Hire Me. Or Buy My Copy.
August 24, 2010
I bet you thought you’d be buying gear here, yes? Alas, I am not selling gear. Well, I am, through affiliates here and there (click on links in reviews), but mostly I’m selling the writing that you read here.
If you are a manufacturer or represent a manufacturer, and you like what I’ve written and want to use it in print media, catalogs, or other such in-entirety-or-significant-portion-thereof productions, you will be happy to know that you can buy permission to utilize my copy. Of course, what is already here is free for the reading and for the linking. It is my little service to you. But if you want to use larger portions of my writing, I am afraid you must pay. You can also hire me to create new copy for you. The world is your oyster! Or at least, there are a lot of possibilities for you here. Why waste time writing blurbs for a catalog when I can do it for you? Believe me, I have plenty of sassy one-liners stored up in my brain’s RAM.
You might also be interested in my travel writing talents, adventure documentation stories, general editorial, and/or photos. I mostly write for fun or to fulfill some sort of existing interest that I already have; travel and gear being pretty prominent on the list. But I can be persuaded to write for profit. I’m a jill-of-all-trades (ha!) freelancer who is just dying to be sent on assignment. Not that being on assignment is a new thing for me; it’s just that I usually send myself which is not quite as romantic. So please, contact me with your story idea, assignment, or copy-purchasing proposal. You can reach me at jill@geargals.net or just leave a comment here – no matter what happens, stay alive! I will find you!
I’m Not A Roadie
August 24, 2010
Yesterday I rode my longest-ever road bike ride, 44 miles. That’s not the longest I’ve ever ridden a bike in one shot; I’ve ridden a mountain bike longer than that – much longer. But on a road bike you can do 44 miles in two hours; that’s hard (impossible, almost?) to do on a mountain bike. On a road bike you can get serious mileage in the time it takes to drive to the gym and lift/treadmill/sauna, and burn way more calories to boot. So I saddled up and attempted my longest ride ever, and it wasn’t even that hard.
I don’t even like road biking that much. I just do it for the fitness benefits, which are considerable and overshadow the negatives, which are: my road bike is uncomfortable and I get scared by traffic (thanks, 18-wheeler that felt the need to pass me with literally six inches between the side of your trailer and my handlebars! And a special shout-out to you, Sudden Valley-living, Land-Rover-driving blonde woman whose late afternoon errand was so urgent that you had to run a stop sign and make me brake hard to avoid, well, dying), and I can think of other fitness-based activities that are more fun. But the benefits of two hard hours on the road bike cannot be denied. So I do it.
But here’s the thing. I rode 44 miles in just a couple of hours, that is a lot of miles to my MTB-oriented senses. Prior to yesterday, my best was 25 road miles. This was a big jump and it wasn’t as bad as I thought. But I won’t be satisfied with that, now, no: I am going to have to do 50 miles the next time. And 50 more after that. Seventy-five at some point. And not too long after that, break the 100 mile barrier. IN ONE GO. You sick road biking freaks! Look what you have done to me. I was solidly a mountain biker but now that I am effortlessly ten pounds lighter with a blast-furnace metabolism, I can’t possibly stop doing this. And I have to do more, and more, and more as time goes on! Where will I find the time to ride 100 miles in one day? I have things to do, you know!
So this is just a dramatic way for me to brag that I rode 44 miles in two hours on my first try.
Thoughts on OR. The good.
August 16, 2010
I didn’t intend on separating bad from good, but that’s the nature of the creative process, isn’t it? I did see a lot of great stuff at OR. That one bad experience (click here) just needed to be dealt with separately.
Mostly I was very happy with how much women’s gear has improved in the few years I’ve been involved in the industry. Everywhere I looked I saw great women’s specific product, particularly from the established companies and manufacturers. New companies that weren’t making ONLY women’s product tended to be a bit behind the curve, still, but they’re working on that Euro method of dumping the men’s product out, seeing if it does OK, THEN making a women’s version. I personally think they could be missing out on some serious money making by not putting out good women’s versions from the get-go, but it’s their bottom line so let them do it their way.
Women’s packs have taken big strides, with Gregory and Mammut‘s offerings taking top honors from me. I’m keen to give those packs a try so look for them in the lineup soon. I was happy to see that the too-big Petzl ELIA sample helmet I had been testing was just a goofed-up prototype and the real ELIA fits just fine. SCARPA gets a big thumbs-up for jettisoning the hackneyed Diva name from their ski boot line and coming up with the Shaka and Gea as well. I’ve never been disappointed with a pair of SCARPA ski boots so I’m excited to see what the new versions have to offer. Ortovox was a lot of fun to meet with and seem to be very keen on improving the women’s line, though their current women’s packs are already in the front of the line in my gear room. All of my wheel-squeaking paid off with RAB, which has finally released the women’s version of the Alpine Trek Pants. I was so excited about the pants that I absconded with them to the changing room to try them on, and they fit and look great so I’m stoked to get my hands on a pair to try in the real world. Because no, the RAB fitting room at OR is not the real world.
