The world of outdoor business sure feels a long way from Silicon Valley. But make no mistake: technology has become the backbone of the industry, guiding everything from the way we run our businesses and communicate with each other to how we design new gear and battle climate change.

Here, we’ve collected and examined dozens of ways tech is transforming the outdoor industry to get a glimpse of how these advancements might shape the future of our work and play in the outdoors.

Tech is…Connecting Us

By Heather Balogh Rochfort

The Rise of Digital Memberships

When I co-founded WildKind, a virtual community to help parents get outside with their kids, a digital component wasn鈥檛 on my radar. My partner and I just wanted to provide guidance for families hoping to tackle outdoor adventures. We envisioned baby backpacking trips and mom-only bikepacking excursions鈥攏ot laptops and virtual community forums. But we dug into the data, and the numbers didn鈥檛 lie: digital subscriptions are booming.

We realized the power of the internet was twofold: it reached more families than we ever could with in-person-only instruction, and it allowed time-starved parents to consume the information in the small respites between bath time and lights out. This was confirmed when we launched in August 2020 and acquired 300 new members within two weeks, all eager to pay $99 per year to capitalize on virtual skiing and camping courses, members-only discounts from various outdoor brands, a digital forum, and discussion panels.

For their part, partner brands like Merrell and The North Face were excited to collaborate, since it gives them name recognition with an audience willing to spend a little money to get outside.

We鈥檙e not the only business to make the leap into digital memberships over the past year. Run to the Finish founder Amanda Brooks launched the Online Running Club in June 2020: more than 500 members pay $18 per month to gain virtual access to running coaches, workout programs, drills, and community. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an easy way to bring people together and help them get the support they need,鈥� Brooks said.

She also noted that membership is a successful entry point into her brand, which also sells products like books, T-shirts, and individual coaching. 鈥淭hey join at this affordable monthly rate, get to know me, and start asking what else is available. It鈥檚 enhanced the connection with my community, making them true fans.鈥�

And in outdoor media, 国产吃瓜黑料 (国产吃瓜黑料 Business Journal鈥檚 parent company) launched its 国产吃瓜黑料+ membership earlier this year, which features perks like exclusive content across its publications, online education courses, a personalized feed, and access to Gaia GPS for navigation, all for $99 per year.

According to Gartner, a global IT research and advisory firm, digital memberships are a top trend, particularly subscription services: the firm predicts that by 2023, nearly 75 percent of direct-to-consumer businesses will offer one. Outdoor brands largely haven鈥檛 jumped on board yet, but Ralph Lauren provides an example of what this might look like: its membership (starting at $125 per month), which launched last year, allows users to select items for a 鈥渄ream wardrobe鈥� subscription box that includes four items for rent or purchase.

Are You in the Club(house)?

Launched in March 2020, Clubhouse is the latest in social media apps designed to emphasize real-time conversation via live audio content鈥攏o images, no curated feed, and no website. Users can pop into live chat rooms to listen to a variety of discussions as well as request to participate in the conversation.

According to Arial Macrae, marketing manager of Roam Media Inc., an adventure club that produces videos and mini-documentaries and boasts founding members like Jimmy Chin and Sasha DiGiulian, this is the crux of the platform: 鈥淚t opens the doors and gives fans access to your brand鈥檚 conversations and gives people the opportunity to speak up and be a part of it,鈥� she said. During the winter months, Roam hosted a weekly chat room highlighting a number of outdoor industry topics, from photography with Chris Burkhard to a series of panelists sharing their outdoor career stories.

Since Clubhouse is all live content, the commitment is minimal. 鈥淧ro endurance biker Rebecca Rusch joined a room while she was actively on a training ride,鈥� Macrae laughed. Unlike a podcast, Clubhouse allows brand consumers to actually participate with the people behind the logo and ask them real-time questions. In short, the interaction puts a friendly voice to the brand name.

While initially only available on iPhone, this invite-only app recently opened to Android users in May 2021, garnering a million new sign-ups within two weeks. It鈥檚 still relatively small with ten million total users, but it鈥檚 growing quickly. Thought leaders and brands who welcome one-on-one conversations with consumers are most likely to benefit from the app, so experts suggest that people in leadership create their own accounts rather than hosting from their business name. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of potential there,鈥� Macrae said. 鈥淭his type of direct access to a brand gives a personal touch you can鈥檛 find on other platforms.鈥�

The Insta-Success Formula

According to Kami York-Feirn, marketing manager for apparel brand Wild Rye, there are three core tenants to a successful business Instagram account: a consistent posting schedule, a relatable caption with a strong call to action (like an audience question), and video/reels content to appease the Instagram algorithms.

York-Feirn looked at some of the most popular posts so far this year from three industry accounts to help us understand what other factors can get people liking, sharing, and commenting.

Wild Rye’s formula for success: Fun hashtags + relatable caption + Monday post (one of the brand鈥檚 best days for engagement)

Patagonia’s formula for success: Environmental topic + short video + controversy

Unlikely Hikers’ formula for success: Relatable story + request for shares in the caption + relatable photo to encourage conversation and boost visibility with the algorithm

Slack Better

You know Slack. You love (okay, or maybe hate) Slack. But are you Slacking to your fullest potential? These three integrations take your work collaboration to the next level.

Donut: Get to know each other through virtual introductions, auto-scheduled 鈥渃offee dates鈥� between team members, and even a CEO lottery that randomly selects one person for a chat with the boss.

EventBot Calendar: Never forget a team birthday or meeting with this all-inclusive calendar that hosts your entire team鈥檚 events from within Slack.

HeyTaco: Give your coworkers a nod for a job well done via the only virtual currency that matters: tacos. Everyone gets five virtual tacos to award per day, and the app tracks a team leaderboard for extra motivation.

Tech is…Saving the Planet

By Tracy Ross

Unlocking Public Lands

In January, President Biden announced his 鈥�30 x 30鈥� vision to conserve at least 30 percent of U.S. lands and freshwater and 30 percent of U.S. ocean areas by 2030. One priority: boost outdoor recreation by encouraging the voluntary conservation of private land through which bordering public lands can be accessed. That offers the opportunity not only to protect a larger area of contiguous wildlife habitat, but also to open the door to public lands that may be difficult or impossible to reach.

