A peek at emerging products, culled from crowd-source sites like Kickstarter, PR campaigns, and industry scoops on the sometimes cutting-edge, sometimes quirky world of gear design.
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On-Bike Dashboard
COBI is a handlebar-mount system/app combo product that uses your smartphone to display playlists, turn-by-turn navigation, weather reports, and fitness metrics (compatible with Strava). It’s all navigated with a thumb controller. Optional headlight and taillight with turn signals are available for added safety. Starts at $249.
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Headlamp Pro Kit
Released last year, the XEO headlamp from Led Lenser puts out an astonishing 2000 lumens of brightness. The news this week is the company has a new “kit” for the flagship blazer (the XEO 19R Accessory Pack; $330, available later this month), which includes adaptor cables, extension cord, a neoprene battery box, bike mount, GoPro mounting bracket, tripod mounting bracket, and more.
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Shovel Multi-Tool
CRKT takes a nice swing at the rugged shovel with its Trencher. The burly 27-inch tool has three configurations for digging and picking, and it includes a wood saw on the head and a wire cutter in the handle. It sells for $100.
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Oakley ’80s Redux
The Oakley Green Fade Collection includes 100,000 pairs of sunglasses, each hand-painted at Oakley’s Foothill Ranch headquarters. Styles including EVZero, Radar EV Path, Flak 2.0 XL, and the RadarLock Path are in the stock, each adorned with the “iconic green” color featured on Oakley’s first performance products of the 1980s.
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Hydrophilic Cooling Shirt
Polartec Delta is a new kind of fabric that was “inspired by a car radiator,” Polartec states. It uses a matrix of hydrophilic yarns that stay slightly damp and help cool a wearer down in hot weather. The fabric will be seen on apparel from Outdoor Research (pictured), Kitsbow, and other brands in 2016 and 2017 lines.
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New Kind Of Kayak ‘Pedal’ Drive
Pay no attention to that shark. The real news is the Hobie MirageDrive 180, those fins below the boat, which now produce power in both directions – forward and back. Shift cables direct propulsion 180 degrees, letting a boater go instantly from forward to reverse. The updated propulsion system will be integrated into all 2017 model-year Mirage kayaks from the brand, shipping this fall.
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Slimmer Suunto Watch
In a form factor as small as a watch, every gram and millimeter counts. With its new Spartan Sport GPS watch line, Suunto has cut 1.62mm and 10g off its popular Ambit3 Sport, reducing its thickness to 13.88mm and its weight to 70 grams.
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Neo-Hikers
Forsake launches a new Women’s Line for this fall, including the pictured Scrunch boot ($140; available soon from Forsake), which has a leather upper, waterproof/breathable membrane, an elastic slip-on collar, and insulation, all packaged in a funky design wearable in the city or the woods.
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Rocky Runner
Breathable mesh and neoprene comprise the upper of this outdoor shoe, the Rocky S2V Trail Runner. At $89.99, the company aims at a mid-tier market looking for quick-lacing, a Vibram outsole, an Ortholite footbed, and other features that often come only from the top-shelf.
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Cargo Convert-a-Bike
The LIFT turns a normal bike into a hauler cargo model with a module that attaches to the front fork of almost any bike. Take it easily off and on, the LIFT ($899) is about the size and shape of a small wheelbarrow and can carry groceries, pets, even small kids.
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Canvas Pants For Outdoors
Made in the USA, and based off a classic double-knee “chore pant” design, Patrol USA touts durability and range of motion with its new pant line. They are made of 12.5 oz cotton canvas with 2 percent spandex thread for comfort and stretch.
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Turn-Key, Inexpensive Video Editing
Upload raw video files to the ProEditors website, highlight the clips you want to keep, and in about three days the company will send you a pro-looking edit, set to music and ready for sharing online. The company leans on in-house staff and “crowd-sourced video editors” to deliver touted “low-cost, high-quality video.” $100 for an edit.
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Teva Arrowood Launch
“Bridging a gap between [the comfort of] sandals and a casual boot.” — that’s how Teva markets its just-released Arrowood line of shoes and boots. They come in men’s and women’s styles and start at $120.
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MacroBoom Portable Speaker
The Roamproof MacroBooom ($169) elbows its way into the clogged portable speaker market with promises of “ultra-durability.” The 7-inch-long, solar power-capable, stainless steel speaker is weather- and dust-proof, it floats, plays music underwater, and, according to its creators, “has survived helicopter drops from 10,000 feet.”
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