Starting Today, both the Mountain Khakis blog, and the Keen blog will be posting a new challenge every Thursday starting October 1st.  The following Thursday they’ll randomly select a winning entry to receive an outfit courtesy of KEEN and Mountain Khakis.  The contest will be promoted and supported by both brands via Facebook and Twitter.

And to play is simple!

1. Post a comment on either brand’s blog with your Twitter name and your answer to the weekly challenge.  Each week we’ll choose one entry as our random winner

2. Twitter: Follow @KEEN_shoes and @MountainKhakis. Tweet “I just entered #GetinOurDuds Contest for a @KEEN_shoes & @MountainKhakis fall wardrobe”

3. Facebook: Become a fan of mountainkhakis and KEEN Inc. Update your status: “I just entered The Get in Our Duds Contest for a KEEN & Mountain Khakis fall wardrobe”

5. Enter weekly for a chance to win!

Guys will win MK’s new Fall09 Flannel-Lined Original Mountain Pants, MK Belt & Hat plus KEEN’s new Fall09 Boots, HybridCare T-shirt & Backpack.  Gals will win MK’s new Fall09 “Avocado” Cords, MK Belt & Visor plus KEEN’s new Fall09 Boots, HybridCare T-shirt & Backpack.

Both Mountain Khakis and Keen make quality gear, and run the companies with sustainability at the forefront.  This is a great way to score some fantastic swag from some great companies.

I played; have you?

Some cool gear from Mountain Khakis and Keen:

Mountain Khakis Original Mountain Pant



Men’s Alpine Utility Pant



Keen Redmond Shoe



Keen Thurman Canvas Pack

“After four months, we are happy to report that our sweeps has generated a ton of attention and we’re picking up new entries every day,” said Kenny Ballard, president of Sierra Designs. “I anticipate that we’ll see more people registering as time gets shorter and we’re looking forward to selecting a winner.”

the grand prize package includes a Sierra Designs Lighting XT 4 tent, two award-winning Verde 20 sleeping bags and two sets of legendary waterproof hiking gear: the Cyclone Eco Jacket & Pants. This package also includes round-trip airfare for two on Virgin Atlantic Airways, two nights lodging in a luxury yurt at the Graig Wen resort, a BritRail FlexiPass for transportation around Wales and to Snowdonia National Park, and two nights at Escape, a five-star boutique bed and breakfast, prior to flying home.

The prize package consists of everything you need for a well supported backpacking trip to Wales.  The winner will be selected in October, and the winner will have a year to book this fantastic adventure.

This is a great opportunity, so be sure to register to win.  You never know!

Come back to Outside San Diego to see my initial review on Sierra Designs fantastic 3-Season sleeping bag, the Arrow Rock 30, featuring FLEX technology.

The biggest problem with the High Sierra Sentinel 65 is that it is cavernous.  The seemingly endless supply of room inside the pack makes it easy to overpack,  and it takes some restraint not to add the kitchen sink.  Overloading the pack is easy to do, and exposes the only real flaw we found on the pack.  With excessive weight (50 lb range) and steep punishing terrain (Grand Canyon) the adjusting straps on the suspension had a tendency to slip, and loosen up.  George, our tester was able to readjust the straps, but after a while it became distracting,  and a little bit of duct tape temporarily fixed the problem.  Here is what he had to say about the pack:

“The pack held all of my gear for the 4 day / 3 night trek into the Grand Canyon. The pack grossed out at about 50 lbs with food and water. We went down the South Kaibab trail which is a 6.4 mile hike to the Bright Angel Campground with a 4800 foot elevation loss. Large portions of the trail consist of Mule sized steps cut in the trail. This is where I wished that High Sierra had used better straps and/or buckles on the pack. They kept slipping forcing me to keep tightening the shoulder straps, the load adjusters and even the hip belt. The shoulder straps started to roll or fold and I finally stopped and used some duct tape to secure them. This prevented me from loosening them to take off my pack at rest breaks. The only other problem was more of an irritation than a problem. The “ERGO-FIT” harness squeaked as I walked.

I left the duct tape in place for the rest of the hike but I did have to keep tightening the other straps during the 25 or 30 trail miles that we covered. The squeak either quit or quit bothering me. We did have some rain and even a little snow during the trip and I used the pack cover and hung the pack on the critter poles with the use of a rope with the covered side up so it stayed high, dry and critter free.”

We were able to contact High Sierra after the trip and they were very interested in our experience.  They indicated that they have heard of this problem during extreme conditions, and were working to improve the pack to rectify the problem.  During a more moderate backpacking trip (lighter load, or less punishing terrain) this problem would have not presented itself, and I we would only have positive things to say about this pack.

