Nevermind that this moose’s nose looks like a pig’s. How cute is this kids’s Moose Hat from Columbia? This 100 percent fleece hat comes in three color schemes and features a double layer ear band to keep the hat snug and comfortable during cold winter weather. ‘Cause it’s all about dressing them up in funny outfits before they get old enough to catch on to your little game…

Insider It Gear 11.21.07

Pack It Up, Pack It In

Now here’s one good-looking (imagine Derek Zoolander saying that two-word phrase, and it’s a lot funnier) travel case. The Excursion Gadget Organizer from Red Envelope aims to tame the raging mess of cords and adapters and handheld devices swimming in the bottom of carry-ons and handbags. But unlike many similar options, this one says, yeah, I organized my cords and I can pull off a Burberry scarf. Or something like that. Available in brown leather, the case features a tan canvas interior with two zippered pockets and an outside plaque that can be monogrammed. Cost: $45.

Slopes, Camera, Action

Show all those pansies back at the ski lodge how the hardcore do a little thing called shredding with the Oregon Scientific ATC-2k Waterproof Action Camera from Sharper Image. The hands-free video camera mounts on helmets, handlebars and other strategic spots and records up to 90 minutes using an SD media card (gotta buy that baby separately). Edit your footage on either a Mac or PC, upload to YouTube and just wait for the ladies to start knocking at your door. Cost: $129.95

Get a Grip on Those Drips

Move over juice box, there’s a new sheriff in town. Perfect for traveling parents with babes in arms, WaddaJuice comes in this nifty spill-proof bottle designed to keep kids from dribbling all over creation. And this ain’t no shady “juice product.” It’s 100 percent juice and filtered water. So keeping your kid clean doesn’t have to involve pumping him with extra sugar and preservatives. Flavors include apple, cranberry, grape, fruit punch and wild berry. Cost: $12.99 for 12

Proper Identification

Well, you can’t make jokes anywhere else in the airport these days, so you might as well make them on your luggage. Here’s how: Pick up a pack of Funny Luggage Tags from Pulchritude’s etsy shop at a bargain basement price. Tie one onto your bag. Let the games begin. Even better – there are 12 tags in each order. Great as little stocking stuffers or replacements when yours gets mangled by angry baggage handlers. Cost: $3

Insider It Gear 11.15.07

In Da ‘Hood

Recently tapped with a 2008 Gear of Year Award from Outside magazine, the Arc’Teryx Hercules Hoody is one high-performing soft shell that comes with a heavy dose of style. The form-fitting shape, articulated elbows and strategically placed pockets cut a body-hugging silhouette that any outdoor gal can appreciate (don’t get jealous guys, they make ‘em for you, too). After all, just ‘cause you’re giving it your all on the hill or trail doesn’t mean you have to look like a squishy rumple bum. Thanks to its Polartec Power Shield construction, this machine washable fleece alternative repels rain and snow while keeping you warm. What’s more, the nylon surface means no-pilling, which is the downfall of any fleece jacket. An adjustable hood with laminated brim keeps you prepared for sudden shifts in weather. Oh, and did we mention that this jacket just looks good? Cost: $325

Better than a Bread Box

Sexy, not at all. But smart travel doesn’t always involve the hottest, coolest gadgets. Sometimes, practicality trumps the cool factor. Case in point: the Sandwich Stay Fresh Container from the Container Store. Perhaps not a great gift idea, it is one travel accessory I’d like to have. While airplane food continues to die a slow, painful death and airports struggle to stock enough healthy, fairly-priced grab and go options, I find myself carrying food on flights more and more often. Unfortunately, that often means eating a pancake of a sandwich with soggy bread half-way through the flight. With this snazzy little container, your sammy retains its shape – and you can even stash lettuce and tomatoes in a Ziploc bag and stow it inside for assembly just before you nosh. Now as you read this, you may be asking the following completely legitimate question: why not just take a sandwich in any ‘ole plastic container? Well, you certainly could do that. But then you wouldn’t have a container that’s shaped like a sandwich. Cost: $2.99

Getting Carded

Cut make-up bag mayhem the next time you travel with Cargo ColorCards from Sephora. Each set includes 28 eye shadow cards that you can stash in your purse, overnight bag or even your pocket. Take just one or travel with the entire tin – options, options, options. Shades in jewel tones range from neutral Yukon to flashy Green Bay. Each card is supposed to be good for a single use, but we think you can stretch that a bit – unless, of course, your plans call for slathering it on. When you’re done, just chuck the card in the trash (sorry Earth!). If this kind of thing spins your wheels, Sephora also carries Cargo DailyGloss, a similar product for lip gloss. Cost: $24

The Games People Play

Leave it to Diddy to pack shot glasses, a deck of cards, five die and a flask into a leather travel case that looks more like a jewel box hiding serious bling than a way to continue pursuing life’s little vices while you’re away from home. But yes, the Sean John Bar and Game Travel Set has everything you need to get drunk and start losing at cards before you even get to Vegas. The only thing I want to know is why there isn’t room in here for my homies. Cost: $60 (currently on sale at Macy’s for $45.99)

Insider It Gear 11.08.07

Too Cool for Ski School

Looking for a snowboard helmet with as much style as the rest of your gear? The R.E.D. Revolt Snowboard Helmet in the Doze Green Art design is one of the latest items to hit Burton’s online store. This sleek brain-saver comes with removable earpads, a two-position detachable goggle clip and hidden rider-controlled vents to keep your noggin’ at the right temperature. Plus, it looks a helluva lot cooler than your average helmet.

