Gear Review By Bjorn Dihle When it comes to backpacks, Mystery Ranch makes some of the toughest, most long-lasting on the market. The brand is known for hunting, climbing, firefighting, and military grade products, so I was surprised when I got my hands on their new Catalyst 22L backpack. It was more “urban” than I expected. Imagine a backpack you’d use for work or school, but that’s also a good day hiking pack, and you have the Catalyst. Mystery Ranch designed it for office work, coffee shop life, and whatever else the urban wilderness can throw at you. It has a padded sleeve for a laptop and organizing sleeves for a tablet or notebooks. However, it’s still built tough enough for a wet, nasty day-long bushwhack up a mountain in Alaska. The Catalyst comes in three different sizes: 18L, 22L, and 26L. It has Mystery Ranch’s well-regarded, handy three-zipper access…
Eagle Enterprises Electro Bear Guard UltraLite Fence I used to stick my nose up at the thought of using an electric bear fence, but after grizzlies made contact with my tent a few times (including a good ol’ fashion trampling with me in it), I’ve come to the conclusion that bears are lousy tentmates. An electric bear fence can make all the difference in keeping you and your gear intact. In some places in Alaska you’d be crazy to camp without one. Eagle Enterprises, which specializes in outdoor survival, safety, and rescue gear, offers a variety of custom-made electric fences that can be used to protect your camp, plane, cabin, or other wilderness assets. They’re an old-school Alaskan company. You call them up and discuss the sort of fence you want, then they build it for you. I was stoked to test Eagle Enterprises’ UltraLite fence, which, at two pounds,…
Two friends, one final adventure
[by Bjorn Dihle]