I had passed TAD Gear several times on the Internet. Its dense pages, black background and camo-inspired introduction kinda leaned a little too heavy towards the military for me. But I had the chance to stop by the store while in San Francisco and I’ve got a whole new perspective.

But backing up a bit, even military-like gear is cause for pause. In Panama, I got dropped off in the San Blas Islands, on Por Venir which about the size of three square city blocks. But since it had an airstrip it also had 6 heavily armed and extremely bored/surly/dangerous looking Panamanian soldiers. And while Panama is “friendly” they didn’t exude much sense of welcome.

I needed to spend the night on Por Venir as I had missed the days flight and I needed to get my passport stamped.  I began to understood why sailors tend to not recommend wearing camouflage anything.  If I was mistaken for military I think my already tense/suspicious interaction would likely have ramped up one very uncomfortable notch. Miles from a paved road and sharing a strip of land with a few of the native Kuna I think my side of any story would have sorely lacked corroboration. Long story less so,  “military” gear is not always the best international travel apparel.

That said, TAD is much, much interesting in person than on the Internet. The staff was great and seeing the gear in person made me understand just how well made it really is. It’s top notch. Some of the best I’ve seen. Much of unique, most designed right there and manufactured in the USA. The apparel and the packs would rate as some of the best you could buy.

I paid for some pants (without the cargo pockets) and I will def keep an eye on the site. It’s worth stopping through if you’re in San Francisco. It’s on the industrial side of the Mission District, and parking was/is challenging (understatement).

T.A.D Gear

660 22nd Street

San Francisco, CA 94107

(415)318-8252

A North U (university) sailing seminar looks something like this picture. Less than riveting. Looks aside the time spent was solid. It’s hard to learn sailing in a classroom or by reading a book.

But it’s is part of what you need if you want to push sailing skills forward. There are some basic parts of sailing that are best introduced in a class and then repeated again (and again) on the water. Instructor, Bill Gladstone was great and while sharing theory preached to simply “sail fast.” Sounds obvious, but that simple statement is what racing trim is all about.

Why do you want a “twist” in the mainsail? Because you go faster. And we could spend hours discussing the aerodynamics involved, but we stopped with fast. The best resources I found getting me started in sailing was taking an ASA course, “Introduction to Keelboat Sailing” while on vacation in Miami. If I were to do it over again I would opt for the same course given by US Sailing, but the learnings are the same.

And there are no shortage of boat owners (Captains) who need crew. It’s a challenge to round up three or four people every time you want to take your boat out, so it’s an opportunity to learn. There is a unique zen-like connection to the elements when sailing that I haven’t felt in any other sport (err…maybe kayaking, maybe even scuba diving, and xc skiing but different zen). Zen or adrenaline, looking forward to warm weather…being back on water if/when schedule works with the wind…humbling being around these coaches and teachers though, so much to learn, so much to know…

As I toss on a few layers to run across the Brooklyn Bridge I’m guessing that my wife thinks I’m nuts. Given the weather. The fact she doesn’t say anything…at all…cements the POV. Yeah, we’re probably both thinking about the torn calf muscle last year and the 8+ weeks of rehap or… maybe not. Who knows really, it’s not worth asking.

I made it and had little company on the bridge. First none at all which was a little disconcerting as it was only 7PM and usually there are reams of folks. But I made it to Brooklyn and to Tillary Street certainly without seeing another runner. The way back, still no runners, a bicycle (one), feet down, trying to guide his way down the hill. Good luck, I’d walk. I didn’t look back to see if he’d agree with my thinking.

By now the snow is stinging my face and coming at a steep angle. Occasionally a large-ish piece of snow/ice comes off the bridge from somewhere up above and lands with a thud. I understand why they might close the bridge to pedestrians. I read later that some unfortunate dude is killed in Central Park by falling branch weighed down by the snow and, as always, realize life can be shortened in the most bizarre and capricious ways.

“…The man, Elmaz Qyra of Brooklyn, was killed around 3:30 p.m., along a picturesque stretch called Literary Walk, named because of the statues of Shakespeare, Sir Walter Scott and Robert Burns overlooking it…”

But gear is holding up well (could have used cramp-ons). In the midst of what was becoming a driving snow storm a lone Indian (looking) tourist tries to flag me down to take his picture — err — I passed on the opportunity. I was “running” the bridge – thought that was obvious, and welcome to New York. I mean c’mon.

