop around your head.

The temple pads that are built into the leash are tough to get back into the glasses. I like that their tight so they’ll stay in place. They’re aren’t the easiest to take on and off though. I used pliers to get the other pads out and the leash attached.

Fit

Smith says the Guide’s Choice is a Medium-Large fit with Medium-Larges lenses. This seems accurate to me. I love the large lenses with lots of coverage. I’ve got a good size noggin and they were on the wide side. I like my sunglasses quite snug so they stay in place. With the glass lenses they are slightly heavier than plastic lenses.

The spring hinges feel really good. They expand slightly sliding them on but aren’t too tight. They feel solid and tight at the end of the opening range.

The nose and temple pads are a Megol rubbery plastic. They are grippy and keep things in place well. I find they slide down a little on my nose when I’m sweating a lot but I think if the arms were slightly tighter with my head they’d be perfect.

Conclusion

The Smith Guide’s Choice are one of the best sunglasses you can get for fishing, and really just wearing all the time. The price is a far cry from the plastic gas station sunglasses but the quality and technology in the lenses certainly warrants a higher price tag. Having polarization and photochromic lenses is very rare and difficult to do. The ChromaPop color puts Smith sunglasses into a class of their own.

Highly recommended.

MEC has the Blue Polarized ChromaPop Lenses for $274 CAD (not PolarChromic)

Corbett’s Ski has the Grey Polarized ChromaPop Lenses for $179 CAD (not PolarChromic)

SkiWest has the Brown or Grey Polarzied ChromaPoop Lenses for $274 CAD (not PolarChromic)

More Photos

The post Smith Guide’s Choice Sunglasses Review first appeared on Pack & Trail.

And now I can’t get enough of using the pedals. I’m addicted.

It’s not like I haven’t given the paddle a fair chance. I have a 16 foot Necky in the garage with a good old Werner paddle. I’ve used it a lot but it just requires, you know, paddling.

Old Town knows their canoes and kayaks. They’ve been making them since 1868. The pedal powered versions are a more recent product and a welcome addition.

The Topwater PDL 106 kayak is a 10’6” sit-on-top kayak with a pedal drive aimed at fishing but can be used for any kind of flat water kayaking.

First some of the specs and then we’ll get into what drives this thing. (Check the price at REI.)

Specs

• 10’6” long, 36” wide
• PDL pedal drive
• Stable DoubleU hull
• Single Layer Polyethylene construction
• ElementAir seat
• 2 rod holders
• Universal transducer mounting system
• EVA foam deck pads
• Bow and seat hatches
• 45 kg (100 pounds)
• 204 kg (450 pound) capacity (including the boat)
• $1,999 US

Pedal power

The star of the show is the PDL drive that you pedal with your feet. 2 pedals drive a propeller under the boat with the rudder for steering. It’s easy to pedal forwards to go forwards and backwards to go backwards.

The PDL drive is removable for transport and can swing up into the boat if you’re shallow water. This does mean there’s a big open hole in your boat if the prop is up. The inside of the boat is sealed and extremely bouyant but you can end up with a little water in the bottom of the boat if you launch with the prop up. You can stay dry by launching from a dock with the prop down the whole time.

It’s helpful to swing the prop up when you launch but also when you’re in very shallow streams or tidal areas. The depth of the boat to the bottom of the prop is about 16”. A nice spot to paddle not far from my house passes in between 2 islands and at low tide it can be dry. I’ve padded through with 6 inches of water with the prop up. Even hopped in to grab a crab to cook up on the beach!

A small dry storage in the base of the drive is a great place to store keys, wallet and phones. It’s big enough to hold small tackle boxes as well. The air in it also doubles as a life preserver for the drive if it happens to go overboard. 2 clamps hold the drive bar in place so unless, you’ve got it completely removed, it’ll never fall off.

While you’re pedaling for propulsion, steering is done with the rudder and a small knob to the left of the chair. The drive doesn’t turn itself, so you have to be moving to steer. A lever to the right of the chair moves the rudder in and out of the water. Don’t forget to pull up your rudder when you hit shore!

One benefit of the pedal drive is that pedaling uses your leg muscles which can go for much longer than your arms can. I find I can putter along at a steady pace with my legs much easier than paddling.

The other benefit is that your hands are free to fish, take photos or drink your coffee. Your legs are doing all the work.

