Two-Heel Drive

The one thing I never, ever hike without is a wide-brimmed floppy hat. I need the brim to keep the glare out of my eyes and the top to keep my bald spot from getting scalded.

This is approximately the model I have, from Outdoor Research. It’s light, packable, reasonably rugged and easily laundered back into a condition worthy of leaving in the house.

OR also makes a “Seattle Sombrero” that I happen to own as well. The Seattle version is a Gore-Tex-lined rain hat that does kinda/sorta keep the head dry until you work up any kind of a sweat — which is inevitable because it doesn’t breathe worth a hoot. But it is handy to have around during the rainy season as long as you don’t do anything athletic.

I see a lot of backpackers wearing those hats that drape down to your shoulders — I can see how they’d be more practical than slathering on sunscreen constantly. I admire the folks who don’t mind spending big bucks for a cowboy hat they’re going to get all sweaty and nasty on the trail, but I guess I’m too practical to go that route. But they do look dashing.

There’s not a whole lot more to say about hats, I suppose, but whatever you’ve got, be sure to share with the group.

My REI dividend (all $11 of it — see what a careful consumer I was last year?) was burning a hole in my pocket, and the added incentive of the annual 20 percent off sale was enough to get me off the couch in search of a new pair of hiking treads … turns out the the shoes I mentioned last month are no good for long distance on hard ground, though they’d be fine for standing in line 12 hours for Stones tickets.

I headed over to the new Mountain View REI with the idea of getting some over-the-ankle boots because all the discussion we had the other day convinced me boots are worth a look even if they are a bit heavier.

I had my sights set on the Montrail Torre — a really rugged boot with a rubber lining around the bottom — but I couldn’t find a size I liked; either they were too tight around the toes or too floppy. While I was trying on about a half-dozen of these things I overheard the shoe salesman telling some folks they really should avoid Gore-Tex and other so-called waterproofers if they planned to hike in temperatures over 80 degrees, which is about half the year in the Bay Area. Hearing that got me thinking the big tough Torres were overkill for 99 percent of the hikes I go on.

I went back to the salesman and explained as much; he disappeared into the back and showed up several minutes later with a shoe I hadn’t asked for: the Keen Targhee Mid II. These shoes look a bit odd because the toes are almost square, but the fit is superb: no rubbing on the sides, nice arch support, just-right cushion. Also: EVent, which is supposed to be more breathable than Gore-Tex. Note: my normal size is 9 EEE; these were a 10.5 regular. I did the standard two laps around the store to check the fit and the clambering over the fake rocks. It took me at least an hour, and I was fortunate that the salesman seemed to understand the shape of my feet.

Take-away lessons: hold out for the right fit, no matter how long it takes; keep an ear out for useful information; and go on a weekday when the crowds are small and the most veteran sales people are working — they’re the ones who have the “don’t wear these in the tropics” tips you might not get from the college kids working nights and weekends.

One of the nice things about REI — which almost makes up for the high brand-name prices — is that they take back just about anything if you don’t like it. Much less chance of buyer’s remorse. I’m no longer moved by the dividend deal; these days I pride myself on keeping it small, because there are almost always better prices somewhere else and besides, we should throw at least some of our money at home-grown retailers.

Yesterday’s post about Mountain Hardwear got me thinking about other name brands in the region.

The North Face is the most obvious — they still have a marketing and distribution arm in San Leandro.

Marmot is up in Santa Rosa.

Western Mountaineering, the sleeping bag people, are still based in San Jose and still sewing their bags on-site, the last I heard.

Pretty much all have the same story: hippie backpacker types starting from scratch back in the ’70s. North Face seems the most self-congratulatory; WM seems the most humble; Marmot’s some where in between (most earnest, perhaps?).

What other brands do the rest of you know about? I did some looking around on Google and found out it’s harder to figure out these things than you might suspect. The Outdoor Industry Association’s member page is a dead link (they’re only too happy to join you up, though).

