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Imagine you read more than a thousand gear reviews each year. Which ones would you find the most interesting? This week on The WildeBeat; Year in Gear oh seven.

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News from the Wildebeat, the audio journal about getting into the wilderness.

This is program number one eighteen.

I'm Steve Sergeant.

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STEVE: The moderators and editors at Backpack Gear Test read more than a thousand reviews every year. And I asked them, "of all the reviews you edited this year, could you pick one or two that you thought were the most memorable?" Four of them responded.

STEVE: Thomas Vickers, from southeast Texas is a test call monitor.

THOMAS VICKERS: The Black Diamond One Shot tent... [0:56] ...package that works.

STEVE: Ralph Ditton, from Western Australia, is a test call manager. He was impressed by reviews of two products. First, a backpack.

RALPH DITTON: The GoLite Odyssey pack... [1:37] ...for their report series on the GoLite Odyssey pack.

STEVE: Next, a stove.

RALPH DITTON: The Trail Designs Caldera Cone stove system... [1:43] ...on the Trail Designs Caldera Cone system.

STEVE: Rick Allnutt, from Dayton, Ohio, is a test moderator. He liked the reviews of two products that were designed to work together.

RICK ALLNUTT: One of the best pieces of gear... [2:24] ...grown from the Brawney ultralight tent.

STEVE: And finally, we hear from Rebecca Sowards-Emmerd. Rebecca is Backpack Gear Test's assistant director of product reviews, and lives in Los Altos, California.

REBECA SOWARDS-EMMERD: The Montbell Ultralight Super-Stretch Down Hugger Number One... [1:47] ...favorite pieces of gear, overall.

STEVE: My thanks to Thomas Vickers, Ralph Ditton, Rick Allnutt, Rebecca Sowards-Emmerd, and everyone at Backpack Gear Test, for making this edition possible. Please remember that these opinions are those of the individual contributors, and don't necessarily reflect those of Backpack Gear Test, or of The WildeBeat. If you want to read the original text reviews of these products, please follow the links on our web site.

STEVE: We'd like to hear your opinion about these reviews, and about your experience with these and similar products. You can call our toll free comment line at 866-590-7373. Backpack Gear Test is looking for qualified testers. To get qualified, you start out by publishing reviews for gear you already own. A fter that, you could be chosen to receive free gear to review. Find out more at our web site.

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Our official website is WWW dot WILDEBEAT (that's W-I-L-D-E-B-E-A-T) dot NET. If we helped you get into the wilderness, could you help us do the same for others? Just click on our support link and become a member. The WildeBeat is produced by Steve Sergeant, with help from Jean Higham, as a nonprofit educational project of Earth Island Insitute.

This has been The WildeBeat, program number one eighteen. Thank you for listening.

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STEVE: Next time, cool camping.