Something to note and really comes down to personal preference is the pedals go around in a circle like bike pedals. Other pedal drives like the Hobie Mirage drives, are pushed forward and back.

Stable, DoubleU hull

The PDL 106 is 10’6” long and 36” wide. Double U shape to the hull and the 36” width makes it extremely stable. It’s easy to stand and fish or get something out of storage behind the seat.

I spend a lot of time on stand up paddleboards that are as wide or wider than this board but still find I have to mind my balance while standing and moving around. I don’t even have to think about it on the Topwater. It’s like standing on a dock.

I’ve had 2 kids on the boat with me and even with them moving around, hardly had to think about stability. It would take a very concerted effort to flip it.

The only downside to the DoubleU shape of the hull is most kayak carts don’t work well with it. I have a Pelican folding cart with large wheels and the frame of it fits right into the indent of the hull putting the wheels on the hull. With the wheels on the hull, they ain’t spinning at all when you pull the boat. I’ve added enough a few inches of padding to the cart so the frame holds the boat without touching the tires. Another option would be to extend the frame so it holds the ‘pontoons’ of either side of the boat and keeps it off the tires.

Very durable

The rotomolded polyethylene the Topwater is made from is extremely durable. I try to use the kayak cart as much as possible but if I forgotten it or decided not to bring it, I’ve had to drag it on rocks and barnacles. It scrapes the bottom a bit but the plastic is so thick, I don’t even worry about it. Hitting a rock or log while pedalling doesn’t even scratch it.

Hitting the prop is another story. It’s a sturdy setup with the leg of the prop protecting the prop for the most part. The leg extend down to the bottom of the prop as well. If a large object were to catch the prop while it was spinning you may have some issues. I try to be careful when I’m in shallower water or see anything submerged.

Fishing

The Topwater is a fishing machine. It’s been built to hunt those keepers through any conditions and water.

2 rod holders right behind the seat are easy to access and hold most rods. Track mounts in front of both sides of the seat can mount RAM or Scotty track mounts and hold 2 or 3 mounts each.

A transducer mount is tucked up into the keep in front of the PDL drive. It’s set into the hull a bit so it’s out of way when you pull up to shore or hit something hallow.

Storage behind the seat is a perfect size for fishing crates with an included bungee to secure the whole deal.

My early version of the PDL included a handle to one side of the rudder but later versions have the handles under the stern which would make it easier to balance while carrying. This allows for space for an anchor mount to to the left of the rudder as well.

The EVA foam pads where you stand are comfortable and grippy. The seat can slide back easily so you have tons of room for standing and casting. And, as I mentioned above, the whole thing is ridiculously stable so you can focus on fishing and not staying upright.

Seat

The ElementAir seat is covered with a thin mesh and is quite comfortable. The mesh is a bit loose on mine so I can feel the back bar of the seat at the bottom. Not a deal breaker but would be better if the mesh was a touch tighter. There is a velcro adjustment to make it looser or tighter but even with it on the tightest setting I can still feel it a bit. I will be adding a bit of padding there for the longer days paddling.

When you’ve hit shore for lunch the seat can be taken off and put on the ground. The back of the seat is right on the ground though so it needs to be something comfortable and dry to sit on. It would be nice for the seat to be raised a little at the back or have legs to flip out so you can use it on the beach better.

I have my seat at the closest setting it can go to the pedals. I’m 5’7” and have a 30 inch inseam so I wouldn’t recommend using with shorter legs that that. There’s about 12-14 inches adjustment longer than that so there’s plenty of room for people with longer legs.

Storage

For being only 10’6” long the Topwater has a good amount of storage.

A drink holder beside the seat and 2 small side pockets beside the footpads.

The rear area behind the seat has bungees over plenty of room for waterproof duffels or fishing crates. Getting to the gear in the back isn’t too bad in calm water, the seat can fold down and you have full access to your gear back there.

A large hatch in the bow can hold 2 or 3 dry bags worth of gear. Storage runs down both sides of the boat so longer rods can fit inside as long as there’s nothing blocking the hatch. A smaller hatch opening right behind the seat gets access to the same area inside the boat.

One of the issues with small items in the boat is they can go missing if they’re contained within a larger container or dry bag. I lost a whole Helinox Chair Zero in the hull for a couple months and just recently found it. Some hanging organizers for these spaces would be very nice.

