-Exploring Elements 2012 Summer OR Coverage-

The Summer Outdoor Retailer show is a massive show with over 1,400 vendors displaying products that you’d find in your local outdoor store. Gear in such categories as; camping, climbing, paddling, apparel, running, footwear, etc… are all well represented. Many suppliers of all the little things that go into making this gear, think fabric, buttons, buckles, shoe rubber, etc… are also in attendance.

All coverage from the show on ExploringElements.com will be oriented from the perspective of an adventure sports athlete who loves to overland and get outdoors, me! There is no way to show you everything that is at the show, but I’m going to try my hardest to dig up all the really cool stuff that you might be interested in:)

Expect live coverage on Facebook (Exploring Elements), Twitter (@ExplorElements) and Instagram (ExplorElements) with daily updates from the show on ExploringElements.com.

Please leave comments below about what you think of the products being featured, the stories from the show being told and what else you might want to see covered.

The Open Air Demo day at OR is a unique way to start the show each year. This year we all gathered at Jorandelle State Park just east of Park City. The demo is focused around water sports like kayaking, SUP, canoeing and all the accessories to go with all the above. It also brings in a bit of trail running, cycling, nutrition, apparel, waterproof electronics cases and all sorts of other odds and ends. About a 1/3 is kayaks, 1/3 SUP, and the rest the odds and ends. SUP is growing every year and seems to dominate the scene on the water. The sheer volume of companies, number of boards and style of boards can make your head spin!

HOT PRODUCTS:

(EO) 2 Snap Top Carrier

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Advertised as the only “Snap-On/Snap-Off” rigid fastener system in the world. This attachment system can take any standard hard case, think Pelican case, and make it simple to attach solidly, while still being quick and easy to remove, to just about anything. The initial launch concept is to use the system on car tops in conjunction with any roof rack system. Two key features are that it is key lockable and can be easily transported away from your ride by using the (EO)2 backpack system. Field tested at speeds over 95 mph on motorcycles this is a great rear hard case attachment for any adventure motorcycle. I think you’ll see this product being used in a wide range of applications very soon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

bellyak

This is an interesting new river craft that is designed to be used lying on your belly or sitting up on your knees. It is best suited for moving water environments and with the use of hand paddles. The craft comes in 2 hull shapes with one being suited for downriver and one for play. I think it looks really fun and that you’ll see a lot more of them on the water soon, especially on the warm waters of the SE USA where the company is based. PLEASE just be sure to wear a helmet and PFD when operating one of these water craft.

TRAK Kayaks

How cool are these performance folding kayaks? The boat fits in a golf club sized bag, super useful for getting it onto planes cheap, and only takes about 10 min. to set up. The key to these folding kayaks over the competition is performance. The skin of the boat is quite taunt and glides through the water quite efficiently. The cockpit is one solid piece and of a quality design, allowing rough seas and eskimo rolls without water leakage into the boat. The real “killer” feature of this boat is the fully adjustable rocker profile while paddling! You can turn the boat from a flat water cruiser into a surf zone machine with the flick of a few levers just inside the cockpit. This is the perfect sea kayak for overlanders who are always at a shortage of space on their rigs for more gear and toys, even on big Sportsmobiles;)

Switch Vision

The “world’s first magnetic interchange sunglass collection designed for and by active outdoor athletes.” Basically a super simple and easy to use interchangeable lens system on a high quality sunglass frame designed for athletes. The polarized lenses are really nice and even the case design for the spare lenses is very well designed. Very much worth a try!

 ULI boards

ULI started as an inflatable surf board company allowing people to travel easily to remote surf breaks around the world with their boards. They were the originators of the inflatable SUP and seem to still be leading the charge with quality and innovation in this niche. The latest hotness from ULI is the “Wiki Rail” which creates a hard edge on the tail of the board. This makes the board faster, carve harder and release with more control. You’ll see this design on many of ULI’s new boards and I’m sure a similar design on many competitors boards soon.

 

Random Cool Stuff-

WindPaddle

WindPaddle’s designer Nick shows of the companies new “Bimini” product. While not a sail it uses many of the same materials and concepts as the companies innovative and easy to use kayak sails. The “Bimini” is solely to keep you out of the sun and in the cool shade on a hot day. The product can be attached easily to just about any type of kayak.

Jackson Kayaks New Boat Logo

That’s right folks, from now on whenever you buy a Jackson Kayak, of any style, it will come with moulded in GoPro mounts and these snazzy new GoPro/Jackson Kayak logos. I just hope people still get creative and come up with new shooting angles, instead of the factory set ones.

Airhead Pongo Bongo

Yes that’s right, inflatable floating beer pong. Coming to a river, pool, lake or hot tub near you. I’m going to lay the gauntlet down and challenge anyone with one of these to a game of extreme floating pong on the ocean;)

www.swim1000.com

Starting Aug. 10th Dave Cornthwaite is going to swim 1000 miles down the Missouri River in order to raise money for breast cancer awareness. This is not the first crazy endurance adventure Dave has embarked on and I’m sure it won’t be his last. He has challenged himself to complete at least 25 1000 mile challenges using various means of human-powered transport. Be sure to follow this crazy adventurer on his website: DaveCornthwaite.com.

 

OR HAPPENINGS OF THE DAY:

Ken Hoeve out for a paddle with his pup on the new Jackson Kayak fishing SUP

Hobie‘s always popular Tandem Adventure Island sailing pedal kayak.

Catching up with Shane Benedict, from Liquid Logic. I’m loving the orange Green Race shirt. I will “earn” one of those shirts one of these years:)

Not all “kayaks” are self bailing, especially ones that are basically canoes;)

Dave Costello, from Canoe & Kayak, and Chris Gragtmans, from Dagger Kayaks, holding down the beach thug style. All smiles until the camera comes out:)

I had the pleasure to finish off the day at a private gathering of overlanders and overland industry peeps at Paul May’s house, owner of Equipt. Lots of good people were in attendance including folks from TAD, Nemo Equipment, ExOfficio and others. Chill atmosphere, good food, quality Oregon beer and fun conversations, a great way to finish off day 1 of OR 2012:)

Stay tuned for live coverage for the rest of the show through: Facebook (Exploring Elements), Twitter (@ExplorElements) and Instagram (ExplorElements) with daily updates from the show on ExploringElements.com.

 (All Photos by Bryon Dorr & David Priddis)