Live from Missoula, MT... it's GEAR & BEER!
Today Colin & Justin dive offer their highlights of the Outdoor Media Summit 'gear speed dating' event. The duo share their top 5 favorite items for the event, including products from Old Town, Passenger, Patagonia, Nemo, and Lowa.
And after bribing the guy at the hotel bar, they were able to pair all of this gear with a couple of Big Sky IPA's from Big Sky Brewing. Because even if they sky didn't look at that much larger outside the hotel window, the boys were still in Montana!
(This episode was produced on location in Missoula, MT. Any weird audio echoes you may here is a result of the haunted hotel room it was recorded in.)
Chapters:
01:55 - Outdoor Media Summit Overview
02:08 - Speed Dating Gear Event
02:25 - Critiquing the Speed Dating Format
06:38 - Highlights from the Gear Showcase
08:47 - Old Town Canoe Innovation
14:27 - Passenger's Sustainable Gear
15:39 - Patagonia Waders Review
17:23 - Nemo's Eco-Friendly Backpacks
20:25 - The Best Chair: Nemo Stargaze
22:09 - Lowa Boots and ATX
Hurricane Helene Relief Links:
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Episode Transcript
Colin
00:00:02.000 - 00:00:18.422
Welcome to Gear and Beer, the podcast for Gearheads, beer buffs and adventurers with discerning tastes. And the latest edition. I gotta stop saying latest. Cause we've been around for a while now. Addition to the Rock Fight podcast network, I'm Colin True.
I work for brands and makers in the outdoor industry for over 20 years.
Justin
00:00:18.566 - 00:00:26.912
I'm Justin Howson, senior editor at Adventure Journal. Professional gear reviewer, certified Cicerone, also known as a beerxen.
Colin
00:00:27.086 - 00:00:29.332
Big fan of Montana.
Justin
00:00:29.436 - 00:00:33.292
Montana. Colin, do you know what Montana State motto is?
Colin
00:00:33.356 - 00:00:37.308
Just keep Montana Montana eating along like the official one. That's it.
Justin
00:00:37.404 - 00:00:38.840
It's the treasure state.
Colin
00:00:39.140 - 00:00:40.132
Wow. Was there a lot of.
Justin
00:00:40.196 - 00:00:41.100
You know why they call it that?
Colin
00:00:41.140 - 00:00:42.364
Was it like a gold rush thing?
Justin
00:00:42.452 - 00:00:43.444
Nobody knows.
Colin
00:00:43.612 - 00:00:44.084
Really.
Justin
00:00:44.172 - 00:00:44.692
Nobody knows?
Colin
00:00:44.716 - 00:00:45.628
Are you making this up?
Justin
00:00:45.684 - 00:00:48.492
Yeah, I'm making that part up. It is a treasure state, though.
Colin
00:00:48.556 - 00:00:50.836
Is there a lot of pirates? Yeah, landlocked pirates.
Justin
00:00:50.868 - 00:00:54.506
Montana was. So the deal with Montana was founded by. By pirates.
Colin
00:00:54.628 - 00:00:55.094
There it is.
Justin
00:00:55.142 - 00:00:55.662
Montaigne.
Colin
00:00:55.686 - 00:00:59.630
The treasurer, Blackbeard, wrote extensively about this, I believe.
Justin
00:00:59.670 - 00:01:19.370
Yeah, yeah. And so, Sir Montaigne came up the Snake river as far as he could. A lot of people don't really know the story.
And he traveled east in pursuit of Mormons. He. Well, well, it wasn't as much in pursuit of Mormons, but.
Colin
00:01:21.330 - 00:01:22.914
You run out of steam. Get back.
Justin
00:01:22.962 - 00:01:35.410
I'm trying to remember what the Mormon name for God is. I'm not done, actually. Handed Sir Montaigne the magnificent handed him the golden tablets first.
He's the one that buried them in the desert that Joseph Smith found.
Colin
00:01:35.570 - 00:01:38.626
I wasn't in the desert. That was in like Ohio or New York or something.
Justin
00:01:38.698 - 00:01:42.390
Well, Ohio used to be a desert. In the 18th century, Ohio was a desert.
Colin
00:01:42.810 - 00:01:44.378
The great ohioan desert.
Justin
00:01:44.434 - 00:01:48.586
It's own history book I'm writing called the Untold History of the Pirates of Montana.
Colin
00:01:48.658 - 00:01:50.994
This is the true story behind Lewis and Clark expedition, I think.
Justin
00:01:51.042 - 00:01:55.494
Oh, yeah, that's a whole different thing. Yeah, that's. They're in there. They're part of it.
Colin
00:01:55.622 - 00:02:27.040
Well, today, Justin and I are in Missoula, Montana, at an event called the outdoor media summit, which is a gathering of those who work in and around the media scene that covers pretty much the human powered outdoor stuff that if you're listening to this podcast, you probably love to do.
And we just got done attending the OMS's new gear, speed dating, where a bunch of outdoor brands you love and some of you've never heard of set up shop to talk to folks like us in the outdoor media. And sell us on, you know, covering their products. And that's kind of what we're going to do today.
