Test Drive - Desert Edition

I had been patiently waiting for weeks to get out of the office and go camping in Joshua Tree National Park for my 30th birthday. I have only been to Palm Springs in the late spring/early summer, during Coachella, or to rent a houses with friends, so all my previous experiences in this region, have been pretty pampered and HOT. This time around, the desert was cold, overcast and empty, with temperatures in the low 30s, so its safe to say that this would be a more realistic way to evaluate my "winter" camping skills.

Test Drive - Womens Specific Gear

This past weekend I got the chance to test out some new gear, recreationally of course, from some of my favorite Outdoor brands. An emerging trend that is starting to really gain momentum within the industry is the expansion of Womens-specific items. Brands are not just shrinking down existing product and injecting it with bubble gum pink, they are really starting to do their homework by designing ergonomically correct, color relevant, apparel and gear. Groundbreaking right? Well I think so.

The Great Water Bottle Debate

As the great water bottle debate rages on -- plastic vs metal vs glass -- I had the opportunity to test some recent editions to the market this past week. Now, let me give you some background about this "great debate". Basically, water bottle's have gotten an extreme makeover in the last few years. Studies have shown that the world consumes more than 200 billion single-serve bottles of water per year. Can you even imagine what that looks like in terms of the volume of waste?

Run Dry, Run Right.

On a beautiful, sunny day in SoCal a few weeks ago, I headed to Santa Monica, for a K•Swiss press conference. The press conference was to kick-off the 2011 LA Marathon – which K•Swiss proudly sponsors – and to give media and key retailers a sneak peek of what they have in store for running sneakers next season.

Fall/Winter 11 Active Tradeshow Wrap

In case you have been wondering where I disappeared to for the last few weeks, I have been in Active/Outdoor Tradeshow Land. From Outdoor Retailer in Salt Lake City to ISPO in Munich, I have put some serious miles under my belt, reporting on the latest trends in the market.