Fun Round-The-World Trip Gear at the Outdoor Retailer 2010 Summer Market
This week I am at the Summer Outdoor Retailer Show in Salt Lake City, a twice-yearly event of the latest and greatest outdoor gear and equipment.
I spent the first day scouring the exhibition floor for the best new travel packs and spent the second day viewing some non-essential travel items that can make your round-the-world trip say a bit more fun. Here are some creative and inventive products for the independent traveler.
Hammock Bliss Triple
I had great fun meeting the folks at Hammock Bliss. Turns out the Chief Relaxation Officer, Dov Frazer, had a piece published on BootsnAll about an incident with bandits in Cambodia. It is quite the story so in addition to checking out his Hammocks give his Fear and Loathing in Cambodia a read.
New this year is their Hammock Bliss Triple. The Triple Bliss is the most spacious travel hammock in the world. It measures over 8-feet wide and almost 10 feet long, yet it packs down compact and is pretty light at less than 2 pounds. What better way to meet people during your travels than inviting them to rest their feet in your gigantic hammock? Great for single travelers – you’ll have people lining up to snuggle you in this baby (oh – and it’s great for families too). You can purchase the Hammock Bliss Triple on Amazon or the Hammock Bliss website.
ALITE Monarch Butterfly Chair
Alite Designs is a new company based out of San Francisco, CA that strives to get more people interested into the outdoors and does this by making creative, colorful, simple products that help make the outdoors ridiculously fun. I tested out Alite’s Monarch Butterfly Chair and loved how small and light it was – I seriously think I need to have one. The chair only has two legs so your legs act as the other two, but you can balance and rock in it and it feels real good. Best part is it only weighs 18 ounces and folds up to the size of a burrito – well a very large San Francisco style burrito they say.
The chair is the perfect size to stash in your backpack for that trip around Asia plus it works well in your home when you return flat broke and furniture-less. You can find the Monarch Butterfly Chair on Amazon or the ALITE website. I expect great things from ALITE and you can look forward to reviews of their innovative and slightly hilaroius spring line on Travel Gear Blog.
Eagle Nest Outfitters METHOD Guitar Case
Eagle Nest Outfitters (ENO), the makers of quality travel hammocks and accessories, have just release a guitar case backpack. I always wondered how people traveled for months at a time lugging around those uncomfortable looking guitar cases with barebones shoulder staps. Now ENO has created a guitar case with a padded, fully adjustable harness that was specifically designed to comfortably carry a guitar so musicians have no need to suffer from the burden of their load.
Just pair ENO’s METHOD guitar case with a rolling backpack and you should be able to get around without too much problem. Plus the case is made from rugged water-resistant nylon so it will hold up well on the road. The METHOD guitar case can be purchased on ENO’s website and you can view their other products at Amazon.
P^cubed Pick Pocket Proof Pants
Developed by a traveler who traded in his lucrative stock-trading career for a passport and backpack, Pick Pocket Pants are designed to withstand life on the road.
The wrinkle, rain, and stain resistant pants feature anti-theft pockets with snaps, zippers, and hidden pockets within pockets. The only way a thief could get to your wallet would be to get you to take your pants off. You can stash your smartphone in the front wide-mouth pocket that features a discrete phone/camera pocket. A rear pocket expands large enough to hold a paperback and you can stay hydrated with an attachable rear pocket that holds a 500ml water bottle.
Pick Pocket Proof Pants will be available soon at Clothingarts.com.