The mapping app onX, which launched to give hunters a simple way to see whose land they were on, has been collecting data on these public-private intersections for more than a decade. So far, the team has identified some 16.4 million acres in 22 states that are currently inaccessible to the public because of surrounding private land. This info funnels into the hands of local, state, and federal land managers, who are using it to identify possible easements with the end goal of creating more access to public lands for all.

Building Urban Parks

The Trust For Public Lands (TPL) knows we have a critical green-space equity problem in our country, with studies showing that some 100 million of us鈥攊ncluding 28 million kids鈥攍ack access to local parks within walking distance. So TPL used 20 years鈥� worth of data to create ParkServe.org, an interactive map that shows exactly where green space is most needed in American cities. TPL also helps cities look for funding for park construction. And one of the best benefits, says Lisa Hwang, TPL鈥檚 managing director of strategy and innovation, is that anyone can join in the process of designing or creating a new neighborhood park.

Navigating Climate Change

Heat waves, wildfires, floods: we鈥檙e already living with the effects of a changing climate. Last year, Gaia GPS (owned by 国产吃瓜黑料 Business Journal鈥檚 parent company) introduced several free map layers that aim to help people deal with fire-related issues. Two wildfire maps give precise, real-time info about where fires are currently burning, based on NASA satellite heat detection data that鈥檚 fact-checked with firefighters on the ground.

Two more maps depict current and predicted air quality based on info from the Environmental Protection Agency鈥檚 AirNow program, which draws from several monitoring organizations to show where pollutants in the air pose a health hazard.

Sharing the Immigration Story

鈥淪torytelling has always been a powerful tool for social movements, and conservation is no different,鈥� said Christian La Mont, program and communications manager for Latino Outdoors. This past March, the nonprofit partnered with The National Audubon Society for a yearlong project called Mapping Migraciones. It weaves the Latino community鈥檚 migration and immigration stories together with the migratory paths of birds, combining the two into an interactive map that ties humans and nature together into an ongoing narrative.

Click on a bird鈥攕ay, a Swainson鈥檚 Thrush鈥� and see its migratory path from Central America to as far north as Canada. Then click on the name of a person, and see how he made his journey along the same route. 鈥淭he interactive map shows that migration is not only nuanced and natural, but also beautiful,鈥� said La Mont.

Lifelines for Firefighters

Wildland firefighters have one of the most dangerous jobs in the outdoors. But new developments are making their task a little safer鈥攁s evidenced by the tech used by a Montrose, Colorado, Helitack crew while fighting the 2018 Tabeguache Fire in the Uncompahgre National Forest.

Lack of connectivity and limited sight lines in steep canyons makes firefighting in the area extremely dangerous. But each crew member wore a 2.8-ounce goTenna Pro X tracking device, which shares location info among teams of firefighters via a broadcasting process called meshing.

Tracking devices pair to any phone using an app like ATAK. Firefighters can then use their phones to navigate to safety, tell tankers where to drop retardant, and report back to management teams.

Fire Incident management teams can then pair location info with the data service Cornea to get real-time maps showing the location of crew members, retardant drops, and the most dangerous parts of a fire. Cornea also collects and fuses data about fuels, weather, topography, watersheds, and the probability of fire spread from multiple sources.

The Upside of Drones

Drones get a bad rap for invading privacy and harassing wildlife, but that鈥檚 only half the story. The National Audubon Society said drones 鈥渄on鈥檛 just offer a safer way for scientists to observe their subjects; they鈥檙e often less costly, more efficient, and more precise than traditional approaches.鈥� Here are six ways the organization Conservation Drones, which built a low-cost flier (starting at $3,500) specifically for conservationists and scientists, is using these aerial machines for good.

1. Surveying heron populations under thick forest canopies in England
2. Flying aerial surveys along tidal creeks in the Bahamas to count sharks, rays, and sea turtles鈥攁ll creatures that are both threatened and difficult to monitor
3. Studying whales鈥� health with 鈥渟not bot鈥� drones equipped with petri dishes that hover at the whale鈥檚 blowhole to collect a sample of its breath, which includes discharge containing lung bacteria, viruses, and DNA
4. Monitoring the spread of invasive aquatic plants at Lake Carl Blackwell in Stillwater, Oklahoma
5. When equipped with thermal-imaging cameras on their undersides, identifying species like orangutans in Borneo, spider monkeys in Mexico, and riverine rabbits in South America to show health and range of populations
6. Using thermal cameras to detect and monitor 鈥減eat megafires,鈥� which destroy essential peat land ecosystems and are responsible for 15 percent of annual global greenhouse gas emissions

Tech is…Designing Gear

By Frederick Reimers

The Power of Three Dimensions

Silicon Valley 3D-printing firm Carbon has recently made inroads into the outdoor space with shoe soles for adidas and bike saddles for Specialized. Both feature latticework made from elastomeric polyurethane (EPU), which is remarkably elastic (capable of being elongated 250 percent before it breaks) and, in lattice form, great at returning energy. More importantly, Carbon can tune the latticework鈥檚 compressibility by location within the design, which can help accommodate the variances of, say, foot shape, or enable targeted cushioning.

And this fall, Osprey is using the tech to make a giant step forward in pack design. Along with a host of other new technologies, the UNLTD Antigravity 64 and Airscape 68 feature lumbar pads built by Carbon: the company鈥檚 tunable 3D printing allowed Osprey to make them more compressible on the top and front to create consistent and extremely comfortable contact with a wide variety of lower-back shapes. The latticework is also exceptionally breathable, grippy, and springy, so even under very heavy loads, the pack feels more secure and balanced.

The 3D-printing process was also a designer鈥檚 dream. With remarkable speed, it creates shapes impossible to make with injection molding. In just over a year, Carbon was able to iterate close to 100 different permutations of the design, all with far less waste than injection molding. Working with the emerging technology isn鈥檛 cheap鈥攖he packs ring in at an eye-watering $700鈥攂ut Osprey owner Mike Photenhauer said he wanted to showcase what鈥檚 possible in pack design 鈥渨hen price is no object.鈥�

Saving the World, One Shirt at a Time

A pair of Stanford professors founded the startup LifeLabs this year to create fabrics that combat climate change. According to the Department of Energy, if Americans would simply raise their thermostats 2掳C higher in summer and 2掳C lower in winter, it would save an average of 6,000 pounds of atmospheric carbon per household (about a 20 percent reduction in a home鈥檚 total energy use). Better temperature-regulating clothing could make that easier.

