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Outside’s gear team is in Denver at the Outdoor Retailer trade show this week, scouring the booths for lust-worthy products for next fall and winter. Here’s what caught our attention on day one.
Most of the Outside staff owns at least one pair of Duer jeans. Some of us have had them for years, while others are just coming into their first pair. We’re all particularly excited about the company’s new Weatherproof Denim, which is launching in January and combines a stretchy performance fabric with a waterproof-windproof membrane. Essentially, they look and feel like our favorite jeans but won’t leave us soaking on the rare rainy-day commute to our Santa Fe office.
Thru-hikers have used Altra’s plush, zero-drop Lone Peak running shoes on the trails for years; they provide ample cushioning in a lightweight package that keeps feet happy over long days. Now the brand is creating a dedicated hiking boot. The new Tushar features Altra’s iconic wide toe box with a sturdy, supportive ankle; a polyurethane midsole that’ll hold up after many miles of pounding; and a durable 1,000-denier upper. Look for it in July.
Down jackets are winter staples, given their unparalleled warmth-to-weight ratio. But many of the superlight versions come with paper-thin face fabrics that tear if an errant branch so much as grazes them. Black Diamond has worked out a solution with its Vision parka, wrapping the 800-fill down clusters in a face fabric that has “liquid-crystal polymer” woven in for reinforcement. It’s the same stuff that makes the company’s Vision climbing harness so burly. And yet the jacket still only tips the scales at 1.3 pounds. The result: a down parka with that light weight and warmth we all know and love, in a package that you don’t have to baby. The Vision goes on sale in fall 2019.
Fjällräven’s Kanken pack is iconic, so much so that we named it one of the top five gear items of all time. Its streamlined square design holds just enough for a day in town or on the trail, and a zipper around three sides provides easy access. In 2019, Fjällräven is updating the Kanken line by going vintage. The Vardag 16-liter backpack features the tough waxed-canvas fabric the brand is known for, in a rounded silhouette, with the old company logo–an ode to the brand’s roots.