We're going to talk about some of the things we saw there.
Justin
00:02:27.120 - 00:02:29.576
Did you get any dates out of the speed dating?
Colin
00:02:29.688 - 00:02:36.368
No speed dating. I have some notes on the speed dating format. That's probably my one credit criticism. It's a little unnecessary, I feel like.
Justin
00:02:36.464 - 00:02:39.800
Or it needs to be, like, militantly enforced.
Colin
00:02:39.960 - 00:02:49.810
It should have been militantly enforced and also had about 30 more brands maybe to make it worth. There was not enough brands for a four hour block of time. We're gonna get to everybody. It's okay.
Justin
00:02:49.890 - 00:03:01.330
Yeah, that's true. That's true. At. Or you have appointments, obviously, or other trade shows. You have appointments, which makes a lot of sense.
Colin
00:03:01.410 - 00:03:06.674
Yeah, I get it. I mean, I get what they're going for here. And it's kind of cool idea. Like, hey, the light splash, move on to the next booth.
Justin
00:03:06.762 - 00:03:11.866
That's a cool idea. I do think it would make sense if there were more sense. Have there been, like, 150 brands?
Colin
00:03:11.898 - 00:03:17.980
Yeah. And as you pointed out, like, some people like me, who just will not shut up. Like, I'm just going to keep talking right through the flashing lights.
Justin
00:03:18.060 - 00:03:22.844
You definitely are. Yeah. And probably not about what the brands want to talk about. No, most likely not.
Colin
00:03:22.892 - 00:04:01.512
Probably not. Yeah. Well, before we get to the gear we saw at the new gear speed dating, where Justin got a lot of phone numbers. We're going to. We're going to.
We're going to talk about some. We got a few items for you guys. Please be sure to follow and rate gear and beer wherever you're listening.
Clicking follow on your favorite podcast app and leaving that five star rating is the best way to about the show. I'm kind of a broken record about that, but it really is, you know. Please follow the show to gear and beer, folks.
Also, be sure to check out the rock flight, the other podcast that Justin and I host, and we talk about the outdoor industry and community topics. You hear more from producer Dave over there. So who's like a draw? I think he's getting a following. I think someone's going to start a producer Dave.
Instagram feed.
Justin
00:04:01.576 - 00:04:02.592
Why isn't he here?
Colin
00:04:02.696 - 00:04:07.480
Yeah, he's just a slacker. We should. What's the opposite of a producer? We got to change his title.
Justin
00:04:07.560 - 00:04:11.576
Yeah, good point. I mean, I think slacker Dave. Yeah.
Colin
00:04:11.688 - 00:04:12.948
Just going to change his name.
Justin
00:04:13.064 - 00:04:16.436
Yeah. He's not producing. Well, he's not for us, but, hey, so.
Colin
00:04:16.468 - 00:04:26.532
So please follow the rock fight as well.
And, uh, Justin, right now, he's going to tell you if you want to reach out to us and hear even more about speed dating, he's going to tell you where you can do that.
Justin
00:04:26.596 - 00:04:32.612
Yeah. Room 341 at the downtown Missoula Holiday Inn. We'll be here for the delay, the.
Colin
00:04:32.636 - 00:04:33.880
Release of this episode.
Justin
00:04:36.940 - 00:04:46.160
We're going to be here for a little bit. We'll be, we'll be in Missoula for a couple days.
If you're listening to the show, uh, somehow in the, in the, in the past, because this isn't going to come out while we're still here.
Colin
00:04:46.200 - 00:04:46.712
No.
Justin
00:04:46.856 - 00:05:02.888
But if in some, whatever version of time and space you listen to, the show is actually somehow between October 14 and 16th, come up. Come, come say, come say hi to us here at the Holiday Inn. In lieu of that, you can email us at myrock fight at gmail.
Colin
00:05:02.944 - 00:05:04.208
You don't have a time machine?
Justin
00:05:04.304 - 00:05:18.076
No, I don't get the emails. Colin won't let me read the emails, and we've talked about this before and I don't really know what the deal is with that.
So I'm assuming that most of the emails are talking about how much they prefer to hear me on the show. So at some point I'll have to start giving out my.
Colin
00:05:18.108 - 00:05:20.604
We'll do Justin's fanmailmail.com.
Justin
00:05:20.732 - 00:05:43.962
Yes, exactly. You can also follow along on Instagram. Our handle is Rock Fight Co.
And you should also sign up for the newsletter, which, if you have Instagram, you probably read newsletters by heading to Rockfight Co. Clicking right there on join the mailing list. And you too can be part of our astronomically high opening rate. We're talking 2300%.
I don't know how that mathematically makes sense.
Colin
00:05:44.066 - 00:05:48.650
But, you know, they unsubscribe, they resubscribe, they get another edition, they click and open.
Justin
00:05:48.770 - 00:05:51.986
They cannot help themselves. They're reading the shitload out of these.
Colin
00:05:52.098 - 00:05:55.162
Well, hey, I think we're gonna do things a little bit differently today. I think we should start by opening a beer.
Justin
00:05:55.186 - 00:05:55.938
Should we open a beer?