Enter the company鈥檚 CoolLife fabrics, which are made from polyolefin (think kitchen cling wrap). The material allows 100 percent transmission of infrared radiation鈥攖he only known fabric to do so鈥攍etting body heat escape faster. LifeLabs invented the process of creating knit and woven fabrics from polyolefin: the trick, said LifeLabs CEO Scott Mellin, was to build yarn extrusion and knitting and weaving machines that could handle the material鈥檚 low melting temperature (122掳C versus nylon鈥檚 220掳C).

The company鈥檚 WarmLife fabrics use a different strategy, employing reflectivity to capture body heat. The concept isn鈥檛 new, but the WarmLife fabric is breathable enough for the reflective metallic nanocoating to cover 100 percent of its surface (in comparison, Columbia鈥檚 Omni-Heat reflective dots cover just a third of their items to maintain breathability). The result is a garment that requires 30 percent less insulation for the same CLO value. The tech hasn鈥檛 hit the market yet, but this summer LifeLabs is releasing 16 garments (insulating parkas and gloves, cooling leggings, and sleepwear) to investors, media, and influencers.

Artificial Intelligence Revolutionizes Bike Design

Imagine bike frames that look like they鈥檝e been built by a spider, with hollow, sinewy strands linking the handlebars, wheels, and bottom bracket. The frames are lighter for subtracting material, but according to the engineering software that created it, just as strong.

That鈥檚 the concept behind French gear titan Decathlon鈥檚 bike design project with software firm Autodesk, which has also partnered with component maker SRAM. The idea is that Autodesk鈥檚 Fusion 360 software can take inputs like weight, dimensions, and strength and then generate hundreds of potential designs in just a few hours, all theoretically capable of standing up to the demands of the design problem, even if they may be unusual in appearance.

The software can also learn as it goes, basing subsequent rounds of design on those preferred by the human engineers. Such designs are particularly suited for the elaborate shapes possible with 3D printing. For SRAM, it means printing a latticed aluminum crank arm that鈥檚 just as light and strong as a carbon fiber one, at a lower financial and ecological cost. SRAM is currently testing a few of those designs in the field, and the process bodes well not just for bikes, but also for climbing gear or any equipment that prizes light weight along with strength. Just as intriguing is another goal of Decathlon鈥檚 so-called 鈥渧ision project鈥� with Autodesk: to explore the process of custom-printing bikes according to a customer鈥檚 individual preferences and dimensions.

Upgrading Portable Power

Solar, not wind, has dominated the portable power scene because solar panels are so much smaller and lighter鈥攗ntil now. Enter the Shine Turbine. A marvel of efficient design, the device boasts an exceptional weight-to-power ratio compared to other portable renewable devices. The three-pound device, which launches this summer, is capable of generating 40 watts, good enough to charge a smartphone in as little as 15 minutes, and trumps water turbines, thermoelectric stoves, and even solar panels with a 13 watts-per-pound ratio. The Shine Turbine folds into a sleek package about the size of a liter water bottle and deploys in minutes. Designers solved challenges like dissipating the motor鈥檚 heat and capturing high power outputs while meeting size restrictions, but the Shine Turbine鈥檚 real triumph is in the blade design: they鈥檙e efficient enough to withstand 28-mph winds (minimum speed: 8 mph) while still folding snugly into the body.

Can Algae Replace Chemicals?

Quick, name a product you use that doesn鈥檛 include petroleum-based plastics and chemicals. Tough, right? But here鈥檚 some good news for reducing our petroleum dependence: design firm Checkerspot aims to solve the problem, starting with the outdoor industry. Growing out of work done at the University of California, Berkeley, Checkerspot develops oils derived from fermented microalgae. The company is currently working with Gore to create petroleum-free DWR, and a project with Swiss chemical firm Beyond Surface technologies has resulted in a microalgae-based wicking treatment that hits the market this year in garments by streetwear brand Pangea.

Checkerspot also supplies algae-based polyurethane for its own ski brand, Wndr Alpine. And there鈥檚 more on the horizon: the ski maker plans to develop its own line of greener packs and apparel incorporating the Beyond Surface coatings and algal polyurethanes for hard pieces like pack buckles.

Wearables Get Even Smarter

The future of fitness wearables looks increasingly detailed鈥攁nd some might say, invasive. Swiss company Core鈥檚 body temperature monitor has been used as a training tool by pro cycling teams for a few seasons, but it鈥檚 now available to the public. The device clips onto an elastic chest strap and sends continuous body temp readings to a smart device. Excess body heat saps an athlete鈥檚 power output, so such monitoring can help athletes strategize during competition, telling them whether to drop the hammer or back off until they鈥檙e cooler.

Also launched this spring: a partnership between Garmin and blood-testing company Inside Tracker that combines smartwatch data like blood oxygen and stress levels with the genetic biomarkers the company derives from periodic lab-administered blood tests. The result is customized training and nutritional advice鈥攍ike increasing your sleep or upping magnesium levels鈥攖o optimize performance.

Even more frequent exposure to needles is required for an upcoming glucose-monitoring system from Supersapiens. Based on existing technology made for diabetics, a needle pressed under the skin and adhered to the tricep is synced with a smartwatch or phone for live monitoring to help athletes stay optimally fueled.

Tech is…Running Our Businesses

By Cindy Hirschfeld and Elisabeth Kwak-Hefferan, with reporting by Tatiana Walker-Morris

Personal Shopping Service

When Mike Peters decided to buy an e-bike earlier this summer, online retailer Curated connected the Denver shopper with an e-bike expert in Illinois, and the two texted for a few days. Peters liked the convenience of shopping on his own time, and that his expert felt brand agnostic鈥斺€淵ou could ask about any bike, not just the stuff they had in a store鈥濃€攕o he placed an order.

The shopping experience at Curated, which launched in 2017 and sells gear for hiking, skiing, cycling, fly-fishing, and more, starts with a series of questions about experience level and gear preferences. Then the company鈥檚 artificial intelligence program matches the customer with an actual person to help them find the best product. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think people would ever want to buy a $2,000 pair of skis from a chatbot,鈥� said founder Eduardo Vivas. Though Curated has about 100 brand partners, the company will source any item a customer and expert choose.

