Photo: (C) Sugoi
Sugoi Versa Jacket, front and backAt first glance, the Versa jacket from Sugoi appears to be a nice but by no means remarkable jacket made for cycling and aerobic outdoor sports. In old-school speak, the jacket is a "windbreaker," with resistance to water (but not waterproof) and wind, and a breathable polyester fabric face. But wait! Are those magnets up its sleeves?

Indeed, one particular feature Sugoi touts -- "removable raglan sleeves attached with magnets" -- immediately caught my eye. I first saw the Versa at the Interbike expo in Las Vegas last September, where a representative from the company gave a type of striptease in the trade show booth to demonstrate the jacket's unique functionality.

In short, when you heat up while wearing the Versa, its sleeves and a portion of the upper back area snap off and convert the jacket to a vest. Magnets hold it in place. The system makes for an easy-on, easy-off setup, letting a bike rider -- with some practice! -- "de-sleeve" the jacket while pedaling and stuff the arms away in a pocket without skipping a stroke.

I tested the Versa, which costs $120, while running and biking this fall. The jacket's adaptability made it nice for cool days where you start out cold but then heat up fast. Breathability and fit were commendable, making the Versa my pick for high heart-rate workouts on cool days over the past month.

Photo: (C) Sugoi
Versa jacket, de-sleevedTaking the magnet-equipped sleeves off is a cinch. Getting them back on is at first more of a mystery. But Sugoi has nailed this design, and with a simple shrug of the shoulders the sleeves find their place and the magnets snap home. Slick!

The Versa is new for this fall, and it comes in men's and women's cuts as well as in several colors. There are three pockets and a splay of 3M Scotchlite reflective accents to make you more visible at night.

As noted, the jacket is water-resistant, but not waterproof, and there is no hood. The Versa is aimed at outdoor exercisers, and it's not the best option for wilderness trips or multi-day rides.

But for cool-weather training on the bike or in running shoes -- or for a strange striptease in a Las Vegas trade show booth -- the magnet-equipped Versa stands alone.

--Stephen Regenold is founder and editor of www.gearjunkie.com.

Photo: (C) Saucony
Saucony ProGrid Kinvara

Mea culpa: I am a running geek. I am a shoe junkie. I am addicted to pounding pavement and running trails, sometimes 40 miles of training in a week. I am hardly the fastest runner I know, but I am committed: marathons and long-distance trail events are on my calendar, and I run year-round, hot sun to bitter cold.

Indeed, more than any other activity, running -- which I can do daily -- has slowly evolved into my sporting area of expertise. As such, running shoes have become crucial pieces of gear, and every year I review a dozen or more models made for road and trails.

A recent shoe that has stood out, the Saucony ProGrid Kinvara is light, fast and fun. The $90 model, which I have put 100+ miles on over the past few months, has slowly risen to the top in my shoe closet as a favorite for mid-distance road runs.

The shoe is a "neutral" design, meaning it is fairly flat inside and there are no features included made to direct your stride. It is a running shoe that allows your foot to land and push off as it naturally would without a shoe on.

Photo: (C) Saucony
Sole of the Kinvara

Like many "barefoot"-style shoes in its ilk, the Kinvara has minimal midsole construction. It is low to the ground and flexible in the sole.

All around, the shoe is light and fast. The uppers are mainly mesh. The sole is unique: It is skimmed down to just the essentials, with an exposed mold of EVA foam that is dotted with triangles of carbon rubber outsole for durability and grip.

On my scale, the Kinvara weighs 9.3 ounces per shoe (in men's size 13). This is lighter than any "normal" road runner in my closet. Sure, there are specialty race shoes and running flats that are lighter still. But the Kinvara isn't in that category. Saucony has found a design that is comfortable enough for mid-distance (5 to 10 miles) training days, though also as fast and fun as some shoes made only for racing.

If you're a dedicated runner -- or perhaps a bit addicted like me -- the Kinvara comes highly recommended. The lightweight shoe with built-in support rides a thin line between speed and support, a place where daily training and race-speed minimalism can finally meet up. $90, www.saucony.com

--Stephen Regenold is founder and editor of www.gearjunkie.com.

Photo: (C) Oakley
Oakley Elite C SixThe most expensive sunglasses in the Oakley line are not encrusted with diamonds and jewels. But at $4,000 for the shades, the Elite C Six model might as well be treated like gold. Released about a year ago, the extremely limited model is actually made of carbon fiber with a titanium spine. The company touts machining with 0.002-inch precision and a handcrafted process that rivals fine watch making.

I got the lowdown on the Elite C Six model at an Oakley press event last week in New York. An Oakley rep told of a process that starts at a U.K. factory where high-end Formula 1 race-car components are made. The Oakley shades get a spot in the company's line between the milling of suspension components that will eventually go under the hood in one of the world's fastest cars.

A solid block of layered carbon fiber is the base of the Elite C Six. The U.K. plant's equipment cuts and mills for up to 24 hours straight with the aforementioned 0.002-inch precision to carve out, Michelangelo-style, the sculpted sunglasses frame inside.

Photo: (C) Oakley
Elite C Six close-up

The end product is a Space-Age sunglass that's made of solid carbon. The whole package, frame and lenses together, weighs an insane 42 grams. There are titanium hinges and an internal spine for reinforcement of the carbon arms. Oakley adds its best optics, and -- bam! -- you have the $4,000 shades.

