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Overwhelmed by all of the gear choices?

Outdoor Bound guide Kevin Cafaro spends some time in a local gear shop trying to find the perfect hiking pants. Here he reviews a variety of pants from Prana, Eastern Mountain Sports, Mountain Hardware and Rab.

Moral of this gear review? Never wear denim.

Who says you have to travel far from home to go on a great hike? In Best Hikes Near New York City Outdoor Bound guide and author Ben Keene details the best hikes within an hour’s drive of the New York metro area perfect for the urban and suburbanite hard-pressed to find great outdoor activities close to home. Each featured hike includes detailed hike specs, a brief hike description, trailhead location, directional cues, and a detailed map.

Stop using cold fingers as an excuse for not riding your bike during the winter: Pearl Izumi’s Pro Softshell Lobster Gloves will keep your hands warm and may even make you sweaty.

Our gear opinions are based on personal experience with the gear - no hormones or steroids, these free-range reviews are fully organic and certified.

When we head outdoors, we often go without the luxuries we are accustomed to at home. Many adventurers find themselves faced with watery oatmeal and bland pasta. Yet with talent, practice, and a little ingenuity, you can feast while camping. Experienced backcountry chef Jessica Wolinsky, shares one of her favorite recipes along with pictures of amazing backcountry delicacies.

What can comfortably fit two bottles of wine, a couple pounds of cheese, a baguette and a blanket? 

The Golite Pinnacle backpack of course.

The Pinnacle can also fit a down jacket, a rain jacket, three liters of water, a bathing suit, a headlamp, a small first-aid kit and the above items.

Kevin’s outdoor career began when he started walking and realized how fun it was to climb anything and everything. He started climbing trees, but quickly moved on to basketball poles, statues, rock gyms and ultimately real rock.

He entered the boy scouts in grade school where he could combine his passion for climbing with hiking and camping.

This past weekend as I dragged myself to the finish line of my first marathon

I was not comforted by mile marker 23, the mirages that I saw on the final bridge or the cold pint of ice cream I had waiting for me but by the fact that if anything went awry I was wearing a RoadID.

We all know the feeling of a breathtaking sunset but sometimes it’s a challenge to bring even a part of this beauty home with us.

Outdoor Bound photography instructor Laura Casner has a few tips that will help us all become better outdoor photographers.

Welcome to Outdoor Bound’s new Gear Review where you can expect a mid-week gift in the form of a gear review. We’ll run full circles through the outdoor world with reviews for hiking, running, cycling, and climbing. All opinions are based on personal experience with the gear - no hormones or steroids, these free-range reviews are fully organic and certified.

While some of our trips are pretty obviously named (see: Rock Climbing and Fourteen Peaks), some of our adventures have names that might seem more obscure.

The naming of areas in the New York region was done long before we came around, we just adopted them! Here’s a brief synopsis of Native American names that have stuck with the land and features of New York.

Crackling fire and the laughter of friends define Marc’s first memory of the outdoors. From his first Boy Scout trip to the Adirondacks to his long meanderings on the Inca Trail, Marc’s life has become one grand adventure. Growing up in Plattsburg, NY, Marc was fortunate to have developed an early love for outdoor pursuits. Always looking for ways to share his passion with others, Marc spoke to us about some of his…

“How was the trip?”

It’s a question I have answered probably a hundred times since I returned from Kilimanjaro. My short answer: “Not a bad moment. Seriously, not a bad moment during the entire trip.”  The longer answer, which is harder to communicate, goes something like this…

Climbing up frozen waterfalls. What else is there to say?

We each head for the outdoors for different reasons and find, once we arrive, that we share the same love for nature’s power and beauty. Having outdoor adventures together create bonds that no other experiences can mold. We leave the city and head for the mountains to get away from the masses of bodies, the millions of unknown faces and voices. Around the campfire we find true people and their voices become familiar.

“I understand now, in a way I never did before, the colossal scale of the world. I found patience and fortitude that I didn’t know I had. “

We head out on the Appalachian Trail with Bill Bryson in his now classic A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail and find humor, adventure, and challenge.