There’s a little something for everybody in this week’s gear roundup — and most of them arrive in twos. That includes a bike and bike lights for cyclists, kayak gear and slip-ons for anglers, new watch band styles for smartwatch lovers, and trail running gear for both men and women.
Add a beautiful folding knife and a strange-but-interesting electric cooler backpack, and you’ve got the recipe for an extra-fun week of new gear from brands big and small. Find all that in the week’s Emerging Gear.
Vintage BMX Comeback
If Netflix’s Stranger Things proved anything, it’s that the 1980s are still ripe for nostalgia. In that show, the “suburban kids on bikes” trope was potent partially because it nailed the aesthetic — including the banana seats, high handlebars, and bright colors associated with bikes at the time from Huffy, Mongoose, and Schwinn.
Huffy is leaning into that nostalgia by bringing back a 1980s lineup: the Pro Lightning BMX Series. These resurrected bike models aim for younger, or “up-and-coming” BMX racers. They come in three sizes: Junior, Expert, and Pro. All models have a lightweight 6061 aluminum frame, mechanical disc brakes with 140mm rotors, a Euro bottom bracket, three-piece cranks, and steel handlebars. The Junior and Expert models use an integrated headset, while the Pro model features a 1-1/8” to 1.5” tapered headset.
At $400, they’re an affordable way to get your kid outside on a bike — maybe they’ll even find some aliens in the neighborhood.
Portable Fridge Backpack
I’ve tried backpack coolers and electric coolers — but never an electric backpack cooler. I would imagine it’s just a matter of adding backpack straps to a vertical-oriented electric cooler, but the ICECO GoPack12 has a few other features.
This “ice-free,” battery-powered portable freezer has been shaped into a backpack with a 12.7-quart capacity. There’s temp control from 21°F to 50°F, and it plugs into 12V vehicle ports — though it also comes with a removable magnetic battery for “off-grid power.”
It’s not too big (dimensions are 15.0″ width × 20.0″ height × 9.4″ depth) and has three different backpack carry configurations. It’s also not too cheap, though the ICECO GoPack12 is currently on sale until August 19 for 15%, or $425.
Graphene Watch Band
There are plenty of brands that now claim to offer sturdy outdoor gear that avoids the “forever chemicals” known as PFAS. But this is the first watch band I’ve seen that’s explicitly designed to avoid the problem.
The Kickstarter for Lattice sells graphene-nylon watch bands with Grade 2 titanium hardware. A prominent feature of this campaign is that the bands are made without PFAS. It refers to a 2024 University of Notre Dame study that found many smartwatch bands contained PFAS chemicals, so Lattice is for those looking for alternatives. The campaign had already reached nearly $30,000 by Wednesday afternoon — far past its needed funding goal.
You can get the Lattice NATO 20 Titanium for traditional 20mm watches or the Lattice Apple Watch Buckle Titanium. If the campaign reaches $40,000, the brand will also make an Apple Watch Fidlock version with a magnetic closure and micro-adjustable fit. The watch band is “designed around long daily wear, sweat and odor management, while the straps are manufactured by Braloba, a Swiss watch strap manufacturer with 50 years of experience,” the Kickstarter says.
Electrify Your Fishing Kayak
Do you like the idea of going electric with your fishing kayak — without buying an entirely new boat? If you own one of Old Town’s PDL kayaks, you’re now able to retrofit it and go electric, thanks to the ePDL+ retroFit kit. This kit drops into the pedal drive console of select Old Town PDL hulls, “no wiring, no hassle,” the brand said.
It gives kayak anglers five speed settings and a fully motorized Cruise Control Mode for “hands-free, pedal-free cruising,” according to Old Town. Each kit ships with a 36V lithium-ion battery that lasts for up to 13.5 hours on the lowest kit setting. The retrofit comes in three configurations for the BigWater, Malibu, and 120/106 hull families of PDL kayaks.