A small compartment in the PDL drive right in between the footpads can hold a phone, wallet and small tackle box with no issues. It’s watertight as well in case some splashes come over the side.

Other versions

There are multiple other versions to the Topwater. There is the regular non pedal version, a 120 (12 feet long) and a Sportsman PDL 106. The Sportsman has better handles on the stern and an upgraded seat.

Conclusion

I’ve spent many days on the water with the Topwater PDL 106 fishing, exploring, and hauling gear around to go freediving. I’ve dragged it over rocky beaches, shoved it up onto the top rack of my SUV and loaded it up with multiple people.

For a roto-molded pedal drive kayak, I highly recommend it. There are lighter types of boats out there which are inflatable (and have their own downsides). The weight can be an issue if you’re trying to put it on the top of your car but if you have 2 people paddling or a wheeled kayak cart then it’s not really a problem.

I really like the durability of the Topwater and not having to worry about the bottom of the boat. While you do have to pay attention to what you’re paddling around because of the propeller, I’ve still run into numerous sticks and logs and the keel has protected it so far.

By far the best part is the pedal drive and being able to pedal for hours, hands free anywhere you need to go. I makes fishing and taking photos easier. Cruising longer distances is easier with the bigger muscles in your legs compared to your arms.

Definitely give the Topwater PDL 106 a try if you can.

Check the price at REI.

Or Check out the Topwater PDL 106 on the Old Town Website

The post Old Town Topwater PDL 106 Kayak Review first appeared on Pack & Trail.

Then a slow song came on. Everything slowed down. I forgot about the beautiful trees and water and grass. All I could think about was how this new song was really not the right tempo. My groove was gone.I reached for my left upper arm. My music-playing phone wasn’t there because it feels too big and heavy on my arm.

I reached for my jacket pocket. My phone wasn’t there either because it bounces around too much when I run.

I reach for my shorts pocket. My phone wasn’t there either because it pulls my headphones out of my ears when it’s in my shorts pockets. Nothing frustrates me more than having my headphones ripped from my ears.

I realized my phone was in my backpack playing away. To get at it I had to stop unclip the waist strap, unclip the chest strap, pull my bag off the same side as my headphones go into the top pouch, open the top pouch of the bag, and change the song. To get running again, I have to reverse the process. Every time I hit a song I want to change, or take a photo, or send a message, I have to go through this huge process to get my phone out and do something. I wanted a better way to carry my phone.My backpack was a long process to get at my phone.

Waterproof SpiBelt

Armbands are tight and uncomfortable and heavy with a large phone attached to your arm.Any pockets don’t provide enough support. My phone bounces around like crazy, changing music, pressing buttons or pulling the headphone cords out.A quick look around online and I found the perfect solution to my problem. Obviously someone else had the same problem.

The SpiBelt

SpiBelts are small pouches made of stretchy material that can hold phones, ipods or keys while you run. They stretch to hold a considerable amount of stuff. I tend to only put my phone and keys in it when I run. Because of the stretch, it keeps things in place whether you have a tiny iPod Nano inside or a giant smartphone. I haven’t done a running race with them yet but I think they would be ideal for holding gels on a run.

Easy access to your stuff

This is the biggest thing for me. It’s a small, lightweight belt that fits nicely around your waist. If you need anything from it, spin the belt around and the pouch, and your stuff, is right in front of you. If I had a SpiBelt in my frustrating story above, I wouldn’t even have had to skip a beat to get at my phone, change the song, Instagram a photo of the lake and be on my way. 2 easy seconds. Not a couple minutes of frustrating finding my phone in my backpack.

Waterproof

I’m not staying inside when it’s wet out and my gear doesn’t either. Electronics don’t agree with that statement though. They need to be kept in something nice and dry. There is a waterproof version of the SpiBelt that has a waterproof bag inside the stretchy outer material that will keep your precious music player nice and dry. It also works great for watersports like kayaking and SUPing.

The post Running Gear: The Best Way to Carry Your Phone first appeared on Pack & Trail.

After spending Friday and Saturday outside in the Southern Straights Yacht Race and Sunday outside at a family bonfire for easter, I thought Sunday should continue the trend. The weather was supposed to be warm and sunny, the wind a few knots from the south. Perfect conditions for a kayak out of Ladysmith.

