We Have a New Site!

Folks, we have a new site! Part of the upgrade has included moving our blog over to the new wordpress format. Contain your excitement and be sure to reset your bookmark to:

http://www.nemoequipment.com/category/blog/

Perils of Adventure

There's been lots of talk in the last week about risk taking and what kind of role it should play in adventures. Check out this piece in the NYTimes, followed by Steve Casimiro's response in Adventure Journal.

Steve's message is hits the bullseye. If you can't bear to read anything more than a paragraph, here's the takeaway:

I don’t know if this is maturity or prudence or simply experience. All of the above, maybe. The big difference between the me on Whitney Gilman and the me today is that I’ve learned that risk can be managed. Not all of it, or it wouldn’t be an adventure. But it’s also not as black and white as the Times or others suggest, where you’re either likely to die doing something you love or you simply don’t do that thing you love. That big grey area in the middle is where you find adventure, where you find risk, and where, to me, the best of life begins.

Long Treks Skate China, Episode 1-3

We've been supporting Long Treks on Skate Decks for a few years now, from their trips through Peru/Bolivia to Morocco. The latest journey in a skate through China from Qinghai, Xining to Sichuan, Chengdu.

Unlike the previous trips, Adam Colton completes his journey here solo. And it is not an easy trip. Between the big trucks, constant honking of car horns, no sleeping pad (his choice, not ours), freezing temperatures, dirt roads, and high elevation, we were glad to see Adam come back in one piece:








Adam's key to surviving the mental and physical exhaustion? Read on:

For me, the key to distance skating is not realizing you’re distance skating, go figure. It helps to not be aware that you are pushing a not so efficient plank of wood walking speed with a backpack on up a very large mountain with cars buzzing close to you. Why not be distracted with more lovely thoughts such as your girlfriend, why you were such a crazy person in high school, or dreaming about some made up family and how you would raise kids. Problem was daydreaming for a long period of time did not happen because I was always struck out of it with a horn blaring in my ear.

We have so much potential and options here in the USA. For most of us in the US we can pick and choose to rough it and survive in the wilderness on a camping trip, get cold, and then come back home to a warm place. I can go on the internet and arrange a whole trip, flight, and accommodations in a far off place like France. I have mountain biking trails at my disposal all around me. Even though we live in a very complex time with lots of gadgets and distractions, we can still pick and choose our way through it all. I was here in China roughing it with the people surviving in their harsh environment but the whole time I had the option of leaving; I was going to leave. The families I saw in China did not have this option really. This was their life and it was fine and they were happy, working together as a family unit surviving, but I feel very fortunate to have a life with so many options and opportunities.

XO, from NEMO

Top 10 Ways to Survive NEMO with NEMO Equipment

Top 10 Ways to Survive NEMO with NEMO Equipment

1. Huskies make really great warm blankets.
2. NEMO Ditto Tote good for making igloo blocks, fill and dump to build your winter shelter while also feeling satisfied about using an up-cycled fabric construction device.
3. High pressure showers are amazing when you don’t have water – have you filled your Helio?
4. No heat, no water, no electricity…why NOT go camping!
5. Sledding, Tuo pad, ‘nuff said.
6. Grandma’s quilt has nothing on the Muse.
7. Hilarious phone calls from your Mom stating “Can you believe they named the storm NEMO, just like your company!”  (… guess you need to work here)
8. Snuggling in the back country or snuggling in your freezing cold house NEMO has you covered, Tango Duo.
9. Drinking whiskey in the dark by headlamp is way more enjoyable in a tent then in a house, trust us.
10. Dream about NEMO’s launch of their winter sleeping bag line, the Cannon series – coming soon…..

Working Name, Kicka$$ 1P

New tent for 2014. And no, we haven't set our color scheme to "circus" setting (yet). Fun color schemes are often an unexpected result from prototyping.

Any guess to the GDP of Red Bull, if it were a country?

At some point in the last 7 or so years, it became apparent that Red Bull has resources beyond most of our means. Which is really a polite way of saying that they have an operating budget that would undoubtedly put them in the top 10 list of countries listed by highest GDP.

Every industrial designer in the house can't help but to be utterly impressed by some of these prototyping capabilities.

Albedo and More: Designing for Intense UV

We just heard from the expedition team at Antarctic Logistics and Expeditions (ALE), who have been using NEMO's Isopod 300 at their Mt. Vinson Low Camp this year.

We're psyched to hear that the tent is being used as a cooking/dining/lounging area for clients and expeditions.

The tent has been up for 3 rotations on Vinson—about 3-4 weeks in total, seeing a fair amount of use. Want to know a little nugget of information? UV can be the single biggest factor in tent deterioration for Arctic expeditions. Even though the UV level is not as intense as in equatorial regions, factors like heightened ozone depletion, continuous 24 hrs of daylight, and a crazy high albedo from snow/ice reflectance all contribute to the extremely high UV index.

Expeditions like ALE's put up the tent for the duration of the trip (max of 90 days) —meaning that a typical season can see from 1000-2000 hours of exposure. If you don't take this bit of data in account for design, the fabrics will wear out and fall apart FAST. We designed the outer shell fabric for Isopod 300X with UV durability at the forefront.

The base fabric is a 150D polyester, since polyester has much more UV stability than nylon fibers. A Dyneema ripstop is then woven in to reinforce the fabric and give advanced UV protection. Dyneema is a super fiber of sorts, and exhibits almost no degradation with respects to UV exposure, water absorption, etc. UV inhibitors are also added to both the color dye, and the microporous breathable coating, giving a rock solid construction for environments like Antarctica. Proof is in the pudding though, so we look forward to hearing from the ALE team for many years to come.

Map out your tent map on the ground!

This is the technique we like to use to set up our aluminum poles too.

Snowy with a chance of knee-high sets

blackberry vs. BlackBerry

The Oxford Junior Dictionary has cut blackberry from the latest version and has added BlackBerry. There is something wrong with this, right?

This infographic does a great job of explaining why wilderness matters. Realizing this is an issue is the first step. As the article says, the good news is that the cure is free and available to all.

Thermal Imaging Art

A couple of practice shots from the NEMO parking lot during today's sleeping bag testing with the thermal camera proved to be kind of beautiful in a way...
Note the temps, my hands were chilly. I wish I had been the one in the sleeping bag, not the one taking pictures.

Maybe if that doesn't hit your art sensibilities, you'll appreciate the spin art version.

-Suzanne

Camping Gear List of Yesteryear

I don't know about you, but the "sleeping pocket" looks like a pretty cozy place.

[via the yard]