Wrap up from the Outdoor Retailer Winter Market 2010 

Check out the photos from the show: gallery

The 2010 Outdoor Retailer Winter Market comes to a close this past weekend after four great days (five if you include the All Mountain Demo) in Salt Lake City. The Outdoor Retailer trade show is aimed at industry retailers looking at all the new innovations in all things outdoor equipment from their potential suppliers. Attending as a member of the media certainly provides for a very different agenda on the show floor. I spent the last four days in Salt Lake City walking, and sometimes running to various meetings about every half-hour to see the newest products that the companies were unveiling for mainly Fall and Winter of 2010-2011 while including a lot of their spring merchandise as well. I previously mentioned a few of the companies I met with, but listing them all here would add a bit too much to this article. Every company I met, whether it was scheduled or drop-in, had some great innovations I’ve never seen before. I had to ask a few times, ‘Who came up with this idea?’ and the cool part, at times, was when the person would say, ‘Me.’

Whether it was JakPak’s all-in-one Jacket / Tent / Sleeping bag invention, Klymit’s Argon-Filled Kinetic vest, or Columbia’s tent-like Mobex trail pack, every company had something amazing to bring to the table this year. The show is not without free swag, too. Leesa certainly was right when she said before the show that I would receive a lot of socks, among other items. All I can say for all you consumers and enthusiasts out there is you should be very excited to see what’s coming and I can’t wait for most of it to hit the market. And that’s where we here at 4 All Outdoors come in. Our job is to review all this great new equipment and tell you how it worked for us in the great outdoors so you can have an easier time picking your next pack, trail-runners, tent, or outerwear.

This is going to be a very exciting year in store for all of us outdoor enthusiasts. Outdoor Retailer gave us industry insiders a sneak peek at what’s in store. I’m definitely looking forward to putting a lot of this gear through its paces and see what can hold up to my hobbies outdoors. Hope to see you all out on the trails!

-Dave

Sunday 1/24 early morning picture gallery update LINK

Updates from the Outdoor Retailer Show:

The Outdoor Retailer Winter Market 2010 has gotten off to a great start. With over 900+ vendors in attendance, there is no shortage of eye-catching design and innovation. The Winter Market show mainly showcases product from suppliers arriving for the Fall 2010/2011 season, with many companies also demoing their Spring 2010 lines. While certain products definitely stand out from the crowd for being unique, Klymit’s Kinetic Argon Vests have jumped to the forefront of the show. The vest is one of Outdoor Retailer’s 44 featured products for Klymit’s usage of Noble Gasses, particularly Argon, in this application. The Argon gas doesn’t contain moisture when used to inflate the vest, providing a lightweight and warm insulation in a thin insulation laying vest Another piece that stood out for me from the design standpoint was Columbia’s Mobex Trail Pack. The pack immediately reminds me of a miniature tent worn on your back. The opening to the pack is actually zippered around the side resting on your back, giving the Mobex a very streamlined look. Columbia was also showcasing their new Omni Heat Thermal Reflective clothing line debuting Fall 2010. There are tons of great apparel offerings around the trade show and I stopped by to check out Loki’s evolving outerwear, incorporating their patented Mitt sleeve found on every jacket. There were some great new offerings from GoLite I saw during my meeting with them, and nice, new updated styles from the likes of Merrell and Ahnu. Check out the gallery for some pictures straight from the show floor.