Colin
00:05:56.034 - 00:05:58.122
All right, so what do we got here today, Cicerone?
Justin
00:05:58.146 - 00:06:09.312
A couple big sky ipas. I know I've had this. When I used to come to Montana every year, I'd always buy some big sky brewing.
I'm pretty sure this is the same company that makes like, is it trout slayer? Pretty sure it is. Let's open these.
Colin
00:06:09.376 - 00:06:10.488
6.2%.
Justin
00:06:10.624 - 00:06:11.544
That's standard.
Colin
00:06:11.592 - 00:06:19.888
That's pretty standard ipa, right? Hold on. We're gonna go like, we're all. Both holding mics and. Are you ready? 3210. God, I'm gonna.
Justin
00:06:19.904 - 00:06:23.688
Spot has learned how to open a beer can with one I didn't have.
Colin
00:06:23.704 - 00:06:25.688
A good grip on. There we go. How we doing?
Justin
00:06:25.784 - 00:06:26.312
Hey, cheers.
Colin
00:06:26.376 - 00:06:27.300
Cheers, buddy.
Justin
00:06:30.240 - 00:06:36.460
Mmm. Boy, that's a. Yeah. Okay, that's. That tastes way stronger than it is. I think that tastes like a strong beer.
Colin
00:06:36.790 - 00:06:40.690
All right, so how sweet is. We want to talk about, like, what, the five. Like, the five best things we saw at the show.
Justin
00:06:41.510 - 00:06:44.622
How many. Sure. We should probably set the stage.
Colin
00:06:44.766 - 00:06:47.966
All right, so Justin's going to set the stage for what we saw down.
Justin
00:06:47.998 - 00:06:50.974
At the end, so I didn't count. Okay. I'm guessing.
Colin
00:06:51.062 - 00:06:58.930
Well, I guess. I guess, well, think about any. A lot of people listening to this might not understand how these shows work. Right.
So let's kind of take it like, what do you. What do you expect when you go to one of these shows?
Justin
00:06:59.430 - 00:07:14.784
So, a standard trade show situation. You have. You have booths with, you know, some. Some signage, some drapes, and new product. You'll usually have a person that works. It depends.
A person that worked for their brand, and then usually whoever doing their pr.
Colin
00:07:14.872 - 00:07:17.624
Some old white guy next to some young pr girl.
Justin
00:07:17.752 - 00:07:19.456
Yeah. Pretty standard. Pretty much.
Colin
00:07:19.528 - 00:07:20.480
I'm not really kidding.
Justin
00:07:20.520 - 00:07:49.822
No, that's. That's pretty much true. And their job is to get you stoked on their new products.
And so, at trade shows, there also will be retailers that are making a, you know, making wholesale orders, potentially, which is kind of a side thing, but really, they're, you know, they're showcases for. For new stuff coming out. I mean, that's standard, pre standard trade show practice. This is a small one, and it's more media based.
So in addition to the trade show format, there's panels going on that Colin and I are both presenting tomorrow on panels.
Colin
00:07:49.886 - 00:07:50.862
Cause we're very important.
Justin
00:07:50.966 - 00:07:55.550
But what we did today, the speed dating thing, I'm guessing there were, what, like, 20 brands, 30 brands?
Colin
00:07:55.590 - 00:07:58.050
Somewhere between 20 and 30, I think, 2030 brands.
Justin
00:07:59.010 - 00:08:10.010
And so, you know, you kind of.
The idea was you'd spend ten minutes per, and there was some voice of God kind of coming through the loudspeakers every once in a while and flashing the lights tell you to move on, which nobody really did.
Colin
00:08:10.050 - 00:08:11.070
We ignore that.
Justin
00:08:12.530 - 00:08:29.352
And you'd get.
You know, you'd get the spiel, which is different, because usually you have an appointment and you spend a longer, and, you know, I don't know, you just. Maybe you'll decide to get a sample or something to try it out. But, I mean, it felt like pretty standard.
It felt like a pretty standard, like pr pitching their new gear stuff.
Colin
00:08:29.496 - 00:08:40.512
So we're gonna. I think we've got five that we. That really stood out of the things we saw. Five different brands and maybe some. Several products within those brands.
Well, I was gonna go figure. We go through and, like, you take one, I take one kind of deal, and then we kind of. Yes. And each other.
Justin
00:08:40.616 - 00:08:47.352
Can we roche and bow to see who gets to start? Because I'm particularly excited about one thing I saw here, and I kick it off.
Colin
00:08:47.376 - 00:08:48.888
What is it? What's the one thing you.
Justin
00:08:49.064 - 00:08:59.502
It's tough because this is also, like, by far the biggest ticket item. But of all the things that we saw today where I was like, damn, I wish I could have that. What do you think I'm going to say?
Colin
00:08:59.606 - 00:09:00.406
Old town canoe?
Justin
00:09:00.478 - 00:09:00.822
Yeah.
Colin
00:09:00.886 - 00:09:12.526
Now, we did have to sign an NDA. So we can't talk about specifically what we saw. No, I'm just talking to the listeners. But, like, which is kind of. Kind of cool and exclusive.
