What did the SNEWS team learn this week that other outdoor industry insiders might find interesting? Read on to find out.

• Call us superficial (though we suspect you retailers and manufacturers won’t), but we love to shop. It turns out we love to read about other people shopping, too. Seattle’s Domestic Goddess chronicles her lovely outdoor and fitness equipment shopping trip in this Seattle Times column, with shout outs to ENO, Insect Shield and PrAna. 

• This week’s "Master of the Obvious" award goes to the Columbia Basin Herald, for a story touting the importance of having safety skills and equipment as an outdoors person. The author said he has to write such a piece at least twice a year, as people just don’t seem to understand how critical the message is. So read and retain. Or don’t retain and keep another writer employed. 

• Some people like the idea of camping and traipsing around in the woods, but aren’t big fans of the reality — or all the aches and pains that might come with it. For them, the Wall Street Journal has compiled a list of the best places to go for “Not-Quite Camping.” Don’t judge, they’ll still buy stuff at your stores.

• Oh, Lance. He can’t get away from the doping allegations, and just as he’s embarking on a triathlon career, he goes and gets formally charged with doping by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, putting his competitive triathlon career on hold indefinitely. Check out this Triathlon story and then visit our community to weigh in: Does Lance just have bad luck or is he a user of performance-enhancing drugs? 

• Drinking at 3 a.m. never leads to anything good, as proven by Eric Charlton, 27, who recently was arrested for the shooting death of his brother, 17, which took place at a Utah campground. According to this Seattle Times story, the brothers were having some drinks with a 16-year-old friend. It appears Charlton, a former U.S. Marine, accidentally shot his brother in the head while demonstrating shooting techniques.

• More and more fly-fishing is making its way into the outdoor industry, so we should know about its history and stars. Check out this Baltimore Sun Q&A with fly-fishing expert Lefty Kreh, 87, who, the article said, is to fly-fishing what Elvis was to rock and roll. Intrigued? 

• L.L. Bean needs to stay in business just like the rest of us, and to ensure that will happen the manufacturer has created the Million Moment Mission, which launched in January. It donates $1 (up to $1 million) for every picture, story, Facebook post and Tweet of an outdoor experience referencing the initiative to the National Park Foundation. Check out this Sun Journal story on the program. 

• Businesses in the outdoor industry fared pretty well in the recession, mostly because recreating outdoors is fairly inexpensive compared to big vacations to Disneyworld and elsewhere. According to this Mansfield News Journal story, camping is still a great option for families who are looking for vacations that offer quality family time, fishing, hiking and swimming.

• It’s not often, unless you break something or get hurt, that you come back from an outing and say, “Wow, I really regret that.” So we weren’t surprised by the Care2 story on how outdoor activities are good for lifting the spirit. Check out what they deemed the top 10 outdoor activities that benefit the soul.

• Ah, Colorado. We love this state. That’s why we get super stoked when we read that other people love to visit our home. We chanced upon this Washington Times story, which outlines a number of great adventures had during the “Outside in Aspen” event. If you’re in the market for a trip to Colorado, specifically Aspen, this story is a must read.

Have you read anything interesting you'd like to share with us? Maybe we'll include it next week's column with a little shout out to whoever sent it to us. Send a link to the story with the subject line "SNEWS Reads" to be considered.

--Compiled by Ana Trujillo