Curious Inventions and Innovation at Outdoor Retailer Demo Day

Dozens of brands got a head start showcasing products at the Outdoor Retailer Open Air Demo on Tuesday at Pineview Reservoir in Utah. The early-bird event provides the chance to test out some products in the great outdoors.

We snooped around and found some neat new products while enjoying the summer sunshine before heading into the Salt Palace for three days of gear mayhem. These new or soon-to-be-released products caught our eye. —Sean McCoy

View phone data through a watch — When it’s released in the fall, the Magellan Echo will connect wirelessly to smartphones to control exercise and GPS app functions. It will display details like lap duration, speed and pace, and control music. The Echo will retail for $149.

Easy-inflate air mattress — The Windcatcher Air Pad blows up crazy easy, like with five deep breaths, thanks to the physical principle of entrainment. Just suck in and blow your breath into the large, cone-like opening like you’re blowing out a birthday cake and BOOM it’s full. (We tried it and were impressed.) The mattress weighs in at 30 ounces but provides minimal insulation (thus being mainly for summer use). It hits the market in October for $119.

Safe emergency knife — The Eezy Cut Trilobite has been a popular emergency line-cutting device among cave divers for a couple years, but it is brand new to many in the outdoor industry. The American-made tool features two razor-sharp cutting edges nestled behind a protective barrie. It sits unnoticed on your hip until needed. Then it cuts through rope like a breeze. Retails for $24.95.

Future repair putty — Sugru comes out of the package like Play-Doh. But in 12 hours it is a pliable-but-stiff rubber. Stick it on most anything, from torn shoes to leaky canoes to, well, most anything that needs bonding, waterproofness and flexibility. Safe from 350 degrees to -50, it costs $18 for a package. Prime colors of the putty can be mixed to match any color on the rainbow.

Double vision camera — The Oregon Scientific ATC Chameleon is two cameras in one. One lens faces forward, the other back, and the two resulting 720p videos are rendered side-by-side to give the viewer double the video action.

The camera is simple, with just a basic on-switch to begin recording, but limited to only one video setting. It retails for $199.

—Sean McCoy is a contributing editor.