It's a new edition of The Cache, your bi-weekly roundup for all things ultralight. New gear, new brands, interesting events, curious conversations, sales, giveaways, and just about anything and everything that we find remotely relevant. This week we look at: The return of the Hexamid, Packstack, November OR, and Jay-Z & Will Smith investing in Hipcamp
They're Back... The Hexamid!
In 2009, Zpacks founder Joe Valesko hiked the CDT and brought along a prototype of the 1 person Hexamid. Now, in celebration of Joe's 10-year anniversary, Zpacks has released 100 Hexamids for sale! While we've got no idea of how many they've got left, like all things Zpacks sells, I imagine they'll be selling out fast. 10.4 oz of DCF and bug netting.
Check out the limited release Hexamid by Zpacks!
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New Ultralight Tool: Packstack
Familiar with LighterPack or simply looking for a website to help organize and layout your gear before your next trip? Recently launched Packstack allows ounce counting backpackers to create and save packing lists for upcoming trips. Why is it different than other options out there? Their founder explains via Reddit:
Why make the switch?
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Packs can include field notes, trip duration, gender, temperature range and season
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Each item in a pack can include additional notes
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Categories are predefined
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Modern interface and infrastructure
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(coming soon) Search packs by location
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(coming soon) Mobile version
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The End of Winter (November) OR is Coming
After a lukewarm and sparsely attended initial response, the newly introduced November Outdoor Retailer show has been canceled. 3 Outdoor Retailer shows in a year were just too much, and now we are left with a bustling summer show in July and a combined OR and Snow Show in January. While I'm sure some in the industry will lament the reduction in visits to Denver, this shift seems exceptionally logical.
Read Outdoor Retailers Explanation
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Hip Investors for Hipcamp?
If you aren't familiar with Hipcamp, it's a site/app that allows you to prebook a wide range of "camping experiences." If you aren't familiar with Jay-Z or Will Smith, you should first listen to the Black Album and then binge-watch the Fresh Prince of Bellaire immediately. Regardless, both Jay-Z and Will Smith (more accurately their investment groups) just became investors in Hipcamp, and we thought that was interesting. While it's unclear how much they've invested, Hipcamp recently raised over $25 million in funds to help growth and "get more people outside and do it in a way that supports consumer desires while simultaneously creating meaningful revenue opportunities for landowners.”
