The Best of Outdoor Retailer Winter Market 2022
The sign outside Winter Outdoor Retailer 2022 at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, Colorado.
new Innovation and sustainability-focused products at Winter OR
Our contributing writer Chris Meehan spent last week geeking out on outdoor gear at the Outdoor Retailer Winter Market, an outdoor industry trade show at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, Colorado.
Twice a year, the Outdoor Retailer (OR) show brings the outdoor industry together. Brands and exhibitors show off the latest and greatest from the industry’s manufacturers, startups, and interrupters to retailers and influential buyers in North America and across the world. The Outdoor Retailer Trade Show is also a gathering of the outdoor community with educational opportunities with topics ranging from sustainability to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
The most recent show, the Outdoor Retailer Snow Show, took place last week. The Best of Winter Outdoor Retailer 2022 guide features the inventions, innovations, and interrupters that we are most looking forward to seeing the next time we stop in at our favorite specialty retail shops.
The SheFly GoThere pant features a zipper that wraps around the front and back so women can pee without having to pull pants down. It won an Outdoor Retailer Innovation Award at Winter OR 2022.
SheFly Apparel: SheFly Go There Pant
When it becomes available: Pre-order available now for late Spring 2022
MSRP: $168
Almost everyone, particularly women who saw these pants, said: ‘It’s about time!’ The She-Fly Go There Pant, which won an award at the Outdoor Retailer Innovation Awards, features a patented, well-hidden zipper below the pant’s traditional first fly that extends around the crotch to the back of the pant. This zipper allows women to pee comfortably in the woods without having to pull their pants down, thus permitting more discretion. We also appreciate their dedication to a generous size offering (00-22) at launch, as well as offering the pants in a wide range of colors. It’s truly a revolutionary product incubated at ICELab in Gunnison, CO, that we’re looking forward to seeing fly off the shelves this spring.
The SnowStrip is foam-covered magnetic device that protects the paint on your vehicle from upright skis and other snow sports equipment.
RigStrips: SnoStrip Magnetic
When it is available: Available now on their website.
Approximate MSRP: $49.95
Sometimes brands come up with practical, simple solutions. That’s the case with the SnoStrip.
This device protects the paint on your ‘travelmobile’ from the sharp edges of skis, snowboards, and other snowsports equipment.
They can also keep fishing poles, paddles, and other gear upright while you’re packing or unpacking for an adventure.
The device sticks to the steel on your vehicle thanks to neodymium magnets covered by foam, protecting the vehicle’s surface.
RigStrips says the magnets are strong enough to stay on the vehicle while driving at highway speeds-in case you’re trying to get to that apres spot in a jiff and forget to take the strip off.
While the SnoStrip was a big draw for an outdoor Snow Show, they also offer a SunStrip designed for summer sports like mountain biking.
Related: The Best Beginner Skis
The Norda Run: 001 are among the lightest weight running shoes we’ve seen because they’re made of a Dyneema upper.
norda run: 001
When it becomes available: Available now
MSRP: $277.97
Weight: 8.71 oz for a pair (that’s 4.35 oz per shoe!)
Inexpensive these are not, but interesting they are—we’re not trying to sound like Yoda here, but Norda says it’s developed the first seamless trail running shoe with a bio-based Dyneema upper. In hand, they were incredibly light-Norda claims a men’s size 8.5 weighs 8.71 ounces.
The Norda Run also feature Vibram midsoles and Megagrip rubber with an aggressive tread pattern and rubber spikes. Designed in Canada, they also offer this shoe with integrated metal spikes for running in the snow and ice. We’re looking forward to seeing how they perform on long trail days and alpine runs.
The Icebreaker Shell + Hooded jacket look like they’re made of polyester and nylon (typical shell material) but are actually made of merino wool! Icebreaker won an Innovation Award at Outdoor Retailer Winter Market 2022 for this sustainable design.
icebreaker: Shell+Hooded Jacket
When it becomes available: Available October 2022
MSRP: $750 for jacket; Pants: $550
This one has us scratching our heads, but not because we’re itchy.
Icebreaker, the renowned base layer company in our Best Baselayers guide, has developed a 100 percent merino woven shell.
It looks like a shell made out of nylon or polyester. But it is made out of wool.
The merino shell has a bio-based DWR finish that makes it highly wind-resistant and resistant to light rain. It allows adventurers to have a complete skin-to-shell, merino layering system for their adventures. For these advances, icebreaker received an OR Innovation Award.
Read More: The Best Men’s Ski Jackets and The Best Women’s Ski Jackets
Related: Eco-friendly Gear Swaps to Reduce Your Environmental Footprint
The Pact Outdoors Pact Kit uses mycelium pellets and a biodegradable wipe to break down human waste quickly while going to the bathroom in the woods.
Pact Outdoors: Pact Kit ($50.00, 11.6 oz.)
When it becomes available: Available now at Moosejaw
MSRP: $50
Weight: 11.6 oz (Weight includes carry case. You can break into smaller parts to make an ultralight kit)
We swear, neither we, ICElab, nor OR’s Innovation Awards are all about going to the bathroom the woods, but it happens. The Pact Outdoors Pact Kit is perhaps the most innovative s*@t kit we’ve seen--like, ever. Like SheFly, Pact was part of the ICELab incubator and won an Outdoor Retailer Innovation Award. Here’s what makes this the s#%t!
