The adventure racing community has been a abuzz recently with all kinds of great news. For example, this weekend gives us the CheckPoint Tracker National Championship in Moab, Utah, which promises to be an excellent event, and 2011 has no less than 3 expedition length races planned for North America alone. It seems the sport is as healthy as ever, and more and more outdoor athletes are seizing the opportunity to take part.
Jumping into adventure racing can be quite a daunting process. There is a lot of gear to buy and tons of skills to learn as well. And it’s not just the shoes, bikes, paddles, and packs that you have to consider, there are tons of smaller items as well, like a lightweight but well equipped first aid kit or a headlamp that works in all conditions and has a battery that can last a long time.
Fortunately for aspiring and veteran adventure racers alike, Brooks-Range has an invaluable piece of gear that will soon find a permanent spot inside your gear box. Their Adventure Racing Toolkit contains several items that new racers probably won’t even know they need yet, while the experienced athletes will appreciate their usefulness and quality straight away.
The toolkit contains four items, two UTM plotters, an all weather #311 fieldbook, and a field organizer. The plotters come in two sizes, a larger one that is perfect for pre-race planning of routes between checkpoints, and a smaller pocket sized plotter that is perfect for making course corrections while in the field. The larger plotter offers multiple map scales and conversion rates, which makes it very useful in the hands of skilled navigator.
The fieldbook is durable, well made, and still lightweight. Better yet, it is water resistant, which means it’ll be useful even when the weather turns bad, which we all know will happen at some point. Because the weather has been known to turn bad on occasion, in a race or just on a day hike, the field organizer may just be the most useful item in the entire toolkit. The organizer is waterproof and six distinct pockets to help organize your important paperwork, such as your race passport or notes containing special instructions. There are also several slots for holding a pen or pencil and a handy spot to place your pocket UTM plotter too. The whole thing seals up nice and tight with a velcro strap, helping to keep the items within even more safe and sound.
These items certainly aren’t the sexy gear that we all like to shop for when it comes time for an adventure race. We’d much rather check out the latest pack or the hot new new mountain bike. But each of these items are also highly useful and important to have along on a race, whether it’s a sprint, 24-hour, or expedition length competition. This is the kind of toolkit you purchase, throw in your gear box, and forget it’s there. That it until you need them. Then you’ll be very glad you have them with you, and you’ll be glad that Brooks-Range put this little kit together for you as well. Order online by clicking here. MSRP: $45.70.
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