Washed up boat

I took the Narpa down to the Ladysmith Fisherman’s Wharf boat launch and popped it into the water. There was a slight breeze from the south but nothing major. I’d have to work against it on my way out but it would provide a nice tailwind coming back. Not wanting to spend too much time in boat traffic, I cut straight across the harbour into the islands on the other side and worked my way south on the east shore. The tide was low and dropping exposing the hollowed out formations in the rocks. I was lost in my camera taking photos of an old boat washed up on the shore as a few other paddlers passed behind me. I was a little annoyed at their presence wanting to keep the whole place to myself until they pointed out an eagle resting on a tree above us. I thanked them and ditched my selfish thoughts for the rest of the day.

I had heard of a great little beach near the point. I was headed there for lunch. Many beaches passed and not one of them looked like the one I had heard of. Eventually I gave up and rounded Coffin Point, ready to have a snack and head back.

Just off Coffin Point is a tiny island with a lighthouse on it and at low tide, a small sandbar perfect for lunch. I hauled the boat higher on the rocks so it wouldn’t float away when the tide started to come up and settled in for lunch.

The post Lunch by the Coffin: A kayak from Ladysmith first appeared on Pack & Trail.

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You may be asking yourself: What exactly is an outdoor cooperative?

To start, the Outdoor Adventure Social Club (OASC) is a worker-owned cooperative, which means that there are 12 co-op owners who each have an equal share in the business – everything from the day to day business decisions to shouldering the financial implications of running said business.

Last February, the owner of the OASC pulled together a group of friends who he thought might be interested in going into business together. The backstory: he had started the business in 2005 and had been running it as a solo operation since then, with volunteers and some paid employees along the way. Now, he was getting married and the business was growing past the point where it could effectively be run by one single person.

From the initial people who showed interest, the group eventually evolved into the Adventure Co-op, which now runs the OASC. Instead of just one person shouldering the load of running a business, we now have 12 sets of hands and minds. We have business- and marketing-minded people, a designer and a developer, financial folks, teachers, small business owners – within the group, we have someone who has expertise in each area that’s necessary for keeping the business running smoothly. We meet at least once a month, sometimes more often, and have quarterly financial meetings.

How is the club itself structured? 

OASC Members are adults of all ages and skill levels exploring and enjoying nature’s beauty, experiencing diverse cultural and social events, and volunteering in hands-on community service projects while forming new friendships. Our mission is to provide daily opportunities to exercise mind and body in a safe, supportive atmosphere fostering camaraderie, education, and respect for our environment and community. And, unlike many adventure companies (as one example, whitewater companies who focus exclusively on rafting), OASC is activity and community oriented, rather than profit-oriented. We try to focus on building community while connecting people to their natural environment.

In a nutshell, we took a business model that was dependent on one person and flipped it to being cooperatively run. This spring, we will celebrate our one year anniversary of being in business, and will hopefully have implemented most of the changes that we as a group have been working on over the past six months. Our hope has always been that the members of OASC wouldn’t really notice the difference with the co-op behind the helm, and that has seemed to be the case. During the transition, we tried to keep things business as usual, and we are working on transitioning to a new and improved club this coming spring.

And now, the fun part: What do you actually do?

One of the things that we love most about the business is providing the opportunity for people in our community to get outside and enjoy the great outdoors while strengthening their ties to the community. Because we organize large group adventures, we are able to utilize our community partnerships to get great deals for our members, allowing them to take advantage of trips they might not be able to afford on their own. (Those profit-oriented rafting companies mentioned above? We have a great relationship with one of them out in West Virginia, and partner with them several times a year!) We have adventures year ‘round, and wanted to take this opportunity to highlight some of the ways you can have fun during all 4 seasons!

Winter

One of our favorite winter trips is a long weekend where club members gather at several rented houses at Snowshoe Resort in West Virginia. Members are able to decide what level of excitement they want in their weekend (Quiet house? Party house? Somewhere in between?) and pick what outdoor activities they want to enjoy during the trip. Besides the standard downhill skiing and snowboarding, there is also cross country skiing, snow tubing and snowshoeing. When members want to come in from the cold, there is always plenty of food and lots of activities, ranging from movie showings and board games to live music and wine tastings.

