1.Eddie Bauer Pro guide pants, I absolutely love them and when another 40% sale came by i grabbed another pair, So comfortable i wear them almost daily, Now 1 thing with Eddie Bauer gear is that i have had button come off on most of the hiking pants that i have bought and once again this has proved to be the case, When i did the Camino De Santiago i took 2 pairs of Eddie Bauer convertible pants and both had buttons fall off on the trail which is a P.I.T.A and i walked a lot of the Camino using pins to hold my pants up, I have had EB shirts that have also lost buttons so a common failure, If you can get the Pro guide pants for 30-40% off they are a bargain and EB has a lot of sales, I think that they are worth the full amount especially compared to other brands, just make sure the first thing you do is resew the buttons on, I did mention this to the manager at the EB store in Raleigh but i am afraid that store has now been closed and is a great loss to me personally,
2. Kuhl Renegade hiking pants, Now i have only worn these twice since purchase and yesterday they were returned as the sewing across the thigh had started to come undone, I had not worn these hiking, just to the shops so hope that they were just a dodgy pair and returned them to REI and replaced with the same, Super comfortable and have high hopes for them
I get e mails almost daily from the main hiking stores on line and Backcountry being my favorite i always have a look at whats on sale, I noticed the Berghaus Nunat Reflect down jacket which is part of their Extrem range (700 fill) at a fantastic price and quickly ordered one, Nearly 50% off retail, Very light but extremely warm, Probably the nicest fitting jacket i have, In NC its normally too hot to wear this type of gear unless its winter but i have worn it a couple of cold nights in Virginia-Love it and love a bargain, It will make the perfect match for my Arcteryx rain jacket on cold wet days or under my Rab expedition jacket on freezing days and nights,
Wearing glasses and being a photographer is a real pain as when its sunny you either squint or use sunglasses and then change them over when taking a shot, I decided that this year would be different and treated myself to some prescription sunglasses, I like Oakley sunglasses and had a good look at their entire range, I wanted something cool looking with wide arms to keep the sun from poking around the corners, Something that would also be good a higher (not high) altitude and the Turbines seemed to fit the bill, I got the red iridium lenses and although only having them 1 day so far can see that they will make my life must easier in the field, Having genuine Oakley lenses means that they are extremely clear and they have quite a dark grey/blue tint when you look through them, I decided against polarized lenses as you cannot see the back of the camera screen properly with polarized lenses
I have started back at the gym 3 times a week and have done a few days trekking to try and drop a few of the pounds gained, The weather in North Carolina has been very hot and humid so not the nicest for hiking trails and look forward to cooler times to get some miles under my feet
Dave
