Elk Erotica, Shoe Talk & Gear of the Year
- colin7931
- Dec 25, 2025
- 42 min read
In this special end-of-year episode of Gear Abby, host Shawnté Salabert and producer Colin True ditch listener mail in favor of interrogating each other. The result is a wide-ranging, deeply nerdy, and occasionally unhinged conversation that blends wildlife biology, outdoor industry reflection, and a full-blown gear-of-the-year showdown. Equal parts reflective and ridiculous, the episode feels like a campfire conversation where the whiskey is strong and nobody’s watching the clock.
Question 1: What’s the Best Email Gear Abby Has Ever Received?
Colin kicks things off by asking Shawnté to name the most memorable email the show has received so far — a question that quickly devolves (predictably) into bodily functions, sexual misadventures, and emotional growth.
While shoutouts go to elegantly written emails about gastrointestinal distress and “getting busy in the woods,” Shawnté ultimately crowns a non-question submission from a listener named Troy as the all-time great. Troy, a former wildlife biologist, sent in a detailed, science-backed, and unintentionally erotic deep dive into elk mating behavior — complete with rut rituals, harem dynamics, and a phrase no one was prepared for: “irrationally horny.”
The email is less fan mail and more nature documentary script, and Shawnté’s decision to read extended excerpts turns the segment into a masterclass in why outdoor education is never boring. It’s biology, but make it spicy.
Question 2: The Outdoor Story of the Year
Next, Shawnté flips the script and asks Colin to reflect on the biggest outdoor story of the year — however he wants to define it.
While political decisions, tariffs, and industry infighting loom large, Colin zeroes in on what he sees as the most consequential shift: the explosion of trail running footwear. Brands new and old are flooding the market, casual consumers are finally catching on, and trail runners have officially crossed into mainstream outdoor culture.
There’s also a brief detour into America the Beautiful passes, baffling design choices, and the rise of artists making stickers to cover up government-mandated imagery — proof that even bureaucracy can inspire creative rebellion.
Question 3: Gear of the Year (Shawnté’s Edition)
With the philosophical groundwork laid, the conversation turns squarely to gear — starting with Shawnté’s favorites of the year.
Her highlights include:
Lems Switchback Sandals, praised for comfort, adjustability, and a merciful lack of strap gymnastics
Possum-blend sleeping socks, which Shawnté defends unapologetically as essential cold-night luxury
Gossamer Gear’s Mariposa pack, lauded for its comfort, pocket layout, and included sit pad
CNOC’s thru-bottle, a Smartwater replacement that actually feels intentional
Keen’s new trail runners, which surprise Shawnté with their fit, comfort, and legitimate running performance
Her picks skew practical but opinionated — less hype, more “this actually made my life better.”
Question 4: Gear of the Year (Colin’s Shoe-Dog Take)
Unsurprisingly, Colin’s gear focus lands squarely on footwear. He leans into his lifelong identity as a “shoe dog,” breaking down what makes a great trail shoe and why certain models stand out.
His standouts include:
Lems Trailblazer, which he dubs a “mountain sneaker” with everyday wearability
Topo Athletic Terraventure 4, praised for fit, versatility, and Lone Peak energy without the clown-shoe vibe
Norda 002, a premium trail runner that justifies its price with durability and performance
For Colin, shoes aren’t just gear — they’re the lens through which he understands the outdoor industry itself.
Question 5: What Are You Looking Forward To Next Year?
The episode closes on a quieter, more reflective note as Shawnté and Colin talk about what they want from the year ahead.
For Colin, it’s consistency over conquest — surfing more, hiking more, and spending intentional time outside with the people he cares about. For Shawnté, it’s finishing a long-gestating book, returning to running after injury, and watching her local mountains continue to heal after wildfire.
There are no grand bucket lists here — just a shared belief that showing up regularly matters more than chasing highlights.
The Takeaway
Elk Erotica, Shoe Talk & Gear of the Year is a fitting capstone episode: funny, thoughtful, deeply specific, and unafraid to wander. Whether they’re unpacking the sexual politics of elk herds or debating trail shoe fit, Shawnté and Colin remind listeners that outdoor culture is at its best when it’s curious, self-aware, and willing to laugh at itself.
