If you can’t remember the last time you cleared and cleaned that reservoir in your backpack, this post is for you. And me. In my corner sits three yucky bladders. All because the idea of trying to dig around the inside of them with the impossible task of getting them slimefree was just too much. Such a waste. When I stopped by the Camelbak booth at this year’s Outdoor Retailer Show, I just had to ask.

Camelbak’s Director of Product Development John Austen knows a thing or ten about keeping your bladder good to go for years.

To Reiterate:

1- Wash your reservoir every few months if you use it regularly. If you put anything other than water in it, then clean after each use.

2- Open, drain and wipe. If deep cleaning use dissolving tablets or a bleach or lemon juice/water mixture.

3- Hang dry with the tube. Get a clamp to open the reservoir up.

4- Roll it up, close it up and stick in your freezer.

Ta Dah!

Fifteen brands and 23 top content creators arrived at Deer Valley Resort in Park City, Utah, for Outdoor Press Camp 2016. We were treated to breaking industry stories from leaders and up-and-coming brands in footwear, hardgoods, and high-tech apparel while sharing delicious communal meals, outdoor activities and networking happy hours.

The June gathering provided a first-look at innovative outdoor products and technology that will be hitting the shelves in 2017 in a more relaxed setting than a convention center floor.

The event used the unique Press Camp format of tightly organized meeting schedules combined with daily trail-testing opportunities. “It’s a luxury to be able to sit down and talk more in depth with a brand about their company and their products rather than get just the highlights from a 10-minute fly-by at a tradeshow,” said Amy Jurries, a writer at Backpacker Magazine and blogger at Gearcaster. “Then to be able to test those same products out on the trails in the afternoon makes for an extremely useful and enjoyable event.”

Press Camps Hit The Target

Event Director Kenji Haroutunian explained, “This event is part of a new movement of invitational events that bring focus and value through proper curation. It creates meaningful experiences for both the brand and editorial sides. I couldn’t be more satisfied with the strong attendance base, which allowed both established and new brands to deepen relationships with top media.” Last January, I participated in the Glamp, Gizzle and Gorge media event sponsored by ALLIED Down where we got to try YakTrax, Scott FatBikes, Uco headlamps and MSR snowshoes, had a fabulous dinner prepared by ALLIED’s Marketing director and spent the night in yurts at East Canyon State Park swaddled in ALLIED bedding from their home furnishings label. We do it again in August and I’m looking forward to seeing everyone again and getting up close and personal with a handful off summer brands this time- or at least summer gear from the companies I met in the winter. The event has added an extra day for more playtime with everything.

2016 Outdoor Press Camp was four full days of more formal gatherings but still maintained a casual connectedness between brands and media. In addition to the plethora of outdoor footwear we got first looks at fabric technologies (34.7), fitness technologies (Icon Fitness) and one new company a frugal gearhead like me is keeping my eye on.

Nicole Bassett, Co-Founder, The Renewal Workshop, near Hood River, One., used Press Camp to introduce her new upcycled outdoor clothing company. It’s the mountain version of Blinq.com. Thousands of returned merchandise wind up in landfills every year but recently companies have popped up to purchase those rejects from brands that can’t resell them as new (because they aren’t). RW has partnered with brands like Prana, Ibex and Mountain Khaki to take their returns, clean-them to hospital-quality standards, repair any defects or damage and resell to consumers as a basically new item at a serious discount. Who wouldn’t want a brand new puffy or sweater for 80 percent off?

The online storefront launches this fall and still more brands are hopping on this upcycle wagon. If something can’t be fixed RW promises to keep it away from the landfill by reincarnating it into something useable. For example, the jacket with the torn liner becomes a tote bag. If something can’t be repaired, it’s recycled. RN swears that none of their products will suffer the landfill.

“The Outdoor Press Camp was the perfect event to launch our company to the Outdoor Industry. The organization of the event, the natural setting and the quality of attendees were best of class.

Last year, I didn’t know what to expect. But when rumors started to fly about an outdoors version of the popular “Bike Press Camp” in Park City I had to be on the list. Bike Camp was like those VIP lounges at the Sundance Film Festival. You go around to the different companies for some one-on-one facetime to get to know a particular brand. The manufacturers get to sit down and explain what they do and why they do it with your undivided attention. I’m not a biker but was asked to cover the event held up at Deer Valley’s The Lodges for a website called Women’s Movement. Talk about your learning curve!

After all of my meetings with companies like Ridley, Smith, Cannondale, GT and more, I came away with a sense that I could fake being an expert if I had to. But there’s no faking it for me when it comes to the general outdoor industry.

It been seven months since the Outdoor Retailer Show and I needed my new gear fix plus the Bike Camp was all about using the products so I knew the Outdoor Camp would push me to get my butt in gear.

The morning starts with an impressive array of breakfast dishes from cinnamon challah French toast to maple, peppered bacon and then it’s off to your first 45-minute meeting. Nearly 20 manufacturers have gathered to tell their story to more than 20 freelance writers publishing for various websites and publications from Men’s Journal and Backpacker Magazine to Gear Institute and UniqueGifter online.

We sit down, hear about the trends, the technology the specific products; collect cards, hugs and gear then move onto the next meeting. Rinse and repeat. Lunch; more meetings and then three hours to get outside for hiking, fishing and a little simulated climbing at the midpoint of Deer Valley Resort.

Speaking of which, it’s time to hike. More later.