“For pedal kayak owners chasing more range and less fatigue on the water, this is the upgrade they’ve been waiting for,” Old Town said. The kit costs $2,500.
Mount to Coast Trail Runner
The latest trail shoe from the Chinese brand Mount to Coast has garnered high praise from our friends at iRunFar. The new M1 is a trail runner aimed at long distances, used by athletes like Canyon Woodward, who used it for a top-10 finish at the 2026 Western States 100.
The high-cushion, high-stack M1 is similar to the super-popular Hoka Speedgoat. It uses Mount to Coast’s JETCELL material for a comfy midsole, offers a stack height of 38mm in the heel and 34 in the forefoot, and has 4mm lugs. It costs $195.
Trail Running Gear for Women
Raide Research just dropped a small, “female-first toolkit,” with some nifty items.
There’s the Women’s TrailTech Cargo Tank ($130), an integrated bra-and-carry solution that can store up to 900mL of water, a phone, a rain shell, and nutrition. “It eliminates the need to pair a bra, top & vest, reducing bulk and enabling you to run further with less,” the brand said. Two layers of stretch-woven fabric provide support for bounce-free carry, while laser perforation ventilates the top.
For even more storage, you could pair the vest with the Women’s LF 2L Running Belt ($150). The brand’s first women’s-specific running belt, the W LF 2L, offers the same carry capacity and structure as its LF 2L, but with “an increased taper between the top and bottom hems to better accommodate a wider range of body types,” the brand said. The belt fully opens so it can be wrapped around the waist and secured for a more precise fit, rather than being pulled over the hips. A 650mL HydraPak flask with a locking cap is included with every belt.
Beautiful Folding Knife
The various knives from New West Knifeworks in Jackson, Wyo., make for great gifts, as GearJunkie noted in 2023. The brand’s cooking and hunting knives aren’t just highly functional — they’re also gorgeously designed and frequently colorful.
The Glory Folder 2.0 is no exception. It sports a new button lock mechanism for the brand, a titanium frame, CPM MagnaCut steel with a stonewashed finish, a deep-carry pocket clip, and in-house machining.
“It is the ideal knife for outdoorsmen, hunters, and EDC enthusiasts who take their gear seriously but not themselves,” the brand said.
XTRATUF Slip-Ons
XTRATUF Boots are “more than just boots” for Hunt/Fish Editor Rachelle Schrute. Now the brand is bringing its comfortable, waterproof footwear formula to slip-ons.
Its new XTRATUF Legacy Mules are a slip-on version of this staple of the Alaskan fishing industry. The brand said it offers the protection and “all-day comfort” of XTRATUF’s Legacy Boot, with increased versatility for the rest of your day outside of work.
They’re 100% waterproof and have a non-marking, slip-resistant Chevron Outsole, as well as “Oil/ Acid/ Chemical resistant triple dipped latex neoprene rubber.” They also sport a foam insert. The brand recommends a half size higher than your usual size.
Extra-Bright Bike Lights
The English brand Exposure Lights makes sleek lighting gear for cyclists. The brand just released newer, brighter versions of its Trace lights.
The new Trace 4s have higher outputs, with front lights improving to 360 lumens from 125, and rear lights pumping out 200 lumens instead of 120. The lights have also reached 40 hours of runtime, the brand said. They have 90-minute USB-C charging, and an upgraded IP67 rating — all while still weighing just 35g. There’s the Trace 4 front light for $75, Trace 4 rear light for $75, and TraceR 4 REAKT ($102), which adds Reakt and Peloton technology.
New Coros Watch Colors
I’m an on-the-record fan of Coros smartwatches. I truly think both the Pace 4 and Apex 4 are hard to beat. And now the brand is also catching up to Apple and Garmin in the colors department. Coros just debuted two bright new shades to its Pace 4 color options: Ultraviolet and Neon Yellow. They cost the same price ($280) as the existing black/white models, but come in striking colors.