Cost: $90

Leaving on a Jet Plane

Okay, maybe it’s not the sexiest travel book in the world, but travelers who want to geek-out with oodles of practical information will certainly find it within this volume’s pages. The 200t edition of the Airport Transit Guide includes practical information for getting to and from 460 airports around the world. You’ll find current information for each airport’s different ground transportation and public transit options and their corresponding fares, schedules, routes and contact information. Perfect gift for any traveler hitting multiple cities during an extended trip.

Cost: $9.95

Little Red Lifeline

Attention MacGyver wannabes: the candy apple red Portable Power Generator, new from the National Geographic online store, just might knock your burliest hiking socks off. It’s the sort of device that is truly useful for hardcore outdoors folk, but promises just as much fun for gear nerds of all kinds – no matter how far out in the wilderness they actually travel. Check out this unit’s bevy of features:

- 200-watt generator
- 5-LED flashlight
- Fluorescent lantern
- Emergency siren
- 12-volt sealed battery
- AC/DC adapters
- 120-volt AC outlet
- 12-Kelvin DC output
- 7-band AM/FM/NOAA radio
- 250-psi air compressor with hose, gauge and needle
- Thermometer
- Compass
- Clock

Basically, this little machine could seriously save your arse in quite a few sticky situations.

Cost: $119.95

Attention Not-Starving Artists

The Signat Medium Attache A4 DLX from Samsonite Black Label not only has a really long name, but it also has a stand-out design and hipster-friendly features sure to make any jetsetter feel a surge of envy. Outside, the ABS shell with aluminum frame comes in five punchy colors and fits into a woven leather sleeve outfitted with a shoulder strap for easier carrying. Inside, the 1960s-inspired pop-art print lining graces separate cell phone and PDA pockets, as well as a removable, matching portfolio folder, pencil case and internal divider panel. The bottom line: She ain’t cheap, but she sho’ is pretty.

Cost: $360

TravelPost.com Insider It Gear Report

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Enjoy the irony of rolling Orla Kiely’s Big Car Print Wheelie Bag in green through an airport or train terminal this fall. At $408, this roll-aboard bag is pricey, no doubt about it. But at least your worldly goods will be cruising into the overhead compartment in style.

Kids on the Streets

Here’s one way to battle childhood obesity through travel: the new City Walks with Kids series from Chronicle Books. Editions for San Francisco and New York ($14.95) are out now and include 50 adventures parents and kids can enjoy together. Each “book” is actually a boxed set of sturdy cards.

For each walk, there’s a corresponding card printed with an illustrated map on one side and a description of the key sights, contact information and helpful hints (like where bathrooms are for pit stops along the way). Instead of toting a whole book with you, just take a pocket-sized card.

Ruff Stuff

Traveling with a pet often means carrying bulky bowls and food containers or opting for flimsy portable vessels. But with Dog Like Nature’s Travel-Trainer, you get two bowls and one plastic storage container in one nice package for $14.95. The blue plastic food and water bowls attach to each end of the clear storage container, while a handle snaps in to make this little accessory easy to carry. Each bowl holds a quart of liquid, and, in the storage container, there’s enough room for at least a weekend’s worth of food for most pets.

Total Flake Fest

Anyone who skis or snowboards knows how cumbersome boots and helmets and goggles (oh my!) become the minute you disembark from the slopes and sidle into apres ski mode. And while I normally hesitate to buy winter gear in the fall (when prices are usually highest), the Snow Country Ski Luggage, Alpine Boot Bag at L.L. Bean is a steal at $39 (and shipping is free right now, too). The bag has separate zippered sections for each boot, a main compartment that can fit a helmet and other gear and mesh outer pockets for snow-soaked hats and gloves.

Insider It Gear is a regular series from TravelPost.com that showcases new travel gear, products and accessories that today’s active traveler simply can’t live without. Okay, maybe you can, but we’re having a hard time. Got ideas for an upcoming edition of Insider It Gear? Contact Us. We won’t bite. Often.

For the winter 2007-2008 ski season, Ski.com has some good package deals for families who book their trips through the web site. Book United Airlines tickets to Vail/Beaver Creek, Steamboat Springs, Jackson Hole or Crested Butte through Ski.com, and you’ll be entitled to one free ticket for a child 12 or under traveling on the same itinerary for each adult ticket you buy. Pay for lift tickets and/or rental equipment through Ski.com, and kids 12 and under ski free and/or rent free (1 paying adult=1 free child), depending on the resort.

