Gear Up 

We met with the pros from Adventure's Edge (AE), Pacific Outfitters (PO) and Picky, Picky, Picky (PPP) to learn about innovative gear to make your hiking, camping, biking, fishing, climbing or paddling experience even cooler. Just a few of our favorites include:

1. Prana Geo Chalk Bag with its own belt, in citrus. $22 (AE)

2. Bell Super 2R MIPS $220. (AE) With a removable chin-bar and breakaway camera mount, this two-in-one helmet is ready for any mountain terrain.

3. Pelican 1150 Case $48. (PPP) Pelican claims to "manufacture the toughest airtight and watertight protective cases on the planet" to get your gear from point A to point B unscathed.

4. Keen Gorgeous Water Shoe $150 (PO) Not only do these sexy board boots keep your feet warm in the water, they provide support and traction on land, too.

5. Discraft Weekender Disc Golf Pack $15 (PO) and Discraft Soft Magnet Putter $9 (PO) The Discraft Weekender Bag with putter pocket, padded shoulder strap, bottle pouch, inner zip pocket, and a zippered and velcroed rain cover holds 6-8 discs.

6. Pelican 1430 Case $132 (PPP) With even more capacity, this one floats with up to 59 pounds of gear.

7. Sea to Summit X-Pot 2.8L $50 (AE) Forget about packing bulky cooking pots. The X-Pot is a collapsible silicone cooking pot with a hard anodized aluminum base.

8. Sea to Summit 16" x 32" Pocket Towel $15 (AE) Soft, absorbent and lightweight, this towel comes with its own zippered, vented case.

9. GSI Infinity Backpacker Mug $10 (AE) The GSI Infinity Backpacker Mug's insulating sleeve and sealable lid hold in the heat of your coffee, tea, or hot cocoa for hours. 

10. Epic Bars $6 (PO) Epic's savory grass-fed animal protein bars combine flavors like bison, bacon and cranberry, and lamb with currant and mint.

11. Sporks $3 (PPP) One mom we know puts these plastic sporks in her kids' lunchboxes just for fun. Serious backpackers may want to invest in the titanium version.

12. Sea to Summit X-Set $50 (AE) This food-grade silicone plate, bowl and mug fold flat and nest together in their own pouch.

13. Jetboil Flash Java Kit $110 (PO) This easy, compact cooking system, complete with coffee press, lights with the click of a button and in just over 2 minutes provides two cups of boiling water for cocoa, coffee, instant soup or a gourmet freeze-dried meal.

1. Sea to Summit Lite Line Clothesline $9 (AE) This double clothesline, equipped with tiny "beads" as clothespins, fits in your palm but is almost 12 feet long and weighs only 1.3 ounces.

2. Reef Chakras Women's Sandals $20 (PO) Perfect summer colors.

3. Kühl Men's Wunderer S/S Shirt in Desert Sage $60 (PPP) Lightweight with vented sides, and darn good looking.

4. SmartWool Sulawesi Stripe Socks $20 (PO) These performance socks keep feet warm and dry and look good doing it.

5. Kühl Men's Kontra Air Short in Deep River Blue $65 (PPP)Engineered to move with you.

6. Kühl Women's Veloce S/S in Ash $45 (PPP) High-tech fabric and retro sweetness.

7. Kühl Women's Durango Short in Carbon $55 (PPP) Details, such as the tiny zippers hiding vents, make these so cool.

8. Icebreaker Women's L/S Aquamarine Tech Crew $100 (PO) Breathable warmth, softness and natural odor protection. Check the label's "BAA" Code to trace your garment to images of the ranch in New Zealand where it was grown with a commitment to animal welfare and the environment.

9. Icebreaker Women's S/S Coral Cool-Lite Crew $75 (PO) Wool and Tencel make this comfy and breathable.

10. Osprey Aether 70 Pack Bonsai Green $280 (PO) This best-selling, lightweight backpack is amazingly comfortable for a weekend or a week. The adjustable hipbelt molds to your form with your body temp.

11. Exped SynMat 7M $129 (PO) Wow! Give this baby a little CPR action and you've got a 3" mattress!

12. BioLite CampStove $130 (PO) We would love this amazing stove even if we couldn't plug an iPhone into its USB port (which we can). Just a few twigs and you're in business.

13. Benchmade H2O Griptillian Knife $135 (PPP) Everything's easier when you have the right tools, and this all-purpose, textured grip, corrosive-resistant, steel-bladed knife made for the left or right hand is a basic for outdoor adventures.

14. Thule Capstone 32L Men's Hiking Pack $160 (AE) Perfect for a day's adventure or your workweek, this pack's suspension system makes it fully adjustable for the perfect fit.

15. Black Diamond Revolt Headlamp $60 (AE) Powerful with adjustable light levels, this headlamp has a meter to alert you when you need to recharge or replace your batteries.

16. Gränsfors Bruk Outdoor Axe $180 (PPP) Swedish artisans have been creating these fine axes since 1902. Each handmade axe is proudly signed with the smith's initials.