But who on Earth spends $4,000 on sunglasses? I asked that exact question to Andy McSorley, Oakley's eyewear brand manager, and his answer was that the special shades are obviously made for an extremely affluent, niche market. "This would be anyone from a race car driver, exotic car owner, carbon-fiber bicycle rider, or sailing enthusiast," he said.

Photo: (C) Oakley
Milling carbon fiber

The Elite C Six might be more museum piece -- or conversation starter on your face -- than performance sunglass. But they do carry the same optics and frame features as seen on some of the company's sport-specific glasses. McSorley noted that Lance Armstrong wore the very first pair on the final stage of the 2009 Tour de France.

So if you're Lance Armstrong, an oil sheik, or a tech billionaire, the Elite C Six might be for you. Oakley plans to make a total run of only 250 Elite C Six carbon glasses. For the slightly-less obsessed, the company offers an aluminum-frame version. Cost is only $1,500.

--Stephen Regenold is founder and editor of www.gearjunkie.com.

Step inside the Fjallraven Store at 262 Mott Street in New York City and you enter a time warp where wool pants, waxed jackets, and backpacks with leather straps and metal buckles adorn the walls. Fjallraven -- pronounced "Fee-Yell-Raven" -- means arctic fox in Swedish, and the brand has roots in the country's northerly regions where snow piles and polar gales blast from Valhalla and other points past the Arctic Circle.

Photo: (c) Fjällräven
Mott Street Store

Fjallraven was founded in Sweden 50 years ago. It is a widely-recognized name in its home country, where school kids for a couple generations have slung on the company's boxy Kanken backpacks. Parkas, bags, and outdoors clothing are staples in the line.

The flagship New York store, which I visited this week, is a basement space with white walls and an Army-surplus feel. Gear is arranged on shelves and hung on the walls, including Fjallraven products and items from other niche brands. There are few electronics, a lack of known outdoors brands and, except for the chopping axes, almost nothing that is "cutting edge."

Photo: (c) Fjällräven
Arktis Parka

Indeed, the Fjallraven aesthetic and the store in general is in drastic juxtaposition to almost every other product and current theme in the outdoors industry. The company makes jackets for ice fishing and polar treks. The clothing has a traditional outdoors look that your dad or grandpa might have worn. Fjallraven eschews Gore-Tex in favor of iron-on wax! (The company sells sticks of wax, which can be melted with an iron and rubbed into the fabric of a jacket to make it waterproof.)

The products are not cheap, either. The Fjallraven Arktis Parka -- a down-insulated piece made for, among other activities, ice fishing -- costs $775. It has a hood with synthetic fur and is marketed with features including a breast pocket large enough to hold a thermos. The Norr Shirt, $125, is a cotton flannel button-up with a decorative yoke and two chest pockets with flaps.

In New York, the Fjallraven store feels like an anachronism amongst its neighboring boutiques on trendy Mott Street. The staffer that helped me out, Maria, had a Swedish accent and an enthusiasm toward the Fjallraven brand, which she says has been present in her life since she was a child.

Photo: (c) Fjällräven
Kanken backpack

Clearly, the company is riding the retro wave with its idiosyncratic line. The look is pure and classic 1960s and '70s design, like an LL Bean catalog page from decades back. It conjures nostalgia and warm fuzzy feelings to anyone who grew up camping and hiking in similar gear. Mott Street is a good venue for a brand where authenticity can blend with fashion, plus, perhaps, a dash of subtle irony tossed in on the side.

To me, that's what Fjallraven is -- neat and fun, but not likely the products I'd pick for anything more than casual hiking and camping. At the store, Maria attempted to sell me on the concept of polyester/cotton fabric blends, waxed jackets, and boxy little backpacks. I do love traditional and crafty products where they make sense. But this winter I am going to have to stick with my modern-day backpacks as well as Gore-Tex instead of wax and an iron to rub it on, no matter how cold it gets outside.

--Stephen Regenold is founder and editor of www.gearjunkie.com.

Photo: (c) 50 Classic Ski Descents of North America
Book Cover

Just in time for the seasonal trifecta of holiday shopping, pre-ski-season powder lust, and (maybe?) a year-end bonus at work comes "50 Classic Ski Descents of North America," a coffee-table tome with hundreds of color photos and more than 200 pages filled with words of worship to the best backcountry runs North America can offer. From classic Colorado lines and expeditionary descents in Alaska to Tuckerman Ravine out East, the book includes dozens of drool-worthy lines to put on a must-do list.

Authors and accomplished skiers Chris Davenport, Art Burrows and Penn Newhard picked several of their own favorite lines. But the book goes beyond just three guys' opinions. The contributor list -- including ski-mountaineering veterans and icons like Eric Pehota and Glen Plake -- is broad enough to capture a geographic spread of a variety of epic lines throughout the United States and Canada.

Photo: (c) 50 Classic Ski Descents of North America
"Terminal Cancer," a featured chute in Nevada

Photos make this book pop to life, including aerial shots of mountains and skier's-eye-view vantages staring down the maw of a couloir. The contributing photographer list includes Christain Pondella, Scott Markewitz, Jordan Manley, Brad Washburn, and many more.

Photo: (c) 50 Classic Ski Descents of North America
Skier on Oregon's Mount Hood

"Fifty Classic Ski Descents," a large-format book that costs $59, will be available from its press, Wolverine Publishing, and in book stores next month, November 2010. http://www.wolverinepublishing.com/Fifty_Classic_Ski_Descents

--Stephen Regenold