Ski Bum Poet

Recently I was psyched to get my hands on a couple of Discrete Beanies, thanks to Julian (Julian’s Blog). I’m wearing one of them right now at the office…the Red Banger. Julian and team certainly run a class act over there. I’ve been seeing this brand around Little Cottonwood (and beyond!) for a while…after all you can’t miss Ted, in his pink Doyonator, patrolling ’round Alta keeping all the fired up locals in line.

To be honest I haven’t had a new winter/ski hat in ages, so it’s great timing for me to check these out and write them up. My old favorite yellow insulated winter hat I got from the Peruvian is really salty, has a crusted brim and frankly shouldn’t be worn out anywhere. Maybe I could wear it cleaning the chicken coop or something, but not out and about in public.

I took a close look at the Discrete About Page, and the story behind the brand is a good one. Nice work you guys. Check this out…

Discrete mathematical principles exist “in the sense of not supporting or requiring the notion of continuity.” Even most of Discrete’s products are named after mathematical and computer science terminology…

Great concept, sick design, killer company culture. Definitely worth checking out.

You can buy Discrete winter hats from Backcountry.com or browse select products below on this page.

‘Tis the season for summer gear sales, hippies. I just posted about Patagonia’s summer sale on Wednesday, and here’s another (guess it’s time to create a “Gear Deals” category, eh?). And get this, the official Backcountry Semi Annual Sale doesn’t officially start until August 18th.

This is a sneak peak provided by Backcountry.com, exclusively for the readers of Ski Bum Poet, and a few select other blogs here and there.

In all seriousness check it out and be the first to browse killer gear deals up to 75% off the retail price. You’ll have a much better chance of getting your size and favorite color if you take advantage of this early access to the sale. No codes necessary just >> CLICK HERE << or the logo below, and go to town.

Hey everyone just a quick heads up that Patagonia.com is having their summer sale now through August 20th. Looks like some killer savings on their clothing. It just started, so there is good inventory left. Keep in mind this is direct from Patagonia on their “web specials” page, so you will not find better prices on the web (or anywhere, for that matter) for the same products. I added a banner so click that and you’ll be taken to the sale page.

You can buy this rack from Backcountry.com, and have it shipped free if you live in one of the lower 48 states.

Are you in the market for a hitch mounted bike rack? Check out the Thule TranSport T2 if so. After installing and using it a few times, I am psyched with it. In fact I was compelled to take a few photos, and talk it up…so here goes.

Thule far and away has the best mountain bike hitch rack on the market. I’ve used lots of different hitch racks, and there always seemed to be something annoying me with others. Overly complicated, too flimsy, flexing/bouncing around expensive bikes on rough roads, etc.. not into worrying about bikes on roofs or on some lame strap rack. There is nothing to worry about with this rack system!

Mounting it was a LOT easier than I expected. After a few easy steps out of the box, it was time to bolt the T2 on to my Tacoma’s hitch receiver. This thing is burly, and perfectly capable of handling any mountain bike…from big freeride rigs up to 60lbs, to my 24lb 29er single speed. The rack sits about knee high, and there is nothing to do but put the bikes on and clamp them down. No BS straps, no bungees and no removing wheels. It takes about 45 seconds to load two bikes.

What I especially appreciate is having the bikes dialed in before leaving home. We show up where we’re going to ride, park and start pedaling. Although I did not get a photo, the Thule T2 also folds up nicely when not in use. About the only draw back is that now I have to lift our old dog up on to the tailgate b/c he can’t jump up and over the rack

The main features for the T2 are listed below, or click here for PDF tech manuals direct from Thule.

• No wheel removal, no frame contact
• Folds up for storage
• Fits a wide range of bikes
• Carries bikes up to 60 lbs
• Fits wheels 20″-29″ up to 3″ wide tires
• Accommodates bike with wheel bases up to 48″
• Locking accessory available
• Thule One-KeyTM System Compatible

Buy this rack from Backcountry.com

or browse the entire Thule product line.

NOTE: You can get this item shipped for free anywhere within the contiguous United States.

The Anniversary Sale at REI is on from now through May 10th. Thought I would let all ya’ll know about that. D and E and I were down at the REI on 3300 South in Salt Lake yesterday and it was going off. We went down to pick up the classic Roll-A-Table from Camp Time. Always wanted one of these. Thanks to my Mommy what a great birthday gift

At any rate, if anyone needs any gear take advantage of this sale.