Vivas said his business isn鈥檛 about steamrolling brick and mortar. Outdoor Gear Exchange (OGE) in Burlington, Vermont, is one of 25 or so retail partners that sell gear through the platform, lopping off a commission for Curated (OGE sends them 10 to 15 percent). 鈥淚t鈥檚 a little bit more than other affiliates that we work with, but [Curated] drives more in sales,鈥� said Ivan Tighe, director of fulfillment and communications鈥攖he platform drove 630 orders last January alone.

And on the brand side, Curated offers anonymized customer data to its partners quarterly, which clues vendors in to how they鈥檙e performing with different demographics or regions and shows them how often buyers pick their gear from the expert鈥檚 list of recommendations.

Affiliate Gear Sales

We鈥檝e all seen those dubious 鈥渂est of鈥� lists, compiled solely to get cash for clicks. But when established digital outlets pursue the affiliate sales game, do they risk eroding reader trust? Not necessarily. Media brands say they鈥檙e able to earn money from recommending products while maintaining editorial integrity.

For larger online pubs, that means having separate affiliate sales teams to deal with logistics while letting editors have the final say over what gets covered. At Lola Digital Media鈥攐wner of Gear Junkie, Switchback Travel, and other sites鈥斺€渢he editorial and affiliate linking are totally separate,鈥� said VP of commerce David Wilkinson. In 2020, the company produced $200 million in sales for retail partners and direct-to-consumer brands (Wilkinson declined to say what the partnership netted for Lola).

At Gear Patrol, where affiliate sales comprise about 20 percent of revenue, head of commerce Brian Louie said the editorial mission comes before the links: 鈥淩eaders can tell if something is forced.鈥� The same holds true at 国产吃瓜黑料 (a sister publication to 国产吃瓜黑料 Business Journal). 鈥淲e work to optimize the content that we are already creating for revenue,鈥� said Katie Cruickshank, senior digital marketing manager. 鈥淎nd we鈥檙e not going to cover anything editorially just because there鈥檚 a good commission rate.鈥� Sales bring in some 10 percent of overall digital revenue.

Meanwhile, the increased sales channels and ability to track conversions warrant the revenue sharing for brands and retailers. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 the most powerful type of marketing on the internet today,鈥� said Wilkinson.

6 Workflow Apps We Love

You鈥檝e been hitting Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and all the Googles hard for the past year or so鈥攂ut they鈥檙e far from the only programs that make your work life easier. Have you met these standouts?

1. Trello. Collaborate with colleagues on to-do lists, set deadlines, and track shared projects. Free (basic); $10/person/month and up (advanced).
2. Canva. Design as a team with templates for everything from Instagram posts to logos. Free (basic); $10/person/month and up (advanced).
3. Otter Voice. Take meeting notes quickly with this live transcription app for computers and phones. Free (basic); $8.33/person/month and up (advanced).
4. Calendly. Schedule meetings by syncing your calendars and letting people choose from your available times. Free (basic); $8/person/month and up (advanced).
5. Mural. Play around with workflow diagrams, graphs, and even freehand sketching for remote teams. $12/person/month and up.
6. Harvest. Find out how much time you鈥檙e spending on specific projects with this time tracker app. Free (basic); $12/person/month (advanced).

The Biggest Gear Breakthroughs of All Time

By Amelia Arvesen

These ten innovations revolutionized the business of outdoor, according to gear historians and longtime industry members.

1927: Pin bindings.The groundbreaker here was the Rottefella six-pin binding. Before pin bindings, skiers used wicker and leather toe straps to tie wooden planks to their feet. Norwegian engineer Bror With鈥檚 clamp-and-spike invention keeps skis more secure and makes walking less cumbersome.

1937: Vulcanized rubber outsoles. This groundbreaker was the Vibram Carramato sole. Vitale Bramani was inspired to make leather boots better after friends died while mountaineering in 1935 in the Italian Alps, in part due to footwear that froze. Bramani beefed up the soles by incorporating a tread design traditionally used for automobile tires.

1968: Avalanche transceivers. Scadi was the first product in this new category. Avalanche experts were experimenting with different electromagnetic methods of locating buried people from above the snow when researcher John Lawton at New York鈥檚 Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory created a handheld device with the longest range and best accuracy yet.

1969: Internal-frame backpack. The Lowe internal frame pack was the first. In a basement in Colorado, Greg Lowe made the first pack that integrated the supportive structure into the back panel. It was first made of phenolic resin layers and later revised to aluminum frame bars. Hips and shoulders everywhere rejoiced.

1977: Expanded polytetrafluorethylene (ePTFE) material. Gore-Tex was the pioneer in this category. While tinkering with the polymer, Bob Gore discovered it could stretch by up to 1,000 percent and transform into a new substance with tiny pores that allow air to pass through. His invention, later called Gore-Tex, is now a household name.

1977: Sports bra. Credit the Jogbra as the first. Ditching the impractical underwire of the past, Lisa Lindahl, Hinda Miller, and Polly Smith sewed together two jockstraps to make a more supportive and comfortable bra that they could wear while running and playing sports. Sports bras have come a long way since then.

1978: Spring-loaded camming device. “The Friend” was the groundbreaker. After Ray Jardine invented the first modern trigger-activated pieces of climbing protection, he kept them a secret because he didn鈥檛 want anyone to steal the idea. A climbing partner referred to them by the code name 鈥渇riends,鈥� and Wild Country still sells cams under the label.

1979: Synthetic fleece. The Malden Mills Polarfleece got there first. Replacing natural fibers from sheep, this synthetic material is softer, better at resisting water, and in some cases, much warmer. Patagonia was one of the first partners of Malden Mills, which has since rebranded as Polartec.

1989: Handheld GPS. The Magellan Nav 1000 was the first. The military was using pocket-sized GPS units long before 1989, but that鈥檚 when civilians could finally get their hands on one for a whopping $2,900. Garmin was a close second on the market. Over time, prices dropped, sizes shrunk, and features improved.

2000: Multi-Directional Impact Protection System (MIPS). Before MIPS, helmets didn鈥檛 account for the rotational force the brain experiences in crashes and falls. A neurosurgeon and PhD student in Sweden added a thin layer between a helmet鈥檚 shell and liner for extra protection.

