Outdoor Gear

The rivers are rising, your permits are secured, and the raft is pumped up. Ready to hit the river? Before you hit the put-in, make sure you’ve packed these essential but easily overlooked gear items.

We’re all guilty of buying gear we don’t use or don’t use enough–and almost everyone has a closet that hasn’t been cleaned out in ages. With the new year here, now is the perfect time to declutter and turn unused gear into store credit or cash.

Durango Outdoor Exchange makes it easy to bring in your gear and let us sell it for you. Here’s your guide to decluttering your outdoor gear the smart way.

Work crews were busy over the off season making changes to ski areas across the region. While the hoped-for new lifts at Purgatory aren’t going to spin, there are plenty of reasons for you toget some wax (or new skis) from Durango Outdoor Exchange and hit the slopes this winter.

If you are camping in bear country, or in any place where food storage is a concern, you should strongly consider using a bear canister–a storage system that is built to keep bears out of your food. And in some places, particularly parks in California, Montana, Colorado, and Washington,backcountry campers are required to have and use bear canisters.

While you may get lucky by hanging your food in a sack from a tree, this is not permitted in many areas and virtually impractical in many alpine anddesert backpacking zones. Bear canisters are the preferred method for storing food and other smelly items, but there are many kinds to be aware of. Let’s look at them in more detail.

The time’s come. You’ve got your lightweight backpack, a comfy sleeping bag (of quilt), a sleeping pad that doesn’t (yet) leak air, a cool tent, a nifty little stove, and a hankering to get out and use it all. Let’s go!