Another year, another exciting Outdoor Retailer show with a ton of fresh goodies from current and potential vendors! Grab a cup of coffee, sit back and let us show you around what'll be available from your favorite brands in the coming season. Have any questions? Requests? Let us know and we'll do our best to get the answers and the beta you're looking for!
Hobie
First up, Hobie Kayaks! We caught these guys before we'd finished our coffee and weren't quite awake enough to take notes - so we thought we'd just let them speak for themselves.
Gear Aid
Gear Aid makes repair tattoos which are cut outs of everything from a swatch to a foot print. Designed to replace that roll of duct tape you keep handy for gear repairs and make your kids jackets all fresh and steezy for the new year. They also make reflective tenacious tape for those of you that like to get your workout on at twilight. Safety first, folks!
NRS
We love the NRS crew! Not only are they extremely nice Idaho folk, they consistently kick out high quality, award winning gear. This year is no exception! We're digging the new tri-color shorts (on fleek, son!) but the super star in this year's line up is the all new Sidewinder Bibs. If you're a kayak fisherperson, these fishing wader/dry bibs should go on your Christmas list right now! At $449 you'll need to stay on Santa's good side, but these will be worth the effort!
Also targeted towards the kayak fisherperson, the Guide shorts are super versatile, made of 4 way stretch and have 5 pockets with plenty of go-anywhere-do-anything in them.
Thule
These folks are determined to become the brand you think of when you want to carry anything. Skis? Check. Bikes? Check. Boats? Check. Tent? Check. Schoolbooks? Check. Cellphones? Check. No, seriously! Cell phones! Thule is coming out with a whole line up of backpacks and cell phone carriers to make sure there are there for anything that needs to be carted/towed/picked up.
5.10
The Eddy is a sick river shoe and, at $99, should be competitive in the market. That said, we're wondering where 5.10 will fit in the mix of brands that have been doing water shoes for years (NRS, Merrell, Columbia, Astral). Your thoughts? Is there room in the market for another shoe brand? Time will tell friends, time will tell.
Immersion Research
Ahhh, our Southeast brethen. The water, so warm. The drawls, so charming. The gear, so awesome. IR has always produced excellent women's gear. No "shrink it and pink it" when one of your founders is not only female but a whitewater pioneer as well - the new IR Shawty is actually purple. It's also made of 7 figure drysuit material and includes a front pee zip for $899, making it a bargain for a top of the line drysuit!
If you're one of the Wells brothers, or you just really wanna be like them (who doesn't??), the new IR Devil's Club is for you! Designed for the explorer who is bush whacking into the next First D, the Devil's Club is ultra durable and ready for anything.
Jackson Kayak
The boat company that is "for paddlers, by paddlers" keeps churning out the rad boats, complete with some new designs and accessories for the fish folks and those looking for something that'll do everything.
The Karma Traverse replaces the Rogue series. It's a little more whitewater focus and has a direct line of site on Dagger's Katana. It'll be coming in two lenths, 10' and 11' and will include a drop skeg.
Also new is this cool small yellow cooler. Significantly smaller than it's big brother, it's retains Jackson's Orions bomber quality and gear tracks. $99 retail should be a much better pricepoint for some folks than the Orion.
Alright all you mini-anglers! You're finally getting your own boat! No packing around with mom and dad, now you getta go where you wanna go & fish what you wanna fish! The Skipper is Jackson's new, ultra stable 9' fishing kayak with a 50-125lb weight range. Leave it to Jackson, one of the pioneers in kid's boats, to keep all of the bells and whistles in the mini version: fish grippers, 2 rod holders and gear tracks included. They also looked a safety and cut a front hatch that all but renders the boat unsinkable in the event of a flip. Nice work watching out for our little people, guys! At $999 we're thinking this will be a kid that is definitely on Santa's good side or maybe working the family past time.
See this? Sure, it looks like a non-descript black thing-a-ma-bob (feel free to whip out your technical term dictionaries on that one) BUT what it really is is a line cutter that will be on all Jackson fishing kayaks and, if you don't want it, no problem - it comes right off.
And moving on to the adult fishing kayaks (1/2 of you have fast forwarded to this point - that's cool, we get it):
The Kraken 15.5 is actually 15'7" - as many of you know, that came out this year... Next they are adding a 13.5 (actually 13'3") to the line up. There will be three different levels of outfitting: standard, elite and pro. The 15.5 will come in all three outfitting options, the 13.5 will lose the pro option and will be available in standard and elite only.
The 14' 6" Tandem Kilroy is a solid tandem kayak with some serious outfitting potential. The metal cross bars are removable and the gear tracks that are end to end on this thing make it easy to add whatever rod holder floats you & your partner's boat (get it! hah!).
Just a few quick shots of the Cuda LT. Sure, it came out last year, but it still looks gooooood!
The Kilroy LT is now available in real tree camo.
The Coosa HD Pro outfitting version is no lightweight, weighing in at a solid 92lbs, but you get a lot of bling for the weight: pads, power pole wireless anchoring system, Nocqua battery power system, Buck knife splizzors (oh yeah, that's spelled right - we checked) and a low j krate.
Check out the NEW Nomad! So, so pretty. Pictured is a large and medium - a small will be added to the line up. It looks to us like the excellent designers at Dagger took some notes from the stern of Pyranha's 9R and mixed it up with the tried and true Nomad, threw in a dose and love and BOOM! New classic creeker! Thank you much, Confluence, for holding on to Dagger.
How has it taken this long for a kayak manufacturer to come out with a fishing boat called Pescador?? These fish, at 10' and 12', are going to be the perfect sit-on-top solution for the aspiring kayak angler who is looking at getting their feet wet. No gear tracks but with a nice seat and attractive price point, we this this boat will be a big hit.
And let us not forget the SUPs! Ya' gotta have 'em and these beauts look good!
Anchor Wizard
Interesting.
Kanu Lock
Seriously? Can't they repackage it or rename it for the us. Kan-they? A webbing strap with cables inside you can lock so now you can lose your keys to your kayak, sup, and what ever else you can call a Kanu. Seriously Kanu?
Qalo
Why do we keep thinking of Cross Fitters when we see this rubber wedding ring? We have now tested it for 4 hrs and can safely say that, while a bit daunting in black, it is certainly comfy. Fellas get a camo alternative and ladies get the more uplifting color choices of white and pink. It certainly HAS to be the best profit margin any manufacturer is getting anywhere at $19.95 but may be the solution for some folks who really want put a ring on it on while playing.
Olukai
How could we resist showing you guys this? How cool are these custom shoes Olukai had a Hawaiian artist doing for the show.
Robot Grill Cleaner
We know you've been wondering 'when oh WHEN will there be a roomba for my grill??' Well folks, that time is NOW. Set it and forget it - we just highly suggest keeping it out of your kids reach!
Labels: 5.10, Anchor Wizard, confluence, Gear Aid, hobie kayaks, immersion research, Jackson Kayak, Kanu Lock, nrs, Olukai, Outdoor Retailer 2015, Qalo, Robot Grill Cleaner, Thule
