Outdoor Retailer / SIA Highlights

We talk to Blister reviewers Sascha Anastas & Paul Forward about their ski quivers; binding preferences; coffee in AK; your questions; and more.TOPICS & TIMES:Sascha’s quiver selections (10:17)Sascha’s general take on bindings (23:45)Paul’s 18-month-old son’s ski quiver (30:51)Shocking coffee revelations about Girdwood, AK (33:24)Best pow ski, regardless of place? (39:43)Blister member questions (44:01)Paul’s 3-ski quiver (51:13)DPS Lotus 124 vs DPS Koala 119 (58:21)Bindings (another shocking revelation) (1:02:21)Paul’s 2-ski quiver (1:06:07)Paul’s 1-ski quiver (1:10:15)RELATED LINKS:blister.getspot.comBlister Recommended Shop: Gear WestBlister Alpine Bindings GuideBlister Lightweight Touring Bindings Shootout Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

4 Des 20201h 17min

Luke Koppa and Jonathan Ellsworth discuss the opening day of the ski season; approaches to building ski quivers; our specific selections; Luke’s latest rant; What We’re Celebrating; & more.TOPICS & TIMES:Buttered Noodles & Air Fresheners (3:31)Opening Day! (11:04)Frontside Skis We’re Now Testing (17:21)*Our* Quiver Selections (19:26)Approaches to Building a Quiver (23:11)Luke’s 3-ski quiver (33:36)Jonathan’s 3-ski quiver (36:04)Rossignol Black Ops Sender Ti (38:12)K2 Mindbender 108 Ti (40:16)Luke’s Rant (42:42)What We’re Celebrating (45:39)RELATED LINKS:Our featured Shop: PowderhoundGEAR:30 Ep. 41: Eric Helmbrecht, PowderhoundOur 20/21 Winter Buyer’s GuideBecome a Blister Member Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

27 Nov 202053min

Today we’re talking with one of our Blister Recommended Shops to get their perspective on a mix of topics that range from broadly applicable to all of us, to topics that help us better understand what’s going on in the specific local community that each particular shop serves.Earlier this week I sat down in Blister headquarters with Tyson Stellrecht, the founder of Boise Gear Collective, to talk about the selling of both used gear and brand new gear; how it’s going with backcountry.com one year later; why Tyson isn’t moving into e-commerce; gear snobs; predictions for the upcoming season; and more.TOPICS & TIMESThe outdoor scene around Boise (5:12)backcountry.com - one year later (8:09)Tyson’s backstory & starting a used gear shop (14:16)The value of offering used gear & new & service (21:45)Why Tyson isn’t moving into e-commerce (24:40)Starting to sell new gear alongside used (33:17)Gear snobs (42:00)Predictions for the upcoming winter (50:34)What We’re Celebrating (59:40)RELATED LINKS:Blister Podcast ep. 109: Jason Blevins on backcountry.comBecome a Blister Member Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

20 Nov 20201h

If you are a true gear head, you are going to love this conversation. And if you aren’t a full-on gear nerd but you’d like to better understand what “waterproof” really means, and when you should and shouldn’t worry about a 10k or 20k rating on the jacket or pants you are thinking of buying, then you also ought to listen to this conversation.Luke Koppa and I spoke this week with Michael Cattanach, who is the Product Design Director at Polartec. Polartec is a very interesting company with a hundred years of history behind it. But you might not be too familiar with them, since Polartec makes the textiles and fabrics that a lot of your favorite outerwear and apparel are made of, but they don’t make or sell the end products. In other words, Polartec makes the ingredients used to make your favorite apparel. And so today, we’re going to dive deep into the details about ingredients and textiles and fabrics, and Polartec’s history, and what Polartec is up to today.Now as we said, we do get into the weeds quite a bit in this conversation, so we strongly encourage you to check out the show notes to this episode, where we have listed a number of very relevant terms and definitions.TOPICS & TIMES:History of Polartec (2:48)Michael’s background (6:52)History of NeoShell (8:44)Hydrostatic Head Pressure (14:31)MVTR & RET Tests (and see our Show Notes!) (18:34)Handfeel (28:53)“Electrospun” membranes (31:45)Polartec Power Shield Pro vs Neoshell (36:48)Being an “ingredient” brand (47:010Product control & Polartec’s Apex Awards (51:29)Polartec Power Fill, Alpha, & Power Air (59:20)Fleece, Microplastics, & Sustainability (1:03:13)Polartec.com - see the brands working with Polartec (1:10:32)RELATED LINKS:Show Notes — Important Terms & Definitions Our “Outerwear 101” articleOur “Outerwear 201” article Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

