GEAR:30

We talk to Moment Skis CEO, Luke Jacobson, about Moment’s entire “Commander” series; why we still need to do a better job educating skiers; how the Deathwish got its name; the history of the Bibby and the Blister Pro; some upcoming changes to the Blister Pro; and more.

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel to catch the video of this episode (coming soon).

TOPICS & TIMES:

• Moment Commander 108 (1:28)
• Moment Commander 98 (5:10)
• Moment Commander 118 (7:05)
• Moment Commander 124 (and the Moment Comi) (11:45)
• Why we need to do a better job educating skiers (15:25)
• Moment Deathwish (20:35)
• Moment Deathwish vs. Wildcat 108 (25:49)
• The history of the Bibby & Blister Pro (28:31)
• Putting the weight back into the Blister Pro (40:10)
• Moment Deathwish Tour (49:45)
• How the Deathwish got its name (53:35)

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The North Face is attempting to do something that many have tried, but few have succeeded: compete head-to-head with Gore-Tex in the waterproof / breathable fabric category. So we talked with Scott Mellin, the Global General Manager of Mountain Sports at The North Face, about their new fabric technology, Futurelight; the ideas behind it; what sets it apart in the crowded waterproof / breathable fabric market; sustainability practices related to Futurelight; some stories from athlete testing, and much more. 

TOPICS & TIMES:

• Scott’s background in product innovation (5:55)
• Why was Futurelight designed? (9:20)
• Futurelight vs. Polartec Neoshell (19:45)
• “Tuning” Futurelight for different designs (21:22)
• Durability? (29:55)
• Athlete testing at The North Face (36:40)
• Competing with GORE (55:32)
• Sustainability & Futurelight (59:30) 

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In our “Reviewing the Reviewer” series, we ask various BLISTER reviewers questions about their backgrounds and gear preferences to give you a more complete picture of the people behind our reviews. And since we like to rank & review things around here, we also give a score to each of our reviewers’ answers, then come up with a cumulative review grade for each of them. 

In the hot seat today is mountain bike reviewer, David Golay, who shares how he went from playing sports in upstate New York, to researching metal alloys in Australia, to reviewing for BLISTER, and he shares a phenomenal story starring Jed Yeiser (of previous Blister podcast episodes fame).

Watch the video of our conversation on our YouTube Channel.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• David’s background (1:26)
• How did you first get connected with Blister? (7:45)
• Bike preferences (9:35)
• Who is your favorite reviewer at Blister? (18:35)
• Who is your favorite biker and skier? (20:11)
• What’s the stupidest thing you’ve ever done? (22:20)
• What are you better at than Sam Shaheen? (23:35)
• What gear are you most & least picky about? (24:49)
• Top 3 favorite books, movies, and musicians (27:08)
• Give us a random review? (32:10)
• What’s the best question I haven’t asked you? (33:14)

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Today, Marker unveiled their brand-new Duke PT binding, so Luke Koppa, Sam Shaheen, and Jonathan Ellsworth discuss the new binding and where it fits with respect to the Shift MNC and CAST Touring binding.

We also discuss some big new changes at GORE; the new GORE-TEX Pro vs. The North Face Futurelight; the appalling behavior of backcountry.com; several new skis from Moment, Blizzard, and Prior; and Jonathan Ellsworth’s New Favorite Thing.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• Jonathan’s New Favorite Thing (3:55)
• New Marker Duke PT (5:26)
• Duke PT vs. Shift vs. CAST Freetour System (10:17)
• New GORE Pro / Big Changes at GORE (12:18)
• GORE-TEX Pro vs. The North Face Futurelight (18:25)
• Picture Organic Harvest Jacket (23:55)
• Backcountry.com’s despicable behavior (25:30)
• (Jason Blevins’ article on backcountry.com) 
• Moment Deathwish (30:20)
• Moment Wildcat 108 (31:15)
• Blizzard Rustler 10 (32:11)
• Prior Northwest 100 (33:01)

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Gore-Tex has been the leader in waterproof fabrics for decades, and today, they’re announcing a complete overhaul of their flagship fabric, Gore-Tex Pro. So this week we went to Banff, Alberta, and sat down with the category manager of Gore’s “Pro” line, Mark McKinnie, for an in-depth discussion about the new fabrics. We talk about what makes the new Gore Pro unique; the 3 different versions of Gore Pro; Gore’s intensive validation and field-testing processes; how the new ‘Pro’ fits into Gore’s sustainability goals; and much more.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• The 3 new versions of Gore-Tex Pro (4:35)
• Fabric performance (5:30)
• New (and old) membrane structures (11:15)
• Stretch! (15:40)   
• Lab validation & real-world tests (19:19) 
• Solution-dyed vs jet-dyed fibers, & why they matter (34:08)
• Sustainability & the new Gore-Tex Pro (36:23)