But the technology is out in the marketplace already. I think that's what you're excited about.
Justin
00:09:12.598 - 00:09:33.462
And so we've talked before on the podcast, probably not gear and beer, but probably just the regular rock fight about the concept of electrically. Electrically electric powered canoes, kayaks. And there's something about that that is so snickerable. Right. Or whatever.
Colin
00:09:33.486 - 00:09:40.302
This is a bike just kind of makes sense because you have mopeds, you have motorcycles. It's like, oh, you're adding some. You're adding an engine to my bike. I get it.
Justin
00:09:40.486 - 00:09:53.950
I realize that there already are, like, pedal powered, like, kayaks. But when I think of, like, a pedal powered boat, I'm picturing, like, I meant, like, a city pond.
And it's like, me with your high school girlfriend, like, pedaling one of those, like, it looks like a duck. Yes.
Colin
00:09:54.250 - 00:09:54.730
Same.
Justin
00:09:54.810 - 00:09:57.546
So, like that. Like, there's something inherently uncool about it.
Colin
00:09:57.578 - 00:09:58.178
Very much so.
Justin
00:09:58.234 - 00:11:24.444
I had never, like, seen one in person. And so I also didn't realize that Old town pioneered this concept, or so they say.
I swear to God, I heard about Hobie doing this, like, ten years ago, but I don't know. Old Town could have done it first. Old Town says they did it first. I'm gonna. I'm gonna take them at their word.
So I went from to, I gotta have one of these in about 20 seconds flat. I mean, they demoed the tech for us. I don't know. This pretty much works out as you think it would.
I used to have a fishing kayak and didn't really use it, even though there's a million people that use them all the time and love them because it's. Unless you do it every day, it's awkward. Like, pedaling with an oar and then, like, putting it down the. Getting your rod, like, where's my ore.
It just. It's. There's a lot of shit going on, and I just didn't get to use it enough to really, like, get my system dialed and I sold it.
But having one of these as, like, a fishing kayak would be so fucking awesome. Cause I'm not out there to get a workout. Like, that's the thing, is, I'm not. I'm out there to be on a boat, to be in a. Or even if.
Even if I'm not fishing. And I just want a pleasure cruise. Like, I'm never thinking I'm gonna get a good workout by paddling today. That's never top of mind.
It's always, I want to be on a beautiful part of water, and this is relaxing. And so I realize that, like, that's not everybody, but, I mean, for me, that's why I own. I own a Santa paddle board.
Not for exercise, because I like floating on the water, you know? So anyway, having something like this where you can turn it on and just not even pedal and just. Just pushes you. Fuck, yeah.
Colin
00:11:24.572 - 00:12:05.054
The cool thing about it was, because you're right.
If you're thinking about my mind goes to the same place as yours do of, like, the dumb paddle boat, pedal boats, or whatever you would do, like, on a date or something in, like, a middle of a city in a pond. And then this is effectively technology catching up with.
Before you had a gas powered outboard motor, and then you got onboard motors, and that's kind of what you had for boats if you didn't want to paddle it yourself. Right. And now this thing is a little battery powdered and rechargeable unit in the middle that has a kind of.
I don't know how you describe these components. I'm not a boat guy, but, like, a bar that goes underneath the boat with a propeller on the bottom of it and. Yeah, and you can adjust speed.
You can pedal it like there is a pedal that. Then you can set it as a cruise control and it'll just.
Justin
00:12:05.182 - 00:12:22.392
You control. I would absolutely use the living shit out of this. And. And I'm assuming this isn't. They weren't.
They weren't the most specific about the things that we couldn't. Couldn't talk about. So this is on them, frankly.
You could take the, you know, you could take the propeller out, so you can just put it on the roof of your car like a normal kayak.
Colin
00:12:22.496 - 00:12:22.880
Right.
Justin
00:12:22.960 - 00:12:26.984
And that's epic. You don't need to. It's effectively a little motorboat that you don't need. A trailer.
Colin
00:12:27.032 - 00:12:28.088
No trailer. Right.
Justin
00:12:28.184 - 00:12:35.482
I mean, that's awesome. And, you know, like, the price isn't bad. You know, I don't know if we're allowed to say it, but it's less. Less than you think.
Colin
00:12:35.546 - 00:12:38.538
Let's just say that because I'm not sure what the price is of the current model in market.
Justin
00:12:38.594 - 00:12:39.898
For. Sure. Less than you think.
Colin
00:12:39.994 - 00:12:44.466
Yeah. Let's put this way. If you own an e bike, you're fine with this.
Justin
00:12:44.538 - 00:12:47.154
Yeah. And I would rather. I would rather have this than an e bike.
Colin
00:12:47.202 - 00:12:47.850
Oh, fuck. Yeah.
Justin
00:12:47.930 - 00:12:49.370
I mean, like, question.
Colin
00:12:49.450 - 00:13:00.642
I think this is much more defensible from the e technology of the sport, things we've talked about. And ebike, not again, we're pro e bike, all that. All that stuff.
But you can make the case for the purest point of view of cycling and everything like that.
