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, Loki. Every year there are many, many small companies that are just starting out with their tiny booths. I always wonder who will be back the next year in a bigger booth and who I’ll never see again. I remember visiting with Loki when they were a tiny booth in the corner, and it’s been fun to see them grow a bit every year. They make outerwear with built in accessories like neck gaiters, mitts, and more. Yes, the picture is me, bundled up in one of their jackets, giving a thumbs up with their integrated mitt.

Our next appointment of the day was with Timex. We got to check out their new ‘Wide-Screen’ line of watches. These watches display all the basics on the main screen so that you don’t have to toggle through all kinds of screens to get to the information you want (not easy when wearing gloves). You can always toggle to get more information. These are a bit big for my tastes (plus I use a GPS for most of the data), but I imagine they’ll be useful for many people. I also was happy to find a heart rate monitor system that didn’t have an enormous watch to go along with it – I want to have a functional, heart rate monitor watch that I can wear without looking silly. Good job Timex!

I cruised by the SnowPeak booth a few times and something in the corner finally caught my eye. When I backcountry camp in the deserts of southern California, I’m not allowed to have a campfire unless I bring my own wood and have a metal bin to keep the fire off of the ground. I’m not about to haul one of those Home Depot fire pits in my car just so I can roast hot dogs over a fire for dinner, so we just go without. SnowPeak has a much better solution: it’s a collpsible metal fire container, and it can be folded flat so that it can easily be packed away in a car. I believe they come in several different sizes.
A couple of other things that are worth noting:

• Nuun has a new flavor called Lemon Chai and it is super, super yummy when mixed with hot water.
• Superfeet is coming out with insoles with an insulating layer to be worn in boots that you’ll use in the snow.
• GSI has some really, really clever coffee systems coming out. There is one that is going to be perfect for making *good* coffee in the backcountry withough sacrificing weight, and there is another set that will be great for car camping or home use.
• National Geographic has some amazing stuff up their sleeves, but we won’t hear about them until the summer show (I got a sneak peek – can’t wait for the details).
• R-rated water bottles! (not for the kids….)