Outside Presents the 2016 Summer Gear Buyers Guide

Just in case you still need some help selecting the best gear for your summer outdoor adventures, Outside magazine has released its 2016 Summer Buyers Guide, outlining 369 items that will keep you safe, comfortable, and happy while pursuing your favorite activities.

The Buyer's Guide is broken down into multiple categories, including Float, Hike, Bike, Run, Fitness, and Travel. Each of those listings is further divided into subcategories that include lists of great gear that is applicable to the activity. For instance, under hiking you'll find the best tents for 2016, as well as the best hiking shoes. Meanwhile, under the bike category you'll discover the best mountain bikes and accessories for a summer ride.

Naturally, with this many items to explore, it can take you quite a long time to sift through all of the options. But, if you're in the market for a new sleeping bag, kayak, camera, or other equipment, the experts at Outside can help you find exactly what you're looking for. There are some really great products to check out here, each of which has been curated by testers who have put these items through their paces over the past few months.

Check out the full list of items on the Outside Online website by clicking here.

British Adventurers to Paddle From Greenland to Scotland

Two British adventurers are preparing to set out on a challenging kayaking expedition that will take them across the Arctic Ocean and North Sea as they travel from Greenland to Scotland. Their journey is set to begin this Sunday and is expected to take upwards of six weeks to complete.

In just a few days time, Olly Hicks and George Bullard will leave the U.K. for Greenland where they will launch their In the Wake of the Finnmen expedition. This journey by sea will cover more than 1200 miles (1931 km) as they travel from the Denmark Strait to Iceland, follow the coastline of that country before daring the waters of the North Sea to head towards the Faroe Islands, a remote place located north of the British Isles. After that, they'll turn south to paddle 50 miles (80 km) to reach the tiny island of North Rona before pressing on with the final leg, which ends at Cape Wrath in Scotland.

All told, the two men expect to be padding for six weeks, with 12 nights actually spend out on the water in the open seas. The first three of those nights will take place on the crossing from Greenland to Iceland. The paddlers will then take their time kayaking along the shores of that country, regaining their strength and preparing for the challenges ahead. During that section of the expedition they'll cover about 20 miles (32 km) per day before pushing on to the Faroe Islands, which will force them to spend another six nights at sea. The final three nights will be when they make the final push across the North Sea to Cape Wrath. 

Olly and George will be paddling a modified Inuk Duo 6.8m sea kayak, which is designed to withstand the challenges and rigors of open water in remote seas. It has also been made for long distance paddling expeditions, with plenty of storage for gear and supplies. The kayak even has sealable cockpits, allowing the men to squeeze inside its hull to catch some sleep on those long nights at sea. 

The aim of the expedition is to prove that the Inuit people of the Arctic could have made a similar journey to populate island that are found in the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans. Hicks has called it the “Arctic Kon-Tiki expedition" in a nod to the famous Thor Heyerdahl expedition from 1947. Olly and George's boat is much smaller than Heyerdahl's however, with some very different challenges. 

This won't be be the first waterborne journey for Hicks. Back in 2005 he became the youngest person to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean at the age of 23. In 2008, we followed his attempt to row around Antarctica as well, and while other expeditions have taken him across the Tasman Sea and around Great Britain. In the future, he hopes to row around the world, taking another crack at the Southern Ocean off the coast of Antarctica once again. 

An Un-Cruise Adventure in Alaska

I've been so busy over the past couple of weeks that I haven't had a chance to share any stories from my recent trip to Alaska, a place that remains one of the best wilderness destinations on the planet. In terms of outdoor adventure and vast sections of land that remain widely unexplored, it is tough to top Alaska. Whether you like skiing, hiking, backpacking, mountain biking, or kayaking, you'll find some  amazing places to pursue those activities. But my trip was a different kind of Alaskan adventure, one that many take on an annual basis, the very popular Alaskan cruise.

Now, before you start to think that this adventure blogger has gone soft, let me quickly point out that this wasn't your typical Alaskan cruise. Far from it in fact. I was invited to take part in a cruise through the Inside Passage with Un-Cruise Adventures, a company that does things a little differently than the mainstream cruise lines that most people use while visiting the area. How so you ask? Well, for starters the Un-Cruise fleet is made up of small ships, which means rather than sharing the vessel with hundreds – if not thousands – of other passengers, there were only about 70 travelers aboard my ship, the surprisingly well equipped Wilderness Explorer. 

This small ship experience allowed everyone on board the ship to interact with one another, getting to know everyone else to some degree. This was especially enhanced when we shared stories around the table during meal time, but also when travelers joined one another on some of the active excursions that are a part of the Un-Cruise itinerary as well. Unlike other Alaskan cruises, passengers don't just stay onboard the ship the entire time, often heading on shore to take a bushwhack hike or to board a kayak to paddle the clear, crisp waters that are found throughout the Inside Passage. Other options for exploring the area included guided walks along the beach, stand-up paddleboarding outings, and skiff tours aboard Zodiac inflatable boats.

Personally, I'm not much of a cruise traveler. If you've read this blog for any length of time, you probably already know that I enjoy being active during my travels and prefer visiting places that I can explore under my own power. On an Un-Cruise you can do just that, thanks to the challenging hikes and great sea kayaking opportunities that actually allow you to get closer to the breathtaking Alaskan landscapes that are such a big draw to visitors.