Justin
00:13:00.666 - 00:13:05.394
Right. I don't necessarily love having an e bike because I always feel like I'm cheating even though I'm not racing. You know what I mean?
Colin
00:13:05.442 - 00:13:09.946
Right. This will. This is actually a pure enablement of what you're intending to do in this.
Justin
00:13:09.978 - 00:13:29.826
That's exactly. Well, that's exactly right. That's exactly what it is.
And frankly, like, you know, one of the people that we talked to about it was kind of billing it as, like, kind of as you normally would with an e powered thing. Like, oh, if you're not in great shape, I don't think that's the case at all with this thing, frankly.
If you're not in great shape, probably shouldn't be on a boat that you can't pedal paddle anyway.
Colin
00:13:29.858 - 00:13:32.306
You shouldn't be a few hundreds of yards away from shore.
Justin
00:13:32.378 - 00:13:39.516
Yeah. Honestly, like, something goes wrong, you're fucked. So, like, you should probably. This is a. This is not. I don't think this is.
That's the right way to sell that.
Colin
00:13:39.518 - 00:14:08.858
That's actually a good point. They were pointing out all of the same e bike stops that you can go further, you can, like the disabled, all the older, whatever. It's like.
No, that's. I mean, that's true. It is true, but it's not. That's. Yeah, this has. This is its own thing. Next thing we saw. Well, we did sort of arrive at the.
At the booth for passenger, which we covered last. Well, last week, two weeks ago. Whenever it was on the rock, on. On gear and beer, time is fluid. It has.
And we sort of arrived like, you know, conquering champions. I feel like, you know, conquering heroes. When we walked into the passenger booth.
Justin
00:14:08.914 - 00:14:14.634
I thought you said concrete champions at first. And I was like, oh, here he comes. I can't wait to hear. I can't wait to learn about a new term.
Colin
00:14:14.682 - 00:14:22.498
It probably did. I can barely speak. Yeah, concrete champions. We fell right to the bottom of. We fell out of our boat right to the bottom.
Justin
00:14:22.554 - 00:14:23.666
It was right by the boat people.
Colin
00:14:23.738 - 00:14:45.482
It was. Now, the folks at passenger are amazing. They, of course, liked our review of their changing room. We got to see a few other products they have.
You know, they had one, they had a waterproof shell that's all recyclable. PFAS free a passenger, by the way, folks. PFAS free since 2018. Yeah, that's early, which is really.
I mean, we said that we gave Fjallraven a lot of credit for doing it as a 2012. I want to say.
Justin
00:14:45.506 - 00:14:46.234
Yeah, something like that.
Colin
00:14:46.282 - 00:15:32.290
So they were way ahead of the curve. There are still plenty of relevant, larger outdoor brands who are only now going PFAS free. So kudos to passenger for being ahead of it.
And, you know, I imagine they were significantly smaller at that point, so that was not without risk by doing something like that. But they had a waterproof shell, all recycled components, PFAS free. We saw they had a great.
I mean, the thing about, we talked about it on the passenger episode, so I don't want to, like, you know, go onto it too long, but they. They're sort of a mantra of, like, we have technical stuff that performs, but it is truly, like, mostly everyday wear.
And they had, like, this shearling lined, like, corduroy coat that was dope. They had their sales guy or marketing guy, Jordan was talking about how they have a pair of pants.
It's just basically like a shearling fleece pant, which is the. Yeah, we're not. We're not going for a hike today. We're gonna lay on the couch. Pant. I'm like, totally.
Justin
00:15:32.330 - 00:15:33.242
What did he try to call it?
Colin
00:15:33.266 - 00:15:39.618
I can't. It was something like that about, we're just not gonna go do anything today pant. Next thing I think we saw was some patagonia waiters.
Justin
00:15:39.674 - 00:16:00.372
Oh, those were sick. I mean, patagonia makes such good waiters. I mean, we talked about cheap waiters a couple episodes ago, which I am all about starting.
Starting out that way. But I only own Patagonia waiters, and I don't think I'd own anything else. I mean, there was a Sims booth there.
Probably should have talked to the guy. Frankly, not that interesting, because I love the pat. I love my patagonia waiters.
Colin
00:16:00.396 - 00:16:01.068
Sorry, Sims.
Justin
00:16:01.124 - 00:16:06.932
I mean, I just, like. That is one. I've worn other kinds of waiters, but patty gonia gets it with waiters. Like, they.
Colin
00:16:06.996 - 00:16:11.236
So whoever out there who's connected to Sims and the gauntlet has been thrown.
Justin
00:16:11.308 - 00:16:15.364
I'm willing to bet or accept that there's better waiters out there. I just. Patagonias are great.
Colin
00:16:15.412 - 00:16:19.804
No, I'd love for Sims to get in touch and send you some waiters. We could. So we could talk about that in a future episode.
Justin
00:16:19.892 - 00:17:22.303
The thing I do like about this, their new iteration is so Corey at Patagonia was, like, really hyping up their repairability, which is awesome. And frankly, I have two sets of Patagonia waiters.
An ultralight set that is, like, small enough to, like, take backpacking with you, and then a bit more of a robust set. I don't even remember the model name. They might be swift current, which is like the ones they've been making forever.
