This week we talk to Patagonia’s senior material developer, Pasha Whitmire, about how Patagonia designs, develops, and tests their technical fabrics; myths surrounding waterproof / breathable materials; why the future of fabric development lies in sustainability; the advantages and disadvantages of working with big names like Gore-Tex; and a whole lot more outerwear geekery.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• The “Killer Wash” and Patagonia’s other fabric tests (3:50)
• The relationship between fabric and garment (12:50)
• Waterproof laminates — 3L? 4L?? 5L?!?! (19:00)
• What comes first: concept or material? (22:43)
• Designing fabrics to be recycled (23:45)
• Gore-Tex — challenges and advantages of working with the fabric juggernaut (29:44)
• Biggest misconceptions about waterproof / breathable fabrics (34:52)
• Why the future of fabric tech is green (46:08)
• Other brands that Pasha is excited about (48:04)

Sam and Luke’s article on Outerwear Care

Outerwear 101

Outerwear 201

Information on Breathability Testing

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We talk to ON3P founder, Scott Andrus, about the 19/20 ON3P lineup, building skis for Michael Jordan & Tinker Hatfield, and we break quite a bit of news along the way.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• ON3P’s 10-yr anniversary & the ON3P name (2:41)
• Building custom ON3Ps for Michael Jordan & Tinker Hatfield (5:22)
• Wrenegade Lineup (12:00)
• Metal Wrenegades (13:18)
• Metal Jeffrey & Woodsman?? (18:30)
• ON3P Touring Skis (19:22)
• How Scott’s trying to help people understand skis specs better (21:04)
• Jeffery and Jessie Lineups (23:30)
• Mount Points, Part 1 (26:24)
• Woodsman Lineup (29:21)
• Mount Points, Part 2 (31:55)
• Sidecut Radius: why it does — and doesn’t — matter (36:08)
• ON3P custom skis (40:35)
• Scott’s Random Review selection for us (43:02)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Near-death experiences, avalanche airbags, and changing risk tolerance — this week we talk to mountain guide and Mammut’s safety expert, Doug Workman, about life and survival in the mountains.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• Doug’s background in the mountains (2:18)
• Does safety gear affect risk assessment? (3:55)
• How an airbag saved Doug’s life (12:15)
• Are airbags becoming “required” backcountry gear? (22:34)
• An unfair hypothetical: airbags or transceivers? (25:12)
• The importance of good partners in the backcountry (29:40)
• Doug’s favorite guiding experiences (32:33)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sam Shaheen, Luke Koppa, and Jonathan Ellsworth talk about new goggles; new skis; which ski companies made the biggest impressions on us this season; funniest answers so far to our BLISTER Survey; and more.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• New Goggles: high-end, price-point, and awful ones (5:50)
• Armada ARV 106Ti & 96Ti (16:00)
• Which ski companies stood out the most to us this season? (14:25)
• Some favorite answers from our Blister Survey (29:40)
• Some very random reviews (35:10)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Avalanche beacons might not be as sexy as other ski & snowboard gear, but their proper use and design can be the difference between life and death. So we sat down with the co-founder of Backcountry Access, Bruce Edgerly, to talk about avalanche transceiver design, backcountry safety research, and the most important — yet often overlooked — aspects of a rescue.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• BCA’s transceiver design philosophy + a new Tracker (1:21)
• Improving backcountry strategy & increasing your safety (7:24)
• Scenario: multiple burials (13:59)
• Ski media & backcountry safety (16:28)
• How old is too old when it comes to transceivers? (18:50)
• The changing backcountry scene (20:31)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Alaska is a place where your gear really needs to hold up. So we talk to Eric Helmbrecht, owner of Powder Hound Ski Shop in Girdwood Alaska, about the trends he’s seeing in skiing and snowboarding; the gear with the most and the least durability issues; some of his favorite gear; the most Alaskan thing ever; and more.

TOPICS & TIMES

• How Powder Hound has evolved (2:30)
• Trending: Resort skiing vs. backcountry skiing (7:00)
• What gear are you most psyched on? (9:58)
• Ski boots: heat molding shells vs. traditional boot work (15:37)
• Favorite bindings? (19:53)
• Some favorite skis for Alyeska / AK? (24:29)
• Gear with the least & most durability issues (31:32)
• Eric’s take on “Bang for your buck” products (35:23)
• Favorite new outerwear (40:55)
• Powder Hound’s growing snowboard business (43:17)
• The most Alaskan thing ever (51:08)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Blister editors Sam Shaheen, and Luke Koppa, talk about the enormous amount of new apparel that has arrived at our HQ over the past few weeks. Sam and Luke are both serious nerds when it comes to this stuff, and their conversation highlights a ton of new apparel, from crazy new tech all the way to head-turning casual pieces. Let the geek-out begin.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• The most sustainable shoe ever? (2:15)
• Ultra-comfortable hardshells from Patagonia & Flylow (5:32)
• Super warm, super shiny, and super “extra” Mammut Anorak (14:24)
• What Holden’s Jacket has in common with wine corks (17:18)
• The recent anorak takeover at Blister (20:46)
• New Brand Alert: Forward (25:06)
• Update on the product Sam wanted to steal (27:58)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We talk to Prior’s head snowboard and ski shaper, Dominic Morin, about the origins of Prior, their philosophy of ski and snowboard shaping, their craziest designs, their new shapes for 19/20, and the legacy of Chris Prior.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• The origins of Prior (2:15)
• Why Prior shapes cores by hand (3:43)
• What’s the craziest custom design you’ve done? (8:08)
• How do your snowboard designs influence Prior’s ski designs? (12:13)
• Why is there a wider variety of snowboard shapes than ski shapes? (15:38)
• The Prior CBC and Husume (20:23)
• The Prior Northwest 110 and 100 (26:06)
• Why Prior has several niche models (31:12)
• How does Prior respond to trends in snowboard shapes? (33:37)
• Chris Prior’s lasting legacy (42:21)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We talk to Moment Skis CEO, Luke Jacobson, about next year’s lineup of skis; space movies; Ryan Gosling; Tyler Curle’s ski preferences; the “Google Bump”; and … more Ryan Gosling.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• “Freestyle” collection: PB&J, Meridian, Wildcat 108, Deathwish, & Wildcat (5:00)
• The inspiration behind Moment’s space-themed 19/20 graphics (17:00)
• “Freeride” collection: Commander 98, 108, 118, & 124 (24:00)
• Moment team rider and ski builder Tyler Curle’s ski preferences (27:50)
• How the Commander 124 differs from the rest of the Commander series (36:20)
• Luke & Jonathan’s suggestions for alternative ski names (39:43)
• “Tour” collection: Wildcat Tour 108, Deathwish Tour, & Wildcat Tour (41:22)
• “Women’s” collection: Hot Mess, Sierra, & Bella (46:00)
• Moment’s collaboration with Google and the “Google Bump” (53:00)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.