Enough with the Tech Judgement

By Alex Temblador

I鈥檇 been hiking through a forest, past waterfalls, and across creeks by myself for five hours in the North Chickamauga Creek Gorge State Natural Area near Chattanooga when my Garmin fenix 6S Pro Solar GPS watch died. I鈥檇 used it a lot the past few days鈥攖racking my hikes and watching for thunderstorms that threatened to flood me off Lookout Mountain鈥攁nd I hadn鈥檛 noticed that it needed to be recharged.

Not a minute later, my dad called and asked, 鈥淎re you still hiking?鈥� At the same time, a text from my mom came through, conveying the same concern. The safety tracking feature had turned off, and my loved ones were in the dark about my whereabouts.

I often hike, bike, trail run, or camp by myself all across the country. And as a solo woman of color, when I do, you can bet I鈥檓 always connected to the internet. You can catch me in front of a campfire with my laptop on my knees or checking my phone while hiking in Palo Duro Canyon State Park. Passersbys have joked, 鈥淪top working鈥攜ou鈥檙e on vacation.鈥� Others boast about how they left their phone in their car.

These jokes and subtle comments speak to an old-fashioned way of thinking. See, outdoor purists will tell you that unplugged outdoor experiences are 鈥渞eal鈥� or 鈥渂etter,鈥� but that鈥檚 a limited and privileged perspective. And I鈥檓 over it.

Whether I鈥檓 camping with family at a lake in Oklahoma or glamping by myself in a treehouse near Austin, I always have my laptop with me and my hotspot active. As a freelance writer, I must be connected: I鈥檓 not yet in a position in my career where I can leave my laptop at home, even for a few days. Sometimes I need to finish an article before kayaking, or answer an email from an editor who鈥檚 offering me an opportunity for a high-paying, quick-turnaround piece.

I鈥檓 not alone in this experience. With the pandemic, many jobs went remote, and that gave people an opportunity to work while on the move. Technology, like Wi-Fi hotspots and solar generators, allowed people to work and enjoy the outdoors more than they鈥檇 ever been able to do before. Isn鈥檛 that the dream?

Of course I don鈥檛 want to bring my laptop to a cabin in the woods, but that鈥檚 where I am in my career, and I shouldn鈥檛 be judged because I鈥檓 not financially able to leave my technology at home. Even if I get to a point where I don鈥檛 need to work while outdoors, the reality is, technology and internet access make the outdoors safer for me.

With my phone and smartwatch, I can keep track of harsh weather conditions, ensure I don鈥檛 get lost, notify authorities in case of a medical emergency, or share safety concerns about a trail, tour guide, or campsite with other people. As much as we鈥檇 like to think that the outdoors is safe for all, women, people of color, the queer community, and many other underrepresented groups still face harassment, threats, and assault in the outdoors. We can mitigate this danger with technology and help ourselves and our loved ones feel more confident when we鈥檙e in nature.

Safety and career needs aside, I can think of a million other ways that connectivity has improved my outdoor experience鈥攏ot least, Googling 鈥渉ow to start a campfire鈥� while glamping in West Texas, or calling a friend to pick me and my foldable kayak up from a boat launch because I was unable to paddle upstream to my car. (And yes, I like pulling my phone out and taking photos of myself in nature鈥攕ue me.)

Instead of judging people for using the internet, laptops, phones, and other technology in the outdoors, we should toss those purist notions aside and cheer them on. Who cares if they鈥檙e online? The fact that they鈥檙e outdoors is what matters most.

The post How Tech Is Transforming the Outdoor Industry appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

Once upon a time, Gore-Tex dominated the waterproof/breathable membrane landscape. Until, that is, upstarts eVent and Polartec鈥檚 NeoShell hit the market. These waterproof membranes promised superior breathability by permitting the passage of air (membranes that are vapor permeable, like Gore-Tex, do not).

Fast-forward to today, and air-permeable membranes are everywhere. The North Face, Helly Hansen, and Outdoor Research have all jumped on the air-perm bandwagon within the last few years by developing proprietary formulas. These brands join early adopters such as Flylow, Strafe, and Westcomb, which embraced the original air-permeable technologies when they debuted. EVent gained traction among outdoor brands in 2008, and the first NeoShell garments hit the market in 2011.

Yet the recent surge of new air-perm membranes has largely overshadowed the branded options that got the party started in the first place. Flylow, Marmot, and Strafe no longer use NeoShell. REI, Rab, and Mountain Hardwear have stopped using eVent (which Mountain Hardwear marketed as DryQ Elite). That鈥檚 surprising, given the stacks of performance accolades that eVent and NeoShell collected over the years from outdoor publications.

Cycling pubs raved about the debut rainwear made with eVent, and Westcomb earned Backpacker鈥檚 2012 Editors鈥� Choice Snow Award for its women鈥檚 Fuse LT Jacket and men鈥檚 Shift Hoody, which used NeoShell (and still do). 鈥淐ompanies like Polartec and eVent know these air-permeable fabrics are the way of the future and are bringing to the market more and more waterproof, breathable outerwear,鈥� Strafe declared in 2016 on its company blog.

But since that heyday, Schoeller has entered the air-perm market with aerobrane (used in Strafe鈥檚 Cham Jacket), and outerwear companies have developed their own air-permeable layups, such as Futurelight from The North Face and The Perm from Flylow.

NeoShell 鈥渟tarted with a splash, but ultimately, never reached its potential,鈥� acknowledged Polartec president Steve Layton. Production difficulty is partly to blame. 鈥淎ll phases of the process are challenging,鈥� he said of making the electrospun polyurethane membrane, which is composed of a mesh of microscopic fibers and the many air pockets between them. 鈥淥ur supplier ran into some serious issues that kept us from taking it mainstream.鈥�

Worldwide, only a handful of factories have the capability to produce electrospun, air-permeable membranes (and one membrane factory in Korea burned down in 2018, which didn鈥檛 help matters). Polartec had to iron out the production kinks of a brand-new technology; once it did, it became easier for factories to produce spin-offs for other brands.

There were additional hangups with NeoShell, said Flylow cofounder and owner Dan Abrams. 鈥淣eoShell maxes out at 10K waterproofness, which I personally know to be sufficient, but it doesn鈥檛 sell as well as 20K,鈥� he said. After searching in vain for a 20K air-permeable membrane that could stretch, Abrams worked with Denver-based manufacturer Intuitive Fabrics to develop a proprietary formula that met his specs.

