Trailspace Blog
Outdoor Retailer: New Brands — Mile High Mountaineering and Mountain Mama
Outdoor Retailer is a great opportunity to meet the people behind the brands that design and make outdoor gear. It's especially interesting to meet new brands and people, the ones hoping to find a place for their product in the outdoor world.
Outdoor Retailer: Texting from the trail with SPOT and DeLorme
We take the DeLorme Earthmate PN-60w with SPOT Satellite Communicator out for a hike, and ponder the nature of communication in the backcountry.
Outdoor Retailer: On the water at Demo Day
Water — getting on it by kayak, canoe, or paddleboard, or keeping it out with a waterproof case — was a mainstay of the Open Air Demo at Jordanelle State Park today.
Outdoor Retailer: Welcome to SLC
The Trailspace crew is now in (or on its way to) Salt Lake City and preparing for a very full week at Outdoor Retailer.
Outdoor Retailer Summer Market 2010
Trailspace was in Salt Lake City August 2-6 to cover Outdoor Retailer Summer Market, the world’s largest outdoor gear industry gathering. With more than 1,000 outdoor brands exhibiting, check out our coverage from demo day through four days of gear announcements, demos, and events.
Gear Maker Profile: Doug Clark of GoLite Footwear
Doug Clark has ridden a rollercoaster with GoLite Footwear, standing by his brand when a corporate giant gave up on it. Now he's hoping his "upside-down" approach to shoe technology, one designed to work with the natural human gait, will provide a foothold in the highly-competitive outdoor shoe market.
Gear: You say hydration pack, I say party on my back
The other evening, I was walking to a restaurant here in Maine. The town was happening that night — a summer festival, boat races on the river, people...
Trekking Pole Fit, Maintenance, and Tips
You've purchased a brand new pair of shiny trekking poles. Now that you have them in hand, how do you get the most value out of them? Proper fit, maintenance, and correct use are all key.
Backcountry vs. Frontcountry: What's the difference? Where's the line?
Trailspace is "the backcountry gear guide." We have a Backcountry community forum devoted to human-powered backcountry activities.
Footwear has to fit the terrain as well as your feet
Finding shoes that match the strange contours of your feet is hard enough, but I've learned in the past few weeks that the right shoes can be the wrong...
Selecting a Pair of Trekking Poles
To narrow down the choices available at your local outfitter and find the right pair of poles for you and your treks, consider hiking style and terrain, your body, special features, and your budget.
NASA Develops New Emergency Response System
NASA's forthcoming DASS promises quicker relays of information from emergency locator beacons using GPS satellites, than the current COSPAS-SARSAT system.
Camping in the backyard, gateway to the backcountry
Trailspace is a backcountry site first and foremost. Many of our members tend to be quite serious outdoorspeople (well, let's call them “accomplished”...
World's Oldest Leather Shoe Found: Custom made, long-distance walker
How are your leather hikers holding up? The world's oldest leather shoe, a 5,500-year-old moccasin-style shoe, recently was found in an Armenian cave.
Trekking Pole Parts Explained
Trekking poles have become more complicated than the single-piece hiking staffs they've replaced. Here's a primer on the parts of a trekking pole: from strap and grip down to basket and tip.
The Monowalker: bike trailer, hiking trailer, backpack
Direct from Europe, it's the Monowalker, a contraption that transforms from a normal looking bike trailer into a 15.5-pound hiking trailer/hand cart and...
Profile: Rod Johnson of Midwest Mountaineering
"Ask us. We've been there." Not only is that the slogan for Midwest Mountaineering, it epitomizes the life of the outdoor store's founder and president, Rod Johnson.
Trekking Pole Benefits and Drawbacks: To Use or Not?
Visit any major trail and you'll likely see hikers using trekking poles, matching poles specifically designed for hiking. If you haven't yet tried trekking poles, consider the advantages to decide whether they're a worthwhile addition to your gear closet.
Update: Patagonia's Progress with Closed-Loop Recycling
In 2007, Patagonia boldly announced its goal to have a completely closed-loop clothing line by 2010. That would mean every product available for purchase would be manufactured from recycled materials and also would be able to be recycled into new gear once worn out. It's now 2010, so where does Patagonia stand? Trailspace checked in.
Human Waste Disposal in the Backcountry: How to pee and poop in the woods
Bears do it in the woods, and so do hikers, backpackers, climbers, trail runners, and paddlers miles away from a trailhead toilet. For all of us who head outdoors, and away from indoor plumbing, here are the guidelines for taking care of personal waste responsibly and reducing our impact on the lands and waters we love.
Outdoor Gear Spring Cleaning
As we make the transition from winter to spring, do you have a spring cleaning regimen for your outdoor gear? Clean gear makes for better functioning and longer-lasting gear. And well-organized gear gets you outside faster, with the right stuff.
