The Goat

Dreamland Skate Parks builds concrete parks, and they sometimes include features modeled after classic skating spots that were never designed for skaters. This shot shows a replica of the King City bank, a legendary spot in Oregon that’s now defunct. Dreamland’s website makes me wish I was competent enough on a skateboard not to be constantly humiliated by little kids in the skatepark.

via Wend Blog

I feel a little bad about categorizing a brand that seeks to inspire women as ‘bizarre,’ but I can’t think of anyone else running a business like Trust Your Journey. They’re reaching out to people who I imagine watch Oprah every day, and they’re trying to sell gear by sharing sad (or inspirational, depending on your viewpoint) stories about the difficult times in their lives.

We’re two women who felt great inspiration and motivation to share our story. Basically, we’ve been through some trying times and know that it can be simple things that get us through our toughest moments. We’re Beth and Ruth and we want to share Trust Your Journey with you.

So far they only have T-shirts and some expensive trinkets for sale. Don’t get me wrong, I hope they inspire women across the country to head out of the city and hike until their shoes wear out, I just think the whole thing is a little odd.

via SportsOneSource (subscription required)

If you’re too cool for mass produced boards, check out Venture Snowboards Custom package. For $985 you get a customized deck made from sustainable-harvest wood and built by hand in Silverton, Colorado. Venture’s a rad company nestled in the mountains and they’re committed to conservation and giving deadbeat snowboarders real jobs. They have five stock models that cost about $550 each.

via GetOutdoors

The man who began the multi-billion dollar juggernaut of a sports drink industry died in Florida on Tuesday. Dr. Robert Cade developed the first batch of Gatorade for $43 and fed it to freshmen on the University of Florida football team because the coach didn’t want to risk hurting varsity players.

“It sort of tasted like toilet bowl cleaner,” said Dana Shires, one of the researchers.

“I guzzled it and I vomited,” Cade said.

They eventually made slight taste improvements and captured a huge consumer base outside of sports, which came as a huge surprise to them. They never thought the drink would be viable outside of the sports market, which begs the question: Why is it so successful? My guess is that people buy it because they consider it a healthy alternative to soda.

Surprisingly, this fix-it kit comes with more than a roll of duct tape. MSR makes all of their current-model tents with zipper pulls you can remove and change without tools in case one happens to wear out in the backcountry. The MSR Tent Maintenance Kit includes a couple pulls and some patches to fix ceiling leaks when a tree falls on your campsite. That’s not much for the $30 price tag, but where else are you going to find MSR field-service zipper pulls?

Eka produces line of hats handmade in India with organic threads. Proceeds from trade go to develop the town in Auroville India, though the company is based in the UK. They launched in October, and most of their stuff looks good—but kind of like a Coal Headwear knock-off to serve the British Isles. Still, you can’t argue with organic construction and fair trade production. Eka also makes some women’s underwear which is a bit of departure from headwear, but whatever works, I guess.

via Nollie

There’s a great article in The New York Times today about a group of kids in Queens who build their BMX bikes into rolling sound systems. The Guyanese and Trinidadian riders customize their bikes with such big speakers that they need to add outrigger supports to keep the bikes together. The slide show is cool, it doesn’t look like any of them have developed a way to keep the right pressure in the back tire. Some of their systems put out 5000 watts at 150 decibels—it’s a good way to let people know that you’re trying to pass them in the bike lane.

via Bike Hugger

We gave these people The South, now they want Yellowstone, too? Can’t they build some kind of synthetic snow down in Alabama and just stay there instead of heading north or west? Snowmobile travel in Yellowstone National Park will be open to 540 loud-mouth idiots with rebel flag stickers on their trucks beginning next winter.

Bill Wade of the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees said the decision ignored science and was not good for the park, the park system and the American people.

“It circumvents the conservation emphasis that has guided management of the national parks since the establishment of the National Park Service in 1916,” Wade said.

via AP

It doesn’t matter that this hand model is holding the Pyxis GPS Watch upside down since we wouldn’t be able to read the Korean text anyway. This little GPS watch represents a pretty good leap in technology over the Garmin Forerunner GPS Watches, which show speed and distance but don’t display a map. Of course, you have to be skeptical about the utility of a thumbnail size map on your watch face—that battery life icon could be blocking out an entire city. No word on price or availability.

This Sea to Summit Soap comes in small paper-thick leaves like a deck of playing cards. The design enables you to travel with soap and avoid a soggy mess in your backpack—and just imagine the practical joke opportunities. You can take one out and fold it into your friends luggage knowing that it’ll turn into a crusty white stain by the time you arrive back home. The Sea to Summit Pocket Soap is biodegradable and works for washing dishes, clothes, or bodies.