Why choose between children and the mountains? Pack for both!

Gregory: Paragon 58 Gregory’s rucksacks have been the prime example of what a rucksack should be for nearly 40 years now, attaining somewhat of a cult status as well as being highly appreciated by hard-core outdoor lovers – and those of you who can actually accept a 70 litre behemoth getting away with being a cult icon in the first place. Sexy? Nah, not really. It’s not an Italian company, after all! But something they do know about is how to be resilient – and THIS rucksack proves it, no two doubts about that. Gregory’s rucksacks are also a byword for quality and carefree hiking thanks to their tearproof nature. In this edition of the fair, the new Paragon 58 won an award for its high quality and being incredibly light. Its smart details contribute to lifting a weight off one’s shoulders, the inbuilt super light rucksack similar to a wash bag being one example, and would have seen me scurrying to buy a Paragon… weren’t it for the fact I have a great Arc’teryx Bora, as old as time itself (more than 70 litre capacity, obviously). Then again, even the newly minted Bora won an award; looks like the rucksack industry is a pretty competitive one! Birnadal: Birnabag  Safety first? Sure, but with a twist. As soon as you become a parent, your world view changes dramatically. Take winter, for example, and how children, at first glance, aren’t really made for running about across a wintry landscape: their small bodies get cold really quickly, so longer tours in a child carrier at minus zero temperatures are a big no-no. The Birnabag comes to the rescue: a sleeping bag-cum-child carrier. It looks so fluffy even adults want to revert to their childhood and explore the world from the safety and warmth of mum’s or dad’s shoulders. Even the jury of the OutDoor award believes the Birnbag to be worth its weight in gold.

Muggy summers in the run-up to cold days (and nights)

Mountain equipment: sleeping bag featuring GORE® THERMIUM™ technology Just a few months to go now until winter is here: the perfect occasion to unveil GORE® THERMIUM™ for the cold season! This new application protects the padding, essential for insulation, from water and thus from getting wet. After all, only a dry insulation is a good insulation. Ta-da! Mountain Equipment uses GORE® THERMIUM™ in its Iceline sleeping bag. It grabbed visitors’ attention hanging from the stall as well as in a beautifully arranged glass cabinet, a modern reinterpretation of Sleeping Beauty in her ice coffin. I wonder… would one sleep just as well as the poisoned princess in the fairy tale? One thing’s for sure: it’s nice and toasty. [gallery ids="1006,1020,1021,1026,1027"] Red Fox: Sleeping Bag Backpack Alpha Seems like fairy tales are the leitmotif of this guide. Rumpelstiltskin, the Grim Reaper – what next? Russian brand Red Fox is active in the trail running industry and has developed a rucksack with an inbuilt day and night all-in-one piece of clothing. They’ve MacGyvered an outfit that can be used to run in during the day and sleep in at night. On top of that, you can also adjust the bottom part for your feet, lift your hood and close the mosquito net in front of your face in regions infested by the annoying beasts. And off you go, running across lakes, ponds, and bogs, not a care in the world. However, keep an eye out for random duck hunters patrolling the area, as that is one outfit that may make them a bit too trigger-happy for your liking. The multifunctional running-cum-sleeping bag solution won an Apex Award. The Apex Trophy looks like an odd mix between… Gandalf and a garden gnome, there’s no other way to describe it; to be fair though, it’s quite the appropriate trophy for the outfit. Red Fox has some more sober clothing featuring GORE® THERMIUM™ in the pipeline, useful for those colder days and regions – apparently Russia has plenty of those. To cut a long story short: Red Fox is a big name in Eastern Europe in the outdoor industry and offers everything from solid GORE-TEX hardshells to quilted clothing used to ascend eight-thousanders.

The kings of metal offset by softer hues

Edelrid: hard steel and a soft mat Another award given by the OutDoor for a bouldering mat. What’s so great about it? Even non-boulderers can use it. The bottom is fitted with an inbuilt sitting ‘cushion’ filled with polystyrene chips, as seen in furniture shops. Ok, so it’s not exactly a sitting ‘cushion’, as it’s used to balance and even out irregularities in the surface the mat is resting on. Place the mat wherever you want, breaking your fall and increasing safety should you fall or jump off boulders. ‘Safety first’ is a key concern reflected by Edelrid’s Bulletproof carabiner. This model is made of steel, which makes it considerably durable when used on sharp bolt hangers. Normal aluminium carabiners soon develop deep notches when used on sharp ridges, which can seriously damage a rope. [gallery ids="1004,1002,1012,1001"] Kong: e-Frog Same old, same old… or is it now? Kong, the Italian carabiner manufacturer, produced Frog years ago: a model with a somewhat unusual locking mechanism. Cute idea, yet with a limited scope. The newest development (the brainchild of external tinkerers) can be described in the same way. The e-Frog is a carabiner that can be controlled remotely. You can remotely unlatch it and, for example, dismantle a safety catch. A great idea for industrial use. For rock climbing? Well, I’ll leave that up to you. Its price tag is well over € 2,000 (for a set including numerous carabiners and a trigger module) which will probably discourage most buyers from purchasing it. Deejo: A cut above The OutDoor Show is bursting with useful, practical, functional tools and solutions. Sometimes, however, you find something which is just plain nice. Tools which aren’t easily described: only handling them will do them justice. Love at first sight, you could say. Take a knife, for example. A man’s tool if there ever was one. Grey, titanium steel. Or black. Filigree as soft as a woman’s hand. And there’s a pink model, for women, too. Yellow and blue. Available in many other shades and patterns, with different blade lengths. And and and. You can also customise your own knife online. my.deejo.fr. By the way, the Outdoor magazine, together with Herbertz and Deejo, submitted a reader’s survey to choose a new design. The ‘Sunshine Mountain‘ came on top of everything else, and is a limited edition with just 800 pieces available. A great pattern. Then I again, I’m having a blast customising my own.