Image from Sierra Designs

​Now based in Boulder, Sierra Designs was on the front end of the ultralight tent category before it had a name. Evolving from classic 1980s models like the Meteor Light, this year's latest and greatest, weighing in at 3 pounds, 6 ounces, the LT Strike 2 features 29 square feet of sleeping space plus a pair of 9-square-foot vestibules on either side.

I set up a demo in my yard last night and didn't even need the directions. The poles -- their are only two -- feature an intuitive, patent-pending design that saves weight while increasing space. And not a drop of the red rain that drifted in from Utah overnight made it into the inner sanctum.
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SeaShell awnings are one of your many options to make your backyard more like your living room.

​Those of us who love the great outdoors often love it precisely for the reasons other people hate it -- namely, it's not a climate-controlled environment. It's nature, damn it!

But there are others who won't venture outside their man-made boxes for a breath of fresh air until all the snow has melted and the sun is shining -- and even then, there are still reasons to complain about all that stuff out there that we can't control. The wind -- there's too much of it. The bugs -- ditto. The sun -- it's shining too bright, and you can't keep the shade from moving with the time.

Or maybe they've already spent all day outside, hiking and biking and rock-climbing, and would simply like a little bit more comfort as they enjoy an evening cocktail on the patio, watching the sun go down.

Regardless, here's some of the latest technology in three different options for your own backyard:

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Image from www.jakpak.com

​Weighing in at a mere three pounds, the JakPak is the Swiss Army knife of outerwear, tripling as a jacket, a one-person tent, and a sleeping bag. The Seattle-made product incorporates a waterproof jacket with a hood and visor, a sleeping bag, a basic tent, and insect netting into its design. Its market is twofold: 1) the ultra-light, fast-packing crowd who want to get their gear weight down to the bare minimum; and 2) people who like to be prepared for anything.

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Photo from PENTAX Imaging

Go ahead, do this at home.

​When a company puts out a press photo of its latest digital camera bathed in mud, then you know they're not messing around.

Not only is the new PENTAX Optio W90 waterproof to 20 feet, it's shockproof, coldproof, and dustproof. (And mudproof, but that might just be a combination of waterproof and dustproof.) It takes a nice picture, too.

Its ruggedness and functionality make it a great point-and-shoot for outdoor adventures of most any kind. And I should know -- I've broken three cameras in the past three years. (One by chasm, one by rogue tide, and one by sidewalk after a recent Great American Beer Festival.)

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Photo by Eric Peterson

Colorado and Jahlorado

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Photo courtesy Aarn North America

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Wilderness Exchange

Don Bushley in action.

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Got a hankering for the latest and greatest piece of ski or mountaineering gear but aren't sure if you can afford it? If you've got some older stuff in your basement or garage, you may be able to trade it up at Wilderness Exchange Unlimited at 2401 15th Street. Wilderness Exchange specializes in factory style closeouts and used gear, but also carries a good portion of new equipment.
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"What's that peak? Wait, don't tell me..."

​If you're a mountain lover like us, you've probably looked toward a mountain-studded horizon and wished you could know the names of all the peaks instantly. Now you can, sort of: Software developer Augmented Outdoors just released Peaks 2.0 for iPhone.

The premise is simple. You hold your phone up to the view, and the software coordinates GPS and compass readings with a peak database to determine the prominent peaks you're looking at. It lists name, altitude, and distance to the summit in a gray pop-up box that appears just above the peak. Users can then take a pic or instantly Twitter that photo to make poor sods stuck in offices jealous.

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From www.downriverequip.com

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Down River Equipment Company is holding its annual spring boat swap and sales at its world HQ in Wheat Ridge starting Friday and running through Sunday. Head over to Down River at 12100 West 52nd Avenue, unit #101, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday or 10 a.m. to 3 p.m Sunday to trade in your used rubber for something fresher, or else get a new boat or accessory on discount.

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Photo from Free Time Goods

​Founded in 2007 by bartender/crocheter Emily Marshall, Aspen-based Free Time Goods hand-makes colorful wool hats. While Marshall has a few home-crocheters who help her out making other designs, she makes all of the company's killer Colorado State Flag hats herself out of yarn sourced from a Nebraska sheep farm where it is sheared, dyed, and spun.

Marshall based the hat on Andrew Carlisle Johnson's 1911 design. (I had no idea that the blue, white, gold, and red respectively symbolized Colorado's sky, snow, sun, and soil until I saw the Free Time Goods website.) Other Free Time Goods hats include the Rasta-style One Love and the Vegas-hued Deep Neon, but I really can't get past the awesomeness of the Colorado flag one.

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