A few years ago Zeal Optics came out with the Transcend HUD (heads up display) goggle that used GPS to track speed (maximum, average, and current), lat/long, temperature, total vertical distance traversed, number of runs and total distance. The maker of that HUD is Recon Instruments and now their HUD technology can be used in other ‘Recon Ready’ goggles from Uvex, Alpina, Zeal and Briko.
The HUD technology has been improved and now comes in two models, the MOD and MOD Live. The MOD includes mostly features in the existing HUD found in the Zeal, whereas the MOD Live also offers jump analytics, buddy tracking, smartphone connectivity, music, temperature, navigation and more.
The idea that you can locate your friend who sailed-off into a glade only to emerge on the other side of the mountain is more than appealing (especially since I’m usually the guy who sails off). This coming winter bitness.com is headed back to Snowbird with a bag of goodies to test. I look forward to doing it terminator style with goggles outfitted with the Recon Instruments MOD Live.
I’ll be back…
Posted by: Lawrence
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That’s a quote from the late, great comedian George Carlin – but these new glasses from Google might change your mind.
I wouldn’t recommend them and the distraction they introduce for core sports, but to live the core lifestyle you sometimes have to rock-it like a cyborg…
Posted by: Lawrence
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Every Third Thursday-by-Signal Snowboards-Fish out of Water-Surf Snowboard
Signal Snowboards does a feature called Every Third Thursday (ETT) where they experiment with board designs and materials to come up a unique snowboard that combines feats of engineering with stoke and creativity.
This month the Signal crew builds one board for both surf and snow. In this clip follow the construction of this board and watch pro surfer Rob Machado and pro snowboarder Curtis Ciszek put it through the paces.
Other favorites include the iShred-snowboard-iBoard (an homage to the late Steve Jobs) and the Lethal Weapon Paintball board.
Posted by Lawrence, with thanks to Stoke Lab
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The fun starts at 0:14
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Protect your body from falls without looking like the Michelin Man
There are a lot of options for protecting your body from the impact of a hard or awkward fall, but not many options to do it with a minimal amount of bulk (which can hinder performance). G-Form allows you to protect yourself and your gadgets with something called RPT™ (Reactive Protection Technology), a soft, flexible technology that stiffens to absorb over 90% of the energy from high-speed impact.
G-Form can add a little more confidence when kick-flipping a 20-stair or dropping into steep singletrack. Or in my case, snowboarding in thin-cover conditions at Snowbird in early December.
I wore the G-Form elbow pads, described as a “flexible, molded, exoskeleton rate-dependent impact pad worn on the outside of the sleeve.” The ridges and hinges of the pad are specifically designed to flex with the elbow and arm to ensure complete protection.
G-Form elbow, shin and knee pads have a thin rubberized edge that allow it to grab on to your skin to prevent slipping. I found that flipping these edges inside-out allow you to pull the pad on more easily and then, once in place, flip the edges back down so the rubber contacts your skin. There was very little movement of the pads over the course of the day and I only made minor adjustments during a quick lunch break. The G-Form elbow pads did there job on more than a handful of falls and will be a regular part of my gear for snowboarding, mountain biking and downhill skateboarding.
I’ve written about d3o in the past and this product is similar, but G-From simply does more with less. G-Form’s RPT is a proprietary composite construction made-up of durable layered materials. This allows G-Form to be directly exposed, whereas d3o is almost always inside of a pocket or under a layer of fabric or foam. With a lighter weight base material and special co-molded construction, G-Form RPT can “outperform d30 in many ways,” according to G-Form VP of Innovations Thomas Cafaro. “Compared to d3o, G-Form RPT has better abrasion properties, a higher tear strength and can handle laundering much better.” G-Form’s impact test results claim to reduce force transfer better than d3o and does so with less weight, less thickness and at a lower retail price.
If your looking to boost your confidence, protect yourself from bodily harm and want to cut-down on the bulk of traditional pads, consider G-Force. They’re light, affordable and offer great protection using state-of-the-art technology.
Note: I’ve also been testing the G-Force Extreme Portfolio™ for iPad 1 or 2/10″ Tablet and while I haven’t dropped any bowling balls on it (or from an airplane), the case gives me peace-of-mind and it looks badass!
Posted by: Lawrence
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A few years back, Bitness ran a series of articles on the process of shaping an Alaia – a wooden, pre-20th century Hawaiian surfboard. I was pretty proud of my accomplishment – thought I nailed it! A few months later I was at my local surf shop Warm Winds and saw 3-4 cedar Alaia beauties standing next to the FCS fin display. Any Norm Abram delusions I had of myself were promptly shattered.
Today at the shop I had the pleasure of meeting the man who crafted these boards, Bill Shockley of Gray Suit Productions. Bill explained to me how to work the rails down the way I want them by setting defined lines with a pencil and using some common sense. I plan to put this information to use after the holidays and refine the board I’ve admittedly had trouble setting the rail with.
Bill not only creates beautiful and functional (something I missed the mark with) surfboards, he also makes fins, skateboards and has some amazing artwork done in a variety of mediums including wood and brass. If you’re looking for a great gift for the surfer or skater in your life, or looking to treat yourself, be sure to check out Gray Suit Productions.
