Update May 16, 2025: MEC announced today that they are now owned by a Canada-based group of investors, led by Tim Gu, a textile manufacturing exec. They have announced that they plan to shift more manufacturing to Canada. I’m curious to see where this goes. My original post about the pending sale is below. As …
Gear Reviews
For the last few years, I’ve been cruising around on an electric bike I’ve named Betty. After thoroughly testing out this e-bike (including on some bumpy trails!) I’ve put together a detailed review of my Rad Power RadMini Step-Thru Electric bike. I’m not a bike expert or super techy, so this review is for regular …
If you want an introduction to outdoor activities in Vancouver, pick up a copy of Active Vancouver by Roy Jantzen. It’s got local recommendations for hiking, trail running, paddling, snowshoeing, cycling and more. Each adventure has a really cool “Eco-Insight” section with fun info about some of the plants, animals, climate or geology you’ll see. …
Many people don’t know this about me, but I collect guidebooks. I own several hundred of them! They date from the 1960s to present and are mostly focused on southern British Columbia. So of course I get excited when a new guidebook is released. I was especially excited when I heard about The Glorious Mountains …
For decades most hikers in the Vancouver area have used 103 Hikes in Southwestern British Columbia to plan their trips. Some have even made a sport out of trying to complete every single hike in a particular edition. It’s been BC’s hiking bible since the first edition was published in 1973. Since then, it’s been …
I have eaten a LOT of pre-packaged backpacking meals in my days (and nights) on the trail. Unfortunately most of them are full of ingredients I can’t pronounce and don’t recognize. I have also tried my hand at dehydrating my own backpacking food at home, but that can be time consuming. (And despite my best …
On multi-day hiking trips, having a comfortable backpack is pretty important. On my first ever backpacking trip (the West Coast Trail!) I used a borrowed backpack that was too big for me. The harness didn’t fit, I got bruises on my shoulders and hips and the sternum strap rubbed my collarbone raw. No good! After …
For the last few months I’ve been trying out the new MEC Warm Obsession Hoodie. In order to understand the way I feel about this jacket, you need to know a few things about me: I am a sweaty hiker. I get really cold easily. And I love geeking out about technology in outdoor gear. Technology …
By now you’ve probably seen about a million Instagram photos of hammocks (some of which are set up in insane places) and you’re wondering what all the fuss is about: Are they actually that comfortable? When are they actually useful? Which one should I buy? I’ve owned the Therm-a-Rest Slacker Double Hammock and Suspender hanging …