Imagine a convention center floor filled with manufacturers’ booths displaying next season’s clothing, outdoor gear, food (think: protein bars, sport snacks, and camping food), accessories, cameras, and more. That’s the Outdoor Retailer Show, a bi-yearly event held in August and January in Salt Lake City. And that’s where I was last week!
Needless to say, I was in heaaaaven!
Here’s what I found to be some of the best of Outdoor Retailer:
Maybe my favorite item of all was the Chaco ReversiFlip sandal. See how the underside of the strap is a pretty solid color? You can actually remove it, flip it over and you’ve got what appears to be an entirely new sandal!
The ReversiFlip itself will retail for $60 and you can then buy a package of four straps ($20) that will give you eight new pairs of sandals. Brilliant.
This display is from Columbia Sportswear. These tops all utilize Omni Freeze. It seems this type of technology is becoming popular because ExOfficio and Sherpa Adventure Gear also showed me clothes utilizing the same properties. So what is it?
It’s a type of fabric that when you sweat, it creates a cooling sensation. I’m quite eager to test this out for myself.
Eagle Creek is coming out (next spring) with a new set of colors in their Pack-It cubes. Bright orange, neon green, and white.
I thought this was fun. Sierra Designs showed off a line of sleeping bags that are not your usual sleeping bags. These have arm holes and are made to work in such a way that you can unzip it to walk around with coffee in hand, but also be nice and snug like a bug in a rug when you’re in your tent.
This photo may not quite do this cup justice, but this is the Pack-up-Bottle from Light My Fire. The black portion folds up into the plastic portion of the cup. My water bottle takes up so much room in my carry-on bag that I know this will be a great space-saving solution.
Yeah, you could say I’m pretty stoked about this item (which came home with me). And stoked IS the most appropriate term because it means I gotta get out to do something rad to put it to good use.
It comes with an intimidating number of accessories and instructions but I’m confident that I can get this working in no time. Videos coming to a Youtube channel near you!
I’ll be reviewing some of these items and many more in the months to come. Sign up for my RSS feed (at right) to ensure you don’t miss out on my weekly gear posts!
And did I mention I have the best job, ever?
Travel Well,
Joslin says
Sierra Designs a sleeping bag that you can walk around in!? Awweeesome.
Beth Whitman says
Yeah, it’s kinda like Selk’Bag, only… well, usable in cold weather.
Leslie says
Do you find that packing cubes work? I have used those compression bags and didn’t care for them. I can’t imagine the cubes being much better.
The sleeping bag is cool. Looks great for sleeping in the car because you can get in and out of it without getting tangled.
Beth Whitman says
Leslie – I love compression sacs (you need the kind that zip up, not just a “bag”). And the packing cubes complement the compression sacs perfectly (though I prefer a padded packing cube to the packing bags pictured).
Rocky Travel Blog says
Love the sleeping bag! I am wondering whether these travel gear items are available for online sale (?) will have to make a research. Thanks for sharing.