And, like, you know, the booties leak. I guess I can send it back.
I didn't really even think about that, but Corey was really hyping up how the repairability, and so the new ones are built around that concept, which, again, going back to what we just said, they're expensive, but waiters are the kind of thing we really do only need want to buy once every ten years, you know, so, like, that's not like a shirt. So, like, you send it back, they'll repair the panel. They'll send it back to you. Perfect. That's awesome. And it just.
They're like, whoever does, whoever designs patagonia waiters is just. I don't know. He's just. He or she is just really thoughtful, and they feel great. Everything is right where you want it to be.
The pockets are right where you want it to be. The suspension systems or like this, you know, the suspender things are great. They just make it the best waiters.
Colin
00:17:22.391 - 00:18:11.872
Next, we got the. So the Nemo resolve, which is their new pack line. Well, the new pack in their new Pac line. And I actually got to see.
So Kate from Nemo, I got to meet with her at the outdoor market. Excuse me. She's our PR rep for Nemo, Revolution House media. Revolution House media.
She used to be in house at Nemo, though, and she used to live in Dover, New Hampshire. Kid remain. And when she worked for Nemo, I know she does now she's in Montana and she does pr for them.
But the, she gave me one of the resolve packs when I saw her in Denver this past summer at the Altar market Alliance media show. And I got to use it the other day, actually, just for the first time, which I'm glad I did before we came here. Awesome pack.
This is part of the line which, I mean, all the Nemo backpacks that they come out of had recyclability. Upside, I don't know. I was supposed to wait. They're able to be recycled. You can send them back to Nemo.
Justin
00:18:11.896 - 00:18:15.544
And they can break it down. Send them back to them and they will do it.
Colin
00:18:15.632 - 00:18:17.728
The thing that was most interesting to me, and I'm not them in your.
Justin
00:18:17.744 - 00:18:19.016
Recycling bin at home.
Colin
00:18:19.208 - 00:18:22.968
That's a good point. The local blue. Can people be like, what am I doing here?
Justin
00:18:22.984 - 00:18:23.816
What the fuck is this in here?
Colin
00:18:23.848 - 00:19:00.330
They're just going to go throw it in a landfill. But the components in the back that would typically historically have been foam are from recycled polyester.
They're really being very thoughtful about ways to create a backpack so that it can be broken down or repaired so it will last longer. More so than that, which is notable in itself, was the sheer comfort in it.
Again, I'm not, as Justin has way more experience with backpacks and backpacking than I do, but just I put on enough backpacks in my day, and I've done enough in packs to know, like, what a backpack feels like. And putting this thing on, there was an immediate comfort that I was. It took me back. I'm like, whoa, this thing feels good.
Justin
00:19:00.410 - 00:19:01.258
Wide straps.
Colin
00:19:01.354 - 00:19:25.132
Yeah. And my wife and I went for a hike. It was about, I don't know, like a seven and a half mile hike. We were out there for a while.
Didn't have a ton in it.
It was a warm day, but I carry a couple water bottles and a couple extra layers, and I'm going to now I want to try it with some more weight to see how it performs. But I was really impressed with how it felt, how my back felt afterwards.
It was a great pack, and so I believe Justin's going to get one now after this meeting, and we're going to do a deeper dive episode on the Nemo resolve and maybe some, some other nemo stuff down the line.
Justin
00:19:25.156 - 00:19:28.280
Have you ever used a pack to the point that it didn't work anymore?
Colin
00:19:29.180 - 00:19:30.164
No, I definitely never.
Justin
00:19:30.212 - 00:19:31.764
Isn't that weird? Like, where do they go?
Colin
00:19:31.852 - 00:19:34.332
It's like a bike. We've talked. We had the same conversation with bikes. Where do bikes.
Justin
00:19:34.356 - 00:19:42.120
I mean, that's, like, that's the case with most things, sadly. But I was thinking about that when we were talking to her. I'm like, I love this. I can send it back. And then I'm like, wait a minute. I've never.
Colin
00:19:42.240 - 00:19:42.544
Never.
Justin
00:19:42.592 - 00:19:47.992
Have you never been like, oh, man, I use this pack every day. I was a hole in it. Like, I'll just. Usually, at that point, I've sold it.
Colin
00:19:48.056 - 00:20:07.768
That's a good point. I mean, Nemo is very admirable. Nemo's doing in terms of the circularity, but their position that we can send it back.
Yeah, but, I mean, look, the real problems are polyester, textile, waste. I mean, that's, like, that's the problem. You know, uh, this, you know, hard goods is a drop in the bucket compared to the amount of clothing we make.
Justin
00:20:07.824 - 00:20:14.696
That's true. But it's. Yeah, that's a good. I mean, that's a good point, but I guess it still feels better that you could do it.
Colin
00:20:14.848 - 00:20:23.860
But that was so. That was good. I mean, I know, obviously, I got that pack this summer. We got to talk to her a little bit about it, but, uh.
But Justin had a very special moment because one of his favorite pieces of gear got an upgrade.