Skiing

Spring

While the early spring is usually cold and icy in our neck of the woods, the many caves and caverns that dot the landscape are a balmy 55 degrees year ‘round. Our members are able to take advantage of caving trips throughout the year, and here is the hilarious and awesome description given by one of our members (and a fellow co-op owner):

“If you’ve never been caving, it’s kind of like scrambling around in a field of large boulders with only your trusty headlamp to light your way. Sometimes you’ll be walking upright through large “rooms” while at other points you might be crawling or squeezing through a small passageway, scrambling up a wall of boulders, or fording a small stream. Throughout the cave, you’ll have the opportunity to admire formations such as stalagmites (“g” is for ground), stalactites (“c” is for ceiling), and cave “bacon.” Speaking of food, lunchtime in the cave is a great time to experience absolute darkness and see sparks fly when you chew on a Wint-O-Green lifesaver.”

Caving

Summer

Summer is the time when everyone manages to get outside, so we end up having more adventures going on than you could ever imagine attending. From hiking or mountain biking the local trails, kayaking under the full moon, sailing the Chesapeake Bay, playing sand volleyball, river tubing on the James River, climbing the Via Ferrata or playing frisbee golf to volunteering at a local organic farm, wine tastings or cooking club, we lead activities for all ages and activity levels. The weather stays amazing from late spring into early fall in central Virginia, minus the pesky hot (did we mention hot?) weather in August, so there’s always a chance to take advantage of the longer days.

Canoe and Kayak

Fall

Every October, there is a dam release on the Upper Gauley River in the New River Gorge of West Virginia. Members have taken advantage of this opportunity for years on end; the weekend is usually jam-packed with things to do, from hanging out with friends at Bridge Day watching base jumping, to outdoor rock climbing in the gorge, or whitewater kayaking. There’s hiking, mountain biking, tree-top tours, standup paddle boarding, fishing, horseback riding, and nearly anything else you can imagine in the river range of the town of Fayetteville.

white_water

All Seasons Travel

Along with trips to other states close by, we also like to spread our wings and do some traveling. This spring and summer, we have members heading to a mountaineering class on Mount Washington, New Hampshire, some folks making the trek to the Mount Everest Base Camp in Nepal, and a 10 day backpacking trip through Sequoia National Park to Mount Whitney. There are generally at least a few trips of this type planned per year, and along with our other big adventures, give our members the opportunity to make some amazing outdoor memories.

Everest 9-4

Jessica

Hopefully now that you’ve read over the description of the business and what we do, you’ll be inspired to get outdoors more, find friends to drag with you, or even start your own outdoor cooperative in your town! It’s been a great learning experience for all of us, and has allowed a fun local business to grow and evolve in a sustainable way. As for us, we’ll be busy behind the scenes keeping things running, but we hope to see you outside enjoying all the great outdoors has to offer. And, if you’re ever in Virginia, stop by and have an outdoor adventure with us!

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Jessica is a freelance graphic designer, environmental activist & organizer, social media queen, musician, non-conformist, tree-hugger, ruckus-raiser, and lover of all things fuzzy. Her design work can be found at www.verdantspringdesign.com and all things cooperative live at www.outdoorsocial.com.

The post Why an Outdoor Cooperative = 4 Seasons of Fun first appeared on Pack & Trail.

The Nomad’s are a sleek pair of sunglasses from french eyewear producer, Julbo. They’re designed for mountaineering and other sports where you’d need dark lenses and lots of light coverage. They also stick to your head like glue. No amount of moving around are going to pull these off your noggin.

Quick and Dirty about the Nomads

What I like

Fits closely to my head and almost never comes off

Photochromatic lenses get darker in brighter light

Polarized lenses reduce glare off snow or water

Additional side widgets reduce the amount of light coming in around the sides if you’re in a really bright place

What I don’t like

They fit so close to my face that if I’m sweating a lot, they touch my face and get sweat on them

Too dark for some places

The ends of the arms are quite pointy and I have to be careful if I don’t want to stab myself in the face

The price

The Details

The Nomad’s are awesome sunglasses. They fit close to your face and don’t let much light in. When you’ve got the side covers on, even less light gets in. If you’re out on the water or a glacier on a wicked sunny day, you’ll appreciate the covers. They are like the new age explorer goggles that had the leather covers on the side. The downside to them being so close to my face is that when I’m sweating buckets in the sun, drips of sweat get onto the glasses and smear them up good. They do have an anti-fog coating on them which works well against fogging up but not against drops of sweat.

