Created in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, Skout Trailbars are a relatively new entrant in the crowded energy bar market. Skout graciously send us a sampler pack of their trailbars to taste and test out in our own adventures. We had the opportunity to try all five of their current flavors – Chocolate Peanut Butter, Chocolate Coconut, Cherry + Vanilla,  Apple + Cinnamon, and Blueberry + Almond.

The best word we could describe the trailbars would be “cakey”. The bars were moist yet had a soft crumbly texture to each bite. We found the taste to be sweet but not overly sweet. As with most energy bars, a bottle of water to wash it down is necessary. Our favorite flavor of the bunch was Chocolate Coconut. It offered a strong chocolate flavor that was perfect during a long hike while the coconut added just enough to make it seem special.

Each bar offers all natural and organic ingredients. They are dairy and soy free as well as kosher and vegan. As an added bonus, each bar contains one full serving of fruit. We love the fact that the we understand all the ingredients that are in each bar. For example, the ingredients for the Cherry + Vanilla Trailbar is simply Organic Dates, Whole Grain Organic Oats, Organic Dried Cherries, Organic Almonds, Organic Expeller Pressed Sunflower Oil, Organic Vanilla Flavor, Organic Apple Juice Concentrate, and Sea Salt.

Skout Natural has provided us with an extra Trailbar Sampler Pack to give away to one lucky reader. To enter the giveaway, please leave a comment by July 5th with the flavor you’re most excited about and an email address for us to contact if you’re selected as the winner.  The winner will be chosen in a random drawing. One entry per person. This giveaway includes free shipping to any US address.

Disclaimer: We did receive product from Skout Natural for review and giveaway purposes. The review is completely made up of our opinions and was not influenced by the manufacturer/retailer who provided us with the product.

Update: Congrats to Moonlitehkr for being selected as the winner!

We were looking for the ultimate headphones for running and we think we might have found them in the Sennheiser PMX 680 Sports Earbud Headphones ($80). These sport headphones are a joint effort from adidas and Sennheiser. They aim to provide top quality sound, a great fit, and resistance to sweat, grime, hold, and water.

The headphones offer two earbuds with optional foam earpads. They fit comfortably on your ear without having the buds stuck inside the ear canal. The rest of the headphones is placed over each ear with the neckband clear behind the head. They have a snug yet comfortable fit thanks to slight inner tension of the flexible band. It’s not too tight nor too loose. The headphones are made to universally fit any size and shaped head.

The PMX 680 has only one cord output to deal with, which comes out from the left earbud. We initially thought that this might place unnecessary weight to one side of the headphone but this was not the case due to the handy cable clip. The cable clip is adjustable up and down the cable and is easily attached to your collar or shirt. This clips helps prevent the cable from swaying and essentially keeps it from placing any tension onto the headset itself.

The cable itself is DuPont Kevlar reinforced, meaning that it’s durable, flexible, and can withstand cold temperatures. It’s also a bright yellow/green color which makes it highly visible and adds safety during low light conditions. There’s a reflective stripe on the neckband which also has the bright yellow/green color.

A great aspect of the PMX 680 is the cable length. It’s standard length is 1.64 feet but can be extended to 2.3 feet by using the volume control extension cable. We found the shorter length was perfect when we wore our MP3 player on an arm band. The longer extension cable was ideal when we wanted to store our MP3 player in our pocket or placed it holding tray of a stationary bike or elliptical machine.

The extension cable features a built in volume control, which we found both useful and annoying. The main issue is that the volume control does flop around when running. It doesn’t tug on the headphones but the swaying is definitely noticeable. We run with our MP3 player on an arm band so for the majority of our serious runs we just used the standard cable without the extension. The main benefit for the extension cable was when we used the headphones in the gym. It was definitely nice to be able to adjust the volume without picking up the MP3 player.

The sound of the headphones are exceptional. They offer high output drivers and provide a frequency response level of 18-20,000 Hz. While the headphones are not noise-cancelling, the snug fit does make a difference in reducing outside noise while  keeping high quality sound in. The bass is more than adequate for your favorite hip hop or dance beats.

Our office cat is usually on the prowl for string and wires to chew on so we were extremely pleased with the included pouch. It helps keep the headphones safe from cats and weather. It also helps keep the cable nice and tidy while the velcro closure makes sure that everything stays in place.

All in all, we would highly recommend the headphones and think that serious and casual runners will like them too. They solve most of the pain points that runners have — something that stays in place, takes the brunt of sweat/grime, and sounds great — while offering some added bonuses.

Disclaimer: We purchased this product ourselves from Amazon.com for review purposes. The review is completely made up of our opinions and was not influenced by the manufacturer or retailer who we bought us the product from.

The case has built-in high-sensitive GPS reception to enhance and boost your iPhone or iPod Touch’s GPS capabilities. The case is highly durable and has a waterproof design. The touch screen, buttons, jacks, speakers, etc. are all still accessible. Lastly, there’s an integrated battery to increase the stamina of your device. The case is compatible with the third-generation iPhone and older.

The ornament is hand painted and is 2.6″ x 1.0″ x 2.0″ in size.

The jacket seems ideal for highly active individuals dealing with unpredictable weather. It offers a fully adjustable fixed hood, non-restrictive fit, and four-way stretch. Think backcountry skiing, climbing, hiking, alpine trekking, and more.

Here’s a cool video of the jacket in action – http://tnfvideo.com/video/kishtwar-jacket/.