Footwear companies seem to be catching on to the fact that women have feet, too, with Tecnica and La Sportiva presenting an impressive array of women’s specific footwear. As you all know I am convinced that La Sportiva can do no wrong, but I’ve never tried Tecnica and I have to love their blatant casting aside of the minimalist trend as they bring forward some maximalist running shoes. Again, real world experience is needed so just stay tuned.
Skirt Sports and Isis were outstanding with their women’s apparel as usual, and I was impressed by my first meeting ever with Carve Designs, a company making surf and swimwear as well as beach lifestyle apparel exclusively for women. I love the photography in their catalog and on their web site, which portrays women as surfers and athletes, not just “models”.
Buff stole my idea for cutting Buffs in half to make them fit better under a helmet, but then they gave me two more Buffs so I forgive them. They also plan to make more of their Buffs with insect shield, which really really works. That too was my idea but if they give me another insect shield Buff I will forgive them for that too. Buff can really get away with a lot because I love Buffs. I can be bought with Buffs, yes – but only by Buff itself. The rest of you have to come up with something else.
At this point I was tired but the new watermelon flavored Chomps from Gu gave me a little pick-me-up. That was pretty much the sum total of my lunch that day so the fact that I’m not lying on the show floor dead of hunger is probably a good endorsement for Gu.
Lafuma and Millet were brand new to me but I was really impressed by their stuff. I currently have a Millet pack to test but I liked the clothing as well so hopefully I’ll have some details for you on their stuff later. Mountain Hardwear, a perennial favorite, was fantastic as usual and it was great to see the familiar faces again after spending a few days with them testing packs last year. I made fantastic new friends at the Columbia booth and was happy to see that my feedback on the Ravenous running shoe had been heard loud and clear and that another, stiffer version of the Ravenous is coming to the market.
I got some SUPER EXCITING news for women from Patagonia, but I can’t tell you what it is because they specifically asked me not to tell. If you are familiar with the Patagonia line and you can think of a great product that is currently not available in a women’s version, you will be very, very happy when this news becomes public.
My visit to the Icebreaker booth was just a drop by but the very personable and entertaining Nick won me over by filling my swag bag with socks and a dress. A dress! I love dresses ergo I love Icebreaker. I have used the socks already and can tell you now that Icebreaker makes great socks. I was really digging on their line of cycling apparel and their general vibe and great product. I had a fun time at the Polarmax booth with Don Watkins checking out the base layers and the new undies with “Scent Prevent”. I warned Don ahead of time that I was going to have some fun with that one and I think he may have blushed a bit.
Mountain Khakis has some great new stuff and were good fun to visit as always. I hope all you media types took advantage of their great pre-order offer which benefited the Conservation Alliance as well as whoever bought Mountain Khaki pants for that cheap. Even if you didn’t, MK is fantastic and even the full price pants are a good buy.
Dog gear was out on full force as well. Every year it just gets better and better. I guess I have to disclose that my dog is a sponsored D-Fa athlete so we get to try all of their great stuff. D for dogs, said with a New Zealand accent, D-Fa, get it? This year we got a new D-Fa DFD dog PFD to keep the furry little guy safe in the water, and a danger orange reflective Moon Walker raincoat to keep him safe on the dark, rainy streets of Vancouver. He’s really looking forward to using his Puff Doggy coat this winter in the cold weather, and he just generally likes going to D-Fa because the folks there are so great to hang out with. He always gets a full session of belly rubs and head scratches, and probably more ego-boosting comments about how gorgeous he is than he really should get. Don’t want him to get a big head or anything.
Geardog kept his strength up with new treats from Zukes and PeakWaggers. I usually don’t give him any treats because he is highly allergic to many dog foods and treats. However, I felt bad for him having to hike the show floor so much, so I let him have tons of treats and he didn’t have a reaction to any of them. He was INSANE for the Zuke’s treats at the Verde PR media event, and was always happy to go to the Bark Park where a basket of Peak Waggers waited to give his blood sugar a boost.
He and I were also highly impressed by Ruff Wear which has a GREAT new product on the market; winter booties for dogs that have built-in gaiters as well as protection from cuts from ski edges. Geardog even got a new Lunker toy which he was VERY happy with, and got to rest for a while on the new Highlands bed which he liked very much. Usually we go for the winter stuff to keep him warm during his avalanche duties, but in Salt Lake City we would have been happy to try the Swamp Cooler cooling jacket too.
Whew! What a wrap up! That’s really only about half of what we saw. Tons of good stuff this year, a great vibe, and all around a great show. Look for details on the new products in the reviews section over the next few months, and let me know if there is anything I missed, because the show is just so big that I’m sure I missed a lot.
Thoughts on OR. The bad.
