Hiking Gear Reviews

Think about it. Who writes hiking gear reviews?

Uh, is this a trick question??

No!

Just a necessary one, before you part with your money.

Gear reviewers have a vested interest in the gear, for any number of reasons.

For instance: maybe they want to get the word out to other trail type people about what works, and what DOES NOT work. The motive is altruism.

Or, maybe they're writers as well as outdoorsy people, and they're combining two loves. No harm in that, right? As long as they're not being paid by the manufacturer of the gear to write the review.

The profit motive is definitely a factor in some hiking gear reviews, and it's sometimes hard to detect it. Full disclosure at the end of the review would be nice, as is done in scientific literature when the authors disclose potential conflicts of interest. Sadly, that doesn't happen.

Any other motives behind writing hiking gear reviews? Extremely negative reviews might be a form of venting, making the author of the review feel better. Personally, I find these rants - oh, sorry, reviews - to be entertaining. If you read between the lines, sometimes the reviewer used the gear incorrectly, or had inflated expectations based on the marketing hype surrounding the product. And sometimes they're absolutely correct - the product sucks big time, and everyone should know it.

But I digress.

Women hikers are backed into a tighter corner than male hikers. They're at the mercy of manufacturers who may not have recognized that women aren't shaped like men, and they don't hike like men (apologies to the Iron Maidens who say they do.) Anatomy is destiny, on the hiking level. I'm not talking about endurance, speed, mental toughness - I'm talking about the biomechanics of your knees and hips, the balance of testosterone/estrogen in your bloodstream, and other female hiking biology.

So where do I go for hiking gear reviews? Sadly, very few places.

I avoid the reviews which are clearly tainted with profit motives - the review is placed side by side with a link to purchasing the product, or an ad. Product placement, I think it's called.

I also avoid reviews which are superficial, focused on the color of the back pack, or the number of pockets in the pants. Useful details, but not really answering my basic questions: How did it perform on the trail? How much did it cost? How did its features make your hiking trip safer/comfortable/enjoyable? What were its drawbacks? Would you buy it again?

Reviews in published magazines are also regarded with a healthy skepticism. Maybe it's just my scientific background, but if you state a fact, where's the proof? Example: This stove will boil water in 2 minutes. So where's the context? Where was the stove: Perched on a mountain top? (and, by the way, what was the elevation?) On a picnic table on a sunny day in the back yard? Or in a snow bank in a howling wind? I think you get my point: just because the review says it's true, won't make it true for your unique hiking situation.

When I read a review, I do a little detective work on who the author is, who is sponsoring the review, and who will gain if I purchase the hiking gear being reviewed. If this sounds like too much work, it probably is for most casual hikers. I've gone off the deep end with hiking, and claim it as my life's passion. So I make it my business to ferret out the good reviewers, and I pay attention to what they say. The rest is up to me, during my own field tests.

OK, by now you're probably wondering where I turn to for gear reviews.