Get your own Sentinel 65 pack at REI for only $109.93

Now for some Exciting News!

High Sierra Sports and Outside San Diego are so confident about how much you will like this pack, that we are giving one away to a lucky reader.  Here is what you need to do.

1. Reply to this post, and tell the world where the High Sierra Sentinel 65 pack will take you. Have fun with this and be creative.  The Sentinel 65 has been around.  Where are you going with it.
2. Be sure to include an email when posting, so that I can contact you if you are the lucky winner.
3. Keep reading Outside San Diego, and enjoy finding out where the Sentinel 65 is planning to go.
4. I will select one lucky reader from the replies, and ship them off a High Sierra Sentinel 65 pack.

Here are the rules:

• I will be selecting the winner on Monday August 3, 2009.  Any replies after 12pm on August 3, 2009 will not be eligable to win.
• Each person will allowed one entry.  I will only count a person in the drawing once, despite how many replies they post.
• Many people will enter, only one person will win.
• I will contact the winner via email.  If I do not hear from the winner 72 hours after initial notification, I will select another winner.
• I reserve the right to change the rules or cancel the contest at anytime. If you do not agree with my rules, please do not enter the contest.

Have fun and lets see some great entries.

Stanley Water Bottle Winners:

Matt F. of Fayetteville

Karen M of Mission Viejo, CA

C Mason of Norfolk, VA

Mark C of Calgary, AB

JC Pollard

Mark

4alloutdoors Winners:

Brian G of Indian Trail, NC

David G of Belchertown, MA

The water bottles will be shipping out next week,  and  the 4alloutdoors prizes late next week.  We will be introducing out biggest swag item yet tommorrow, so check back, and see how you can qualify for a chance to win.

After a few blips in the road,  I will be announcing the winners for the Stanley Water Bottles,  and the contest in conjunction with 4alloutdoors on Monday.  On Tuesday I will be introducing the biggest giveaway in the history Outside San Diego.  If you like to be outside, check back on Tuesday.

As my 40th birthday appraoches in  under a year,  I began planning for my midlife crisis.  I figured I have a choice between buying a Porche,  and giving everyone the immpression that I am trying to compensate for something,  or I could challenge myself in ways I previously thought immposible.  After much consideration, and some not so gentle chiding form my wife, I am beggining traing for my first ever triatholon at some point in the first four months of 2010.   As I slowly began to emerge from the sedintary shell that marked my early 30’s,  new vistas opened up as to my capabilities.  I would have never even considered setting a goal of competing in a triathlon, but I believe that my mind and heart are up to the challenge,  and where there is a will, the body will follow.  The running is a particular challenge as I have never been very capable.  I am now coming to realize that it is as much mental as it is physical,  and by training enough, and wanting enough I will suceed.  Stay tuned for regular updates on my progress.

As always Outside San Diego will bring you quality gear reviews, gear bargains, trip reports, and news fro San Diego, Southern California and beyond.

Stanley Nineteen 13 Bonnaroo Bottle

Here is what they had to say about the program:

“This program aimed at reducing the number of disposable water bottles purchased at the festival empowers
concert goers to reduce their impact to the environment by offering FREE filtered water to ALL attendees
throughout the festival grounds. These filtered water stations, located throughout the concert areas, are in
addition to the existing quality well water stations already in place. To support the costs of this free filtered
water program, concert-goers are encouraged to purchase, and use all weekend and beyond, a Bonnaroo
branded limited edition STANLEY ninteen13 stainless steel water bottle. While free refills will be offered to
anyone with any reusable bottle, the Bonnaroo/ STANLEY bottles sold help fund this innovative program.
Additionally $1 of each bottle sold goes to Global Water Challenge to help meet the urgent need of providing
safe drinking water globally.”

I have a six different Stanley bottles to give away.

So here are the details:

• You must be an email subscriber to be eligible to win. Subscribe to Outside San Diego by Email
• I reserve the right to cancel or modify this contest at any time.
• Lots of people will enter and not everyone will win.
• The winners will be posted on Outside San Diego as soon as I am able to contact them and notify them that they have won.

here are the rules:

• I will be picking six winners at random from my email subscribers on June 11, 2009
• The style of bottle each winner will receive will be randomly selected.
• If you already subscribe to the email list,  you are already entered.  If you want to enter, Subscribe to Outside San Diego by Email.
• I will not sell or otherwise do anything with the email subscriber list other than send you the quality content found each and everyday on Outside San Diego.

This is just the start of  Outside San Diego’s “Summer of Swag”,  so stay tuned for more.