It's a new edition of The Cache, your semi regular 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 closing of Black Rock Gear, students flocking towards outdoor ed, new EE underquilts, allmansright gear, and Yvon Chouinard being Yvon Chouinard.
Black Rock Gear Closes Their Doors
A ultralight cottage gear classic, after 11 years in business, Evan and Black Rock Gear are officially closing their doors. Known mostly for their ultralight down hats, Black Rock Gear has been keeping the heads of hikers warm for years. They've still got some items available for sale, but once they are sold out... they are sold out!
Click HERE to shop Black Rock Gear
Students Flood Towards Outdoor Education
While pretty much all elements of life have been rattled by the ripples of Covid-19, some of those most impacted have been college students. Instead of electing for remote learning and restricted campus life, many students are choosing to spend their time outside. As a result, outdoor education and recreation are booming within our college aged population. Watch out AT 2021, it's going to be a crowded one.
Read more about the surge in Outdoor Education
New Enlightened Equipment Underquilts
For all the hammockers our there, this past week Enlightened Equipment rolled out 3 new underquilts. The Revolt V2, the Uprising, and the Revolt V2 APEX. The Uprising is the most technical of the bunch, while the Revolt V2 is a slightly improved version of the original Revolt. We don't pretend to be hammock experts here at GGG, but these are certainly worth checking out.
Learn more about EE's new underquilts!
New Brand to Watch: allmansright
Based in NYC, the name 'allmansright' is:
inspired by the Swedish Law "The Right to Public access", also known as, "Freedom to Roam". We believe in Mother Earth's virtues belonging to everyone and our commitment to that will go beyond providing the gear for receiving them.
Founder Livio currently has several ultralight packs and crossbags available for purchase. Coming originally from the world of fashion, Livio and allmansright are one of the few BIPOC owned cottage companies.
Patagonia's Hidden Message is... Real!
Nope it's not fake, Patagonia and its always vocal leader Yvon Chouinard have done a bit of subtle stitching prior to November's election.
7 comments
Matt
If you do not have OPEN and HONEST debate on all topics and I repeat ALL TOPICS you have lost your true democratic right. All that has been fought for and paid in the blood of those with the belief that no yoke is good enough for them and their descendants, and then have cowards stand mute and accept, just for fear of debate? Sad to be alive in these times ladies and gentlemen if not for you then for those still to walk this Closed System called Earth.
Theodore R.
To claim “keep politics out of this” and similar tropes is incredibly short sighted.
National Parks are public policy. National forest are public policy. Boundaries on industrialization are public policy. Protection of rivers, streams and hydro networks are public policy.
Some political stances are fundamentally contradictory with even the slightest care for nature.
Anyway, Patagonia has always been an activist brand, it’s nothing new.
dcbz
I appreciate Patagonia’s willingness to call out those who would transfer public lands to private hands or opening them to unbridled extractive industrial activities. Chouinard and his staff has never been afraid of risk or the consequences of the risks they take. (See the ’Don’t Buy This Jacket’ ad or read about his willingness to source organic cotton at great cost so that his employees’ health wouldn’t be compromised.) I appreciate a company that acknowledges that their business exists because of public lands. Patagonia and REI are rare companies in this day of short term gain at all cost mentality that is so pervasive in our society right now.
Robin Pierce
We’ve endured 4 long years of Republican corruption, fear mongering, self-interest over the good of the whole. The American people and our land are not better for it. Now we speak OUR minds and beliefs. Let’s drain Trump and his swamp! Good on Patagonia! I support them and protect our pubic lands.
Tim
The lands you hike and backpack on are available to you because of political decisions. They would not exist without legal protections from the county to federal levels, many of which lead to the forced removal or extermination of the people who used to call those lands home before becoming playgrounds and sites of resource extraction for your and my benefit. These lands are all under threat of political decisions that would see them drilled for oil, cut for timber, dug up for minerals, or as dump sites for nuclear waste. It’s quite exceptional to be able to pretend our hobbies are not political when we are not immediately suffering the consequences of those political decisions.
Old Hiker
Your political views should be yours and not pushed onto others. Same as religious views, they are yours. Don’t push either on me. I have my own opinions and values to hold. For this reason I’ll find another company to purchase my gear from. Patagonia will be added to the boycott list with Nike.
Mark Anderson
KEEP POLITICS OUT of this.
Does NOT belong in Backpacking at all.