The Loadout Room
Professional Gear Reviews
The NW Alpine Belay Jacket is a compressible and very comfortable synthetic-fill jacket built for cold and damp environments. What’s intriguing about this jacket is the apparent design quality and the company’s manufacturing location. NW Alpine began in 2010, and has since continued to produce top-quality alpine gear, cut and sewn in Portland, Oregon. It is […]
The Black Spider is the moniker given to a formidable, 1000-foot-tall wall of volcanic rock and ice on the eastern face of Mount Hood above the Newton-Clark glacier. This area contains some of the most sought-after and heart-pounding alpine routes in the Pacific Northwest. NW Alpine has designed a hoody capturing the namesake of Mount Hood’s most […]
In 1980, Ron Gregg, a dedicated mountaineer, found himself in trouble on the slopes of Mount McKinley. Due to a poorly designed gaiter, his climbing parter suffered from severe frostbite requiring an immediate airlift to safety. Despite the blown expedition, Rons gears immediately started turning and he began to work on a better solution. The […]
The history of the American Outdoorsman began as a television show back in 1988. It was there that they uncovered the country’s natural treasures for all viewers to see. The show continues to this day, featuring hunting, fishing, and outdoor adventure activities. With the Olympic Trail Vest, AO has ventured into the clothing realm by […]
Living in a northern climate, I typically get to test a lot of the winter gear here on the Loadout Room. Which has its pros and cons. On the plus side, I get to use some of the latest and greatest outerwear in a climate they’re designed for. Whether it’s skiing, snowshoeing or hunting, I […]
The American Outdoorsman, a clothing company based out of New York, has recently brought to market a sharp line of innovative garments. While visiting Outdoor Retailer in Utah, the Loadout Room met with this refreshingly young company to look over what they had cooking in the design pipeline. As well as what the company is […]
February in the frozen tundra of Northern Michigan and 115″ of snowfall can only mean one thing. Time for what has become my annual “puffy jacket” review. This month we’ll take a look at the Cold Forge Hoody from Black Diamond. I consider this jacket a solid middle weight when it comes to down insulated […]
The Woodsman shirt by Prometheus Design Werx (under their Danger Ranger Bear line) is billed as being “like your grandfathers favorite outdoor shirt he wore to the cabin”. Â True to form, trying this on was very reminiscent of borrowing my father’s, or grandfathers, wool shirts for hunting in the Alaskan wilderness when I’d grown big […]
The Columbia Heatzone 1000 TurboDown Jacket is touted as the world warmest jacket. That’s quite an ambitious claim considering the myriad of high-end down jackets available from manufacturers like The North Face, Mammut, RAB, Arc’Teryx, Marmot, and more. Columbia claims that the construction of this jacket is what sets it apart from its competitors. With a […]
There have been quite a few written words about being the grey man, but what is it exactly? Being the grey man is a term for going unnoticed or being neutral in the environment in which you are in. You can find many of these grey man concepts in the book 100 Deadly Skills by […]
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