Alpinist Digital Editor Derek Franz took the SPOT X 2-Way Satellite Messenger into the mountains and desert to test its capabilities. He appreciated the device's unlimited two-way messaging and navigational tools, not to mention the potential to send an SOS signal if he needed a rescue, but he reports that there is room for improvement. Three stars.

Alpine guide Mallorie Estenson has been using the Osprey Mutant 22-liter backpack for multipitch climbs around the Pacific Northwest, and she found it to be well designed for those fast-and-light day trips when you want to bring a bit more than the rope, rack and shirt on your back. Four stars.