Anyway, gear:

Clear lenses in ESS glasses,

Wool hat (which actually was keeping me warm even though it was very wet),

Some Patagonia liners for gloves,

New Balance sneakers,

Inexpensive Duofold Long Johns that were doing as well as much more expensive merino long johns I left at home (was 32 degrees out),

Icebreaker merino long sleeve short (like my Patagonia merino better, but Icebreaker did the job and scored it at steep discount from Gilt Group wedged amidst the tight and attitudinal designer wear that is the stock/trade of their email offers),

And an old Marmot pull-over waterproof shell (am a pretty big fan of Marmot),

Basic pair of Red Ledge water-proof/slip-on/velcro/zip-up pants,

Wrapped up the iPhone running Runkeeper App in an OtterBox Defender which did its job as well. Personally I just keep the iPhone in a Nathan runners pouch, not purpose-built but works for me.

I do three+ miles in the wet snow. Is kinda fun. And as long as I don’t trail water through the apartment wife is fine….I think.

Escaped to Hunter Mountain in upstate New York for a quick ski lesson. I need all the help I can get so a quick day trip to follow-up on whatever was learned the last time I skied. The drive from New York City was a solid two hours and more with traffic (got Zip Car back late thx to traffic).

Am always trying to find some time to get outside and this week managed to pull this off. I had a great instructor who I would recommend, George Schneider, who didn’t waste any time taking me to the top of the hill (though a short one).

It would be great to have two weeks of skiing, but I’m not really seeing a ski vacation on the horizon — am much more beach/sail focused. I will work on practicing though and looking to try Mountain Creek in New Jersey. It’s closer and the hill (mountain) doesn’t make that much of a difference — at my skill level snow is snow.

The trip to Hunter Mountain (800-486-8376) was mostly via I-87 and there were no shortage of State Troopers writing tickets. I think my GPS (iPhone running CoPilot – poorly) clocked in around 120 miles door-to-door. Did the whole thing as a day trip but the town looks like a good option for a mini-vacation with antique stores, small B&B’s, bars and restaurants. Maybe not now, or for me, but for anyone who wants to get out of the City and explore upstate, Hunter is a good option and is past New Paltz (someone should build them a website) in the Catskills and not far from Woodstock. And you can learn to ski.

(Taking Pictures from Ski Lift: advice caution when trying to take pictures from Ski Lift — as above — number one you’re holding ski poles (2), and you’re fairly high off the ground, and then you’re moving. So in addition to maintaining control of the ski poles you need to remove and hopefully not drop gloves, and then don’t drop iPhone or camera while taking picture pretty much one-handed (if attempting solo) — and with iPhone you’re only guessing as to what you’re taking a picture of as in the extreme bright light is difficult, at best, to see the screen – same issue in sailing, but without the risk of dropping gear or yourself from height. Obviously, you need to do all the above and then be prepared to ski off the lift when it arrives at top of hill/mountain. But skiing is all about risk taking anyway…or managing risk. Stay safe…)

Gear: Have all I need and rented ski’s, boots, poles AND helmet. Patagonia gloves were not up to keeping fingers from freezing after a couple of hours, but other than that all good.

There’s wine. Stumbled on this pretty good Shiraz at Bottle Rocket Wine in NYC. Sure you can order it over the Web and likely you wont be disappointed. It’s a Mollydooker The Boxer Shiraz from South Australia.

I try and get out once a week and do something that causes me to dig deep into the extensive inventory of gear I’ve accumulated — kayak, ski, hike, something. But some weeks leave little opportunity for a variety of reasons and/or excuses. This is one of those weeks.

And in this case a good bottle of wine is gonna have to suffice as tops in terms of entertainment. Sure there is the superbowl, errr, Superbowl, but that’s just kinda rubbing it it — bunch a guys out doing what they love and we gotta watch it. Prefer to do as opposed to watch.

In any case my Mollydooker is pretty good and it’s a 2008 — I hear the 2005 is pretty good as well. Without to much effort you should be able to find a bottle for something south of $25 — lemme know if you like it. Wine Spectator gave it a 91 for whatever that’s worth to you…pretty good. And yeah the label is…different…but the contents speak volumes.

See you out there….next week (filed under Life Hacks).

I’m a bit of a gear junkie so finding a new outdoor store in NYC was a Sunday highlight. The Fjällräven store was a little tricky to find. It’s downstairs and doesn’t yet have a sign. This Swedish classic is located 262 Mott Street between Prince and Houston, but again the important part is that it’s downstairs.