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How do the world’s elite ski racers and their technicians squeeze every drop of performance out of their skis? We sat down with Cameron Smith who runs the race department for Head USA to learn about all the major aspects of ski tuning including base vs edge angles, base prep, and waxing. We also discuss why World Cup racers have 50 skis per discipline; the elusive “speed wagon”; and the delicate balance of science and superstition in ski racing.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• How Cam got started at HEAD (1:00)
• The art of edge tuning (3:03)
• Why athletes have 50 skis per discipline (8:09)
• Superstitions & cinnamon rolls (9:08)
• The elusive “speedwagon” (10:25)
• Base angles vs. Edge angles (13:20)
• What is a second edge?? (20:00)
• How quickly do skis dull? (22:45)
• Athlete’s relationships to their tuners (24:50)
• Polishing stones & the toilet paper test (28:30)
• De-tuning to avoid hooking (31:57)
• Base materials & grind patterns (35:07)
• How to select your wax (45:16)
• Just how sensitive are pro athletes? (58:12)

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In this episode, we answer a bunch of the questions you submitted, then assess some of the product reviews from several of the other ski review publications — and one gear recommendation website.

And fair warning here, we get pretty fired up. Because there are still a lot of fake reviews and extremely misleading product reviews and product recommendation services out there, and this needs to stop.

There is a little bit of strong language in this episode, so please don’t listen if that offends you. But we here at BLISTER are far more offended by the fake and / or misleading reviews and product recommendations in the outdoor sports world that are posing as legitimate consumer product information. Anyway, judge for yourself.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• Listener questions (4:21)
• Do we need reviewers of every size? (37:51)
• curated.com (46:30)
• Product reviews from other buyer’s guides (53:05)

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We just released our new 19/20 BLISTER Winter Buyer’s Guide, and given that it’s over 200 pages long, there’s a lot to talk about.

So we’re going to have a 2-part conversation about the Guide, and here in part 1, we’re going to discuss some of our Blister “Best Of” selections; and some of the products that just missed the cut; some general trends and takeaways from putting this big book together, and we find out the real reason why Luke prefers mittens to gloves.

Then, next week in Part 2, we’re inviting you to submit questions about the guide or related to the guide, and we’ll be answering those and covering a few other topics of our own.

Click to Send Us Your Questions about the new Buyer’s Guide

TOPICS & TIMES:

• Our BLISTER “Best Of” Awards (5:17)
• The Best of “Best Of” (23:05)
• Luke’s Jazz Hands (33:44)

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This episode is the 2nd installment of our “Reviewing the Reviewer” series, where we ask various Blister reviewers questions about their backgrounds and gear preferences to give you a more complete picture of the people behind our reviews.

Today, it’s the founder of Blister’s turn. So you’re going to be hearing about Jonathan Ellsworth’s life, including being charged by a bear; nearly burning his house down; teaching philosophy; his favorite gear in the world; and of course, the things he’s better at than Sam Shaheen.

And we are also putting up a video of this conversation here and on our YouTube channel, so if you want to watch Sam Shaheen in full payback mode, or watch Luke Koppa putting up his dukes, go check it out.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• Random Review: Babybel Cheese (3:38)
• Jonathan’s Background (6:15)
• Why did you start BLISTER? (18:15)
• Who’s your favorite reviewer? (25.48)
• What’s the most interesting thing that’s ever happened to you? (28:03)
• Who’s your favorite skier? (32:17)
• What’s the stupidest thing you’ve ever done? (37:52)
• What are you better at than Sam Shaheen? (42:03)
• What gear are you most & least picky about? (44:55)
• How many times have you almost died? (52:05)
• What are your ski preferences? (54:27)
• Dream podcast guest? (57:41)
• Top 3 favorite books, movies, and musicians (1:01:25)
• What’s the best question we haven’t asked you? (1:04:40)

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We’ve been working on a special project with Folsom Custom Skis, and it’s finally time to discuss the details about the new Blister Pro 104 with Folsom’s Mike McCabe.

We also talk about Folsom’s (insane?) new plan to build and deliver custom skis in 2-3 days; go over some highlights from the 19/20 Folsom lineup; and we ask Mike how much of a nightmare it was to work with us on this project.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• Folsom’s new pop-up store in Aspen (2:05)
• 2-3 Days: custom skis built & delivered?? (5:20)
• 19/20 Folsom lineup highlights (10:52)
• Backstory of the BLISTER Pro 104 (13:05)
• The prototypes: good & bad surprises (18:25)
• Final product design details (29:00)
• BLISTER Pro 104 vs other Folsom skis? (35:46)
• D.E.V. Tech ! ! ! (42:16)
• Was working with us a nightmare? (43:34)

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