鈥淧olartec was the middleman between us and the fabric mill,鈥� Abrams said. Eliminating the intermediary has allowed Flylow to address design and production problems more quickly. It鈥檚 also expanded the array of available fabric options. 鈥淲ith NeoShell, you had a limited number of fabric choices, so it was pretty likely that you鈥檇 see the same fabrics being used by different [outerwear] companies,鈥� he said. 鈥淕oing proprietary, I can have anything under the sun, so I can actually innovate.鈥� Strafe also took a hiatus from NeoShell; its line now includes eVent, aerobrane, and a proprietary air-permeable blend called Recon Elite 3L.

Outdoor Research developed its proprietary AscentShell out of a similar desire to exploit a broader range of fabrics. Another advantage of going proprietary is cost savings, said Alex Lauver, the brand鈥檚 director of commercial innovation. 鈥淓veryone needs to make their profit, so the costs are higher [with a branded membrane], which directly impacts the end consumer,鈥� he explained. 鈥淥ur vertical supply chain allowed us access to the exact same membrane at 鈥榳holesale pricing鈥欌€攊f you want to think of it like that鈥攚ith the ability to experiment and tweak.鈥�

Such pricing advantages let Outdoor Research sell its most premium AscentShell jacket (the Skyward II) for $350. But its pinnacle hardshell, the Archangel Jacket, uses a Gore-Tex Pro membrane鈥攁nd costs $699. Lauver said that AscentShell and Gore-Tex play well together, because they offer consumers a choice. 鈥淒o you care about extreme comfort? Or extreme weather protection?鈥� he asked.

However, Abrams maintained that folding Gore-Tex into a mixed lineup of membranes isn鈥檛 an easy feat. 鈥淎s a licensing partner, Gore-Tex wants exclusivity,鈥� he explained. 鈥淢y understanding is that it needs to be your top-end offering. That may mean you can鈥檛 also offer NeoShell, or you can鈥檛 offer air-perm as your most premium product.鈥�

For now, The North Face (which didn鈥檛 respond to requests for comment) appears to have decided not to play the Gore-Tex game. In the fall of 2019, the brand released its own electrospun membrane. Futurelight is air permeable like NeoShell, but also zonable, which allows for variations in breathability across a single garment. Thus The North Face is pushing air-permeable technology into new heights of functionality鈥攕omething that some apparel brands feel that NeoShell has failed to do.

The North Face also put unprecedented marketing power behind its air-permeable option when it launched. Consequently, this behemoth鈥檚 entry into the air-perm competition 鈥渉as actually helped us, because it validates the story we鈥檝e been telling for almost a decade,鈥� said Zach Hayes of Strafe.

And consumers don鈥檛 seem to be picky about which air-permeable membrane brands use. Flylow鈥檚 Abrams says he didn鈥檛 see any dip in sales after switching from NeoShell to the proprietary Perm. 鈥淩etailers apparently didn鈥檛 care, because they have to educate consumers about everything that isn鈥檛 Gore-Tex鈥� anyway, he said. 鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 matter if they鈥檙e explaining NeoShell or our proprietary version.鈥�

Another name in the 鈥渘ot Gore-Tex鈥� slush pile is eVent, which is typically an air-permeable version of the ePTFE membrane favored by Gore-Tex (eVent鈥檚 current spectrum of membranes also includes non-ePTFE materials). The brand has encountered its own set of challenges. Unlike NeoShell, eVent has always enjoyed a strong supply chain, said Chad Kelly, eVent鈥檚 president. But eVent was hobbled by lackluster backing from its former parent companies (BHA, General Electric, Clarcor, and Parker Hannifin). 鈥淲e have always been an adjacent business within an industrial filtration company, where we were never really the focus of investment and resources,鈥� Kelly explained.

But that鈥檚 changing. In June 2020, textile specialist Performax Pro bought eVent and is already supercharging the membrane鈥檚 applications, Kelly said. Now, eVent offers 15 air-permeable membranes that fit a range of applications, from pinnacle products to entry-level models. One of those membranes even features sustainability cred: at the January 2020 Outdoor Retailer show, eVent debuted a bio-based membrane made of castor beans that are converted into a nylon resin that鈥檚 recyclable and biodegradable. The first garments to use eVent BIO will hit the market in fall 2022 (eVent declined to name its partner brands).

Polartec also claims to be caching ammunition for a NeoShell comeback. According to Layton, Polartec has developed a sustainability innovation for NeoShell that will be unveiled this November. 鈥淲e鈥檒l be pushing really cool things that are in the works,鈥� he promised. 鈥淚mitation is the highest form of flattery. But it forces us to innovate and to ask, 鈥榃hat鈥檚 the next problem we can solve?鈥欌€�

Will it be enough to lure brands back to Polartec and eVent? Time will tell.

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The performance-fabric company Polartec announced today some big sustainability news. According to company leaders, the brand has completely eliminated the toxic chemicals known as PFAS (per- and polyfluoralkyl substances) in its durable water repellent treatments across its line of products.

What Makes It Special

If you’re not familiar with PFAS, a little history lesson: since the 1940s, this class of more than 5,000 chemical substances has been used to waterproof and grease-proof everything from rain jackets and tents to non-stick pans and food packaging. As you can probably guess, they’re terrible for human health and the environment. They can stick around for thousands of years without breaking down, contaminating water supplies and building up in the human body, causing cancer, endocrine disruption, kidney disease, low birth rates, and a host of other health problems.

Plenty of outdoor brands (especially those manufacturing waterproof gear) have been trying to phase out PFAS for years. Wolverine Worldwide got into trouble a few years ago when a group of Michigan residents brought a class-action lawsuit against the company, accusing it of contaminating local water with PFAS leached from former dump sites. REI recently released a new set of product standards for all its vendors, explicitly banning PFAS in footwear, packs, sleeping bags, tents, and more.

It’s particularly encouraging, then, given the scope of the problem, that Polartec鈥攐ne of the industry’s largest manufacturers of performance fabrics鈥攈as committed to focusing on the issue in its own practices.

鈥淎chieving non-PFAS treatments within our product line is an important milestone in our commitment to sustainably made performance fabrics,鈥� Polartec president Steve Layton said in a release announcing the news. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the latest step on our journey to an even more sustainable Polartec.鈥�

The company claims the elimination of the chemicals does not affect the performance of its products at all, resulting in “zero loss of durability or water repellency.” Mike Rose, Polartec’s VP of product development, said the performance results of the new fabric formula have “exceeded” company expectations, and for that reason will be implemented widely across the brand’s line鈥攊n all Hardface, Power Shield, Power Shield Pro, NeoShell, and Windbloc products. “The technology will also extend to fleece and insulation treatments for greater moisture management on products like Thermal Pro and Alpha,” the company said.