The Nomad’s that I have from a few years ago use the Julbo Camel lens that are polarized and photochromatic. The polarization reduces the glare from water or snow and has helped me a lot when I’m out on the water sailing. The few times I’ve been out on the snow with them, they’ve worked wonders as well. No more squinting in the snow with crappy sunglasses on.  The photochromatic part changes the darkness of the lens from category 3 in lower light to category 4. They’re quite dark to start with and get even darker when the sun comes out. Julbo recommends that you don’t drive with them because they’re so dark. On the Julbo website there are images of using the category 3 lenses in the woods. I found they were too dark for mountain biking. You could use them hiking if you were moving a bit slower and were moving in and out of the trees into bright places. The new Nomad’s use the Zebra lens which transitions from category 2 to 4.

The Verdict

I’d highly recommend the Nomad’s to anyone. They’re aren’t the perfect fit for highly active sports with a lot of sweat or in the dark trees but for bright days sailing, climbing in the mountains or skiing they fit the bill perfectly. Just don’t go try tumbling down a hill to see if they’ll stay on your head. They probably will.

The post Julbo Nomad Sunglasses Review first appeared on Pack & Trail.

I’ve had the chance to use a few different GPS over the last couple years. They were all Garmin but they all had different features that I could test out and see if I liked. There were things that I liked and things that I didn’t like. I used my friends of families when I could so I didn’t have to buy my own. I finally got one of my own and opted for the Garmin Colorado 300 because of the slightly bigger screen and faster navigation method than was the standard at the time.

Little did I know that the Colorado wasn’t going to last very long. Garmin discontinued it soon after I got mine. Fortunately I never had any problems with it and aside from one little thing I never liked about the interface, it served me well adventuring over many kilometers dirtbiking, hiking, skiing and running.

The only big problem with it was that you could only have one saved track showing at once on the map. For the most part this wasn’t a problem. If you wanted to follow a trail you displayed the track and away you went. It was an issue when I would go to areas that I had been before and had saved tracks from. I wasn’t sure where each track lead and where I had been already. I could cycle through the tracks, displaying each one in turn to see where they lead but that was incredibly time consuming. In the end, without any updates from Garmin, I was stuck viewing only one track at a time.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago. I was heading out to check out a climbing area I hadn’t seen yet on my dirtbike. The power lines and dirt roads were rough but fairly clear. My Colorado was firmly attached to it’s handlebar mount and directing me where to go. I was following a track from a friend. On the way back, roads sloped mostly downhill. Not a problem for my knobby tires, I’ll just go slow and lay off the back brake so I don’t skid too much. I was almost back out onto the pavement and one my way home when I noticed something missing from my handlebars.

In the middle of the last little hill I came down, the Colorado and popped loose from hit’s mount and gone sailing down onto the rocks. If you aren’t familiar with the Colorado, it’s got a wheel above the screen for navigating through the menus. That had popped right off. The screen had a good gouge in it. It wasn’t turning on. This wasn’t looking good.I searched for a good 15 minutes for the wheel but came up empty-handed. I tossed the remains into my bag and headed home, wandering what would come up my mangled GPS. On one hand, I wasn’t very happy about having to spend a few hundred dollars to get a new gps unit. On the other hand, a new line of Garmin’s had just come out and promised to be one of the sweetest trail GPS yet. Sad or excited. I wasn’t sure which.

I in touch with Garmin, whom, to my surprise, directed me to their repair shop in Canada. For a decent fee plus shipping I could get a refurbished Colorado. Could I get a credit towards a new one? Nope. Ok, so another dilemma; Do I wait a few weeks and pay to get a refurbished version of a gps I don’t really like sent my way, or do I check out the brand new GPS at my local shop, Valhalla Pure.

I know which one is more fun.

Enter the Garmin Montana 600

So needless to say, I checked out the new gps units. I knew the Garmin 62 series would be nice, and there was the Oregon line that had the touch screens as well. Then there was the primo, top-of-the-line radness that Garmin had just released called the Montana. At first glance, it was entirely impractical for hiking and really anything else that I’d want to do with it.

The 62 had the best antennae you could get out of any of the GPS. But it still had the tiny little buttons that were so clunky on the 60csx and 78 series I had used before. Nice for finding things and tracking but terrible if you wanted to jot down a waypoint name. Ten minutes later you can have a nicely named waypoint.

