Outdoors | Evolving Consumer

Rand McNally Maps the Way

While the Rand McNally name likely evokes atlases and books, the company knows a thing or two about GPS as well. The Rand McNally Foris 850 is designed not to be read at a desk, but out on a trail or while on a bike. Out of the box it features more than five million miles of roads and trails preloaded onto the device.

These include trails in National and State parks and forests, rails-to-trails routes, and of course US street and contour maps. The rugged and waterproof Foris 850 features a three-inch anti-glare touchscreen, compass and altimeter. It runs on two AA batteries and it can go where the road or trail takes you. Video after the jump

Viva Zappos in Vegas

Online retailer Zappos has signed on as a platinum title sponsor for the RTC Viva Bike Vegas 2013 Gran Fondo Pinarello announced the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada (RTC). This big ride will take place just following this year’s Interbike, and will take place on Saturday, Sept. 21.

This year’s RTC Viva Bike Vegas 2013 Gran Fondo Pinarello Sponsored by Zappos.com will take cyclists on a more extensive route through Downtown Las Vegas, which has seen revitalization thinks in part to Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh’s efforts. Riders will even get to travel past the new Zappos’ HQ that is inside the city’s former city hall! Viva Las Vegas.

Viva Bike Vegas 2013 Gran Fondo Pinarello Official Website

Stake Some Light

We’ve seen UCO’s line of LED lights for camping and have been impressed, but this is one company that continues to innovate. The company has introduced its new StakeLight, a tent stake that as the name suggests features a built-in light.

With a 17-lumen LED light encased in the water-resistant housing the light can help users avoid tripping over a tent rope while getting up in the night to answer nature’s call. The StakeLight features both strobe and steady modes and can can for up to 24 hours from a single AAA on strobe setting. Dare we say this is a bright idea?

UCO Official Website

M.A.K. the Knife

There are plenty of survival tools out there, and the M.A.K.-1 Knife is one to add to the list of must-have items. It was designed by Canadian firefighter James McGowan, and while this knife has been on sale for years we couldn’t help but report on it.

This Multiple Access Knife (M.A.K.) is designed as rescue and rapid entry knife, and is made of rugged 3Cr13 stainless steel. It features a blunt chisel pry-bar tip for opening doors and windows, as well as a razor-sharp knife edge that can do serious cutting. It offers a textured and grooved G10 scales that provides a grip for bare and gloved hands. This one is truly on the cutting edge in more ways than one.

CRKT M.A.K.-1 Official Website

OGIO’s New Gambit

Lifestyle bag maker OGIO is betting big on the Gambit, a go-anywhere backpack that features a crush proof “Tech Vault” pocket, along with utility pockets and additional storage for virtually any gadget or gizmo you’d need to take on your next adventure. There are even dual side water bottle and accessory holders so everything is within reach. It also offers a HUB (Hybrid Unibody Backpanel), which includes increased shoulder strap foam padding for daily use or those long treks.

OGIO Official Website

Board of Light

Stand-up paddleboarding remains a fast growing sport, and start-up firm Nocqua looks to get boarders out at night as well as during the day. Unlike surfboards this slower paced type of board riding can be done on calm lakes, rivers and even reservoirs.

The Nocqua board offers a little light for those nighttime treks out on the water as the board features the company’s 2000 LED light system, which include two waterproof LED light bars with 72 LEDs. These put out more than 2,000 lumens (hence the name of the system), and can cast an almost inspiring glow on the water.

Nocqua Official Website

Carbon Disc Print

For those who like to play Frisbee or Disc Golf there is now a very serious disc – one made of carbon fiber. While it isn’t available in stores just yet, Tyler Seamons is looking to Kickstarter to help his concept take flight. He’s designed a 10 inch 175 gram disc made of carbon fiber that features a heavy duty polyurethane plastic protective edge.

The concept actually includes two styles, a Disc Golf style driver and a Frisbee shaped version. The former is meant to fly greater distances while the latter is shaped for shorter distances and for catching. Video after the jump

Outdoor Retailer Demo Day’s new Location

The Outdoor Retailer expo in Utah will begin next week, but the location will be a little different. The organizers have announced that the Open Air Demo will move due to low water levels at the Jordanelle Reservoir, the original planned location. Instead of Jordanelle, the demo will be held at the Pineview Reservoir near Ogden, on July 30.

Check back all next week for news from the Outdoor Retailer Show, which runs from July 31 to August 3.

Outdoor Retailer Official Website

Nike Looks to Adapt

Adapt or die. For Nike Golf it is apparently never say die, instead the company looks to not only adapt but to Hyperadapt with its new golf jacket that promises to give athletes added comfort, mobility and of course protection from the elements. It featured no-sew technology throughout the inner layer, which helps minimized chaffing, while a four-way stretch system maximizes mobility and eliminates any restrictions in the swing.

The Hyperadapt Storm-FIT jacket recently withstood wind gusting at 35 mph along with heavy rains during the Irish Open, so it should more than work out for most golfers heading for nine holes.

Nike Golf Official Website

Scoot Pack Ready to Fly

We’ve seen folding bikes that can help a commute to work, and now Glyde Gear has something for the younger crowd. For those heading back to school in just a few weeks there is the Glyde Gear Fly, which is part backpack and part scooter.

As a scooter it can be ridden like any other, and is made of a glass-reinforced nylon foot platform. It actually consists of three wheels to help maintain balance for those bringing a load of books back and forth to school. The foot platform can folded up and the Fly worn as a traditional backpack. It is made of 600 denier polyester and features a large 25.4-liter main compartment, along with front utility pocket and even a water bottle pocket. There is a padded back panel and shoulder straps so it can be worn like a backpack as well.

Glyde Gear Fly Official Website

Nike Looks to Incyte

While it might be hard to reinvent the wheel, Nike continues to look to refine the soccer ball. Its new Incyte was designed with Nike RaDaR technology and micro-textured casing to provide for high visibility and consistent touch on the field. This pattern reportedly allows players to see the ball and react faster, while the five-layer construction provides for better control at first touch.

The design also promises faster, farther and more accurate ball flight. Nike might just “incite” a revolution on the soccer pitch with the Incyte.

Nike Incyte Official Website

Dwarf-Sized Axe

The Joseph Bowen Micro Hatchet TAD Edition is not an axe for a dwarf but it be used one-handed, while its design centers the force of the impact into the middle of the blade allowing for even hard objects to be cut. It is skeletonized to reduce weight, and it features one large center hole to aid the grip. This might just be the axe to take hiking, camping, unless you actually need to chop a lot of wood.

Joseph Bowen Micro Hatchet TAD Edition Official Website

Softer Bike Path

Falling on a bicycle is something everyone does unfortunately. We try to avoid it, but whether as kids or adults it hurts. Now researchers at the Swedish Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) are looking to create a new form of asphalt that could help reduce bicycle slide-outs while also provide some added cushion should a rider fall.

While regular asphalt is mostly crushed stones and bitumen, a petroleum byproduct that acts as a binding agent, the researchers are reportedly looking to blend in a bit more recycled tire rubber to soften the mix. This might still be a painful landing, but it could soften the blow.

[Via DN.se: Cyklister får mjuk asphalt]