Breakheart Trail Running Year End Gear Sale

Cleaning House

The new year is just around the corner so it's out with the old, and the new!

I have way too much gear cluttering up the house and haven't been able to use it anyway so it's got to go. All the gear is brand new or in excellent condition except were noted. They’re also priced to move. I may be adding more items as I dig deeper into my gear closet so be sure to check back again.

Payment, Shipping and Local Pickup

Most purchases will ship via USPS for $5 to $10 depending on weight and dimensions.  All payments must be made using Paypal.  If you live in the Boston Area, local pickup is available. 

Contact Form

Please post a comment if you want to buy an item or if you have a question.  Please include your email address so I can respond to you.

MSR Fast Stash

MSR Fast Stash Tarp Shelter

MSRP: $300
Sale Price: $200 - Sorry, item has Sold
Condition: Excellent

This is a versatile, ultralight shelter that offers full protection and ample room for 2 people in a single-wall body that pitches quickly.  Adjustable side wings add external coverage and allow maximum ventilation.

Check out the full-features of the Fast Stash

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Alps Meramac 3 Room Tent

Alps Mountaineering Meramac 7 Person Tent

MSRP: $369.99

Sale Price: $225 - Sorry, item has Sold

Condition: New

Local Pickup preferred but will ship.

I naively thought I could convince my daughters to come car camping with my wife and I so I purchased this 10' x 16' three room tent.  It's never been out of the box! To learn more about this tent go to the Alps website.
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Kelty Screenhouse

Kelty Screenhouse - Large

MSRP: $319.95
Sale Price: $150 Sorry, item has Sold

Condition: Very Good Dimensions: 156"W x 76"H x 132"D
Local Pickup preferred but will ship.

This screenhouse offers a generous 143 square feet of floor space and is large enough to cover a picnic table.  It has two large mesh doors and four mesh windows with pull-down shades. This shelter is a beast and it's best to have two people available for setting it up. 

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Mountain Hardware Brono Soft-Shell Jacket

MSRP: $225

Sale Price: $125

Size: Men's Large - Sorry, item has Sold

Condition: New

This jacket is warm without constricting movement or overheating, perfect for climbing, hiking or biking.

Check out the features of the Brono Jacket

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Tubbs Venture Snowshoes

Tubbs Venture Snowshoes

Paid: $125

Current Retail: $189 - Sorry, item has Sold
Sale Price:$50

Size: Men's 25 inch

Load:  120 - 200 pounds

Condition: Good

Local Pickup preferred but will ship.

These are recommended for recreational and trail use on packed snow, broken trails, gently rolling terrain and small hills. You wouldn't want to run a marathon with these strapped to your feet but they're bombproof in the back woods.

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GSI Pinnacle Soloist Cookset

MSRP: $44.95

Sale Price: $30.00 Sorry, item has Sold

Condition: New

This 10.8 oz cooking system includes a 1.1 liter cooking pot, a 14 ounce mug/bowl and a folding spork.  Nested items store in the stuff sack which double as a wash basin. A fuel canister and stove will also fit into the pot making this a very compact cook system.

Check it out!

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Stoic Waterproof Compression Sacks

Stoic Waterproof Compression Sacks - Lg, Med, Sm

MSRP: $26 Lg, $22 Med, $16 Sm

Sale Price $15 Lg, $12, $10 Sm (set of three for $33) - Sorry, items have Sold

Condition: New

Dimensions: Lg - 15 Liters, Med - 10L, Sm - 5L

Made of tough, lightweight 190T nylon and moisture shunning TPU lamination with a roll-top closure and air value to remove excess air for increased compression. 

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The North Face Denali Beenie

The North Face Denali Thermal Beenie

MSRP: $30

Sale Price: $21 - Sorry, item has Sold

Size: Women's - One Size

Condition: New

Breathable, quick-drying, non-pilling polyester fleece offers warmth without a lot of weight. Machine washable.

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Nathan Quick Draw Plus

Nathan Quick Draw Plus Hand-Held

MSRP: $21

Sale Price: $15 - Sorry, item has Sold

Color: Hot Pink!

Condition: New in packaging

A 22 ounce hand-held water bottle with a zippered pocket to hold your smartphone, keys or cash.  

