While at Outdoor Retailer, I always like to reserve some time away from appointments with the big brands and just peruse the booths for different, interesting, or just downright weird new products. Here’s a smattering of what caught my eye.
BRIPE COFFEE BREW PIPE
The Bripe is a pipe that you brew a single serving of coffee in. Seeing this at work on the show floor, I thought the guy doing the demonstration was smoking drugs. There he was, with a large copper pipe in his hand. In the other hand, was a blue-flame torch that he was using to heat up the bottom of the pipe. When done, he let the liquid contents cool down, then proceeded to drink his coffee through the pipe.
As a coffee lover, I was very intrigued by this. The possibilities of being able to drink coffee wherever, whenever was mind-blowing. And it would be space cowboy coffee, no less.
I got to take a Bripe home with me, so look for the review soon. Until then, check them out at briping.com
LAST BOTTLE CLOTHING
Sure, I’ve seen T-shirts made from recycled plastic bottles before, but they’ve always had that polyester, “plasticey” sort of feeling against the skin. So I was impressed when I came across Last Bottle Clothing. They make shirts with 100% plastic bottles, but the fabric is soft… even softer than cotton. They say each shirt removes 13 bottles from the waste stream, and they are made through a closed-loop process, meaning when you wear out your shirt, it can again be recycled into another shirt.
Last Bottle Clothing may be the most sustainable clothing line in history… and their graphic designs on the shirts are pretty rad too. You can find them at lastbottleclothing.com
AFTERSHOKZ
I stumbled across these guys in the Pavilions and did a double take. Headphone that you don’t wear in your ears? How does that work? I tried one on and.. whoa. Aftershokz delivers music to your ears through bone conduction technology. You place the unit on your cheekbones, and the music essentially… how do I describe the experience… it goes vibrates through your skull so you hear the music in your head.
The advantage is that you can still hear what’s going on around you while listening to music. I had a conversation with the man at the booth when wearing these headphones and never missed a word, all while clearly hearing the music. I see Aftershokz being huge for runners in the city who need traffic awareness, and RAGNAR runners who are required to wear “speakers” instead of headphones. See them for yourself at aftershokz.com
ROVR
The Rovr Rollr is the ultimate cooler. The company describes it as “an all-terrain attacking, gear-hauling, beast of burden that can go anywhere you can. The cooler is roto-molded and claims up to 10 days of ice retention. Plus, it comes with several features for storage and organization like a dry-storage bin, meat tray, and a wagon bin. The latter is a collapsible bin that attaches to the top of the cooler for hauling gear. But with beefy wheels and even a bike-trailer arm, you can ride your beer and sundries to any party or barbecue around town. This baby would be perfect for concerts at Red Butte Gardens.
Purchase the Rollr 80 and Rollr 60 at rovrproducts.com
TREADBANDS
Treadbands look like they just make headbands, right? Look again. These ladies put a little something extra in there – a non-slip, tread grip strip (say that fast ten times.) This strip keeps the headband securely on your forehead, so it won’t ever slip, even when you work up a sweat. I saw a demonstration where a girl wearing one came down a water slide and submerged into a pool. Her headband didn’t move an inch.
You can purchase your own Treadband in a variety of colors and styles at treadbands.com