Kids ski free at these resorts:

Beaver Creek
Mont Tremblant
Big Sky
Steamboat Springs
Breckenridge
Vail
Keystone
Whistler Blackcomb
Moonlight Basin

Kids rent free at these resorts:

Aspen/Snowmass
Lake Tahoe
Banff / Lake Louise / Jasper
Park City
Beaver Creek
Snowbird
Breckenridge
Steamboat Springs
The Canyons
Sun Valley
Crested Butte
Telluride
Deer Valley
Vail
Jackson Hole
Whistler Blackcomb
Keystone
Winter Park

As you’d expect, blackout dates for these deals apply. You have to book your flight or trip and buy your tickets and pay for rentals through Ski.com for the discounts. Packages that combine airfare, lift tickets, rentals and lodging are also available, but they vary so much in price depending on where you fly from that I am not including them here.

The ski season is right around the corner (I’m reminded constantly now that many skiers and snowboarders I run into are jockeying for good deals on season passes), and there are plenty of changes afoot at the many ski resorts surrounding Salt Lake City. Here are some new things to expect during the 2007-2008 Utah ski season:

- Alta Ski Area: This ski-only resort will offer wireless lift tickets called Alta Cards. Lift tickets can be purchased online and added to the physical cards imbedded with RFID (radio frequency identification) chips whenever skiers head to the mountain. No more digging in pockets to show your lift ticket at the lift line or waiting to buy tickets before you hit the slopes.

- Beaver Mountain: Expanded parking lots will make it even easier to hit the slopes this year (the resort’s 69th in operation).

- Brian Head Resort: Two new lifts and a skier bridge across the highway in between the resort’s Giant Steps and Navajo mountains will finally make it possible for skiers and snowboarders to easier move back and forth between the separate areas.

- Brighton Resort: The resort’s Evergreen and Millicent lifts are being replaced by a new high-speed quad rising 1,110 feet.

- The Canyons Resort: The resort’s Dakota Mountain Lodge is building a Golden Door Spa.

- Deer Valley Resort: Among Dear Valley’s upgrades for the season are the Lady Morgan Express high-speed quad lift for the Empire Canyon area, energy-efficient heating systems in each of the resort’s 22 chairlift terminals and GPS-controlled snow scanning that promises to manage snow depth more efficiently,

- Park City Mountain Resort: Tree skiing in the newly created Motherlode Meadows will draw skiers and boarders to the area between Single Jack and Sunnyside, while the resort’s 106th run, dubbed Georgeanne, opens off McConkey’s lift.

- Snowbasin: The resort is offering guided, half-day backcountry tours to adventurous groups of 2 to 10.

- Snowbird Ski & Summer Resort: Thanks to new snowmakers, there will be top-to-bottom coverage in the Peruvian Gulch area this year, while Chips Run has been modified to suit intermediate skiers.

- Solitude: The resort will be celebrating its 50th anniversary this year with podcasts and events.

- Wolf Mountain: The budget-friendly family resort has increased its beginner ski terrain by 15 percent, thanks to the new Wolf Lair Triple Chair located at the mountain base near the Wolfdeedo Chair.

Not that you’re likely to be thinking about snow right now (but then again, maybe you are)… Aspen has announced a $5 hike in lift ticket prices for the 2007-2008 winter season. That brings the walk-up ticket price to $87 - the steepest price for a one-day adult lift ticket in the nation. Oh well, it’s not like you go to Aspen for a bargain anyway…

Aspen Lift Ticket Prices Climb

If you were contemplating skipping out on work and heading to the nearest ski area, this would be a good week to do it. Pretty much all of the big ski destinations located west of the Rockies are experiencing new snowfall - and lots of it. Tahoe has gotten over a foot in the last 24 hours, while the Vail area is reporting 10 inches in that time. Over in Park City, 11 inches have dropped in the past day. Time to get out those planks and play hooky.

You can stay up-to-date on the latest snowfall reports with Weather.com’s The Deep Stuff Across the U.S.

During my adventures in Colorado last week, I had the opportunity to test drive some Spyder ski gear, specifically this women’s St. Anton jacket and the women’s Davos pants. Since I’m a snowboarder, I rarely try out ski gear, but let me tell you, Spyder makes one of the best damn jackets I’ve ever had the pleasure of wearing on the slopes (the pants were good, too, but I’m just a diehard baggy snowboard pants fan). The slim fit was a surprising departure from the super bulky outerwear I usually encounter for snow sports, and the warmth factor was equal to, if not greater than, the double-layer Burton number I personally own. Even with the slim design, I had more than enough room to twist and bend to my heart’s content. The bottom line? I’m convinced that Spyder makes some of the best, most versatile and stylish-looking snow gear out there. If you’re scouting the sales come spring and summer, be on the lookout for a good deal. I say this because this premium line comes with a premium price tag. Cost for the jacket I tried? $640. Yowza!