Wheelchair-accessible paths on the Appalachian Trail
A look at four short wheelchair-accessible trails and another in the works along the Appalachian Trail.
Glass water bottles for the outdoors
With all the concerns about Bisphenol A (BPA) in certain older water bottles, I've occasionally heard glass mentioned as an alternative.
Salted Chocolate: Salazon Chocolate bars
I love chocolate. I like salt. But salted chocolate? I was initially a little skeptical of Salazon Chocolate bars, but couldn't resist the company's motto — "roam the earth. eat chocolate." — or the fact that the company was started by a hiker as an energy bar replacement.
Oh, Ranger: A quick guide to America's best parks
It's easy to find facts on your favorite parks online, but until recently it wasn't so easy to find them all at the same site.
Experience versus mistakes
A lot of people come to Trailspace to learn from and share advice with fellow outdoorsy people, one might call them experienced people.
Gear Review: CamelBak Flow Meter
CamelBak has introduced a clever new device called a Flow Meter that measures how much water you have left and your rate of consumption. So, does it take the guesswork out of staying hydrated?
Gear Maker Profile: Randy Merrell of Merrell FootLab
Randy Merrell's name is known throughout the outdoor world thanks to the Merrell Boot Company he co-founded in 1981. As for Merrell the man, he's still making custom leather boots by hand and custom orthotics in his Merrell FootLab workshop in Utah.
Outdoor Retailer: Personal locator beacons in the backcountry
Currently, there are two main locators available to the backcountry traveler: the ACR 406 series and various SPOT devices.
Outdoor Retailer: Footbeds and Insoles
Proper footwear can make or break any outdoor adventure, and most experienced people know that choosing appropriate, well-fitting, quality boots or shoes...
Outdoor Retailer: Avalanche airbags
The chance to pull the cord on an avalanche airbag doesn't come along every day (one hopes it never happens).
Outdoor Retailer: Three-antenna avalanche beacons
With the heavy snows in the Utah and Colorado backcountry, the resulting significant avalanches, and multiple snowmobiler, snowboarder, and backcountry...
Gear winner: The classic Sierra Cup
Now that we're well into our ongoing Outdoor Retailer coverage, what piece of gear has garnered the most positive comments by our Trailspace members?
Outdoor Retailer: Solar power in small packages
Several sources of solar power panels and solar powered devices were shown at the Outdoor Retailer winter trade show.
Outdoor Retailer: Brunton Flip N' Drip
This one is for all the backcountry coffee drinkers out there (I know from our forums that plenty of you exist).
Outdoor Retailer: What's your blood oxygen level?
An interesting device that has been around for a while as a complex and very large instrument in hospitals and emergency rooms is the blood oxygen saturation...
Outdoor Retailer: Safety on the mountains...and roads
Your Trailspace roving reporters are back home, digesting and summarizing our last observations from Outdoor Retailer.
Outdoor Retailer: More scenes from the showroom floor
Assorted pictures from Outdoor Retailer Winter Market 2010.
Outdoor Retailer: New snowshoes for winter 2010/11
Now that we've tromped through the snow on a Utah peak and delved into the latest trends, it's time to devote a post to the main reason companies come...
Outdoor Retailer: Nite Ize KnotBone
Nite Ize (like Coughlan's and Industrial Revolution) specializes in way-handy gadgets for hikers, campers, boaters, bike riders, and other lovers of the...
Outdoor Retailer: Columbia Omni-Heat
"It's like wearing a space blanket." That's how Anna Sanford of Columbia describes Omni-Heat Thermal Reflective, a shiny, reflective aluminum material...
Outdoor Retailer: Outdoor trend alert
Outdoor Retailer draws to a close today. While our coverage directly from the show will wind down, we'll be turning our attention back to bringing you...
Outdoor Retailer: RidgeRest Solar
Therm-a-Rest's classic RidgeRest foam pad will become 13 percent warmer for summer 2010, thanks to a "superficial" update.
Outdoor Retailer: Knives, watches, and more
Friday, Day Two, started with the Conservation Alliance breakfast. The featured presentation was a report by James Balog on the Extreme Ice Survey, a...
Outdoor Retailer: Snapshots from the show
We've reached the end of Day Two at Outdoor Retailer, which means we're halfway through this winter's gearapalooza.
Outdoor Retailer: Klymit NobleTek
We check out the Klymit vest, which insulates with argon gas rather than down or synthetic fibers.
Outdoor Retailer: Thinnest extreme suit for Everest
Picture the summit of Mount Everest. Now picture what you'd plan to wear in the cold and wind on the top of the world.
Outdoor Retailer: Snowshoes signal recreation trends
How snowshoe sales reflect changing tastes among top athletes and weekend adventurers.