Justin
00:20:24.400 - 00:20:36.172
Star, best chair. The best chair. Stargaze. A little. Little, like, suspended kind of hammock style rocker that Nemo makes it, making them forever. It's my favorite chair.
I'm sure we've talked about on the pod.
Colin
00:20:36.316 - 00:20:39.004
We have. Yeah. We did it on our camping, our favorite camp stuff.
Justin
00:20:39.132 - 00:21:18.814
I just. I just adore it. And, I mean, it's. It's. It's made to let sit in and look at the sky. I mean, it's badass the way it sits. You.
You kind of have to do that to be comfortable. My five year old won't let me use it ever because it's hers now, but they've upgraded it. It's bigger. It's a bit wider my way.
My one complaint about the original model, which I have, is that even though I'm pretty, you know, I'm pretty skinny guy, it's still a little bit. Like, my hips are too wide somehow. So, like, it's. But they've made it a bit bigger, a bit more robust. It's more comfortable. Like, a little headrest.
Mine doesn't have a headrest. It.
You want to sit in it, and you want to get a beverage, and you want to kick your feet up, and you want to look at the stars, and that's what that, like, they knocked it out of the park.
Colin
00:21:18.902 - 00:21:22.650
Engineering wise, how many arguments between your two children has that chair caused?
Justin
00:21:23.550 - 00:21:47.260
Oh, God. Good question. A lot. And it dumps them out. Cause they're not super easy to sit in. You have to, like, you have to.
I mean, it is like a little hammock, kind of. So you have to, like, put your hands on the rails and sit into it. And so, like, the three year old doesn't quite have that concept. So it's.
I've watched her, like, Homer Simpson. It. Like, we're. Homer Simpson gets in a hammock, and just. It just flips around and dumps them on the ground. I've seen her do that a few times.
Colin
00:21:47.920 - 00:22:06.324
The.
I think 30% of our camping trips, when the kids were little were, like, me setting up two hammocks, because then we have three kids, and I don't know why it is every time we go camping, I didn't pick up a third hammock. And then the all just fighting over wanting to be in a hammock. And then their mother and I being like, hey, let's go for a hike.
Like, no, we just want to be. That's basically camping with kids.
Justin
00:22:06.372 - 00:22:06.724
Yeah.
Colin
00:22:06.812 - 00:22:34.890
So last thing we're talking about is what we saw from Loa. Um, I'm actually excited about this because, you know, if you go way back in the, uh, the. The old.
If you go over to our other show, the rock fight, the rock fight archive, I was pretty critical when they launched their ATX trail running line.
This is a little over a year ago, and it wasn't so much to say that they weren't gonna be good shoes or that Loa couldn't make trail running shoes, but it was. I was using them as an example of, it's tough to expand into another market, even if that seems like it's a simple thing to do.
Justin
00:22:34.930 - 00:22:35.082
Right?
Colin
00:22:35.106 - 00:22:57.980
You're like, oh, loa, we're a boot company now. We're going to have trail runners, too.
And it's not that they can't be successful there, but you're signing up for a painful slog to establishing yourself in a category that which, even if you're good at making shoes, you're not known for making trail running shoes. So we got to hang out with Peter Sachs and Leslie. Leslie sorry, Lizzie, we forget your last name. I think she's in the marketing team, though.
Justin
00:22:58.100 - 00:23:01.396
She's maybe heading it. Head of marketing, maybe.
Colin
00:23:01.468 - 00:23:04.340
Yeah. So you're going to try the. I think you're going to try the renegade?
Justin
00:23:04.380 - 00:23:06.020
Yeah, I'd love to. Yeah, they look great.
Colin
00:23:06.180 - 00:23:26.494
And then we got to talk about the ATX line and we got to talk a little bit about with them about like their strategy there and they're.
And they cop to the fact that, yeah, it's tough, it's a long slog, but they are finding, you know, position at specialty retail with people who do well with Loa and walked us a little bit through the product and showed us why it's different. And, you know, they're going to send me some, some trail runners.
Justin
00:23:26.622 - 00:23:31.918
Let me toss an idea out there. Okay. What if. Colin?
Colin
00:23:32.014 - 00:23:32.526
Yes.
Justin
00:23:32.638 - 00:23:33.782
Pair of trail runners.
Colin
00:23:33.926 - 00:23:34.182
Yeah.
Justin
00:23:34.206 - 00:23:34.678
Okay.
Colin
00:23:34.774 - 00:23:35.450
Yeah.
Justin
00:23:36.110 - 00:23:49.340
And you're like, you know what I don't want to do is own a pair of trail runners and a pair of boots for whatever reason, like some kind of exoskeleton that you put over the trail runner to make it like a boot.
Colin
00:23:50.360 - 00:23:56.336
So it's a base of a trail runner. So the comfort of a trail runner. But then you have something you fit over it.
Justin
00:23:56.368 - 00:23:57.660
Now you want a boot.
Colin
00:23:59.040 - 00:24:01.420
This sounds very not practical.
Justin
00:24:01.840 - 00:24:14.648
Well, it sounds cool. I mean, what if, or like a, like the trail, trail runner was like the sock, like the liner and like the midsole and you pulled that. Maybe that.
