19/20 BLISTER Winter Buyer’s Guide, Part 1 (Ep.68)

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TOPICS & TIMES:

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

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

Luke Koppa, Sam Shaheen, & Jonathan Ellsworth discuss on Blister's GEAR:30 podcast the 19/20 Blister Winter Buyer's Guide, the 19/20 Blister Best Of winners and runner-ups, and more.
Luke Koppa thoroughly testing the powder skirt on his jacket, Crested Butte, CO.

12 comments on “19/20 BLISTER Winter Buyer’s Guide, Part 1 (Ep.68)”

  3. Fun episode this week. Good work! I continue to hope that someday you will employ a tester in the 210 plus weight range for us skiers who will never buy a ski shorter than a 187 length. Especially the all mountain skis. Longer pow skis are often reviewed. For the larger advanced/expert skier reading about that wonder new 184 ski, it is like reading about that beautiful sexy sports car that you love and lust after. You know all of its high performance data, but you would never buy it because your head is five inches above the wind shield. A larger tester could really help us big guys select a ski, based on good data, rather than speculation and hype. Check out the lift lines on a busy day. There are probably enough of larger skiers there to make it worth adding a 225 pound ex tight end turned skier to your staff. Also, you guys do awesome work in a fun but responsible way. Keep up the great work!

    • I contend that this year’s Blister Guide’s data points about short skis are sufficient for me to “interpolate” and draw conclusions about the longer untested lengths of those same ski models, with “good enough” confidence—even without access to premium Deep Dive content.

      Tom, if you or your best “gear nerd” friend aren’t confident doing that interpolation work yourselves by starting with the Blister Guide, then I expect the Blister testers have already developed these interpolation skills, and they can likely guess pretty well to provide personalized recommendations for big people via email conversations (see the $59.99 Blister membership).

    • Ha, ironically, the very thing that led to my tomahawk (super deep snow) was what left me totally unscathed afterward. Basically just dug myself out, gathered everything that had been flung all over the place, and was laughing the entire time.

    • Hey Luke. Question for part 2. Seems like lots of apparel manufacturers who were previously using NeoShell are moving to proprietary membranes. Any general comments on the direction of air perms right now? Are these proprietary air perm membranes really a step forward over NeoShell and eVent? Which pieces are your top pieces for good balance of breathability and waterproofing (resort only and touring)?

  5. Great informative review as always! Love my Nordica Enforcer 100 and now wanting a wider ski, so this review helps big time. Thanks.

  6. My first reaction on seeing that pic? Probably would have been a good idea to have some skis on if you’re going to go and play in deep snow ;o)

  7. The cochise continues to make the cut but the bodacious did not. Do you like the rustler 11 better? How does the bodacious compare to the faction dictator or volkl confession

    • RE: “Do you like the rustler 11 better?”
      If I had that same question myself, I would view the free 19/20 Blister Guide at https://blisterreview.com/winter-buyers-guide , view the “INDEX OF SKIS” page, notice “Rustler 11” in the “Best Of” awards section, notice Cochise did not get any “Best Of” award, and then I’d conclude that Blister likes the Rustler 11 a lot.

      RE: “How does the bodacious compare to the faction dictator or volkl confession”?
      If I had that same question myself, I would view the free 18/19 Blister Guide at https://blisterreview.com/archive-blister-buyers-guides , view the “INDEX OF SKIS” page, notice pages 88-89 answer this question for all 3 of those ski models, so I would read those 2 pages (with options to click through to full-length review pages), and then I’d know all the answers. After that, if I still wanted even more info, then I’d pay Blister for access to premium Deep Dive content.

  8. Great cast. You mentioned branching out into new apparel lines. Stio has three inline shell models now and after trying the Environ, and now the Environ XT, I’m locked in on the brand. Would love to hear if you guys feel the same – in my experience the stuff has been bulletproof.

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