SHOW OFFERS HI-TECH OUTDOOR GEAR
The newest outdoor and adventure gear has just come out, and you may want to toss the old and get the new marvels. The Summer Outdoor Retailer Show in Salt Lake, one of the largest such conventions in the world, is where manufacturers of everything outdoors show their latest stuff to retail buyers.
There's some amazingly innovative gear coming to a store near you.
The big trends this year were miniaturization, inflatables and night illumination. Example: forget your old headlamp, heavy and awkward, sticking out over your forehead and going through batteries fast. The new headlamps are smaller than a dime, LED powered, and about five times as bright as bulb-powered models, allowing you to safely go rock climbing or trail running at night.
The models made by LED Lenser allows variation of the light output from minimal to searchlight bright, allows the focus to be changed from spot beam to flood beam, and comes with a rechargable battery. The light beam itself can be positioned at any angle, so you don't have to move your head to get light where you want it.
Nite Ize, which makes fun LED products powered by button batteries, offers a super bright dog ball, the Meteorlight, so dog owners can play catch with their pet in the dark. Bright color-changing flying discs come in three sizes. Another product, the Spokelite, easily attaches to a bike wheel spoke and turns your bike tire into a circle of light as it turns, making night riders much more visible.
Last year's show hit was the flexible lightweight solar panel that could be rolled up and stowed in a backpack so you could recharge your computer or anything else out in the wilderness---even one heavy enough to power a boat motor. This year's improvement is a battery that stores the sun's energy from the solar collector, so you will have power during a dark and stormy night.
SALT LAKE CITY---Kayaks were a popular exhibit at the Outdoor Retailer Show, where hundreds of manufacturers of outdoor gear show off their products to retailers. The number of kayak manufactures who exhibit at the show increased so much, they now have their own huge area, selling hard and soft kayaks, even inflatable models.
Inflatables ran the gamut, from kayaks to luxury camping beds. One of the best products was the Aerobed Tailgater Chair, sturdy enough to hold even the heartiest partier securely. It comes with a battery-powered pump that inflates or deflates the lounge-style easy chair in about a minute and a half, and the pump can be plugged into your vehicle's ciggie lighter. This inflatable luxury item isn't lightweight, however; the chair and pump packed into its compact carrying case weighs nearly nine pounds.
Some old favorites have not changed. The Hammaka hammock company offers elegant hand-carved hammock chairs of curved wood and canvas that can be hung from a porch, tree limb or stand; but this year's innovation is "Sport Chair" with a stand that installs on the back of a pickup and holds two canvas hammock chairs---perfect around a campfire or even a drive-in movie.
But the sour economy is taking a heavy toll on the outdoor industry. Despite the plethora of new products, sales were down in a major way for nearly every exhibitor; anywhere from 30 to 50 per cent. Though it was the largest show ever, with many more manufacturer booths, there were far fewer retailers than expected showing up to buy product.
But a few companies did not see a sales slowdown. Garmont, which manufacturers hiking boots and ski boots, was one of the few manufactures whose sales were up, especially in their back country ski boot division. Marketing director Donna Ebbett says, "People are cutting back elsewhere so they can buy new wilderness and backcountry equipment."
The growth of backcountry skiing and wilderness adventures continues to explode as resort lift ticket prices climb, with a day pass at big destination resorts now commonly in the $70 range. The two facts that everyone is aware of, even if they aren't purchasing new gear, is that the wilderness is green---and it's free.