It’s not about having the best gear, the best stories, or the best “cred.” It’s about paying attention — to nature, to each other, and occasionally, to an email so good it derails the entire show.
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Episode Transcript:
Shawnté Salabert
00:00:00.720 - 00:03:23.340
While daydreaming about future backpacking trips, I had an epiphany. Maybe I could have an even better time out there if I lighten my pack. That's when I decided to try out my very first trekking pole tent.
Gossamer Gears. The One. And it was a match made in ultralight heaven.
Weighing in at just 18 ounces, the one sets up in minutes using just trekking poles and a handful of stakes. And I gotta say, the One didn't just lighten my pack.
It simplified my camp setup so that I had more time to enjoy the natural beauty all around me and. And allow me to spend more time with my number one favorite piece of gear. My bidet. That's right.
You know, Gossamer Gear designs products for people on the move rooted in a legacy of simplification. Their philosophy is that taking less allows you to do more.
And if you want to test out this philosophy yourself, head to gossamergear.com, use code GearAbby at checkout, and save 20 bucks off your order of $100 or more. Happy holidays, my outdoorsy friends. It's your favorite time of the week. Time to head to the official gear garage of Gear Abbey.
That is Garage Grown Gear. That's right. Our friends at GGG are here to make sure all of you can get the newest outdoor stuff that you need for your next adventure.
What kind of stuff? I'm going to tell you every single week. Here are some examples. All right. Whoa. Is that. Is that Norda's music? Oh, that's right. Norda.
Trail running has arrived on Garage Grown Gear. Oh, yeah. Get your feet ready for this big, big action. All right.
After you're done running in your Nordah's that might take you a couple years to really run through them, you're going to take a seat on Gossamer Gear's little sit pad. Aw. Gossamer gear is showing up in the GGG ad. A little cross pollination.
Oh, and Colin wrote this ad copy which says the streams have been crossed, finally bringing it back to a better place. Looking for some badass tent stakes? Did you even know that badass tent stakes exist? I did.
Check out the Pioneer Torque steak and the Pioneer Titanium steak from Tarragon Gear. Whatever you're looking for, Garage Grown Gear and Gear Abbey are the perfect outdoor combo.
So get shopping by heading over to garagegrowngear.com right? Meow. You got questions going out of your mind. Someone with answers. Now that's hard to find.
Like the what and the why and the how stuff works or just where to go to avoid all the jerks. She's Gear Abby. Gear Abby. Gear Abby. Advice that doesn't suck. Gear Abby. Hello there, my outdoors.
Hey, friends, and welcome to Here Abby, where we tackle the controversial, weird, obscure and taboo topics that other outdoor podcasts refuse to touch.
I'm outdoor educator and writer Chante Salibair, and I'm here to answer your burning questions about our relationships with outdoor people, products, places and pastimes. And I want them all because remember, there are no dumb questions, just smart advice. All right, Here. Here's how it works. My old timers know this.
My old timers. Is that what we're calling you? We need a name for the Gear Abby army. But. But for now, we'll just call you old timers.
Apparently, as you know, you're going to send questions into dear gear abbymail.com and I'll answer a few each week on the show.
And as always, joining me today is my partner in gear, the producer of Gear Abby, and a guy who conveniently forgot his credit card when I had breakfast with him a few weeks ago at the running event, Colin True.
Colin True
00:03:23.580 - 00:03:30.620
Okay. It's a special holiday edition of Gear Abby. This is going up on Christmas Day, number one. Number two, I think Gear Abby army just works.
Shawnté Salabert
00:03:31.020 - 00:03:32.940
Does it. It sounds aggressive. I'm not.
Colin True
00:03:32.940 - 00:03:40.620
It does. But I've said if you read some of our. From our listeners, we got. We got some. Some aggressive listeners. The Gear Abby army, it just kind of flows.
Shawnté Salabert
00:03:40.700 - 00:03:43.180
Those are your favorite listeners are the aggressive ones.
Colin True
00:03:43.500 - 00:03:49.900
What. What Gear Abby neglected to say is I didn't have my card because I left it at the restaurant where I had bought Gear Abbey dinner the night before.