Maybe it's a boot.
Colin
00:24:14.744 - 00:24:15.112
Yeah.
Justin
00:24:15.176 - 00:24:22.356
But for when you get to your campground, you're like, I don't need this big ass bulky thing anymore. And you pull the, like, you pull this thing out and now you're just chilling.
Colin
00:24:22.548 - 00:24:25.324
I feel like you could probably do that with some boots and like a pair of five fingers.
Justin
00:24:25.372 - 00:24:28.372
Yeah, you probably could. Yeah. Yeah.
Colin
00:24:28.396 - 00:24:38.740
So anyway, so a future episode, we're going to test some lowest. I got some trail runners. Justin's going to get some boots. So keep, stay tuned to that. For that. It was good to chat with the folks at Lowa.
Kind of an iconic brand. They've been around forever, especially the week.
Justin
00:24:38.900 - 00:24:40.108
I've never had any.
Colin
00:24:40.284 - 00:24:55.220
Yeah, I mean, in the week that Vasco is out of business, you know, any of our listeners didn't know yet. Vasco is closing up shot. It was kind of cool to see low some cool new products and, um, I don't know, man. How's your beer?
Justin
00:24:56.280 - 00:25:03.736
It's pretty good. I don't, I don't love it. Yeah. But I don't really necessarily want to finish it. It tastes strong for 6.2. It's real malty. It's real malty.
Colin
00:25:03.768 - 00:25:07.020
See, I like this. This, I feel like this is really easy drinking. No, not for you.
Justin
00:25:07.400 - 00:25:19.300
I wouldn't say it's easy drinking. No. This is the kind of beer that will give you a, this will give you a hangover. And I can't explain what it is.
I'm not enough of like a scientist to really get it, but there's, there's a certain level of maltiness that like if you have too much of it, it like fucks you up.
Colin
00:25:19.610 - 00:25:22.930
Is that like that? That's just, that's just true. Or is that like in my experience.
Justin
00:25:23.090 - 00:25:43.802
Interesting, but probably, probably has something to do with something. I don't know.
But this is made here in Missoula, which is where we are, if we haven't mentioned that already, which I always thought was, I realized that Montana is big sky country, but it always kind of bummed me out that it's we. I would get this in Bozeman, which is where Big sky, the place kind of is, we're nowhere near Big sky, but it's still called Big Sky IPA.
Colin
00:25:43.866 - 00:25:46.490
I'm looking out the window, I don't really think the sky is that big.
Justin
00:25:46.610 - 00:25:47.762
There's mountains in front of you.
Colin
00:25:47.826 - 00:25:48.402
That's what I'm saying.
Justin
00:25:48.426 - 00:25:49.490
And you can't see very much because.
Colin
00:25:49.530 - 00:25:53.086
Everything'S on fire because the eastern parts like more plains. Is that why?
Justin
00:25:53.158 - 00:25:56.982
I guess so. I frankly have never understood what that even supposed to fucking mean.
Colin
00:25:57.086 - 00:26:01.566
So right into my rock, fightmail.com, if you'd understood, if you could explain Big.
Justin
00:26:01.598 - 00:26:05.398
Sky everywhere is the same size sky, folks.
Colin
00:26:05.494 - 00:26:14.398
And by the way, no disrespect, I love Montana. Every time I've been here, it's been beautiful. I've gone on some crazy hikes here, you know, hopefully we'll get to go out again while we're here.
That's beautiful what I'm looking at.
Justin
00:26:14.534 - 00:26:18.122
Maybe probably just going to hang out in the hotel. It's a little colder than it was supposed to be. I'm a little bummed about that.
Colin
00:26:18.206 - 00:26:19.682
Alright, man, we can wrap it up there.
Justin
00:26:19.786 - 00:26:21.266
Well, thanks for having us, oms.
Colin
00:26:21.378 - 00:26:26.882
Yes, thank you so much. That was a fun event. You know, we had some, hopefully you take our criticisms in the right spirit.
Justin
00:26:26.906 - 00:26:45.284
Of it, even there were criticisms, suggestions, yeah, yeah, I mean, I'm having fun. It's, the vibe is good. They're taking real good care of us. Saw some cool shit that's all great. I just. I wouldn't. I think there should be some.
Maybe some tweaks of a format, but that's. I wouldn't even call it a criticism.
Colin
00:26:45.412 - 00:27:02.560
All right, well, hey, thanks, everybody, for listening. Thanks for checking out this episode of Gear and Beer, which is a production of Rock Fight, LLC. For Justin Houseman.
Here in Missoula, Montana, I'm colin true, and he's back to take us out. It's Krista makes. He's gonna perform the gear and beer theme song. We'll see you next time.
Chris DeMakes
00:27:07.980 - 00:27:54.600
We have experienced lots of tales to tell. Just like you're with your pals out on the trail. We review outdoor adventure gear, pair it with the perfect beer. Now let the games begin.
So glad that you're here at the break, the put in the trailhead. We're going to crack open the cooler and invite the beverage and celebrate our wins. Those losses we hold so close.
The bottom line here is you'll get the bearings that matter most. Kieran beer. Kieran beer.