At Gregory, our designers have just about seen it all in the world of backpacks. Or at least they thought they had.
Come to find out backpacks are being used in the flight against global warming. Methane from cows, it seems, contribute
s to global warming.
And not just a little. A lot.
So, in Argentina, where cow’s methane contributes to as much as 30 percent of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions, they got the idea to contain the gas in specially designed backpacks. Yes, cow packs.
All we can say is it’s a good thing methane is lighter than air, because, while they’re certainly doing some thinking about atmospheric science, it doesn’t look like they put a lot of thought into cow pack suspension.
That, and no smoking.
At Gregory, since we’re a backpack company, we get a lot of questions about backpacks. Good ones.
One of the more common is, ‘what’s the best way to pack a backpack,’ or various variations thereof. That’s a great question, because there are a lot of opinions and theories on the matter. More often than not, Gregory customer service/jack of all trades guru George McCloskey (that’s him getting the faceshot) is the guy to take the phone call, e-mail or Facebook message.
So, in the vein of being of service, we thought we’d put George on the spot find out what he tells folks. Turns out, George just answered the question again recently, so here’s what he said (clearly he’s done a little thinking on the matter):
When it comes to packing your backpack, everyone seems to have their own way, and therefore we only ‘publish’ general guidelines. That said, here are my own personal guidelines (and please feel free to ‘build’ your own):
I typically start with my sleeping bag in the bottom (sometimes with, sometimes without a stuff sack, but I don’t necessarily recommend if for the first timer, because not using one allows you to stuff out the corners really well, which can be tougher when in a stuff sack). And a key point here is that packing your backpack well, ie: using all the space effectively without having dead spots with nothing in them, is essential to achieving positive load transfer, which means transferring the weight effectively to your body, and that’s what you want if you want your pack to carry well. Continue reading >>
A new survey by the CDC, as reported in the New York Times and on Backpacker’s blog by writer, editor and regular contributor Grant Davis, shows that hiking is the third most outdoor sport, if assessed by the numbers of injuries stemming from a given sport. The numbers are from data collected in 2004 and 2005. 
The New York Times takes the tack that it’s odd that snowboarding is number one - and higher than the rates for a number of other outdoor activities, including boating, waterskiing, mountain biking and camping, combined. Davis notes how odd it is that hiking - which is essentially walking - ranks so highly as to be in third place, and wonders where skiing is in the mix.
Curious indeed that hiking ranks so highly, but it’s probably like those statistics that show driving is so much more dangerous that flying, simply because so many people drive. After all, most everybody walks.
But I’d like to know how they define hiking. Is walking around a city park hiking? Or is that just walking?
Do you have a to be wearing a backpack to be hiking? Or wearing hiking boots, not running shoes?
And the most obvious question: Is hiking more dangerous than just staying home and watching TV?
Anyway, there’s a lot of amusement to be had in both Davis’ post and the report in general. And if you haven’t checked out Backpacker’s excellent and relatively new blog page, which offers frequent entries from Davis along with Backpacker Rocky Mountain Editor Steve Howe and regular blogger Ted Alvarez, there’s lots of thoughtful info there. Worth a bookmark.
I wish.
But, if you can’t have a pack that instantly kills those pesky winged devils once they penetrate your personal space, then you might as well have a pack that’s ergonomically comfy and stays on your back when you’re swinging for the fences trying to escape from the torture of those worthless winged things. Since it covered my entire back, my Gregory Triconi 60 probably did save me from a few more dozen bites.
I should have known better though. Taking a four-day backpacking trip into Wyoming’s Wind River mountains in the beginning of July after a huge snow year is like going to your local blood drive - except you come away with 46 swelling bumps instead of feeling warm inside that you might have helped save someones life. The Winds in July equals Mosquitoville and my girlfriend, Genevieve, and I were held hostage.
Yes, our friends, sisters, brother-in-laws, crusty old retail gear shop guys and co-workers all told us the bugs were going to be bad. But really, how bad can it be, I thought? Bad enough that after every mosquito bite you got you wanted to name it after someone who told you not to go?
It was bad. Unbearable at times. And dousing yourself in DEET didn’t seem to do the trick. Continue reading >>
Little known to many fans of Gregory Mountain Products in North America, the brand has enjoyed a huge following in Asia for the past 25 years. In particular, Japanese consumers love the quality of the Gregory brand and the lifestyle that it represents. So much so that company founder Wayne Gregory is a minor celebrity in Japan. People recognize him and stop him on the street for autographs. 
Just ask him.
So it was a natural that Gregory’s first brand/flagship store opened in downtown Tokyo last week, on July 4. Located in the Shibuya area of Tokyo, a popular shopping district for younger city residents, the Gregory store is on a pedestrian-only street, which is also home to Patagonia’s top store in Japan, as well as flagship stores for Burton, Oakley, The North Face, Columbia, Millet and Cannondale, to name a few. The area, as you might imagine, is pretty popular among the outdoors set. Continue reading >>
Like many who trained for the Western States 100 this past weekend, Gregory athlete Hiroki Ishikawa, who traveled all the way from
Japan for the race, was disappointed it was cancelled because of the fire and smoke situation. But, like many others, he made the best of it, looked for other things to do, and entered a local 20-mile trail run, the Burton Creek Trail Run on the California side of Lake Tahoe. He came in second to another WS racer, Laval Benoit, who had come from France.
Gotta stay in shape, eh?
The two will soon meet again, in France, where both are registered for the Ultra-Trail Du Mont-Blanc in late August. Apparently, trail running is catching on in recent years in France. Benoit told Ishikawa the Mont-Blanc Ultra, which is capped at 2,500 people, took only 14 minutes to max out after registration opened.
We just added a new item to our blogroll, one that’s got a lot of useful resources for the transplants in the Gregory crew.
Trailspotting has some great info on northern California hiking trails. And though apparently based in Gregory’s new neighborhood (yep, we consider northern California a neighborhood), the folks who produce it aren’t limiting their coverage to that area; there’s also some great info on hiking in Hawaii.
Check it out. Cool thing is, they’ve cataloged hikes by location, so it’s easy to find a hike in the area you’re headed. Or an area to head for a hike.
When most people think backpacking, they think mountains. But heading for remote sections of coast line - particularly on rugged coasts like those in northern California - offers an equally inspiring setting, and frequently a more solitary experience than one can find in popular mountain destinations.
At least, that’s what some of the crew from Gregory found on a recent weekend.
Designers Mark Thibadeau and CJ Whittaker, along with Whittaker’s better half, Ann, headed up Route 101 for a little more exploring in Gregory’s new backyard after the recent move to Sacramento. Not knowing quite what they’d find, both surfboards and guitars were in tow. If the waves weren’t in, there’d be entertainment anyway. Continue reading >>
mentary on NBC
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