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The Gear Blog July 18th - verdict on the OutDoor show award winners

Gear news

25 July 2008 11:59

Trail’s verdict on the European Outdoor Trade Show Awards 2008

In the outdoor equivalent of the Oscars, the latest, hottest gear innovations were unveiled at the OutDoor Show in Friedrichshafen, Germany last week. The most innovative designs entered for competition were judged by an elite panel of international experts that included Britain’s first guy to summit all 8000m peaks Alan Hinkes, but do you agree with their choices? Here's what Trail magazine thought:

HIT

The experts said: "NeoAir is a real innovation. This air mattress is not only unbelievably light and beautifully designed, it is also extremely comfortable and very easy to use."

Trail says: “We agree! Thermarest have created a tough, warm (6cm thick), light (400g, about the weight of a softshell), very backpackable hybrid between comfy air mattresses and their traditional self-inflating, die-cut foam sleeping mats.”

Lightweight innovation
Osprey’s latest super-light yet comfy and functional backpack scooped a silver award. The Exos 46 combines very light outer material with a new, super-light, comfortable aluminium back frame suitable for heavy loads. Despite it’s light weight (857g, around the weight of a waterproof and a midweight fleece), it offers excellent wearing comfort and top-class ventilation. The flexible hip and shoulder straps made of bio-stretch foam also allow the air to circulate, are comfortable and adapt perfectly to the body.

The experts said: "A real lightweight. The sophisticated structural design provides excellent wearing comfort."

Trail says: “Definitely, we can’t wait to test out the Exos 46 for real on the hill to see if Osprey have finally cracked the lightweight vs comfort debate. Watch out for a first test review in Trail magazine by technical editor Graham Thompson.”

MISS

Bit of a luxury
Black Diamond were also awarded silver for their Orbit LED lantern. It’s a bright, no-glare miniature, pocket-sized shiner with a dimmer and dual reflector that maximises the lighting range of the 1-watt LED. Its the size of a roll-on deoderant, weighs 135g, and works with 4xAAAs or the rechargeable NRG2 battery kit.

The experts said: "A good-looking, aesthetic, low-key product. A really great new aid that will find a multitude of uses."

Trail says: “While we don’t doubt the quality of the Orbit LED lantern, we just wonder why the judges chose a lantern – wouldn’t you just hang your headtorch from the top of the tent to save yourself the weight of another two mars bars?”

We’ve seen lighter
Mammut have just taken over Raichle boots and their Mamook GTX mountaineering boot won a silver award. At only 1590g for a UK size 8.5 and 1350g for UK size 5.5, this B3 crampon compatible boot is a real featherweight. The shoe is only hard where it has to be so it adapts to the foot particularly comfortably, with asymmetrical 3-zone lacing to provide support for any type of foot.

The experts said: "The shoe stands out not only by virtue of its beautiful design, it is also very functional at the same time. The new type of material mix is convincing – especially its light weight."

Trail says: “This boot is impressively light for its class, but it is still a few hundred grams heavier than the La Sportiva Trango Extreme Evo Light GTX  (1450g for a men’s size 8), plus one big downside – it costs £65 more at a stinging £280.”

But that’s not all there was at Europe’s biggest outdoor trade show. Check out the juiciest bits of new kit you can look forward to next January here.