Posted by: Lawrence
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I was stoked to learn there would be a magazine dedicated to backcountry snowboarding. To find out I was IN the Winter 2012 premiere issue made it all the more sweeter! Kronicle is published by Height of Land Publications, the same folks who bring us Alpinist, Telemark Skier and Backcountry magazine.
OK, so they made me an ‘After Thought’ – the last page of editorial in the magazine. In the shot I’m doing a Method Air, which was still sorta cool in 1985 (I suppose a reverse rocket would’ve been cooler). Fellow bitness writer, photog and best bud Jason snapped the picture when we were kids on a back-hill in our home town of White Plains, New York. The point of the article is that local hills are where backcountry snowboarding began.
The contents of this premiere issue of Kronicle, both the editorial and the imagery, are top notch. Kronicle covers two topics in this issue that were both on the table for future bitness.com articles – split boards and ‘No-boarding’ (snowboarding without bindings) and frankly, they just made our research a little easier.
Hit your local Barnes & Noble, EMS, REI or local board shop to see if they carry Kronicle, or order it online and subscribe. If you enjoy snowboarding and don’t do backcountry (but maybe like to hit the glades) it’s well worth the read and the images are guaranteed to get you amped for the coming season – I’m already booked for Utah in 2 weeks!
Posted by: Lawrence
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When you or one of your friends drops in a halfpipe, wave, downhill single-track or chute you pull for them to make something special happen. It’s called spreading the stoke and for a little over a year Stokelab has done just that and done it beautifully with incredible imagery and digestible stokey nuggets of editorial.
Stokelab.com
Issue N° 5 does not disappoint, capturing images of athletes at the pique of their sport, whether it be kayaking, surfing, climbing, mountain biking, snowboarding, skiing or other core sports.
This issue features an interview with Geoff MacDonald and Chris James of Meathead Films. The two discuss their 11th film project, Prime Cuts and also their working dynamic, what it takes to make it as a filmmaker and what it means to be ‘core’ and not controlled.
Check out Stokelab Issue N° 5 and other back issues for all the core sports porn your eyes can handle. If the pictures and articles don’t get you amped out of your skin, you might want to try methlab.com – just kidding… Don’t do drugs.
Posted by: Lawrence
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As of November 2011, Bitness has been bringing you their fresh take on fitness gadgets and gear for the past 5 years. We’ve tested products for runners, swimmers, snowboarders, cyclists and survivalists alike. Starting in November 2011, we’ll switch focus to what many call action sports or adventure sports. These sports include surfing, snowboarding, skateboarding, climbing, kayaking and other pursuits such as BASE jumping, diving, survivalism and more.
Franz Circa 1987
Because the sports that generally fall under the action or adventure moniker are our true passion (we’ve been either racing BMX or skating ramps and snowboarding for 30 years – not collectively – 30 years for each of us!), we’re calling them core sports. Deal with it.
We’re pumped to share some of the products we’ve been testing and look forward to hearing your thoughts and having you share your experiences as well. We’re leaving all the old posts in there for archival purposes, so if you like reading about a heart rate monitor from 2007, go for it.
Also, to commemorate our 5 year anniversary this November, we’re finally unveiling a logo – we’ve never had one of those and we found a cool design firm to create it for us.
Finally, in addition to changes you will see on the pages of Bitness, we’ve moved hosts and have a whole bunch of crap to sort-out on the back-end – thanks for your patience!
Posted by: Lawrence
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For those that can afford it, the ideal surf vacation is a boat trip or a surf resort. For those tighter on cash or up for a purer experience, camping on the beach is where it’s at. Bring enough fresh water, adult beverages, some canned food and fishing tackle and you’re ready to jump on it when the surf gets good throughout the day – and night.
For sleeping accommodations, a minimalist is likely to bring a sleeping bag, hammock and bug net. But there might be a more minimal and likely more comfortable way to dirtbag it – the Wavecave. You have to bring your boards anyway, so why not a board bag you can convert into a tent? Constructed of 300-600D PVC waterproof canvas, 12mm high density polyfoam padding, tarpaulin, 5mm dividers, waterproof tent material and 5mm fibreglas rods, the Wavecave is a padded pause paradise for the tired surfer.
The Wavecave comes in 3 sizes, each provides varying degrees of room for boards and shelter:
1. 6’8″ Double Wavecave (2 x shorboards): ~ $260.00
2. 6’8″ Triple Wavecave (3 x shorboards or 2 x shortboards and 1 x semi gun or 2 x shortboards and 1 x kite or 4 x boards may be squeezed inside (other combinations possible)): ~$287.00
3. 7’8″ Triple Wavecave (3 x mini mals or 2 x shortboards and 1 x gun, 2 x shortboards and 2 x kite, 4 x boards may be squeezed inside (other combinations possible)): ~$315.00
Posted by: Lawrence
(Source: Gizmodo)
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Bitness is a group of snowboarders, skaters, surfers, kayakers, rock climbers, survivalists, mountain bikers and weekend warriors with backgrounds in professional photography, web development, writing and design. We review gadgets and gear we either already own as well as gear provided to us by the manufacturer or their agencies to test.