The brand isn’t big on modern fabrics like Gore-tex, though they have a breathable textile they use. Most of their garments can be waxed to get a waterproof or water-resistant finish and they’ve been rocking some of the designs for decades. Hipster outlets like Steven Alan (which I like) have pieces from the collection, in the same way you’d find pieces of throwback brands like Filson at hipster shops across the City.

I’m always looking for gear that can achieve some sort of multi-sport utility. I really don’t understand why the waterproof “foul weather” gear for sailing doesn’t really work for hiking or cross-country skiing. Or boots for boats can’t be boots for fly-fishing. They can actually. I use Chota boots for both sailing (knee high) and for scuba (ankle-high), though they’re built for fly-fishing. In any case, Fjällräven has some great stuff (though not inexpensive). Love the pants that are trail ready but won’t get you tossed from some bar on the LES. Much of the line can be used cross-sport as it was created at a time when a coat was a coat. That’s good enough for me and they’re built to last a lifetime.

Just getting to Utah. And then to Sundance which is in Park City (airport is Salt Lake City). We tried to submit the short Asylum in 2007. That was the last time I was here. No film this time, though no shortage of ideas. Little time for film with Voyage.tv which has been a whirlwind of production both on the web and in terms of the programming we’ve shot over the past year.

I’m sure we’re coming up on 400 segments between the mini-doc’s we make in-destination and the hotel shoots. Learning has been kinda priceless. But following in footsteps on some of mentors, we press to create more, push to find new opportunity born out of what’s been established. Voyage still has lots of growing to do, and really looking forward to the new design we get up in February (see below), but for now happy to be in Utah. Again.

Did a quick Q/A with BlackWeb2.0 founder Angela Benton for my FastCompany Blog. I’ve always thought the site had an interesting and wide perspective of what’s going on, and has an interesting edit focus that’s a cross between tech and culture.

There are more interesting sites than can be mentioned in any story — so the site itself acts like a reference for what’s going on. The bigger question is which sites can become truly financial viable, can the successful sites already up stay up, and will we see some evolution out of content and more into applications. Certainly there are many Black app developers and interesting businesses such as Sheldon Gilbert’s Proclivity, but would be great to see more.

Another weekend and another warrior get-away: Lake Minnewaska (again). Didn’t have to go too far — Minnewaska is about two hours north of NYC, and at least there was snow.  Rock and Snow on Main Street in New Paltz provided the skis, boots and poles for I think $17, and you can pick up virtually anything you need there for this trip or any trip really.

The 17 degree weather added a little wrinkle, but as expected it was warm as long as we were moving. Or warm-like. But this was the first time this year we’d got out cross-country skiing so we really weren’t moving very fast.

And if we weren’t moving slow enough, I broke my pole sitting down for lunch — or slipping down for lunch. Wow, we were just maybe mile and 1/2 from trail head and was a little tricky getting back (for me) but manageable. Really we were headed from Minnewaska over to Lake Awosting via a loop (about 8 miles) — took Castle Point Carriageway there with the idea of coming back via the Upper Awosting Carriageway.

But one of the three of us bailed and headed back for the less steep trail off the parking area (without the cliffs). And there was a brief time while all three of us were separated, which is not a big issue on a sunny day on groomed trails, but generally want to avoid that. And the one of us ended up at the car without the key. Given the temperature in the teens, it basically meant that we would push forward just a bit and the bail ourselves sooner or later.

Well the broken pole nixed the later option and sometimes you gotta take what mother nature gives you; in this case a gentle push backwards. Which is what we did. This means another trip to the Lake to finish the started mini-trek.

On the gear front (other than the pole) all worked out pretty well. I went with Marmot insulated pants and shell/jacket. As a side note, I don’t think most Gore-Tex should be considered water “proof” maybe water “resistant” up to some point.

A little insulation here and there — polypro base later, wool undershirt from Patagonia, wool sweater from Woolrich, and the Marmot shell. Was fine. Hat + balaclava and couple pairs of gloves and was within the realm of warm-ish.

Looking forward to getting back.

Got out for a post-Christmas excursion with brother-in-law. And, of course, testing some gear for some eventual bigger trip (Greenland). All good. Great gear store there in New Paltz, Rock and Snow, def worth stopping through. Did the short loop around the lake — a little snow — was hoping for some x-cross country skiing but rain wiped that option off the map. For now. Rock and Snow rents ski’s — so just waiting for the snow.

iTopoMaps was ready if needed (wasn’t needed) downloaded Quad night before. Otter Defender Case also seemed fine in 30 degree weather, though having to take gloves off to motivate the iPhone will become a pain point in anything much colder.