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Gear

Brooks Cascadia

Camelbak

 CW-X

Dion Snowshoes

Drymax

GoLite

Hammer Perpetuem

Injinji Socks

Inov8 Roclite 320

Kahtoola

Moeben Sleeves

Nathan

Patagonia

Petzl

Princeton Tec

Race Ready LD Shorts

Succeed S-Caps

Product Testing and Review - Ultimate Direction FastDraw Plus

Even though I already have a handheld I couldn’t resist picking up the Ultimate Direction FastDraw Plus to see how it compared to my GoLite HydroClutch. It’s a sickness, I know. The UD handheld has some nice features lacking on my GoLite. The most obvious differences are the large finger loop on the cap, the unique kicker valve design and the extra wide mesh hand strap.

I like having the finger loop as a convenient way of clipping the water bottle to my CamelBak using a carabiner. The additional 20 oz adds another hour of “flight time” to my scouting missions. The kicker valve is made of soft plastic that is easy on your teeth. It also prevents dripping from the valve that is common with the standard valves used on other handhelds. I like this feature the most because I always forget to push down the valve after drinking and end up loosing a lot of fluid and soaking myself in the process. I did notice that I had to suck harder than usual to get the fluid out of the bottle. That was somewhat annoying but I think if I bit on the valve like I do with the bite valve on my CamelBak, the fluid would have flowed better. I’ll try that next time out. The wide, mesh hand strap does a good job of keeping your hand cool and the rounded edges do not cut into your hand like some of the flat narrow straps will. The strap also has a zippered pocket large enough to hold a few gels and your car keys.

The only downside for me is that it feels a little larger in circumference than my GoLite making it more difficult to get a comfortable grip. My hands are on the small side (dainty me) so this shouldn’t be an issue for someone with larger hands. Overall I give the Ultimate Direction FastDraw Plus an A-.

Bottoms up!

Gear Box Inventory

Well, spring is just around the corner and I will be spending many hours on the trails in the months ahead. Last night I thought it would be a good idea to take an inventory of the gear currently in my possession to determine if I have everything I need for the many long weekend runs I'll make as I prepare for a fall 50 miler. You can never have enough gear and by looking at what I have I was hoping I would think of something else I still needed.

After reviewing my inventory, please feel free to comment on anything you think could be a useful item that I am lacking. REI is just down the block from where I work and any excuse to visit is fine with me!



One bottle Fuel Belt - good for runs up to one hour. The zippered rear pocket is small but can carry your car keys and a packet of gel. Fine for short runs

GoLite Gazelle Waist Pack - with two 20 oz bottles it's good for runs up to two hours. Large and small rear pouches provide plenty of room for a cell phone, camera, trail map and other essentials. The two side pockets on the belt are small but can hold gels and energy bars, etc. This pack gets the most use from me
.

CamelBak Octane XC - With a 70 oz fluid capacity this is my hydration pack of choice for runs up to four hours long. It has one compartment on the back of the pack near the fill hole. It's great for carrying a cell phone, car keys and your wallet. There are two small zippered side pockets that can hold gels, bars , TP and other small items but overall there's not a lot of storage. I use the Octane mainly as a hydration pack and carry my food items in the pockets of my Race Ready shorts. This pack is good for long races because it is light, fits snug to the body and doesn't bounce around.

CamelBak M.U.L.E. - This is the largest of my hydration packs. A 100 oz bladder and 600 cubic inches of storage for long, unsupported runs. There's plenty of room to food, gels, a headlamp, medical kit, multi-tool, a light jacket, and the kitchen sink! You can never have too many hydration packs, can you?

Petzl Headlamp - The Tikka Plus is light-weight with an adjustable lamp so you can aim the beam down at your feet or out ahead of you. The 4 LEDs have a maximum output of 35 lumen that can reach out to 32 meters. There are 3 light settings and a strobe function. The battery life is a very long 100 hours. Although this is a good product I'm not crazy about the light provided by headlamps in general. It's too diffuse and never quite bright enough for me.

Princeton Tec Flashlight - The Amp 3 is a small, light and rugged flashlight that has a high and low beam. The battery life is 60 hours at a max output of 40 lumen. The beam of light is focused and concentrated and provides much better lighting than my headlamp. I often like to use the flashlight and the headlamp together. I can keep the headlamp focused on what's in front of me while I use the flashlight to scan from side to side so I don't miss any turns in the dark. Plus it helps to scare away the lions, tiger and bears, oh my!

