Gear Giveaway - Win Free Hiking Shoes from Wolverine on Highball Blog

UPDATE 31 March 2011: This giveaway has reached its deadline. Thank you all for entering. Stay tuned for other giveaways! ;-) Winners are as follows: Dianne San Luis Tristan Higbee  Thank you Wolverine & OutsidePR for the opportunity!

Here's your chance to win a free pair of hiking shoes from Wolverine.

We're talking about two pairs actually:

• one for women
• one for men

What you need to do to enter the gear giveaway

1. Go to Wolverine's Facebook Page and like them up, that is hit the Like button. And why would't you like them? They're giving you free hiking shoes. :-)

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2. Share this article on Facebook and/or Twitter. Be cool, don't keep this opportunity just for yourself. The social share widget is just below this article.  

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3. Write a comment below this post and tell us where you would like to go trekking or hiking next. In other words: Where do you wanna rock those Wolverine shoes? ( Yosemite? British Columbia? Alaska? )

What else you should know

This giveaway is for USA and Canada residents only.

Use a public profile when commenting so we can track you down and contact you by email, Facebook or Twitter if you win. This is very important, since in the previous gear giveaway there were a few people who commented using their Google account but there was no contact info made public to their profile... We had to re-draw one winner.

We want to keep spammers off so comments are subject to moderation. If you don't see your comment up on the website right after you post it, come back later in the day or check back in the next day. If you type your personal name you'll be published in no time. :-)

I suggest using the Name/URL option. Type your Facebook or Twitter profile link in the URL field.

Deadline for entries is 25th March 2011. So you have two and a half weeks to enter starting from today - 9th March 2011.

After the 25th of March, I will update this post announcing the winners.

Wolverine shoes are pretty cool! :-)

I got a pair as a sponsorship myself and I gotta say I'm impressed by their technicality!

There's a silicone/gel disk underneath the inner sole (heel part) which allows you to configure your shoes in 4 ways:

1. Cushion
2. Firm
3. Inward
4. Outward

Click on the picture above for a larger view and you'll be able to read about each set-up.

Not to mention waterproofness (Gore Tex or Wolverine membrane depending on the model you choose) and wicked design. 

How we decide who wins

We're giving you equal chances of winning the shoes.

Random.org will provide two randomly generated numbers (as in a lottery draw):

1. First winning number will represent the Xth comment written by a lady participant.
2. The second number (another draw) will be the Yth winning comment written by a man.

That's it. Good luck and happy hiking!

Giveaway courtesy of Outside PR and Sport Marketing: Outdoor Industry Public Relations, located in San Francisco, California. If you run an outdoor blog or any other content website where you write gear reviews, post outdoor videos, etc. - perhaps you can get a gear deal with them. Contact them here.

How To Carry Your DIY Steadicam for Your GoPro HD Camera

Okay. Now that you've built your own DIY steadicam, you also need to carry it around. Shooting that smooth video is a difficult thing to do, ain't it so?

As any serious amateur filmmaker you need to have a backpack with the rest of your gear, such as:

• sandwich
• water bottle
• sunglasses (you wanna look cool, don't you?)
• lip balm...

If you're out in the city or on the mountain (during a light trekking tour) you may wanna have your camera stabilizer ready at all times. You wanna shoot video and capture precious moments just as they happen.

So, here are two ways of carrying your glidecam, using your backpack as the central support piece:

1. Strap your cam stabilizer under the chest belt of your rucksack.

This is particularly advisable when you're on rugged terrain (steep slope, scree and boulders, etc.). The chest strap allows you to hold the rig relatively firmly.

Unclip the quick release buckle when you wanna capture footage.

2. Hang the glidecam in the plastic ring, on the shoulder straps of your backpack.

On flat terrain or where there are no obstacles. Most of the modern backpacks have the semi round plastic rings on the shoulder straps.

Just take the glidecam out of the ring when you wanna shoot.

Of course this works if your design is somewhat similar to mine. If not, you can adapt your design and add a bolt just to be able to hang your stabilizer. Do that only if you think is worth it.

I personally enjoy both these methods as it takes the weight off my arms when there's nothing to be captured on film. I basically carry the system on my shoulders and have it ready at all times (it only takes a fews seconds to have the whole thing rolling).

Cheers!

I Never Win Anything...Until Today!

This is the most rewarding reason for which I like to write and post stuff on Highball Blog - receiving emails like the one below:

Hey Constantin guess what? I came home from work today and found an envelope on my door step. I thought "I didn't order anything", "What's this for?, It's got my name on it, maybe it's a letter bomb?" I opened it up and the letter said: Congratulations on being a contest winner on Highball Blog. We hope that you enjoy your prize! Please check out our full line of climbing gear and accessories at www.appoutdoors.com. Sincerely, Amy Nelson, web depart. manager Wow! A nice Black Diamond, 7kN, screwgate, aluminum 'biner. It is sweet! That was a contest worth entering :) Thanks for letting me know to enter. Brant

Check out Brant's rope access blog.

I wanna thank again to all people who stop by and leave a comment. I wish you the best!

Cheers!