Must-haves from the outdoor trade show
Of the hundreds of products shows at Utah event, here are five to take into the wilds.
From ski gear to winter jackets, companies congregate each winter in Utah to launch new products at the Outdoor Retailer trade show. I spent last week evaluating hundreds of products at the massive event in search of the best to-be-released gear for 2017. Here are five top picks.
Foam Snowshoes: Crescent Moon Eva
Crescent Moon redefined the category with the Eva, a rockered snowshoe made of EVA foam. (This is the soft kind of foam used in shoe midsoles.) Because of the rocker, no hinge is required underfoot. The result is a maneuverable snowshoe made for moving fast in moderate snow depths.
Avalanche Assessor: Mountain Hub Snow Probe
Insert the probe into snow, and it measures the hardness of layers to create a profile. The info is transmitted by Bluetooth to a phone and then used to assess avalanche risk of the slope. The digital info can then be shared to the Mountain Hub website for crowd-sourced avalanche forecasting.
Mechanically Breathable: TNF Ventrix
The North Face took its breathable insulation and poked holes in it, literally. The Summit L3 Ventrix Hoodie has laser perforations where athletes sweat so the jacket vents as the body moves. When activity decreases, the perforations stay closed to keep in heat.
Electricity From Saltwater: Hydra-Light
Dip a small battery-like cylinder in saltwater and insert it into a lantern for 100 hours of power. That’s the concept behind Hydra-Light, a unique powergeneration system that creates electricity from a reaction between water and a magnesium coil. In a world of solar, the power-by-saltwater solution turns heads.
Synthetic Warmth: Patagonia Hyper Puff
Patagonia employs a new kind of synthetic insulation for its Hyper Puff Hoody. The HyperDAS insulation is layered like an accordion, so it lofts outward. This creates huge dead air space, adding significant insulation from the cold. It also packs small, fitting into a stuff sack the size of a one-quart jug.