Kool Tie - This is my hot weather lifesaver! If I were Superman, heat and humidity would be my kryptonite. A Kool Tie is a fabric tubular scarf that contains tiny polymer crystals. When soaked in cold water, these crystals expand and absorb more than 400 times their original weight creating a tube-like scarf. When tied around the neck it cools the blood passing through the carotid artery through the natural process of evaporation which in turn lowers your body temperature . This cooling effect is continuous and will last for 2-3 days before a re-soaking is needed. Bring on the heat!

Zensah Compression Sleeves - The Calf/Shin recovery sleeves are made with gradient compression which provides wide ribbing in the front for shin support, and tight ribbing in the back for calf support. This isn't something I run in but since I came accross them I thought I would fill you in why I have them. I purchased the sleeves after speaking with a triathlete/adventure racer/ultra runner about treatments for plantar fasciitis. She worn the sleeves at night during her bout with PF as a means of increasing blood flow to the lower leg muscles which helps keep them loose. Tight calf muscles are a contributing factor in the development of PF. Although my PF has not gone away, my calf muscles are more flexible in the morning when wearing the sleeves overnight. And don't you agree they're sexy too!

Gator Bait Gaiters - these purring kittens are great for keeping dirt, twigs and small stones out of your shoes and socks. A shoe full of trail debris is not only uncomfortable, it's also a major cause of blisters on long runs. Very useful during the summer months when the trails are dry and 'junk' is easily kicked up when running.

REI Mini Multi-Tool - This little gadget is made with tough stainless-steel components and has an anodized aluminum handle. It is compact enough to fit in your pocket and light enough (around 2 oz) to carry on your trail runs. Hey, you never know what you'll encounter out there that may require the use of one of these handy tools. This little wonder has a pliers, wire cutter, a straight-edge blade and saw, a phillips screwdriver, standard screwdriver, bottle opener, wire stripper, file and scissors.

This compact pocket foot care kit is designed for blister repair on the run. All the items fit in a zip-lock bag and it's small enough to fit in your pocket. The kit ncludes blister patches and other essential items, Benzoin ampules (2) Alcohol preps (6) Antibiotic ointment (2) Spenco Blister ads (2) Blist-O-Ban Blister Pad (1) Sterile lancets (2) 3" x 5" baggies (2) BlisterShield Powder, packet (1) Engo Performance Patch (2). I don't carry this much anymore but it's still nice to have. Since I starting wearing Injinji socks, blister are a thing of the past.

Adventure Medical Kit - I have to admit I didn't even think about safety until a recent accident on a trail run convinced me to take this matter seriously. I picked up this kit at REI. I like it because it only weighs 3.5 oz and is small enough to fit in my GoLite waist pack. The kit includes Bandage materials: eight 2x2 sterile dressings, two butterfly closure bandages, five 1x3 adhesive bandages, Plus: three knuckle adhesive bandages and 0.5-inch x 10 yards tape. Medications include: four ibuprofen (200mg), two antihistamines and two After Bite® Sting Relief. Wound management includes: three After Cuts and Scrapes® towelettes and two antibiotic ointments, Plus: Moleskin® for blister treatment and two safety pins. I have also added a roll of self-adhesive compression wrap, good for treating sprains or stabilizing fractures.

Nathan Quick Change - This bag was designed for triathletes and adventure racers but I think it also works very well for trail and ultra runners. You can pack just about everything for a race in here and this bag is great for organization and easy access to your gear. The combination handles/shoulder straps make for easy carrying. There is a mesh bottle holster on one side, a waterproof internal compartment, a ventilated shoe pocket, several nutrition and organizer pockets, and felt-lined pockes for sunglasses, camera, etc. There is also a fold-out transition pad for making quick changes on the go. I use the external helmet carrier to hold my trail shoes. This is the best bag I have ever owned.

Time to go shopping....

Gear Box - Kahtoola Microspikes

After much internal debate as to the need for another item to add to my gear collection, I finally purchased a pair of Kahtoola Microspikes. Yes, I know the trails are nearly snow free and spring is around the corner but I got a great price and free shipping so I couldn't pass on this deal.

Another thing that prompted me to make this purchase was the fall, and subsequent ankle break, of a friend during a training run on ice. My screw shoes have served me well on many runs this winter but the Kahtoolas offer a more aggressive grip that gives an added measure of safety when descending steep, ice-covered trails. I hope I don’t need these until next winter but it’s nice to know I’m good to go if Old Man Winter decides to hang around a little longer.

I can't make a first-hand recommendation but I've gotten several good reports from trail-runner friends that used the microspikes this winter. I'll do a complete product review after I actually get to run in them. Hopefully, not for a long while!