Michael Cattanach, Polartec’s global product director, told 国产吃瓜黑料 Business Journal that although there have been certain PFAS-free fabric manufacturing options on the market for years, none of them met his company’s broad range of performance needs鈥攚hich is why the brand pursued its own proprietary formula. Cattanach wouldn’t disclose any specifics about Polartec’s innovations in PFAS-free technology, but he did say that the brand has been fine-tuning the chemistry of the new process for the last two years.

Despite the importance of this breakthrough, though, the development doesn’t representing any kind of finish line for the company, Cattanach added. “There鈥檚 really no limit to what we call eco-engineering,” he said. “We鈥檙e not just about recycling anymore. We鈥檙e constantly trying to do whatever we can do to make out products as clean as they can be.”

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Global industrial manufacturer Milliken & Company has just announced that聽it has signed an agreement to acquire Polartec, LLC from Versa Capital Management.

Versa acquired the assets of the former Malden Mills in 2007 through the then 101-year-old textile manufacturer鈥檚 third reorganization. Working with management, the business was transformed, renaming the company Polartec, reorienting it toward a technology- and innovation-led growth strategy, and revamping the company鈥檚 leadership, operations, manufacturing footprint and customer relationships.

鈥淢illiken provides the perfect platform to ensure the continuation and acceleration of the success of the Polartec brand after years of complex and transformative business repositioning by CEO Gary Smith and his team,鈥� said Greg Segall, CEO of Versa and chairman of Polartec. 鈥淚t has been a great collaboration with Gary and all of Polartec鈥檚 valued employees, and we are proud of all that has been accomplished during Versa鈥檚 ownership鈥攏otably the feat of reviving an American textile icon and powerful global brand into an enterprise equipped to succeed in today鈥檚 highly competitive markets.

Smith said that Milliken is “the best possible 鈥榥atural owner鈥� of a brand with Polartec’s pedigree” and that he’s looking forward to the integration of the two companies.

The acquisition聽will be finalized this month.

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The history of what is now outdoor clothing fabric manufacturer Polartec is essentially a tale of two companies.

Long known as Malden Mills, the Massachusetts company revolutionized the outdoor industry by inventing synthetic fleece, but it also stumbled financially and endured a major fire before being bought by a private equity firm that changed its name to Polartec.

Now that private equity company is making another change by moving the company鈥檚 manufacturing operations from Massachusetts to Tennessee, closing a chapter on one of the most storied of New England鈥檚 textile mills and leaving a wake of disgruntled union workers.

Polartec CEO Gary Smith defended the exit from the factory in Lawrence, Massachusetts as a business decision necessary to keep the company competitive.

Meanwhile, negotiations with union workers in Massachusetts鈥攚ho have protested the company鈥檚 exit and have tried to interest Patagonia in buying Polartec鈥攈ave been contentious, although the two sides have recently come to terms. The closing Lawrence factory is losing 400 jobs, while the plant in Tennessee will employ more than 200 workers.

The decision to exit the Lawrence factory, which has been home to what is now Polartec since being rebuilt after a 1995 fire, came amid many factors. Among them, energy costs in Massachusetts are high relative to the rest of the United States, and the plant itself is much too large, Smith said. At its most productive, Polartec has only been able to utilize 25 percent of the plant鈥檚 capacity, making it cost ineffective.

The size and configuration of the factory had caused the company to struggle since before private equity firm Versa Capital Management, then known as Chrysalis Capital Partners, bought the company out of bankruptcy in 2007 and renamed it Polartec, Smith said.

The Lawrence factory that reopened after the fire, 鈥渨as overbuilt to begin with,鈥� Smith said. And by the mid-1990s, there was formidable competition for double-sided fleece from other producers, including those overseas. After years on the market, the fabric that Malden Mills invented had become commoditized.

The company can鈥檛 just downsize the plant and only use a fourth of it because it isn鈥檛 configured that way, Smith said. He compares it to a house; if someone wanted to only use 25 percent of the house, that would mean the kitchen and bathroom would all have to be moved to that section. The cost of doing the equivalent with the factory is prohibitive, he said.

鈥淎ll in, it鈥檚 hard to make a case to stay here,鈥� he said. Polartec plans to eventually sell the buildings.

Negotiations with the Union

The union鈥攚hich now represents a little over 100 Lawrence workers, down from about 350 before the announcement the plant would move鈥攙iews the relocation as a bid for cheaper labor.

But Smith said the decision isn鈥檛 so much about cost savings as it is about flexibility of the workforce. Workers at the Tennessee mill are cross-trained on different machines, an advantage Massachusetts union workers do not have, he said. Wage rates for the same jobs in Tennessee are similar to Massachusetts wages, Smith said.

Although he couldn鈥檛 give actual labor costs for the company, and he admits that hiring over a hundred newer workers has brought down the average wage, he says labor is not a material difference. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not a cheap labor play,鈥� he said. Rather, the non-union workers in Tennessee are more productive per hour, he said.

Ethan Snow, chief of staff and political director for the New England Joint Board Unite Here, the union representing the Polartec Lawrence-based hourly production employees, contends that the health insurance, retirement plans, holidays, and sick leave the union has negotiated over the years make the Massachusetts workers more expensive, meaning the company will save money on labor by the move to Tennessee.

The union wanted at least a week severance for every year of service, but the company only offered four weeks severance, an offer the union rejected.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not that they don’t want it; it鈥檚 that they feel insulted,鈥� said Eddie Quiles, president of the local branch of the union who has worked at the company since 1994. 鈥淚f the company was going out of business or going bankrupt we would understand. But this company is doing well. Why couldn鈥檛 they do a little better?鈥�

In the end, the union ended up getting a better offer, with Polartec offering eight weeks of severance to those who have been laid off or will be and nine weeks for those with 20 years of experience.

The Polartec union鈥檚 contract was set to expire at the end of October, so the company was accelerating the shutdown of the Lawrence plant and planning to keep a non-union crew on site to wind down operations, Smith said. But as part of the negotiations, the union agreed to a contract extension.