It features pelletized wipes that open up with a few drops of water into a super soft wipe and mycelium pellets that are designed to break human waste down extremely fast-meaning you don’t have to feel guilty about not carrying your doody out.
Together, a pack of 10 wipes and about 30 mycelium pellets weighs about 1.2 oz. That and the shovel design is lightweight (1.2 oz.), sturdy, and shows you when you’ve reached the 6” threshold for digging a cat hole. The company describes this as an entry kit but already has plans to make a much more streamlined ultralight kit for backpackers. You can already buy the kit from them and Moosejaw.
The sleek and sturdy design of the Vol-Can-O allows rafters to have a safe and fully-contained campfire even when fire restrictions are in place. It’s booth at Outdoor Retailer Winter 2022 shows how it folds down to a boat-friendly size.
LavaBox Tabletop Vol-CAN-o
When it becomes available: Available now
MSRP: $195
The LavaBox Tabletop Vol-CAN-o, aka fire in a can, is a better, safer and cleaner way to have a campfire. This is particularly relevant as places in the West face drought and come under more stringent fire restrictions. The LavaBox was designed by raft guides to survive being thrashed in rapids all day, hence the hefty construction out of an ammo can. Yet it provides warmth, light, and the perfect place to roast marshmallows at night. Patented and currently powered by propane, the LavaBox passes most National Forest fire restrictions, meaning you can still use it during fire season, even when campfires are banned (of course, check your local forest ranger for details). Bonus, the LavaBox works great as a backyard campfire as well, without all the smoke ash.
More sustainable camping fuels and lubricants
We wanted to highlight companies taking innovative approaches to camp fuel and lubrication for adventure gear, as this part of our use is almost exclusively still fossil fuel-based.
We saw two companies trying to make camping fuels more sustainable and thought both were worthy of attention.
The Little Kamper propane bottle exchange program won an Outdoor Retailer Winter Market 2022 Innovation Award for its sustainable design.
Little Kamper
When it becomes available: Available now in limited areas in the Northeast
MSRP: $21.99 per initial bottle and $11.99 for a refill with exchanged bottle
Little Kamper won an OR Innovation Award for their propane bottle exchange program. The program uses a patented brass valve, allowing its 1 pound propane tanks to be refilled like those used for car camping stoves and lights. Thus, the program helps reduce the millions of such bottles tossed in the trash each year. Often, the tossed tanks aren’t fully depleted, leading to propane contamination at landfills. At $21.99 for the initial and $11.99 for an exchanged bottle, they are more expensive than a disposable bottle. Still, it’s a much more sustainable option that helps reduce hazardous materials in landfills.
Foothill Fuels Bio-White Gas
When it becomes available: Available now in limited areas in the Northeast including L.L. Bean stores and Outdoor Gear Exchange stores
MSRP: Not available for shipping. Check local stores for prices.
Like biodiesel, Foothill Fuels Bio-White Gas is a white gas for camping is produced by refining spent vegetable and agricultural waste oil from restaurants and farms. The company claims its white gas replacement has an even higher energy density than regular white gas. It won an Editor’s Choice Award from Backpacker in November 2021.
However, the gas is still only produced in small batches and available only in a few stores in the Northeast. We’re hoping more places will produce and sell it soon.
gear hugger Plant-Based multipurpose Lubricant
When it becomes available: Available now on Gear Hugger's website and at Amazon
MSRP: $12.89 per 11 oz can
There haven’t been many non-fossil-based lubricants for adventure gear until recently. Last summer, mountainFLOW introduced the first line of plant-based, biodegradable bike lube and maintenance products that we’ve seen. So far, we love it.
At the Outdoor Retailer Winter Market, Gear Hugger introduced the first plant-based all-purpose lubricant that we’ve seen. The $12.89 can of Gear Hugger Multipurpose Lubricant looks a lot like the famous blue and yellow can your parents and grandparents have used, but it promises a cleaner glide and slide. We’ve already used it for a couple of purposes around the house but are looking forward to testing it in more situations.
Other Products Worth checking out
We had to choose favorites, but want to share a few other things that caught our eyes:
ORTOVOX - DIRACT VOICE
The Ortovox Diract Voice is an avalanche beacon that uses voice directions to guide users in an avalanche. This is an interesting next step in innovations in avalanche rescue gear.
Kathmandu - NXT-Level Bio Down Jacket
Kathmandu claims this is a fully, 100% biodegradable jacket. We’ll have to do more research, but are intrigued.
Arva’s Switch avalanche packs
Arva’s new Switch Avalanche Packs are kind of like Black Diamond’s Jet Force pack system that we like in our Best Ski Packs guide. They allow users to use the same avalanche bag with multiple zip-on packs. We’re interested in learning more about these bags.
We're looking forward to following up with these brands when these items are released. Until then, we're looking forward to the Outdoor Retailer Summer Market in June 2022.