One of my favorites from Lee’s new site. I think it’s Dave McChode…

Photo by Lee Cohen

Not so long ago I plugged the outdoor gear database from OGE, Inc. Search and compare prices on nearly 500,000 products at this site. Outdoor gear, apparel, tools, you name it. Jesse just emailed me to let me know that now the OGE Outdoor Blog has just been totally re-worked and launched to the world. Killer features on gear deals/editorials, outdoor industry news, “authentic ski bum” articles and more.

Seriously, SERIOUSLY nice work Jesse. Check it out…

Author’s note: You can buy these, and other quality ski gloves from Backcountry.com..

I’m a creature of habit. I’ll pick a product I like and stick with it long term. Sometimes until it’s discontinued by a manufacturer. Never really had any first hand experience with Swany Ski Gloves until recently. And I may just be addicted to another product for life. Put simply, I’m lovin’ these gloves!

Specifically the APOLO (NFX-5) from the Flexor line, and the Swany X-change II Ski Glove from their Sports Utility Crossover Collection. I’ve been using both sets of gloves for a few weeks now, in full blown Alta storm rides, Timberlakes sled neck gatherings and more.

With the APOLO Ski Glove it was cool to apply the Nikwax waterproofing wax (came with) the night before they were put to the test in Little Cottonwood Canyon. Reminded me of prepping a new baseball mitt. It was a cold day of skiing, and Alta was reporting 40 inches in 48 hours. Not too shabby. I’m lucky, my hands usually stay warm…so no worries there. What I liked about these gloves: 1) They are BURLY. They aren’t going to rip & tear from holding on to the transfer tow cable, or a tree in Windy Point, and 2) They are MEAN. The “Molded Knuckle” armor intimidates all knuckle draggers one might come in contact with. Solid A for these.

For the X-change II, I notice the “Uni-pull cuff” right away…and I liked it. Sealed things up nice and tight. Although I must add now that I’m not really into bells and whistles. Like for example the “utility heat pocket” is one of the features with this glove. C’mon. Sorry, but I just can’t be bothered with something like that. Overall though B+ on these suckers. Kind of a more leisurely glove all around, but regardless Swany has the goods.

I’m really psyched to have the opportunity to review both. For more info visit SwanyAmerica.com. To purchase Swany and other ski gloves, check out Backcountry.com.

Gotta hook up my bro who is an Affiliate (on our network), and of course the Ski Bum Poet readers

Right now through Sunday, November 30th you can get The North Face Denali for 30% off the retail price. This is a sick deal from Moosejaw, and you should definitely pull the trigger if you need a new fleece jacket. Seriously, this product hardly ever goes on sale. Check out Jesse’s features of this promo below. And when/if you’re going to buy it, do me a favor and click through one of the sites below (he’ll earn a commission, and so will our company). Happy shopping on Black Friday

• The North Face Denali Jacket | Where To Buy (denali-jacket.com)
• North Face Denali – 30% OFF (gravityfed.com)
• Deals on Denali Jackets (ogeblog.com)
• Kids Denali Fleece on Sale (kidsgearoutlet.com)
• 30% off Denali Jackets at Moosejaw (altacam.com)

OK so on November 7th I talked about where you can get good Patagonia deals, but now it’s time to plug the site I was referring to in full. It’s pretty damn slick. Jesse has been building OutdoorGearEngine.com or “OGE” for short (it’s a database/search engine for outdoor gear) quietly for some time, but I have a feeling it’s about to hit a more critical mass. I’m really impressed with what’s been built. On the homepage it says…

Database of 495,132 products from 70 outdoor gear stores. Current sale and promotional details from each retailer are available. Or  you can Subscribe to the Gear Deals category on the OGE dedicated outdoor blog.

I like the sounds of that. Gear deals galore aggregated in one place. And you can also subscribe to RSS deal feeds for each of the participating stores. If you’re not familiar with RSS, read up on the Wiki. It’s actually pretty useful to receive syndicated content from your favorite sources on the web, rather than going out to get it. In the case of the deals feeds on OGE, if you have to go and find/get the deals, it might just be too late.

There is a powerful and proprietary search tool that allows you to search by product or product group. And from that point you can sort by column header, read or add a review, view product details and check the availability of the product at your favorite web retailer.

Kudos to a killer gear price comparison service and search engine platform! To visit OGE, click the logo below.