As always, your contributions compensate for my absence of knowledge, skill, ambition, etc. (this is what we love about user-generated content).

I’ve added a list of small companies that build cool gear way down on my right-hand rail. It’s not like this is really free advertising because these links generate about three clicks a century — they’re really just there so I can find them if I need to check out the latest Pepsi-can stove designs. Well, they’re also there to give props to all the guys and gals who make stuff in their garage and sell it online. Usually if you send an e-mail you talk directly to the CEO, which is much cooler than dashing off a note to, say, the director of Marmot, who will never see your words in a thousand years. So, here goes:

• Anti Gravity Gear | Tarptents, stoves, cooksets (my wife got me one of their pot cozies as a birthday gift awhile back).
• Big Sky International | Tents, cozy clothing
• Bozeman Mountain Works | Apparel, tarps, bivys, quilts, pads, titanium
• Brasslight | Ultra-light backpacking stoves (I own one of these)
• Dirty Girl Gaiters | Wacky crud killers for trail runners
• Empire Canvas Works | Winter apparel, handwear, mukluks
• Fanatic Fringe | Packs, quilts
• Freezer Bag Cooking | Trail Food Made Simple
• Gossamer Gear | Packs, tarps, poles, pads
• Ion Stove | “World’s lightest alcohol stove” from Sgt. Rock at Hiking HQ
• Jacks ‘R Better | Quilts, hammocks, tarps
• Mogo Gear | Stoves
• Mountain Laurel Designs | Packs, tarps, quilts, bivys
• Mystery Ranch | Packs by Dana Gleason of Dana Desigs fame
• Nunatak | Apparel, quilts
• Oware | Tarps, bivys
• Six Moon Designs | Tarps, tents, packs
• Tarptent | Henry Shires’ Tarptents (based in Palo Alto)
• Titanium Goat | Tents, tarps, bivys, poles, stoves
• Tom Harrison Maps | Waterproof topo maps (Marin County based)
• Trail Designs | Caldera Cone Stove makers (South Bay based)
• ULA Equipment | Packs, trowels

Please drop a note in the comments if any of your faves are missing.

Also, mad props to Sam H. — This list expands on one at his site (yes, I cribbed the format and some of his verbiage because it was just so damned concise; I like that kind of thing).

Last winter I picked up a Montbell ThermaWrap jacket mostly because it was on sale, but it’s turned out to be something I wear almost every day during the cool, rainy months.

It’s not toast-your-innards warm and it’s not defy-a-downpour watertight, but it is super light, easily packable and rather snazzy-looking, if I do say so. It kept me dry in a steady rain on a walk across the parking lot at work the other night. The ranger at Henry Coe State Park actually made admiring remarks about it when I showed up for hike on a nippy February morning last year (it’s always cool to have stuff that incites the professional outdoorspeople’s gear lust).

I don’t finish a lot of hikes in this jacket but I do start a lot, particularly if the temperature’s in the low 40s or below. I just hike till I feel the sweat buildup, then unwrap and stuff it in my pack. The insulation is synthetic so there’s no harm in it getting a little moist.

The fit’s a bit snug for me: I ordered a medium, though I’m actually halfway between a medium and a large, but I can use it as a gauge to tell me when the ol’ spare tire’s getting too well inflated.

Nice thing about having this jacket along on a day hike in the Bay Area: it’s an insulating layer for the part of the body that needs to be kept warm if I get stuck spending a night in the woods. Can’t say how much use it’d be in really cold weather: it’s very thin so there’s not much loft.

But for around here, it’s great.

Beyond staying indoors, that is…

I’m pretty much convinced there is no such thing as a “breathable waterproof” outer shell, though perhaps there are miracle products out there I haven’t been apprised of. For my money there’s no substitute for an impermeable layer — which, of course, locks in body heat and perspiration and ends up making you as wet on the inside as you’d have been with no protection at all.

