Black Diamond X4 cams are finally on sale!

Today, Black Diamond announced that their coveted X4 cam devices are finally on sale on their website!

These highly-anticipated climbing cams are supposed to be perfect for micro crack trad climbing and placing in small features. The Black Diamond Camalot X4's thin, low-profile design is touted to be second to none for placing in small pockets, thin features, or otherwise un-placeable rock.

You can check out our previous write-up of the cams for some initial impressions and other analysis here.

I can't wait to see what the climbing community thinks of these. Let us know what you think. You can order the cams at the Amazon link below. They start at $69.25 on Amazon .

Review: Marmot Limelight 3P Tent

Review: Marmot Limelight 3P Tent

Marmot Limelight 3P Tent

The Rugged Innovations team takes to the woods bi-weekly to hunt Bigfoot and re-apply our campfire musk (it's an aphrodisiac). We picked up a Marmot Limelight 3P ($278.95 on Amazon) tent for the trip and went to Boca Lake in California. I'm going to spoil this whole review right now: we didn't find any sasquatches. 

The Marmot Limelight 3P is really easy to put up. If you've looked at new tents by North Face, REI, and other outdoor manufacturers lately you'll notice they're going towards more complicated tents with more features, more poles, and more crap. The Marmot Limelight 3P cuts the frills. You won't find arched doorways and flying buttresses here. It's a rock-solid tent with rock-solid features. 

The tent package includes a footprint, tent, and rainfly that all go up quickly. There's a lot of gear in the package so it can be challenging to roll back into the bag. The poles are sturdy. One minor annoyance is that the two cross poles are permanently connected in the middle. It can make tear-down a bit complicated - once you unclip the poles, you have to take apart a 30-foot aluminum crucifix, one end at a time. Speaking of poles, I really like that the poles clip to the tent. Lots of tents make you slide the poles through a sleeve. These poles just clip right onto the top of the tent. It's quick and easy. The entire setup takes 10 minutes. 

Stakes -- totally unrugged. 

Unless you're me. I must channel some kind of pent-up white collar rage when putting in tent stakes because I bent FOUR of them trying to hammer them into the hardpacked clay with the butt of my hatchet. What are the stakes made out of? Pudding? Holy crap. Good thing it comes with eight stakes or my tent would've hitched a thermal and been in the troposphere by nightfall. I recommend buying some heavier-duty stakes if you're camping somewhere with hard topsoil. 

The innards of the Marmot Limelight 3P are comfortable and spacious for two people. Three people would fit but would be very snug. This Tauntaun will keep you cozy all night, Luke. As you can see in the picture above, it is extremely well-ventilated. The ventilation is great for hot summer camping and for preventing condensation in the morning. If you choose to attach the rainfly it provides little vestibules to protect gear that you don't want to keep in the tent (wet boots, wet dogs, etc). The rainfly has a window in the side so you can spend all night looking at... darkness? It's a pointless feature. I wish the window were on the top for stargazing.

The Marmot Limelight 3P Tent At a Glance:

The Hot: 

• Light, airy, well-ventilated
• Very easy to pitch
• Sturdy in weather
• Footprint included
• Great looking!

The Not:

• Flimsy stakes
• A bit expensive
• Difficult to pack up into carrying bag

The Bottom Line: 

The Marmot Limelight 3P tent ($278.95 on Amazon) is a great investment for a weekend camper. It's one of the easiest tents to pitch we've ever seen. It's a car trip or day trip kind of tent -- backpackers will want to choose something lighter and smaller when packed. It looks great and has every feature that you will want in a weekend camping tent... and probably a few you wouldn't have thought of. While it's a bit pricier than alternatives, I am definitely happy with the product and feel like I've gotten my money's worth.

Be safe.

Ariel Castro
Rugged Innovations

p.s. After writing this review, I was contacted by a Marmot rep, who mailed me a new set of tent stakes for free. I must say, I am impressed with their customer service!

Review: Adayak's Organic Cotton T-Shirts

Review: Adayak's Organic Cotton T-Shirt

Adayak Organic Cotton T-Shirt

Adayak is an apparel company with a strong focus on outdoor ethic and conservancy. They've been operating since 2010 and they really deliver on that focus: they've joined up with the Nature Conservancy to run a campaign where they donate $1 for every t-shirt sold to the Plant A Billion Trees fund.

We talked to David, the founder of Adayak, and he was nice enough to send us one of their 100% hand-spun Brazilian organic cotton t-shirts. I took the shirt out for a day of outdoor climbing and had a few thoughts.

First of all, the organic cotton material is great on a hot day. It's a thin, summerweight cotton shirt that is light and breathable, but the construction is rugged enough to withstand some rock-related tugging and abrasions. I'm a clumsy climber and things get bumpy sometimes.  My closet is the result of decades of sartorial natural selection. Weak clothing gets destroyed. Only the strong survive!

The color of the shirt is ideal for climbing. As a climber, wearing dark clothing while climbing in the High Sierras is a big no-no. The Adayak shirt is a nice light tan color and it has found its way into my climbing day rotation. The design on the shirt is pretty cool, too!  I am not sure who the figure is; it looks like Tommy Caldwell rappelling to me. It may be hard to tell from the pictures, but the image looks like it is hand-painted. It's already become one of my favorite shirts.

If you're looking for a new shirt or hoodie -- either for yourself or for a climber in your life -- I suggest avoiding the big manufacturers and supporting Adayak's small business. Their products have fun designs, the quality is great, and the prices are reasonable. Adayak's conservation efforts will help protect our crags and valleys for the next generation of explorers.

Be safe.

Ariel Castro
Rugged Innovation

Review: Castle Brook Paralace Boot Laces

Review: Castle Brook Paralace Boot Laces

Castle Brook Paralaces in situ.

Castle Brook got in touch with us about reviewing one of their rugged boot laces recently. Touted as "the toughest bootlace on the market", we knew we had to check them out. We're Rugged Innovations, after all. We don't mess around with no sucker swag! We took Castle Brook's laces for a bumpy ride in the high Sierra mountains to see what they're made of.

Actually, it turns out their website already tells us what they're made of. The laces are made of seven nylon strands wrapped in a 550 lb. test Nylon Kernmantle sheath. The aglets are made of poloyefin, which is the same material as Frodo Baggins' sword sheath. The construction is solid and feels like it can weather a storm. They're like mini climbing ropes.

The first order of business was to determine if the laces were up to snuff. I got the 60" Shadow Black Paralaces and put them on a pair of waterproof Merrell boots. What better test of gear's mettle than a hot summer day hiking and multipitch trad climbing up in Donner Pass, CA!

On the road. 

My climbing partner and I got lost on the way to the route and had a bit of an epic. You don't realize how diverse an ecosystem of mosquitoes, gnats, and flies can be until you're miles away from your car, irreversibly lost in a dank alpine forest. We tromped around in the woods like a bunch of Smurfs and finally ended up at the climb. The laces held up just great against nature, the elements, and an increasingly frustrated wearer (me). The paralaces didn't cut or even scratch when bumped against sharp rocks, stumps, or fallen logs. Excellent! We put the laces through as much abuse as we could handle.

We're pretty pleased with these laces so far. They are rugged, strong, don't stretch or hold a shape after being tied up, and look badass. At $7.99 direct from their website, the value on these laces is incredible. We'll keep putting miles on these boots and let you know if anything comes up, but I have a feeling the Castle Brook Paralaces will last for years and years.

Be safe.

Ariel Castro
Rugged Innovations