Although I’d much rather be hiking or mountain biking the day after Thanksgiving, it’s tough to pass up great deals on outdoor equipment. Here are a few deals you need to know about this year.

REI: The first 300 customers through the door at REI stores on Black Friday will receive gift cards ranging in value from $5 to $100. Stores open at 8am so there’s no need to wake up before dawn - sweet.

Bass Pro Shops: Apparently there will be different deals at each store from 6 to 11am on Black Friday. For example, my local Bass Pro will have a $39.99 dog bed for just $14.94 and a digital food dehydrator for $70 off the regular price. Check here to find your local store and view the deals in your area.

Dick’s Sporting Goods: The folks at Dick’s are being coy with their deals this year and to find out what’s on sale you have to check the website after 6pm EST tonight. Doors open at 5am on Black Friday and if you’re shopping online you’ll get free shipping on orders over $49 all weekend. Honestly I’m a little confused about what’s on sale where and when so it may be worthwhile to call your local store.

Backcountry.com: No Black Friday deals as far as we can tell but their “Secret Stash Sale” is going on right now with up to 25% off 10,000 items.

Cabela’s: Ho-hum, Cabela’s is offering free shipping on orders over $99 through December 1. Of course there’s also the everyday “Bargain Cave” with thousands of items marked up to 70% off where you may find a decent deal.

That’s all we got so far, if you know of any Black Friday deals on outdoor equipment we missed, fill us in through the comment section!

Just wanted to let everyone know about a few things we’ve got cooking here on Tripleblaze.com this fall.

Interactive hiking trail locator map: Just click on the Hiking Trails link in the header and you’ll see a map of the US showing the locations of nearly 1,000 hiking trails. Some of the locations are approximate so we can use your help filling in the gaps. If you hit a trail with a white push-pin icon, click the link and find the box that says “Help us locate this trail on a map.” On this page you can click the correct trailhead location which we’ll use to update the map.

Facebook: We’ve had a fan page on Facebook for several months now but honestly haven’t promoted it at all. Now we’ve made it easy for you to become a fan - just click the button in the Facebook box on the right of any page here on Tripleblaze and you can join our crew! Fans will see short blurbs from the blog in their news feed so it’s a great way to keep up with camping and hiking info.

Twitter: We just signed up for Twitter a couple weeks ago and clearly this is something people were looking for. Check us out at twitter.com/tripleblaze to get the latest.

Get outside more this fall - weather is never a valid excuse!

The Bugathermo heated hiking boot from Columbia is certainly an, errr, interesting idea. Plug your boots in the night before an epic slog through snow and cold temps and you’ll have up to 8 hours of heat keeping your tootsies warm. The Bugathermo has three heat levels, dual heating elements, and an LED display, all powered by an integrated lithium ion battery. The boots also feature Omni-Tech, Columbia’s version of Gore-Tex plus Thinsulate Insulation rated down to -25° F. These boots are certainly rugged looking but they aren’t cheap: $250 for the men’s version.

If you’re like me you can probably see there might be some problems with these boots. First, it seems like adding a lithium ion battery to footwear might make it a tad heavy. There’s no info on where the batteries are located (sole? uppers?) but wherever they are, they can’t be comfortable. Then there’s the whole issue of replacing the batteries when they stop holding a charge.

Columbia says these boots are perfect for mountain trekking or Arctic exploration but I’d add a caveat to that and say you need to have access to electrical power to make these boots effective. For other users like ski lift operators, these boots seem like they may be well suited.

I always hated buying those chemical heaters for outdoor winter sports and the heated hiking boot is certainly an interesting alternative. For now I think I’ll keep heating my feet the old fashioned way: extra socks and vigorous physical activity.

I don’t know about you but I’ve always thought pop-up campers were a little, er, ugly. Of course I’m no RV enthusiast but the idea of a pop-up camper is mildly appealing - it is, after all, sorta halfway between a tent and a RV. The Opera is a new pop-up camper design that’s turning heads in Europe and is scheduled to begin production in 2010. Even the logo is pretty sweet if you ask me

As you might have guessed the Opera takes its name from its design inspiration, the Sydney Opera house. The arched canvas cover keeps the sun and rain off the wine cabinet and espresso bar inside (no kidding). The post I read mentions that this pop-up camper will be targeted to the high end of the market so don’t expect to get one of these on the cheap anytime soon. Let’s just hope other manufacturers get the hint and start giving camping enthusiasts more stylish choices!

Just a quick shout out to our October contest winners, SCguide1 and Asfyxiate. Both guys will receive $25 gift certificates to REI for their contributions, start adding your campground and hiking trail reviews and photos now and you could be a winner next month!

Stay tuned to the blog for upcoming outdoor product reviews and info about our trip to visit the Gore-Tex folks last month.