Salt Lake Metropolis’s Salt Palace was alive and bustling this week as a whole lot of members of manufacturers, retailers, and media gathered for the annual Out of doors Retailer (OR) Summer time 2024 present.
Since OR left Denver in 2021 and returned to Salt Lake, the most important and most recognizable manufacturers — Patagonia, YETI, Marmot, The North Face, and others — have declined to attend the present. That, on the heels of the pandemic, resulted in a notable downturn in attendance and normal hubbub surrounding the present in recent times.
Nevertheless, this yr, OR could have turned a nook. On the Summer time 2024 present, there was recent pleasure, new faces, smaller manufacturers, and much much less speak of “this present ain’t what it was once.”
Because of this, GearJunkie bought face time with many manufacturers, entrepreneurs, and startups which may have in any other case flown below the radar. OR has leaned extra closely into the “discovery present” side as a substitute of the large model exhibition it was once. And you realize what? We’re OK with that. It’s evolution, child!
We stormed the ground over 2 days, bouncing round, geeking out on gear, holding conferences, and GearJunkie’s personal Editor-in-Chief, Adam Ruggiero, even hosted a reside podcast. We noticed tons of fantastic, brand-new merchandise, however solely three of them have been spectacular sufficient to earn GearJunkie’s coveted Finest In Present awards.
Listed here are the winners.
Chamelo ‘Music Defend’
By this level, you’ve in all probability heard of photochromatic sun shades. They mechanically regulate the tint of the lens, getting darker when uncovered to UV mild. If there’s one knock in opposition to the design, it’s that some of us understand a lag when mild circumstances change from solar to shadow.
The Chamelo Music Defend electrochromatic sun shades put the facility to regulate the tint in your arms. By injecting electrical energy via the chromatic lenses, the tint is adjustable by merely working your finger over a slider close to your proper temple.
Not solely do these sun shades permit you to management the tint of your lens, however additionally they work a lot sooner than conventional photochromatic lenses. In keeping with the model, Chamelo lenses change tint in lower than 0.1 seconds — 1,800 occasions sooner than photochromic glasses.
As if that wasn’t cool sufficient, these shades may also hook up with Bluetooth and have small audio system embedded within the arms. So you’ll be able to run, bike, hike, or simply stroll round trying cool and jamming out to your favourite tunes.
The know-how behind the Music Defend sun shades is progressive and distinctive. We haven’t examined a pair past the pleasant confines of Salt Lake Metropolis, so we’re unsure if it’s totally refined for all outside sports activities. However the innovation is cool, and the frames are glossy, enticing, and enjoyable.
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Mr. Heater ‘Gasoline Keg’
Inexperienced propane canisters are far and away the commonest gasoline canisters at any campground you stroll into. However they’re extraordinarily wasteful. Someplace between 40 and 60 million of them are bought to customers yearly, and the overwhelming majority of these find yourself in landfills. Mr. Heater goals to vary that with its Gasoline Keg refillable propane canister system.
The Gasoline Keg Refill Package makes use of a regular 1-pound propane tank that attaches by way of a proprietary connector to a regular 20-pound propane tank. It lets you refill the small canister as many occasions as you need. And sure, there are a variety of security options constructed into the system to mitigate accidents and guarantee ease of use.
Plus, the entire equipment prices about $30.
If it really works as marketed, the Gasoline Keg would provide a secure, easy, and cost-effective different to single-use propane tanks — which, to us, screamed “Finest in Present!” Simply be sure you learn via the intensive refill directions earlier than diving in.
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Chalkless ‘Grip Enhancer’
We will need to have walked by the Chalkless sales space 5 occasions earlier than we stopped to attempt the model’s demo. And after we lastly did, it blew our minds. In contrast to common chalk, this silica silicate grip enhancer removes the oils out of your arms and repels water.
And the impact is dramatic. A drop of water in your arms beads up and rolls round your palm with out leaving a hint of damp. That retains your grip iron-tight and slipless.
We’d love to indicate you a picture of the particular product, but it surely’s principally invisible. The parents on the Chalkless sales space had us take a look at our unchalked grip energy on a tool they’d created that measures torque. We then utilized Chalkless to our arms and tried once more.
Truthfully, we didn’t realize it was there till we rubbed our arms collectively, they usually began to really feel additional dry and cheesy. On the second attempt with the torque sensor, our arms didn’t slide in any respect, and the numbers confirmed that each of our grip strengths had improved by about 50%.
These things could possibly be enormous amongst weightlifters, golfers, law enforcement officials, the navy, ball gamers, and, in fact, rock climbers. Plus, you solely want to use it as soon as for the complete day and leaves no residue. Whenever you’re finished, simply wash your arms with cleaning soap and also you’re good to go.
All in all, it was one of the spectacular product demos we’ve seen in a long time of Out of doors Business commerce reveals. It was a no brainer Finest In Present.
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