gear check

An incomplete list of gear I believe in.

• Injinji socks. No blisters. No kidding. Recommended.
• Vasque trail shoes. Red Wing Minnesota.  Just work. Enough padding and support over rough ground and sharp rocks. The only thing that the old broken down master's runner has in common with the winner of recent event.
• Nathan packs and waterbelts. No chafing.  No hulu dancer effect from too much waist belt.
• North Face and Mountain Hardware exterior jackets and pants.
• North Face hand bottle.  Ergonomic enough no cramps in hands.
• Sansa mp3 players. FM, voice, battery life.  
• A CDMA cell phone from US Cellular or Verizon.  Cause you never know when you will need a 1 am pacer or crew call to get your a$$ over the pass.  GSM iPhones from AT&T are way cool, as long as you don't venture far from the interstate or the city.  Garden spots like Keithsburg, IL, best have something besides your iPhone.  Good news - iPhone on Verizon in 2010.
  
• Verizon 3G cellular coverage with an HP Mini Netbook. Cause 'the road goes on forever, but the party never ends".  Upgrade to 2 GB ram.  Plan to dump XP for Windows 7 asap.