Outgear Your Friends

The Purist bottle is lined with silicon-dioxide on the inside making it less 'sticky' than a plastic bottle and more like a glass bottle. This means inner surface sheds water and does not change its taste. They're 100% BPA-free.

For instant power in the outdoors. Requires 1 tablespoon of water to charge your gadgets.

Out sometime this year.

Some of the most expensive outdoor gear ever made.

This 2-person tent is made of organic cotton and recycled materials. It's friendly to the environment but not necessarily friendly to your wallet. Estimated price is $480 scheduled for summer.

Hydration packs that don't bounce too much are a pleasure to use for running and other stuff. Those that hug the body close enough are no longer called hydration packs but hydration vests instead. I'm sure we'll see more of these in 2011.

Some of the chairlift chairs altered by 20 designers and 20 corporations for a charity auction.

"If you think GoPro helmet cam videos are exciting, imagine how amazing they will be in 3D. GoPro is getting ready to launch their 3D HERO Expansion Kit that will allow you to combine two 1080p HD HERO cameras in order to shoot full 1080p 3D video.

The 3D HERO Expansion Kit combines two HD HERO helmet cams in one housing. The two helmet cams are connected via a synchronization cable plugged into the Bus Port, enabling them to synchronize left eye and right eye views with no drift. "

By now you’d think everyone has heard the message that plastic bottles are bad for the planet, and that everyone is reducing their consumption of these little enviro-bombs as much as possible. You’d be wrong.

It is estimated that only 20% of plastic water bottles in America are recycled each year. This is an astoundingly low percentage when you consider that bottled water outsells milk and, despite the best efforts of college kids everywhere, has nearly overtaken beer sales.

In a national survey in 2007 it was revealed that as many as 72% of Americans don’t know that plastic is an oil-based product, and this same survey revealed that 40% of U.S. citizens believe plastic biodegrades when it gets to “wherever it goes.” Well, “wherever it goes” is roadsides, landfills, and the Great Pacific Garbage Patch—a floating mass in the North Pacific Ocean created by global currents and made up of over three million tons of plastic debris. This island of junk covers an area bigger than Texas!

Plastic bottles are also bad for our health. In early 2010 the FDA declared that some plastics contain the toxin Bisphenol A (BPA). More testing is currently underway, but BPA has already been linked to numerous health maladies. And it’s not just found in plastic bottles, either. Aluminum bottles, as well as some steel bottles, are sometimes lined with resins that can leach BPA into the beverages they hold.

Hydro Flasks^® are made from 100% recyclable, unlined stainless steel, so when you purchase one you can feel good about knowing that you aren’t filling your body with toxins and the oceans with trash. Good job, you!

A handful of adventure gift ideas for the friend with everything, from $8 sure things to four-figure vacations for the friend with everything.

The backpack above is my favorite so far from Laufbursche. It's called the huckePÄCKchen and will probably be available to the public anytime now.