Speaking of which, the Inside Passage delivered beautiful views at an astounding rate. Before going, I knew that the southeast section of Alaska was well know for its beautiful coasts, but even with that knowledge in mind, I was still surprised and astounded at what I found there. Snow capped peaks, rocky coves, icy fjords, towering waterfalls, and dense rainforest are all part of what you'll find there, with those elements coming together to create a place that is utterly unforgettable. More than once, I remarked that the places we were visiting looked like the should only exist in photos, but yet there they were splayed out in front of us.

Glacier Bay National Park was one of the crown jewels of the trip of course, giving us a chance to get close to some massive walls of ice that still exist in this part of the world. Most of the glaciers there are in full-retreat, but they remain impressive nonetheless. But over the course of the week, we continually came across gorgeous landscapes that are only accessible by boat. Some of those locations were so amazing that they easily rank amongst the most beautiful places I've ever seen, which is saying a lot when you consider some of the great places I've been privileged enough to visit over the years.

In addition to breathtaking landscapes, Alaska is also known for its great wildlife, and my Un-Cruise adventure didn't disappoint in that area either. On our second day out of Juneau for instance, we spotted a pod of orca whales that we watched for nearly an hour. Over the course of the week, we also had encounters with bears (often with cubs!), moose, mountain goats, seals, sea lions, mink, sea otters, bald eagles, and countless other species of birds. If you're like me, and love wild animals in their natural environments, the Un-Cruise won't disappoint in this department either.

Another example of how Un-Cruise differs from the standard Alaskan cruise is that while there is a detailed plan and itinerary for your travels with them, that plan often changes on a moment's notice. For example, one of our days out on the water our captain made the decision to travel 85 miles out of our way just to track down a pod of humpback whales. This was much to the delight of the passengers aboard the Wilderness Explorer of course, as we spent a great deal of time watching these amazing creatures swim through the area. We even witnessed several impressive breaches, as the whales leapt from the water to give us an even better view. It was a memorable experience to say the least, and one that we all appreciated.

My wife – who accompanied me on the trip – and I also had another memorable encounter with an animal while on a guided sea kayak excursion. One afternoon we went out on the water for a couple of hours, and while we had the opportunity to watch a brown bear and her cubs grazing in the grass along the shore, we later had an even better moment with a member of the local wildlife. While paddling, we had a harbor seal following us around for 45 minutes or an hour, occasionally poking his head out of the water to see what we were up to, and even swimming directly under our kayak. He was a cute and curious little fellow, and it was one of the highlights of our entire trip.

As you can no doubt tell, I had a wonderful time in Alaska, and a lot of that has to do with how professional and prepared the team from Un-Cruise were. The staff on our ship kept us well informed at all times of what was happening, and did an outstanding job of organizing our active excursions. On top of that, our cabins were always impeccably clean and the meals were delicious and plentiful. In short, it was tough not to come away impressed, and if I were recommending a cruise through the Inside Passage, I can't imagine doing it any other way than with Un-Cruise. Anything else is just sitting on a ship and watching the world go by.

Un-Cruise doesn't just operate in Alaska. The company also offers departures to the Galapagos Islands, Hawaii, Panama, Mexico, and beyond. To check out all of their options, visit Un-Cruise.com.

Aleksander Doba Abandons Third Atlantic Crossing

In April of this year I told you that Polish long distance kayaker Aleksander Doba was planning to attempt a third crossing of the Atlantic Ocean under his own power at the age of 69. His plans were to set out in late May on a voyage that was expected to take four or five months to complete. Unfortunately, those plans came to an abrupt end just a few days after he set out thanks to unexpectedly powerful waves that capsized his boat.

According to ExWeb, Doba set out on May 31 after waiting for forecast of good weather. But a few days later on June 2, he ran into trouble. A small (1 meter) – but powerful – wave hit Aleksander's kayak, tipping it over not once, but twice. The wave caused damage to the boat, which caused Doba to abandon the crossing, and head back to shore.

Once back on dry land it was determined that the damage done to the kayak was too much to repair and relaunch the Atlantic crossing. Aleksander had hoped he could be back on the water within a couple of days, but it soon became evident that his boat would require repairs that would take an extended amount of time, closing the window on paddling from the U.S. to Portugal this year.

This would have been Doba's third Atlantic crossing, but the first to go west to east. His most recent crossing was completed in 2014, when he paddled more than 7716 mile (12,417 km), starting in Portugal and ending in Florida. That was enough to earn him recognition as a National Geographic Adventurer of the Year, and recognition for what is possible even at an older age.

Aleksander had hoped to celebrate his 70th birthday in Portugal this year following his epic paddle. Now, he'll delay his third Atlantic crossing until next year, when he'll give it another go. Hopefully that expedition will be more successful.

Video: Nat Geo Takes Us Inside the World's Longest Sea Caves

Journey to New Zealand with National Geographic to explore the longest sea caves in the world. Geologist Nicolas Barth was studying active faults on the South Island when he decided to climb down some cliffs and go for a swim. What he discovered there was truly astounding.

Video: Paddling China's Salween River

This video takes us to a remote region of China with Travis Winn, a paddler who visited the same area 15 years ago to make the first descent of the Salween River with his father. Now, he has returned to that same waterway, which is being threatened by damming, to take us on a tour of this amazing part of the world, which is increasingly altered by the industrialization of the landscape.

Salween Spring from NRS Films on Vimeo.