Kelly Bastone

Down is everywhere these days, on city streets as well as in the backcountry. Even the water repellent version has become ubiquitous: Twenty brands now use DownTek, the leading brand of DWR down. Yet most devotees of down know nothing about the plumage they love to swaddle ...read more

If Vincent Colliard were a smaller-minded person, he’d be a surf bum. That’s what his six-year-old self wanted to be. Growing up in a Paris suburb, Colliard kept a poster of surf legend Kelly Slater on his bedroom wall, and every day he’d stare wistfully at the sunkissed ...read more

Trends in street fashion will determine what your buyers will want next year—and beyond. We talk to three outdoor designers and curators to find out how they interpret fashion trends for the outdoor market. Everyone wants to know what the next hot trend will be, because big ...read more

Manufacturers put tons of effort into predicting buyers' whims when it comes to color. Here's how gear designers peer into the crystal ball. Design veterans know that the difference between a blockbuster product and a total flop isn’t always about materials or high-tech features. ...read more

Women's gear is niche no more. It’s hard to imagine a world in which women didn’t have access to outdoor gear that’s optimized for them. But that wasn’t always the case: Ill-fitting apparel and hard goods were the norm for women as recently as 20 years ago, and even now, ...read more

Shoppers on Amazon.com can buy an entire backpacking setup for less than a hundred bucks. You’ll find a 4-ounce canister stove for $5.60; a 50-degree-rated sleeping bag for $25.98; a two-person, 3.3-pound tent for $20.99; a 90-liter backpack for $39.90. Need hiking boots, too? ...read more