鈥淕aining the breathing room with the union certainly helps,鈥� Smith said.

A Fire and Financial Woes in a Different Time

The current relationship with Smith and Polartec is a far cry from what some long-term employees remember.

The 1995 blaze that came to be one of the defining moments in the company鈥檚 history and that propelled then-CEO Aaron Feuerstein to corporate sainthood in the public eye started not in the Lawrence factory鈥檚 fleece segment, but it the part used to make flocking, which is used in upholstery.

鈥淭here were people crying as the walls were collapsing,鈥� said Quiles, who lives in Lawrence.

He recalls Feuerstein coming to the scene and comforting workers. The next day, Feuerstein told them he would continue to pay them while the mill was rebuilt.

鈥淲e were very happy (with) this gracious CEO who had shown compassion,鈥� he said. 鈥淣one of it was about corporate greed.鈥�

But once the smoke cleared, Feuerstein鈥檚 compassion was not enough to keep the company healthy. In 2001, it filed for its second bankruptcy. (The first was in 1981.) Nor did the company鈥檚 financial troubles end after Feuerstein was replaced as CEO. It filed for protection against its creditors again in 2007

In a recent phone conversation, the 90-year old Feuerstein said Polartec鈥檚 move to Tennessee is a 鈥渄isgrace.鈥� Versa 鈥渄idn鈥檛 consider the workers,鈥� he said.

鈥淭hese people are only interested in making profit,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey have no interest in the welfare of workers. I considered workers stakeholders in the business.鈥�

Versa declined to comment for this article.

Moving Forward

Last fall, Polartec acquired United Knitting, in Cleveland, Tennessee, giving the Massachusetts company a new facility with only about a quarter of the capacity of the Lawrence factory.

Polartec has been upgrading the Tennessee facility鈥檚 utilities and infrastructure, and the ramp up was about 80 percent complete as of October 17, Smith said.

During peak production, the Tennessee factory will be 100 percent utilized, he said.

The company won’t export union jobs from Massachusetts to the non-union facility in Tennessee, and the loss of the Lawrence plant鈥攐ne of the last vestiges of the once-great New England textile industry鈥攈as upset workers.

In June 2016, they went so far as to send a letter to Patagonia鈥檚 CEO Rose Marcario asking the company, 鈥渁lready a major purchaser of Polartec鈥檚 products, to buy Polartec and continue operations in Lawrence.鈥�

The union didn鈥檛 hear back from Patagonia, Snow said. Patagonia representatives did not return a request for comment for this article.

But Smith said it wouldn鈥檛 make sense for Patagonia to buy Polartec because the California-based company doesn鈥檛 do its own manufacturing. 鈥淭hey never have been and never will be in the business of making things,鈥� he said.

The downsizing of manufacturing is part of Versa鈥檚 exit strategy for Polartec, but the changes shouldn鈥檛 be blamed on the private equity firm that specializes in buying already distressed assets and trying to turn them around, Smith said.

鈥�(Versa) didn鈥檛 put (Polartec) into distress; they bought it out of distress,鈥� he said, adding that without Versa, the jobs being lost now would have been lost a decade ago. 鈥�(Versa) buys things that are broken and bleeding.鈥�

Because Polartec is in a private equity portfolio, that means that by definition it is for sale. But the company is not actively pursuing a transition at the moment and doesn鈥檛 have an investment bank representing it for sale, Smith said.

Companies such as 3M and Invista would make more sense as logical purchasers for Polartec, and they have expressed interest in the past, he said. There are also some Asian companies that could be a logical fit, he said.

Regardless, it is unlikely that any so-called strategic buyer鈥攐perating companies rather than investment companies such as private equity鈥攚ould touch Polartec if the Lawrence factory were still operating, Smith said.

No strategic buyer wants to buy the plant and close it down themselves because of the high emotions tied to it, he says. But 鈥渟omebody has to do it,鈥� he said.

Fleece Is Not Dead

Over his more than three years as CEO of Polartec, Smith has focused on diversifying the company.

When he inherited Polartec, the business was well represented in traditional outdoor brands but not in fitness and lifestyle products, he said. Over the last decade, it had also become too dependent on outdoor and military sales, he added.

Smith said the boom in down and lofted synthetic insulation hasn鈥檛 hurt the fleece market. 鈥淭here is this misnomer in the outdoor space that fleece is dead,鈥� he said.

While fleece is being sold less as a fabric for technical outdoor wear these days, he says there is more fleece being sold in general than ever before.

Fleece has a much broader market than puffy insulation because of its versatility and its fashion aspect, said Kathy Swantko, president and founder of FabricLink Network, a textile, fiber, and fabric networking, marketing, and education business.

Fleece can be printed, made to different lofts, made with blended fabrics and fibers, and made into specialty fabrics like fleece Spandex, she said. It鈥檚 also less expensive than lofted insulation and can be sold more easily in Targets and Wal-Marts.

The fabric has crossed over from the outdoor market to more fashion markets, and even the classic outdoor fleeces such as high-loft varieties are making a comeback driven by Millennials, who weren鈥檛 active purchasers when those products were first in their heyday, she said.

Optimism About Polartec鈥檚 Future

These days, Smith is pleased with how the company has penetrated the cycling market, with Polartec fabric in cycling brands including Sportful, Rapha and Giro. On the fitness side, Adidas鈥� Terrex outdoor product line has also added to Polartec鈥檚 growth, he said.

The diversification is due to new fabric innovations as well as pushing existing fabrics into different markets, he said.

Continued innovation is everything to Polartec, he added. There are a lot of companies that can make a fabric, but there is little global capacity for actually creating a fabric, which involves significant investment, he said. Polartec has more than 50 full-time engineers, technicians, and chemists dedicated to product creation.

The company now also has very little debt, he said. If it is successful in selling the Lawrence property when the transition to Tennessee is complete, the company will be debt-free, he said.

Polartec鈥檚 headquarters and research and development operations will remain in Massachusetts a few miles from Lawrence, with 100 jobs staying in the state, including management, finance, human resources, and product development positions, Smith said. The company also has operations in New Hampshire and China.

鈥淭he company is鈥� a turtle that鈥檚 very healthy,鈥� said Smith. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just been carrying a shell that鈥檚 way too big. The turtle can鈥檛 keep dragging this [factory] around.鈥�

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