Shawnté Salabert
00:03:51.900 - 00:03:57.240
That's true. That's true. That's fin pay for the entire rock fight crew. That is my. My side.
Colin True
00:03:57.240 - 00:03:59.080
Except for that one breakfast which you bought me.
Shawnté Salabert
00:03:59.240 - 00:04:04.520
That's true. I'll never let you live it down. You did enjoy it, though. It was a good breakfast.
Colin True
00:04:04.760 - 00:04:08.680
That was a great breakfast, which I had low expectations considering it was a hotel.
Shawnté Salabert
00:04:08.840 - 00:04:11.000
I was going to say considering what. Because I was there.
Colin True
00:04:11.480 - 00:04:22.600
No, the company was top notch.
But the, but the, the food was actually really quite good because there was a lot of apparently breakfast places in hotels like that people go to who aren't staying at the hotel. Looks like in San Antonio.
Shawnté Salabert
00:04:22.840 - 00:04:39.020
Yeah, we were in San Antonio for the running event. For those who aren't familiar now this at. By the time this airs, this was going to be a couple weeks ago, but San Antonio.
It's an outdoor trade show for running nerds. Real good time. We saw a lot of shoes. Turns out lots of shoes. Just walls and walls and walls of shoes.
Colin True
00:04:39.020 - 00:04:40.780
We're going to talk about shoes a lot, I think, in this episode.
Shawnté Salabert
00:04:40.780 - 00:04:54.440
I think probably yes. But yeah, it was a good time. I. I loved it. And we got to hang, which is always a delight.
Even though we live very close to each other, in theory, we never hang out. So one day.
Colin True
00:04:54.440 - 00:04:54.960
That's true.
Shawnté Salabert
00:04:54.960 - 00:04:56.600
One day we'll take this into 3D.
Colin True
00:04:56.760 - 00:04:57.560
It's gonna happen.
Shawnté Salabert
00:05:00.040 - 00:05:51.560
Until that day comes, I'm gonna do a little housekeeping on this episode. I feel like we've now, now that we're getting different kinds of emails and different things going on, we get a little upfront housekeeping.
So, listeners, my dearest gear, Abby army, send in some alternate names for me if you could@deargearabbymail.com I'd like to know what you think you should be called, but this episode is going to be a little different.
Not just because we're coming up with weird names for all of you, but because instead of answering listener questions, we're going to answer each other's questions. That's right. Burning questions coming from Colin and Shantae.
We are also going to take a two week break after this episode to contemplate our life decisions and whatnot.
So take this time, drum up some new questions, email them, send them via carrier pigeon however you'd like, but I am ready to talk about poop and anything else in the new year.
Colin True
00:05:52.250 - 00:05:54.570
Would you prefer a carrier pigeon or a raven?
Shawnté Salabert
00:05:55.130 - 00:06:02.570
Oh, I love a raven. I love a corvid. Listen, they want to be like, they want to know us. They want to be smart animals. They're very smart.
Colin True
00:06:02.570 - 00:06:03.010
Yeah.
Shawnté Salabert
00:06:03.010 - 00:06:05.450
They may be better than us. Is it?
Colin True
00:06:05.530 - 00:06:08.089
Yeah. I have like three raven tattoo or crow tattoos.
Shawnté Salabert
00:06:08.330 - 00:06:11.370
I didn't know that. Do you know the difference between a raven and a crow?
Colin True
00:06:11.610 - 00:06:15.290
Isn't it the size of the bird? The ravens are bigger or something like that.
Shawnté Salabert
00:06:15.450 - 00:06:18.650
It's a little bit of the size, but it's also their tails, how their tails are.
Colin True
00:06:18.650 - 00:06:19.290
Oh, there you go.
Shawnté Salabert
00:06:19.290 - 00:06:20.010
Yeah, there you go.
Colin True
00:06:20.970 - 00:06:23.170
I'm a fan of all things Corvid, so there you go.
Shawnté Salabert
00:06:23.320 - 00:06:28.440
I love that. All Things Corvid sounds like an NPR show. Welcome to All Things Corvid.