August 16, 2010
“Thoughts on OR” great title, eh? I’ve done two trade shows/industry events in the last two weeks on top of researching three separate articles and my creativity is circling the drain, so that’s the title I came up with. But I do have some thoughts on OR that I want to get in print, so here goes.
This is Monday of the Big To-Do List so I’m just going to cut to the chase. My first thought is that I was beyond disappointed to see women in thongs with their asses hanging out at a booth in the show, promoting “technical lingerie” or something like that. When I walked by I was on my way to an appointment so I didn’t have much time to react, but I sure wish I’d had taken a minute to stop by and tell the booth minders what I thought of their attention getting technique. I didn’t, though, so I’ll tell you. I think it is really disrespectful and inappropriate. People like me and countless others have worked hard to build respect for women into the industry and along comes a bunch of dumbasses (pun intended?) who think that OR is equivalent to some sort of car show and that mostly-nude “spokesmodels” are the way to go. I got out of the fitness industry because there is no role for women other than as sex objects there. I see this type of thing in the bike industry as well and that is why I don’t go to Interbike very often. I have no problem with the human body, really I don’t. But I do have a problem with objectifying women in order to garner attention at a trade show, and shame on OR for allowing it to happen. What’s next, “technical breast implants?”
I’ve taken other well-known industry powerhouses to task behind the scenes for making objectifying comments on their blogs (such as the “woo hoo, trade show, free beer and hot women!” type of thing) so this type of thing is nothing terribly new in the industry, but I’ve been in a glowing bubble of denial, thinking that the industry has taken great steps in the last few years alone to improve its treatment of women. Yes, I know that half the schmucks walking the trade show floor and manning the booths have nothing better to do than blatantly ogle the women walking by (I know this because my male writers and photographers tell me about it when we go to the show) which I find to be just kind of pathetic on a personal level, but I really had thought the outdoor industry was getting past this kind of thing. The ski industry and bike industry are still crawling out of the ocean on this one, so to speak, but the outdoor industry as a whole seemed to be improving. This booth was a huge step backwards, or maybe it was just blatant confirmation that I’m wrong about the industry’s personal growth. Yes, I am talking about you, company at OR whose name I was not able to suss out, I am offended by your marketing techniques. I am a woman, a human being, not a mannequin or a piece of eye candy for you to utilize as an attention getter, and neither are the women you dressed up in thongs to parade their bare butts around a professional industry event. Perhaps they don’t know that yet so they went along with it, but I do, so I’m speaking up to tell you that you should take it to the adult industry, not the outdoor industry. And OR – how about I not have to see that type of thing at the next show, OK?
Mountain Hardwear Nalu Pack
August 16, 2010
I got to try this pack on a Mountain Hardwear-sponsored hiking trip for a group of us media types. We each got to try a pack from the 2009 line, and since our hike was to take us softies to 10,000 feet, there was a bit of a skirmish for the smaller packs. I lost that battle, but ended up winning in the end because I got to try out the Nalu, which is one of the best-fitting women’s packs I’ve worn. Admittedly I was too much of a sea-level dweller to actually put a lot of weight in the pack for a hike at altitude, but I was impressed with how well the pack fit so I wore it despite it being nearly empty.
The simple hook closure makes fooling with your stuff quick and easy, so sandbaggers might be disappointed with how little time they can waste fiddling with pack closures. As a matter of fact the lack of insane straps all over the damn place makes this pack streamlined and functional, and you don’t feel like a total noob with pack straps flapping everywhere. We’ve all had that experience with a pack, trying to figure out what goes where and how to stash the strap ends somewhere, and why in hell doesn’t this clip fit into this other clip exactly opposite from it, and who needs to strap that much stuff onto their pack anyway? No, the Nalu is designed for things to be carried IN it, not ON it, which is my preference anyway.
My only issue with the pack was that the lumbar pad was made from a non-breathable fabric and therefore led to some serious under-pack sweat issues in that area. The MHW pack designer said that the nonbreathable panel was there for strength and structure in the pack, and that had I bothered to wear proper (technical) clothing fabrics on the hike I may not have had that problem. Still, he agreed to think it over and maybe make some changes to the design in future. If I weren’t from Alaska and dealing with temperatures that day that before I’ve only experienced in the tanning bed or on the beach in Mexico, it probably really wouldn’t have been a problem, and I wouldn’t hesitate to wear the pack again in a climate I’m more used to.
It was able to compress down pretty well, for a gigantic pack carrying only a banana and some water, and I really didn’t have any issues with the fit even with the light load. Despite my begging, I wasn’t able to take the pack home to load it up in an oxygen-rich environment to test it further, but honestly if I needed to carry a big load, I would reach for the Nalu because of how well it fits. It makes a big difference when carrying a load to have it sit on your back properly, and MHW has done an exceptional job engineering this piece to fit a woman’s body.
