The Goat

The Urban Tool hipHolster is sure to come into vogue at about the same time the term “urbaneering” really catches fire. Here’s a chance to be ahead of the curve and become an Urban Tool before the modern fanny pack blows up. The hipHolster is a post-modern pocket protector—it holds your pens, iPod, and cell phone while immediately identifying you as a grade A nimrod.

via engadget

The prospect of buying a new backpack for its eco properties is funny when you consider that most people probably don’t even need new backpacks. Don’t let that bother you though, you can just donate your old backpack to a charitable group and then feel even better about saving the environment. Lafuma makes their Eco 40 Backpack from hemp and recycled polyester, and they give it their Ventilight back system. It’s stylish as backpacks go, and it’s one to hold onto for awhile to boost your bragging rights about saving the environment.

A Nordic skiing music video makes about as much sense as skate jib skis, but the Duluth, MN band Low isn’t afraid to break away from genres. Maybe this means that cross country skiing will be the next hipster mode of transportation when the fixed gear bike dies off.

Low has the distinction of being the absolute weirdest show I’ve even seen. They were playing a show in Salt Lake, and when I arrived I found out that they would only play on the condition that the bar didn’t serve any beer. No one even whispered between songs, and lead singer Alan Sparhawk used it as an opportunity to do a mission calling by bring people up on stage who were leaving for two-year trips as Mormon missionaries. Now I have absolutely no problem with Mormons, but you have to admit it was a bizarre turn for a rock show. I’ve seen the Black Eyed Snakes (one of Sparhawk’s other projects) in Minneapolis a couple times, and they’ve always put on a towering show. I love Low and the Black Eyed Snakes, but I was really disappointed by that one Low Salt Lake show.

via The Cleanest Line

Full face helmets are an easy purchase to rationalize after visiting one of your friends in the hospital who’s going to be eating through a straw after breaking his jaw. The problem with full face helmets is that unless you can jump on a bro deal or wear your dad’s bubble motorcycle helmet from the ‘70s, you’re stuck slinging a lot of cash. The SixSixOne Strike Helmet and the Giro Remedy are among the only full face helmets you can get into for around $100. You can’t touch a Troy Lee for less than $300, and Giro’s Remedy CF sets you back around $270. The less expensive SixSixOne Strike Helmet relies on heavier construction to protect your head, but you’ve been wanting to bulk up your neck anyway.

via Bike Magic

Every few years a new cycling lube comes out that’s supposed to revolutionize the way we maintain our bikes. First it was White Lightning and chain wax, then Boeshield, and now it’s the synthetic lube Eexoz Cycling. Their website is pretty low-rent, but gun freaks are saying great things about the lube’s corrosion resistance and bike shops are noticing. Plus, you know, it’s better for the environment than petrol lubes, which is hot right now.

via Bike Hugger

I don’t personally know anyone with a “trail name,” but I was introduced to the concept through a few hiking blogs that I keep time with. As The Crow Flies is a blog by a woman with the trail name “Crow,” and Tom linked to a guy who goes by Sole to Soul, which seems needlessly long, but I guess I don’t really know anything about trail names. Maybe the longer the name, the cooler it is—like it’s some kind of role playing avatar for hikers. Personally, I think people just invent trail names because they go batty from hiking by themselves for so long. I think “fake names” are a lot more useful than trail names, which is why people start calling me “Josh” whenever I bump into a parked car.

Much to the relief of every fully outfitted person who’s attempted and failed to summit Everest, the Dutchman Wim Hof failed to summit the mountain in the first only-shorts attempt. He reached 24,278ft and said he weathered the extreme conditions by controlling his heart rate, which allows him to regulate his core temperature. He said he was turned around by a foot injury sustained while running barefoot above the Arctic Circle last year. Sounds like that’s the least of his problems.

via GetOutdoors [Times of India]

The Outdoor Research Radar Pocket Cap comes with UPF 30+ for sun protection and has the popular Castro styling. It’ll look great with my quick-dry, vaporwick Che Guevara hiking shirt. Outdoor Research made the 2.1oz hat with a brim that folds in half so that it’ll look normal when you pull it out of your back pocket.

A customer told me that the 100% DEET insect repellent he used while camping in Central America caused vivid nightmares after a few weeks. After he walked away his friend said to me, “Yeah, or it might have been all the mushrooms he was eating.” Either way, the pharmacology and toxic effects of DEET are still being debated. DEETfree is an insect repellent that doesn’t use any DEET or Citronella, which is a toxic-smelling common alternative to DEET. DEETfree says they use all-natural ingredients and claim their essential oils are highly effective at keeping bugs away. It’ll probably be okay for your kids during soccer games, but I would hang onto a watered-down DEET for camping trips.

via Outdoors Magic

You have to hand it to the people at SkateStoppers for finding a niche market. These things can ruin a skater’s day by closing a favorite spot, not to mention the risk of an unexpected crash. The only defense is finding a lawyer and taking The Man down in his own world after you come up from a newly pegged rail with two broken arms. Not that I think you would win any money in a settlement or be thrilled to tell the police you were skating on private property where No Skating signs are posted every five feet. There’s really no defense for these things, but at least part of the skater aura is being among society’s shunned.