The Oregon series is about the same size as the 62 but has a touch screen. That’s nice, solves the problem of entering waypoints. You get a nice touch screen to add your comments and waypoint names too. It wouldn’t take forever. I think the screens had been updated since the first versions that were almost impossible to see in the sun. A possible ding against the Oregon’s though.

Then I played with the Montana. Large yes, but not much bigger than a 78 series I had used before. A laundry list of new features definitely piqued my interest.

Paperless Geocaching

My Colorado was actually able to do this but I didn’t use it much. I didn’t have a premium subscription to Geocaching.com and didn’t get the hints downloaded to the unit so I had to write them down anyways. I decided to try the whole deal out. I have a premium membership now and have found 4 geocaches with the Montana. If you you geocache this is definitely the way to go. No paper and a couple clicks to get all the info from Geocaching.com to the unit and back again. My only gripe with it is that you can’t click on the geocache on the map and get the hint for it. You have to go through the list of geocaches and find it through there.

Landscape or Portrait viewing mode

It’s like holding a big iPhone. All you do is flip the unit on its side and you’ve everything turns for you. It’s definitely my preferred way to look at the map and to type in waypoints. I wish the keyboard was set up exactly the same as the iPhone’s because that’s what I’m in the habit of typing. I keep hitting the shift key when I think I’m hitting something else. I went from almost never renaming waypoints to writing full sentences about them. It’s just so nice to do with the landscape touch screen.

Enabling and disabling tracks on the map

My big problem with the Colorado was solved with the Montana. You can show and hide any tracks you want on the map. If you want to do a bunch, it’s going to take a while. You can only do one at a time. It would be a definitely improvement if they could make it easier to do a bunch at once.

Lithium ion battery pack or 3 double A batteries

I almost didn’t buy it because it has a lithium ion battery back for power. Don’t go scoffing that decision by Garmin though. They changed it up and made a really smart decision afterwards to add the compatibility of the battery pack OR 3 double A’s. The battery pack recharges right in the unit so when you have it plugged in at the computer, it’s charging for your next adventure. If you kill the battery out in the woods, pop those 3 spare double A’s in there and away you go. 16 hours for the pack and 22 with the double A’s.

Nuvi-like car controls and talking car mount

This was half the reason I ended up being it. I wanted a Nuvi, one of the in-car GPS that talks and does that great stuff. I didn’t want to buy both though. Throw the Montana into it’s powered car mount with a speaker, load up some road maps and it will talk to you just like a Nuvi. Perfect. A solid trail GPS and a Nuvi in one. I haven’t actually used this feature yet as I’m waiting for the car mount to arrive at Valhalla Pure. I’ll throw up an update when I get a chance to test the vehicular side of things. I’d like to get a handlebar mount for the dirtbike as well but I’m hesitant to have another incident that killed the Colorado.

4 inch touch screen that you can actually see in the sun

The other reason I bought the Montana. The screen is huge. 4 inches to be exact. It’s bigger than an iPhone. When you are trying to see where trails, logging roads and possible routes go on the screen of your GPS, it just can’t be big enough. The old Oregon’s had some coating on the screen that made it very difficult to see in the sun. No problems with the Montana. I was out on the weekend with it in the sun and no problems at all. No squinting, no hiding in a dark room just to see the screen. The touch screen makes all the difference in the world with navigation and typing out waypoints and geocaching notes. What would take at least 5 minutes with buttons or a roller takes less than 30 seconds on the touch screen. I am worried how on long the screen is going to last bouncing around in a backpack or in the elements. I think a hard case for over the screen is going to be on order.

Bundles of waypoints and tracks for each adventure

This might just be a new update for Garmin’s Basecamp software but now you can bundle waypoints and tracks and ship them around on and off your device. They call it an Adventure. A perfect name for a group of things. You can also add images to that if you have pictures on your Montana. I didn’t get the version with the camera but one has a 5 megapixel camera. The photos are geotagged and uploaded to your computer with the tracks and waypoints.

Adventure Time

And that is the story about how I got a Garmin Montana 600 in my pocket. I would say it’s time to head out on an adventure but it’s more likely that it’s time to hit the sac! If anyone’s got a good story about their GPS, feel free to share it in the comments!

The post Garmin Montana 600 GPS Review first appeared on Pack & Trail.

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