CAMPING

Camping's a blast. That is, until your sleeping bag turns into a sweat-soaked biohazard, the massive boots rip up your feet and a weak headlamp sends you stumbling through a patch of poison oak. Enter technology. The newest camping gear utilizes ultra-advanced material—everything from high-lumen LEDs to ceramic particles to chemical coatings—to make the lightest, strongest, and most comfortable gear yet. Meaning you can devote your energies to something important. More s'mores anyone?

On a scale of outdoor bravado, I fall closer to Disney’s River Country then Sean Penn’s Into the Wild. But, I wasn’t about to let a lack of Eagle Scout skills keep from enjoying and evaluating a new backpack from Skull Candy. So this past Memorial Day, I took my own urban hike through downtown San Francisco from barbecue to beachfront.

The Link Hydro Pack features two key components intended for the enjoyment by “mountain bikers, hikers and snow enthusiasts,” but easily altered to enhance a weekend of burgers, beaches and perhaps a few cold brews: speakers and a ½ gallon hydration pack.

Appropriate usage of the hydration pack requires no direction or formal training. More tactful and subtle then the beer helmet yet equally potent, our chosen form of hydration remained chilled after several hours in the sun.