BLISTER Gear Reviews, Podcasts, & Articles
Full Movie: The Faction Collective — This is Home
With huge descents in Switzerland, pillows in Montana, gnarly urban in Finland, technical lines in the Wasatch, and a Verbier segment to end all Verbier segments — the Faction Collective movie, This is Home, highlights the mind-boggling talent on the Faction team. Check out the full film for yourself here.
Blister’s Holiday Gift Guide 2017 — Stocking Stuffers
‘Tis the season to do, say, and / or give some nice things to the people you care about, so this week we’re sharing a few of our own favorite gift ideas. (And don’t feel bad about picking up one or two of these items for yourself. Because screw it, you probably deserve it. Here’s to you, too.)
Park IB-3, MT-40, & MTB-7 Multi-Tools
Multi-tools are a basic necessity in any riding pack, so we took a look at 3 different ones from Park Tool to help you determine which you should carry.
Terrene Wazia Tire
If you’re looking for a tire to extend your fat biking season into the snowier months, the Terrene Wazia is worth a look.
The Making of Our Winter Buyer’s Guide (Ep.2)
In this conversation, we discuss the making of — and our takeaways from — our 17/18 Winter Buyer’s Guide, including our “Best Of” awards, our Blister Spectrums, our ski quiver selections, and some of the strangest claims we saw in some of the other buyer’s guides out there.
1-Ski Quiver: Reviewers’ Choices (17/18)
We’ve posted our reviewers’ 3-ski and 2-ski quiver selections, so it’s time now to take a look at the holy grail of the ski world: the every-single-day, any-and-all conditions, 1-Ski Quiver.
2018-2019 Atomic Hawx Ultra XTD 120
With fifteen more days in the Hawx Ultra XTD 120, here is our update, with liner comparisons and comparisons to the Hawx Ultra 130.
2017-2018 Line Sir Francis Bacon, 190 cm
Many of you have asked us about it, so here are our initial impressions of the 190 cm Line Sir Francis Bacon.
2-Ski Quiver: Reviewers’ Choices (17/18)
Last week we presented our three-ski quiver selections. Time now to look at the two-ski quiver selections of some of our reviewers.
Men’s Everyday Casual / Tech Pants
Pants are pants, right? But now there are a bunch of options that blend functional performance with better styling, and we’ve rounded up some of our favorites for handling everything from bike commuting to afternoon climbing sessions (and they won’t make you look like a dork).
Win Your Choice of Pret Helmets
This week, we’re giving away a helmet to 1 guy and 1 girl, so enter now for a chance to win the Pret helmet of your choice.
2020-2021 Rossignol XV Sushi LF
While it’s not the hard charger you’d expect from Xavier De La Rue, the new XV Sushi LF is a very fun board that could change the way you approach the mountain.
Danny Davis on Peace Park, the Olympics, and More (Ep.61)
We talk to Danny Davis about the upcoming Peace Park 6; why Peace Park should become a new discipline; “technical” tricks vs. “stylish” tricks; the Olympics; and the need for a unified snowboarding tour; and Danny’s growing passion for splitboarding.
East-Coast vs West-Coast Skis?
In our latest Topic of the Week, we dive into the question of how important “location” is for selecting the right ski.
Patagonia Black Hole 32L Backpack
With a water resistant, durable fabric and an easy-access design, Patagonia’s Black Hole 32L Backpack is a great option for an everyday daypack.
BLISTER Reviews, Podcasts, & Articles:
Paul Basagoitia on His Spinal Cord Injury, Road to Recovery, & New Film (Ep.12)
Paul Basagoitia was the first back-to-back winner of Crankworx Slopestyle, participated in Red Bull Rampage numerous times, and was one of the top riders in the game. But one tiny mishap led to a crash that left him paralyzed, and Paul’s life was changed in an instant. So we talk to Paul about his ascension in the sport, the events surrounding his accident, his road to recovery, how he views Rampage today, and his new Red Bull / HBO film, Any One of Us that chronicles it all — and provides an unfiltered look at life after a spinal cord injury.
Casual Pants Roundup — 2019
If you’re looking for some “casual” everyday pants that you can also use for climbing, hiking, biking, etc., you now have lots of great options. We’ve rounded up several of our favorites for both women & men — check them out here.
19/20 Moment Wildcat 108
Check out our initial impressions of the Moment Wildcat 108, including comparisons to the standard Wildcat, Moment Deathwish, and ON3P Woodsman 108.
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Triple Crown of 200s Winner, Mike McKnight (Ep.23)
Simply put, Mike McKnight is amazing. He won the Bigfoot 200 in August, the Tahoe 200 in September, and he just won the Moab 240. And in covering those ~640 miles of racing, he smashed his own cumulative-time record for the 3 races by … 43 hours. That’s not what you’d expect from a chubby kid who grew up on a dairy farm and didn’t participate in sports til he tried 1 season of highschool football, nor from a person who broke his back in a ski accident 8 years ago and had 2 rods and 9 screws placed in his spine, along with part of his hip bone. So we talk to Mike about all of this and more.
What We’re Watching — October, 2019
A bunch of really good and entirely free ski films dropped over the past week. Check out this post for films from the likes of Tanner Hall, Sammy Carlson, Blank Collective, Phil Casabon, and many more.
Saving Weight in Your Backcountry Ski Setup
Next up in our ‘Saving Weight in Your Backcountry Ski Setup’ series, reviewer Paul Forward discusses where he chooses to cut weight in his backcountry gear, and where he opts to keep a bit of weight for better downhill performance.
How You Can Help Brands Go Climate Neutral (Ep.11)
These days, a lot of brands — and especially a lot of outdoor brands — like to talk about sustainability. But what concrete steps are companies actually taking to measure, reduce, and offset their carbon emissions? We talk to Climate Neutral CEO, Austin Whitman, about how Climate Neutral is enlisting brands to reduce and pay for their emissions and helping consumers to identify which brands are taking real action; the problem of “greenwashing”; the cost of reducing carbon emissions; the legitimacy of carbon offsets; and what individuals & companies can do right now.
Gore’s 3 New Gore-Tex Pro Fabrics (Ep.71)
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.
Fall Baby Clothes Roundup — 2019
Looking for ways to keep your little one comfortable this fall? Our youngest reviewer is back again with some of the clothes he’s been rigorously testing this year — check them out here.
Interviews from Mile 201 of the Moab 240 (Ep.22)
What’s it like to run two hundred and one miles … and know that you still have another 40 miles to go? And why would you sign up and subject yourself to this? To find out, we went to Moab, Utah, to the Moab 240 Endurance Run to capture the very raw and unfiltered reactions from runners, pacers, friends, medics, and concerned mothers from the Geyser Aid Station at mile 201 of the Moab 24. And we also learned what this race — and this community — is really about.
2020-2021 Dynafit TLT Speedfit Boot
More people are skinning uphill at ski areas and touring “on-piste,” So Dynafit developed the TLT Speedfit specifically for “on-piste tours.” Check out our full review of the boot (including whether we think you can also get away using it for backcountry touring).