That's Fit In The Field -- where gearheads test health and fitness products under real conditions. We'll grub up the stuff, run the trails, jump on a rock wall, backpack, canoe and hit the gym -- putting gear to the F.I.T. Challenge to rate Fit, Innovation and Toughness.

Half the fun of heading into the outdoors is the ability to bring your toys with you. Yakima has a multitude of gear-carrying systems ready to fit your car, and my husband and I just had the chance to put a Yakima Roof Rack to the F.I.T. Challenge test -- nice!

First, we headed over to Yakima's excellent, interactive website to figure out what kind of roof rack would be appropriate for our gear and car. After clicking on their Fit My Car feature, whammo, we had our Low Rider tower and Crossbar needs figured out in a jiffy. Yakima roof racks can be installed on cars with and without factory tracks -- just about anything -- except convertibles. But hey, soft-toppers aren't exactly gearheads anyway. We also tested Gunwale Brackets for our 16 ft canoe, a locking system to keep the entire rack system from walking away and a Fairing designed to reduce wind noise. Here's That's Fit In The Field's skinny on it all:

• Low Rider Towers and Crossbars: It all starts with the right Yakima towers and crossbars for your vehicle. With easy-to-follow directions, it was simple to marry the four Low Riders and two vinyl-coated, galvanized steel crossbars to form a roof rack system. After sliding the Low Riders onto the Crossbars, the Low Riders clamped snuggly over our mini-van's existing factory tracks. Have a tape measure on hand to make sure the right and left Low Riders are installed directly across from one another. It only took a few minutes to nail it perfectly, no tools needed. See the gallery for up-close photos.
• If you don't want your roof rack system walking away, do purchase Yakima's SKS Lock Cores for the towers. Installation took seconds -- they slipped smoothly into each tower and come complete with key. Could you imagine returning to your car after a day's paddle only to see your rack has been stolen?
  
• Yakima's Gunwale Brackets are ideal for carrying your canoe by the gunwales (pronounced 'gunnels' rhymes with 'tunnels') -- a nautical term describing the top edge of the side of a boat. Included heavy-duty straps were easy to tighten, held firmly and the padded buckle was a nice touch.
  
• Finally, we snapped on a Yakima Fairing in hopes of reducing that most-annoying whistle which often emerges at high speeds with a roof rack up top. Believe me, after two minutes of high-pitched whistling on a road trip, you're ready for the looney farm. Amazingly, the Fairing took wind out of the equation -- it was more like, "What wind?"

Four surprise bonuses of a Yakima Roof Rack:

• Before Yakima, we secured our canoe with compression pads and ratchet straps, which kept the boat tight against the top of the car, making it nearly impossible to open the back hatch and reach for anything inside without unloading -- a real pain. We realized having the canoe perched higher atop the Yakima Roof Rack allowed the back hatch to open up significantly higher. For once we did not have to unload the boat to set-up camp.
• Yakima's included heavy-duty strap buckles are padded -- no more tucking a rag underneath the buckle to prevent marks on the canoe -- which means no more losing-the-rag frustration, either.
• Loading and unloading a canoe is simply easier with Gunwale Brackets. The canoe is aligned perfectly in seconds, ready for tie-down.
• Don't worry about losing your key, just make sure to sign-up for the Yakima Key Club. Send your key code to Yakima via an included form and you can score a replacement key for a small fee.
  

Now for the F.I.T. Challenge final score: Yakima's Roof Rack receives high marks for Fit and Toughness, thanks to a perfect installation upon our mini-van's existing factory tracks and rock-solid construction -- no cheaply-made parts. But I award even an even higher mark for Innovation. Not only does Yakima offer an amazing set of accessories to haul your Cargo, Bike, Water or Snow gear, their website rules the roost for usability when I compared it against Thule's, a serious competitor. Even the most clueless will leave Yakima's website in control of exactly what they need to purchase to haul their outdoor toys. Click-thru, visuals and copy readability are that good. Don't miss the gallery to see each part up close.