The Gear Guy: Outside Magazine’s Douglas Gantenbein reviews three ultra-light, breathable tents from Black Diamond (HiLight, $370 | Ahwahnee, $650) and Nemo (Nano Elite, $390), answering the question: What’s the best ultra-light waterproof/breathable tent out there?

The Gear Guy: Outside Magazine’s Douglas Gantenbein reviews four high-quality, lightweight four-person tents from Sierra Designs (Lightning XT 4, $450), Marmot (Halo 4P, $399), Black Diamond (Oasis 3, $360), and Hilleberg (Keron 4, $825), answering the question: What’s the best high-quality lightweight tent on the market?

Do-it-all tent review from Alpinist’s Jon Walsh: “The waterproof and breathable Drizone material and the clever design provided me with everything I needed on that frigid trip. It was lightweight at just 4 pounds, 6 ounces in “bare-bones” mode, storm proof and so well ventilated that I could literally stick my head through the opening. It kept bad weather out, it was more than roomy enough for two, and I easily set it up in just a few minutes.”

The One: ultralight tent from Gossamer Gear. “It’s very cleverly designed and has the usual set of features offered with single walled tents including mesh between the tent walls and floor and a elevated vestibule for better ventilation. Spinnaker cloth is a ultralight silicone coated polyester fabric used to make sailboat spinnakers and sails.” sectionhiker.com

Produced by Gossamer Gear

Austrian-born skydiver and world renowned BASE jumper Felix Baumgartner (“Fearless Felix”) plans to ride a helium balloon to an atmospheric height of 120,000 feet, and then jump–all in an attempt to surpass the 50-year record for the highest-altitude parachute jump set in 1960 by retired U.S. Air Force pilot Joe Kittinger.

Jason Paur of Wired writes about David Clark’s supersonic suit that will help keep Felix alive during the jump: “Baumgartner (like Kittinger did) is working with several scientists to research new, safer suit designs for pilots and future space travelers. The hope is to develop the next generation of full pressure suits that would help increase survival if the need to bail out of a spacecraft should ever arise at extremely high altitudes.”

Inflatable snow body boards, or airboards, have been around since the 1990s–invented by Swiss snowboarder Joe Steiner (injured in a boarding accident) as a safer way of getting down the hill–and interest at ski resorts is showing growth.

“‘It’s starting to catch on because once people try it, they realize what a total blast it is,’ said Ann-Elise Emerson, president of Emo Gear, the Airboard distributor in North America. ‘There was some skepticism when it was introduced, just like there was with snowboarding. But the interest is growing, and ski areas are listening,’” reports Elizabeth Maker of The New York Times.

“Since 2003, 8,000 boards have been sold nationwide, including some to ski areas that rent them to multiple visitors, said Ms. Emerson, who estimates that 20,000 people have taken up airboarding in the United States.”

Edward Nickens of Popular Mechanics spends a few days paddling Louisiana’s salt marsh in search of sea trout and redfish and writes about the new breed of fishing kayaks: stable casting platforms, easy to paddle and maneuver, relatively indestructible, light and portable, and most of all, comfortable.

“These new fishing-friendly designs have ushered in a golden age of small-craft angling. According to the Paddlesports Industry Association, kayak fishing is the fastest growing segment of human-powered water recreation. These boats are introducing outdoor enthusiasts who might never have considered themselves paddlers to a new kind of fishing adventure.”

Native’s Ultimate Hybrid and Hobie’s Mirage Pro Angler are loosely reviewed.

Patrick Sébile–41-year-old lure designer and founder/CEO of Sébile Lures–has created a line of realistic and utilitarian fresh and saltwater lures that are making inroads in the fishing market. An accomplished angler and businessman, Sébile has “fished in 61 countries, [holds] 27 IGFA records, and [has] caught more than 565 species of fish. That background now combines with a talent for making things to produce a range of extraordinary lures.”

John Merwin of Field & Stream interviews Sébile about catching carp, selling his “1 millionth lure,” and the innovation behind the Magic Swimmer (his first marketable creation): “‘I had wanted to create a hard bait that swims like a real fish, so I studied everything from how fish actually swim to the hydrodynamics of a hard body in water,’ he said. ‘Eventually, I was able to make some segmented parts that moved in a true baitfish motion. Importantly, this was much more than just a good- looking shape designed to catch fishermen before catching fish.’”

Cross-Country Ski Line-up

During the near freezing/mostly wet snow conditions in Vancouver’s Olympic nordic events, many athletes turned to waxless Zero Skis: nordic ski bases that grip through a technique of vigorous base rubbing until the hairs, which lie in the base material, stand up.

“While approaches vary slightly among brands, zero skis replace grip, or kick wax, with a small section of special base material. To a large extent, the secret of zero skis is using an old technology in a new way,” writes Ian Austen of The New York Times.

“During skiing, the early plastic bases tended to develop small, fuzzy particles of plastic on their surface. When that happened, the skis were, in skiers’ vernacular, hairy, and thus slower when gliding. The problem was solved in the 1980s by mixing graphite into the base plastic.”

photo credit: nerdegutt

Pete Wagner, a ski designer from Telluride, CO and owner of Wagner Custom Skis, believes in detailed personal surveys, talking to his his customers directly, and having his production team listen to client playlists as they construct your new pair of $1,700 custom skis.

“Wagner has read The Hidden Messages in Water, the book that claims vibrations can be trapped, and therefore, things like ambient music can affect structural integrity of materials. Pete believes. And he exerts a calming influence on his product—a factory soundtrack of reggae and world beat. I told him he’d been living in Telluride too long, and, just to smite this new age bullshit, I sent him a playlist composed of early ’90s metal. All Pantera, all the time,” writes Jake Bogoch of Skiing Magazine.