Holy cats, you guys! I'm going to Sedona and Havasu Falls courtesy of Columbia and Mountain Hardwear!

So, this is happening. A few days ago I got home from a trip to visit family and found this goodie in my mailbox. Last month I wrote about the Omniten program but never did I expect something this awesome to fall into my lap (or, er, mailbox). I don’t think I need to explain [...]

15 Tips to Help You Survive the Outdoor Retailer Winter Market

Once again, I’ll be attending the Outdoor Retailer Winter Market this January in Salt Lake City on behalf of BackpackGearTest.org. I can’t remember how many times I’ve attended; I think this will be my seventh visit, give or take a year. Recently someone asked me for some tips for making the most of the Show [...]

Outdoor Retailer Day 3 and 4

By Day 3 everyone has hit their stride, but everyone is also exhausted. I turn into a loopy zombie under these conditions, so it’s a good thing that I didn’t have to take as many appointments the last two days.  We started off day 3 with a visit to one of my favorite outerwear manufacturers, [...]

Outdoor Retailer Winter Market 2009

The Outdoor Retailer Winter Market happened in Salt Lake City last week and once again I was fortunate enough to attend. Over the next few days I’ll be posting about some of the great gear I got to see. In the meantime, you can see some pictures and blurbs about the things that caught my [...]

Golite Xanadu Four-Season Tent Review (Xanadon't)

I just published my Field Report for the Golite Xanadu on BackpackGearTest.org (read it here or start at the Initial Report here).  This is an oddball tent and I felt I needed to say a bit more about it. The Xanadu is advertised as a four season, 2+ person tent that weighs in at well [...]

Let’s get straight to the gear! SmarTube Drinking System: At the Axis Outdoor booth I came face-to-face with a solution to my trail hydration needs. I strongly dislike carrying a hydration bladder inside my pack when backpacking due to several reasons which I will not get into in this post, and if I use bottles [...]

If there was any kind of ‘theme’ to the show this year, it would have been Environmental Sustainability. Several companies were announcing new environmental initiatives and renewable supply chains. In addition, the Outdoor Industry Association was asking every person to offset their CO2 emissions created during their travel to the show. There would be a [...]

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