13 Nov 20201h 17min

Luke Koppa and Jonathan Ellsworth discuss some of the highlights and big takeaways from our new Winter Buyer’s Guide. We’ll talk about some of our Best Of award winners; whether or not the 20/21 crop of ski gear represents a step forward; and more. Then we answer a lot of the questions you submitted.TOPICS & TIMES:Luke’s soap (2:49)Our 20/21 BLISTER Buyer’s Guide (5:47)“Rounded” Flex pattern (8:50)Volkl Mantra 102 & Katana 108 (15:24)Majesty Superwolf (21:35)Salomon QST 99 (22:35)Dynastar Menace 98 (27:00)Your questions (33:49)Where did the name Blister come from? (44:59)What do I need to do to work for Blister? (50:28)Coffee makers! (1:00:45)What We’re Celebrating (1:20:33)RELATED LINKS:Watch on our YouTube channelOur featured Shop: Backcountry EssentialsOur 20/21 Winter Buyer’s GuideBecome a Blister Member Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

6 Nov 20201h 28min

Today we’ve got another edition of Blister Shop Talk, where we check in with one of our Blister Recommended Shops to get their perspective on topics that range from universally applicable, to topics that help us better understand what’s going on the particular, local communities that they serve.Bentgate is an outstanding shop located in Golden, Colorado, and our guest today is John Weir. John and I talk about fitting AT boots; the rise of splitboarding; John’s (really good) predictions for this upcoming season; some of the precautions and protocols that Bentgate is taking and putting in place this winter; a lasting (positive) effect that COVID may have on the bootfitting process; and more.TOPICS & TIMESBackground on Bentgate (4:58)Backcountry boots: “Comfort Performance” fit?? (6:59)Prediction #1: upcoming season (10:38)The rise of splitboarding (14:59)Prediction #2: avy courses (19:39)Prediction #3: snow dynamics (29:33)What’s Bentgate doing different this season? (37:35)What We’re Celebrating (44:51)RELATED LINKS:Become a Blister Member Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

30 Okt 202048min

We sat down in Blister HQ with Cody Townsend to talk about coffee makers, bindings, beacons, terrain management, mortality, movies, and more.TOPICS & TIMES:Coffee Makers (9:29)SHIFT binding (14:40)Bindings in general (27:02)Movies (38:17)Tech bindings (46:33)Beacons (56:12)Terrain management & avalanche education (1:06:55)Topics for future conversations (1:20:18)What We’re Celebrating This Week (1:23:53)RELATED LINKS:Blister Podcast: Cody Townsend, Blister Speaker SeriesOff The Couch Podcast: Cody Townsend Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

23 Okt 20201h 30min

What do you know about Alpaca wool? And how well do you know the ins and outs of manufacturing in Peru? We talk about these things and more with the founders of Arms of Andes, which is a company that makes outdoor clothing from Royal Alpaca wool that is single-sourced and produced in Peru. We discuss the characteristics and benefits of Royal Alpaca wool; the traditional method used to collect the wool; their commitment to (and the unique challenges of) manufacturing in Peru; what they’re doing to try to be one of the most sustainable clothing brands in the world; and more.TOPICS & TIMES:What is Arms of Andes? (3:38)More specifics of Alpaca Wool (13:28)Manufacturing in Peru (21:00)Types of Alpaca Wool (31:32)Arms of Andes product line (36:25)Where to Purchase (40:59)What We’re Celebrating (42:41) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

16 Okt 202045min