I’m leaning closer to getting a cheap waterproof poncho. It lets air in from the sides and keeps water off the places where it concentrates — the head and shoulders. It can also double as a shelter in a pinch. I realize this is not exactly a bolt of insight to those of you who’ve already gone this route, but I like to toss out something for the beginners now and again.

I’d like to hear how the rest of you stay dry when the rains come.

Forgive my not posting this sooner: Mel Cotton, scion of the downtown San Jose sporting goods store, died last Friday. Mercury News columnist L.A. Chung wrote a nice farewell:

“Wow, he just died?” asked Rick Lares, 32, who was buying fishing equipment Sunday at the West San Carlos Street store where he has shopped for 20 years. “I didn’t know there was a real Mel Cotton.”

For 62 years, Mel Cotton’s has been synonymous with outdoor equipment and rental for anyone heading to mountains and lakes.

Santa Clara Valley residents of a certain age, of course, know that Mel Cotton was a real person, just like J.C. Penney was a real person. Cotton might even have advised them on camping equipment or rung up their sale, whether at the store he opened on Santa Clara Street in 1946, or the 25,000 square-foot outdoors emporium on West San Carlos that he built in 1955.

“Even the woman at the cemetery said, ‘I’ll bet a lot of people confuse you with Mel Cotton’s the sporting goods store,’ ” said son Stanley Cotton, who has owned the store since his father retired in 1994.

“I answered, ‘We don’t get too confused - we’re them,’ ” Cotton said with a laugh. “She said: ‘Oh my God, my son works there.’ “

I bough my Gregory G pack and several pairs of shoes at Mel Cotton’s. Rick McCharles bought his trail maps for the John Muir Trail there last summer.

Mel’s is one of the last great local sporting goods stores in Northern California. Stop in and by some boots in Mel’s memory. Here’s the store’s Web site.

Acquiring gear seems forever fraught with the potential for buyer’s remorse, but one purchase I made a couple years back continues to satisfy: Columbia’s entry-level nylon hiking pants. I’ve logged what must be over a thousand miles in these guys — they have no bells or whistles (no belts or mesh undies, which just annoy me), they’ve got tons of pockets, they wash clean no matter how much cow crap I stumble through.

They just do their job, in other words (though I admit I almost never zip the leg bottoms off.) Melissa keeps wondering when they’ll wear out. So do I. But they keep hanging in there.

Goes to show you don’t have to buy Patagonia or Ex Officio’s top-of-the-line model to get durable, quality stuff.

Have to admit, though, that I’ve seen other pants that seem promising. If you like yours, please share with the rest of us.

Rick from Hike Halfdome was up there the other day. He suggests:

North Face has a huge outlet store – a real outlet, not a Gilroy come-on. They had 50% off winter jackets. Thank they deities that winter is almost over, but if you need an update to modern apparel check them out. Men’s and women’s stuff and some backpacks as well. A lot of the store was 30 – 50% off the lowest sticker price. Many had previously been marked down. Another nearby outlet is Royal Robbins. They have rugged outdoor clothing. Lots of trail pants and shirts marked way down from list.

… and a couple more if you’re in a clickin’ mood.

And is it worth a hoot?

I bought a fanny pack (the Brits call ‘em bum bags, I love that) at REI when I first started hiking … just big enough to hold my wallet and a couple of water bottles and a small jacket lashed onto the outside. Handy on training hikes but I have to carry a shoulder bag for anything bigger like my camera and Gorillapod.

I’ve seen discussions of day packs and overnight packs but I can’t really recall seeing much chitchat about fanny packs, so what the heck: tell the class about yours: what’s good, what’s lousy, why it’s better than a shoulder pack, etc. Mention the actual brand if you can to help out the googling masses (half my traffic comes from search engine queries, so I must show a bit of kindness to the searching ones).

I still have a Christmas gift card from a sporting goods outfit back east, so I might splurge on a bum bag if I get some good guidance here.