We’ve had a few days to wind down from the twice-a-year gear fest that is Outdoor Retailer and reflect on a few of our favorite products from the show, as well as a few trends we are seeing across the board from retailers.
This year, innovation was a big player in many companies product line-ups. Brand overhauls, new fabrics, and complete redesigns are just a few of things we saw over the course of the week. Of course, the biggest announcement was that of Columbia Sportswear buying OutDry, something that many people were not expecting. OutDry is becoming more prevalent in footwear and gloves, as people are starting to ditch 20-year-old waterproofing technology for OutDry membranes.
Another big shakeup was the complete overhaul of CamelBak‘s hydration bladder. Redesigning from the ground up, CamelBak really used a lot of user feedback when they designed their new Antidote Reservoir. They shaved off weight and trimmed the profile to make the reservoir fit better in a pack, and weigh less (empty). The new locking lid is wider and easier to open and close, and cleaning is even easier as the wider opening allows enough room for a hand to get inside to clean, and integrated dryer arms that snap out from around the lid’s collar aid in speeding up the drying process without jerry-rigging something out of coat hangers and paper towels on your kitchen counter. They also added in a quick-release at the connection point between the reservoir and drinking tube to make refilling and cleaning easier.
More innovation came in the increased use of sustainable and alternative fabrics and materials. We saw the use of Cocona fabrics in a few companies jackets (Sierra Designs and Millet, to name a few). An upcycling process, Cocona fabrics start as the discarded husks of coconuts, which are then turned into activated carbon, processed, extruded into raw fiber, and spun into thread. We’ll be interested to see how this fabric stacks up against more established fabrics (merino, poly-blends, etc), as the Cocona fabric is said to “provide superior dry times, odor adsorption and UV protection on a wide range of product applications.”
