Travel & Nature

Photo: Montane

Montane may not be one of the iconic names of outdoor gear, having only been around for 16 years. But they are taking it to the big boys by offering part of their outdoor sport clothing line in eco materials. The garments shown below, for example, use recycled polyester in either shell fabrics or insulations. Yet British-based Montane are still able to offer their signature low weight and pack size, demonstrating that eco-textiles still offer performance characteristics.

Travel & Nature

Image via: Be True to Blue

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It's easy to harp on the big guys for creating massive big-box stores that sell massive piles of cheap products that ultimately end up in landfills. But let's be honest, from time to time we're still going to need to buy stuff and like it or not, sometimes those items come from chain or department stores. Action sports items in particular wear out just by virtue of the activity they are used for. When I spoke with Vipe Desai, founder of project BLUE this time last year, project BLUE was just getting started and there were big hopes that encouraging people to choose better products could ultimately raise money for conservation. Turns out, it worked!

Travel & Nature

Bed frames are made from trees, but sleeping bags? Why not, reckon Vaude, the German mountain sports company.

The insulation for a new range of Vaude sleeping bags due in 2010, will comprise 50% Tencel, a more benign form of nasty old viscose (aka Rayon), made from plantation tree pulp in a process that recycles most of the production solvents. Tencel is a relatively new fibre, having first appeared in 1987, and scoring its own textile category, known as Lyocell. Interest in the fibre waned for a while, but has been revived of late, with a whole raft of new fabrications coming to light.

Travel & Nature

We've had a few stories about smaller snowboard and backcountry ski companies heading off down a green path. I think this is the first time we've had a mainstream ski manufacturer on side. The Fischer Sports Group have just announced that the thermal energy for the production and heating of their plants which make Fischer Skis has gone 100% renewable.

Their Ried, Austria factory has been into this gig since 2001, but recently their other plant in Mukachevo, Ukraine, which has 950 folk pumping out 700,00 pairs of skis (alpine and nordic), also joined the initiative.

Travel & Nature

Winter is inching inexorably closer for our Northern Hemisphere readers, and for a few hardy souls (skiers, snowboarders, snowshoers and alpinists) this will bring with it the excitement of days and nights spent in the snowy backcountry. The wilderness may beckon, but nature also calls. What to do our human waste in these pristine environments? Because, come the spring thaw, the evidence, once hidden from view, becomes very exposed. And soon finds itself contaminating nearby waterways.

A couple of years ago the Cairngorms National Park, in Scotland, developed a rather elegant solution to the problem of winter waster or frozen faeces.

Travel & Nature

Image via: Rahul_Dutta on Flickr.com

Now that the summer surfing season has come to a close, (is there ever really an end to surfing season?), it's time to give your board a little TLC, upgrade any thrashed gear and prepare for the big waves of the winter season. Just in time, ReRip is hosting their third annual "Future of Surfing" Surfboard Swap this weekend in Solana Beach where you can toss your broken boards and check out new green gear. Heck, maybe if you're lucky some fellow surfer will just trade boards with you.

Travel & Nature

You may recall we posted earlier this year on NEMO's cool 90%* recycled tent, the Nano Oz. And how, like many new arrivals it was experiencing a few teething troubles. Well, Kate from NEMO was recently in touch to update us on the Nano Oz developmental progress.

Seems the news is both good, and bad. Although the recycled single skin tent fabric is technically a winner "... incredibly durable, breathable and waterproof. Honestly, they have some of the industry's best ratings," according to Kate, it still a few issues to be resolved before a full commercial release.

Travel & Nature

We've long admired Montague for their tough, but elegant, full size folding bikes -- built around a concept that makes them just as suitable for military paratroopers, as it does recreational riders. Now, in a move to target urban riders, they've announced the Boston. A new single speed folding bike with 700c (roughly 26") wheels.

Instead of an often problematic, multi-spocketed derailleur, they've opted for an easy-to-maintain hub, which Montague say allows riders to switch between fixed or freewheel depending on their preference. More pix and specs after the fold.