Tech Reviews

Clockwise from top left: Clever toothbrush, Leatherman Juice Xe6, Garmin's RINO GPS two-way radio, The North Face Roadrunner 2, First Need's deluxe water purifier, Therm-A-Rest Performance Lite and the Optimus Nova multi-fuel stove. PHOTO COURTESY OF MANUFACTURERS

The best way to escape the summer swelter is to be above it all -- at 1,500m or more. With mountains covering some 80 percent of the island, Taiwan is an excellent place to experience the possibilities of a vertical climate, provided you have the right gear. Most people think of getting back to nature as leaving technology behind, but it is technology that has lightened the load of outdoor enthusiasts and brought comfort to cold places. It's re-examined the way we do everyday things such as sleeping, eating, even brushing your teeth. Take the right equipment with you and roughing it isn't so rough. Here's a look at a few of the items available to campers who crave comfort.

Of course the most important thing you'll need on the trail is water, and while you'll no doubt come across a lot of streams spilling off Taiwan's mountaintops, they're not always as clean as they look. Microbes, bacteria, even viruses that live in the water, can have you running to squat behind a different tree every half a kilometer down the trail. Many campers carry iodine in their packs to kills these tiny vermin, but guzzling liters of iodine can be as harsh on your stomach as the bugs it kills. Better to have a water filter that can remove all these. First Need's Deluxe Water Purifier (US$90) does exactly this. It's the only non-chemical water purifier certified to the US Environmental Protection Agency standards for microbiological purifiers and can remove bacteria, cysts and viruses. It even removes unpleasant tastes and certain chemicals that can leave water tasting much worse than it looks when bubbling over moss-covered stones. It even won credit from Outside magazine recently, having garnered a "gear of the year award."

Another "gear of the year" award winner will come in useful once you've cleaned your water. Optimus Nova Multi-Fuel Stove (US$130) is one of the lightest stoves on the market and can burn most any kind of fuel, including kerosene, gasoline and diesel. I inquired at a local outfitter if the Nova would, at a pinch, burn, say, Kaoliang. The sales clerk was incredulous that I would take a match to Taiwan's flagship liquor but in the end said that, yes, it would probably work. If my own MSR International stove ever gives out, the Nova would be my stove of choice, but the MSR is another excellent choice in outdoor stoves -- and will likely be making meals a generation from now.

Once you're watered and fed the next obvious thing to do after a day of hiking is to sleep. A bed of pine needles under the stars sounds like the perfect way to spend the night but bugs, moisture, the possibility of rain, and things that go bump in the night can spoil a good night's sleep. Better to pack along a lightweight, two-person tent. At just over 2.6kg, The North Face's Roadrunner 2 is one of the lightest you can pack along. Like all North Face products, it's sewn to last, despite the fact that the entire top of the tent is a see-through mesh. The mesh roof makes it ideal for stargazing while keeping bugs away. It's also one of the few tents on the market to put a large door on each side, making getting in and out a breeze.

The rain tarp creates a vestibule on each side of tent, making it easy to store both occupants' gear. The Roadrunner is also one of Outdoor magazine's "gear of the year" award winners.

As far as the bed of pine needles is concerned, you'll be much happier on a Therm-A-Rest Performance Lite sleeping pad. Therm-A-Rest is the first and last name in sleeping pads and has been for years. They pioneered the self-inflating pad whose foam core expands when the air valve is opened.

It's pictured here stuffed inside a Therm-A-Rest camp chair; a tightly sewn piece of nylon with adjustable nylon straps that is one of the most comfortable chairs you'll ever sit in, outdoors or indoors. Perfect for unwinding by the campfire.

Of course you don't want to forget to brush your teeth before you go to bed.

While a toothbrush isn't one of life's absolute necessities, it is perhaps the most telltale indicator of how hardcore a hiker is. In an effort to shed as much weight as possible, many hikers simply go without a toothbrush and toothpaste. Others cut their brushes in half and take tiny tubes of paste like the ones found in hotel rooms. But to those for whom leaving their toothbrush at home is unconscionable, there is the Clever toothbrush (US$5).

Squeeze a tube of toothpaste into the receptacle end of the brush and close the cap and you have enough toothpaste to last a week. Tighten the cap and toothpaste squeezes out a small hole behind the bristles. At only two ounces, it's light enough to soften the most hardcore hikers. It's a clever enough design to have won Backpacker Magazine's Editor's Choice award this year.

Another Backpacker Magazine award winner is Garmin's RINO GPS two-way radio. RINO stands for "radios integrated with navigation for the outdoors" and this is one of the few global positioning units that doubles as a communications device. Not only will it direct rescuers to your location, you can talk to them while they're en route or listen to the ball game. You don't need to buy two of them to enjoy their two-way functionality. The RINO is compatible with any two-way radio up to 35km away. It offers GPS information within three meters accuracy and will even tell you your current and average speed, sunset and sunrise times, and trip time and distance. A GPS device may seem like a luxury, but it's one that can potentially save your life.

Lastly, one item that is definitely not a luxury is a good knife, and as most any outdoorsman will tell you, Leatherman makes the best. Anyone who hasn't seen the new line of Leathermans would do well to check out the Juice Xe6. It packs pliers, wire cutters, four screwdrivers, a saw, an awl, a diamond-coated file and corkscrew, a straight-edge blade and a serrated blade, can opener, bottle opener and scissors into a 190g design. If there's a task it won't perform on the trail, you're working too hard -- cool off and enjoy yourself.