Bored with ski jacket roundups yet this season? It’s your lucky day. This week’s Emerging Gear roundup is heavy on rad gear sure to tickle the fancy of everyone from weekend warriors to dedicated van lifers. And not a ski jacket in sight! (OK, maybe one.)
CamelBak’s handily sized Powderhound 12 is just big enough to handle your hydration needs for a few hours of resort turns or a quick lap in the sidecountry. The brand produced this limited-edition version in collaboration with Protect Our Winters. The black-and-white print is minimalist but still eye-catching with its semi-abstract mountain-and-route pattern.
The Powderhound 12 delivers 2 L of liquid storage and 12 L of gear storage on top of snow-resistant construction. Other handy features, like external ski and board storage straps, abound. Not bad for $110!
If you’re going to make a puffy, you may as well make it really, really puffy. At least that’s what the designers over at Nobis Canadian Outerwear believe. Case in point: the luxuriously lofty Long Puffer Jacket.
Existing somewhere between expedition-worthy and runway-ready, the Long Puffer has the chops to protect against ferocious Canadian winters with waterproof-breathable nylon taffeta construction, duck-down insulation, fleece-lined warming pockets, and an interior wind skirt.
Who says functionality has to be boring? Not the Long Puffer. But you’ll pay for looking good — the jacket runs $1,095.
Bone conduction headphones from a sports watch brand? Actually, yeah, that makes sense — jamming out via bone conduction is the best way to maintain safety while riding, running, or any other adventure activity.
And these bad boys look impressive, sporting as they do tough titanium construction and an IP67 water residence rating. In layman’s terms, you can submerge them for up to 30 minutes in a meter of water without any ill effect.
That’s good news if you’ve got a toddler around who enjoys tossing expensive running headphones into cups of coffee, just to pull an example from my recent past. Affordably priced at just under $200 and with styling that pops, Suunto Wings are definitely on my radar for holiday shopping this year.
If you want something done right, you do it yourself. But if you want something totally overbuilt, made from the most extraordinary materials on Earth … better to leave it to Vollebak. This week, the European manufacturer of gear to “tackle the fundamental challenges of the next century” released its first belt. And by the looks of it, probably its last.
As the name suggests, this belt is indestructible. (Personally, I would have gone with “Invinci-belt,” but here we are.) It’s made with a Dyneema core that can hold up to 4 tons, as well as a COBRA buckle, lauded by Vollebak as “the strongest and safest buckle on the planet.”
You might ask yourself, Why do I need a belt that strong? And to that, I’d suggest the last thing you’d want is to find out and not have it. Grab the Indestructible Belt now for (*spits out coffee*) $395!
With housing the way it is in mountain towns, storage space is at an absolute premium. One solution? Shrink your quiver a bit by combining your day pack and commuter pack. The freshly dropped EVERGOODS MPL22 (MSRP: $199) could be a good starting place. It combines trail-ready features like ergonomic straps and four-way stretch pockets with coffee-shop-friendly features like panel-loading access and padded laptop storage.
EVERGOODS claims the back panel mesh is more breathable and abrasion-resistant than typical. That could come in handy while huffing up a mountain or blasting your fixie through the city streets.
The James Brand (TJB) is best known for sleek, no-nonsense EDC gear that looks like something 007 would carry if he were into pocket knives. That’s decidedly not the direction TJB went with this Timex collab. The partnership sees the two brands teaming up for a nostalgic reboot of the sports world’s most iconic digital watch: the Timex Ironman.
And since this is a watch that had its heyday in the ’90s, you know you’re gonna get dayglo styling and a plastic casting that can take a licking and keep on ticking computing. It’s $99, which would have sounded absurd to your 10-year-old self. But luckily for you, you aren’t 10. You don’t even have to ask your mom if you can buy this Timex Ironman. You can just do it!
I’m not here to yuck anyone’s yum. If you want to look like a cartoon mouse on the ski slope, I’m not going to stop you. In fact, I’m going to help you, by pointing out the recently launched line of Columbia x Disney outdoor apparel. There’s something in the collection for young and young at heart alike, including this decidedly mousy take on Columbia’s Snowqualmie Jacket.
And the animated rodent theme doesn’t just stop with ears — Columbia’s signature thermal reflective lining also sports little Mickey heads. You won’t need this $300 jacket in Orlando, but I think we can all agree that the ski hill is the real most magical place on Earth. Or at least your town.
Fox Racing is the latest cycling brand to drop a gravel-specific helmet, and it looks like a good one. The Crossframe Pro sports a visorless design and ventilation for days. Also on board? MIPS technology, a removable and machine-washable liner, and a BOA fit system. That’s a lot of features for $220. Fox says the Crossframe Pro is also ideal for XC riding or anything else you could get up to with a short-travel bike.
“I can’t do another ****ing dehydrated coffee pouch,” I said gloomily to my hiking partner during a recent backpacking trip. I wish I’d had this NEST Pour Over Kit with me. The latest release from VSSL, the NEST system delivers compact pour-over coffee for two in a sturdy stainless steel package.
The system includes a pour over, two mugs, a lid, and a storage area for one of VSSL’s recently redesigned grinders. And $225 gets you the system plus a grinder. Is it worth it? Well, let me answer that question with another question: Have you tried a Starbucks Via pouch lately? (*shudder*)
Danner is the go-to boot brand for peeps who care about quality construction and classic styling. Ten years ago, Danner teamed up with Ball and Buck on a camo-themed iteration of the famous Portland-made Danner Light.
Now, the two brands are at it again, with a limited-edition anniversary release recreating that original partnership. The soles are Vibram rubber and the hardware is brass, while the uppers are a rich, buttery leather.
Crucially, the camo pattern is a great chance for dads everywhere to say, “What happened to your feet? I can’t see them!”
It’s a win for everybody.
Been to the grill section of your local hardware store lately? Rejoice, fellow Waffle House aficionados — it’s the age of the griddle, long may they reign.
Recteq took flat cooking up a notch with this Smokestone 600, a spacious wood-fired model with enough square footage to cook 70 slices of bacon or 30 hamburgers. And can we just all agree that the hamburger should be a standard unit of measurement moving forward?
Wood-fired doesn’t have to mean imprecise. The Smokestone 600 is loaded with well-dialed temperature controls, Wi-Fi connectivity, and an integrated app, all for $999.
Portable battery banks are a godsend in this age of powerful (and power-hungry!) EDC devices. Wrangling cables? Not so much. That’s what caught my eye about the Tau 2 — its integrated cables tuck away when not in use and can power USB-C, Micro USB, and Lighting Cable devices.
The Tau 2 is small enough to fit on a keychain, and as such only holds 2,000 mAh worth of juice. But that’s enough to get you by in an emergency! So, charge it and forget about it — ’til you need it. You can back the Tau 2 on Kickstarter at a $29 early-bird price.
Tincup’s Fourteener drops happen annually and celebrate Colorado’s iconic peaks. This year’s release is all about Quandary Peak — the oft-scaled jewel of the Tenmile range. Fourteener is aged 14 years in new white oak barrels, so I imagine it goes down pretty smoothly, especially after a hard day on the trail.
Tincup says the Quandary Peak batch contains notes of caramel, syrup, and vanilla with a butterscotch finish. Yum.