Colin True
00:06:29.080 - 00:06:30.520
I don't have a good spin off.
Shawnté Salabert
00:06:30.760 - 00:06:34.360
It's a spin off. Yeah. We're working on a lot of new things for 2026.
Colin True
00:06:34.840 - 00:06:36.840
All things Corvid. We'll launch that In June.
Shawnté Salabert
00:06:39.160 - 00:06:49.320
All right. I'm so excited. Colin, for. For. We're doing something a little different today. You and I get to ask each other questions.
We're going to try to make them burning outdoor questions just to keep on theme.
Colin True
00:06:49.400 - 00:06:52.360
No antibiotics for this. These questions, they're just burning.
Shawnté Salabert
00:06:52.520 - 00:06:54.040
Just burn. We're just letting them.
Colin True
00:06:54.170 - 00:06:55.770
These guys burning when they pee.
Shawnté Salabert
00:06:55.770 - 00:07:08.170
You know, it's like a little bit of chafe with each question just blossoming on your tender bits. Yeah. Listen, this is. We have to keep it on brand here. Okay. So, Colin, I will let you go first. What do you have?
Colin True
00:07:08.650 - 00:07:13.530
All right. I am actually curious because now what this is. This is the 18th episode we've. We've. We've recorded.
Shawnté Salabert
00:07:14.250 - 00:07:18.250
What's the feels like 700 it feels like, but in a good way.
Colin True
00:07:19.770 - 00:07:25.040
Please send help. What do you think's the best email you've received so far? Ooh.
Shawnté Salabert
00:07:25.200 - 00:07:35.600
Okay. There have been a lot of good ones. I mean, I think, you know, when I'm thinking about top. We have to go back to the sharding question.
That was just the most elegantly written email about starting I've ever read in my life.
Colin True
00:07:35.840 - 00:07:41.760
Yeah. Female listener who both hikes and poops. Was. It wasn't that there. Has tummy issues.
Shawnté Salabert
00:07:42.000 - 00:07:48.240
There's something in there for everyone. I loved that one. I loved the question about getting busy in the woods.
Colin True
00:07:49.220 - 00:07:49.540
Yes.
Shawnté Salabert
00:07:49.540 - 00:08:14.980
Yeah, I love, I love. You know, those were great. But I think here, here's an interesting thing.
I have an email that we received recently after we talked about elk etiquette. I think that was back in November. That was not actually a question, but it is an email, so this counts.
But it was a deep dive into the sensual lives of elk, which might also be an NPR show. I don't know. Maybe it's like a short format, like a miniseries kind of situation.
Colin True
00:08:14.980 - 00:08:23.450
No, I think it's more of a soap opera. It's an afternoon daily soap opera. The sexual lives of elk. This afternoon on abc.
Shawnté Salabert
00:08:23.850 - 00:08:24.450
Beautiful.
Colin True
00:08:24.450 - 00:08:25.850
Is that after General Hospital?
Shawnté Salabert
00:08:26.570 - 00:08:30.570
Yes. And One Life to Live, I learned that all of those soaps are still on the air.
Colin True
00:08:30.650 - 00:08:33.050
They are all still on the idea. Yeah.
Shawnté Salabert
00:08:33.050 - 00:08:34.529
I feel like my mom was watching those.
Colin True
00:08:34.529 - 00:08:38.010
And Anthony Geary, who played Luke on General Hospital, he just died.
Shawnté Salabert
00:08:39.050 - 00:08:39.730
Oh, Luke.
Colin True
00:08:39.730 - 00:08:49.930
And I remember coming home from school and watching Luke and Laura's wedding with my mom. Like that's. It was like the biggest, like one of the most watched things on television ever. It was like 83 or something like that.
Shawnté Salabert
00:08:49.930 - 00:09:06.070
I too little to remember that. I like to remind you. But I do remember watching Knots Landing every Thursday with. Okay, that was a big one. That was a little more like sexy.
I think it was like a precursor to the modern, you know, maybe Desperate Housewives and stuff. I mean, Nicolette Sheridan was in that too.
Colin True
00:09:06.309 - 00:09:07.070
Oh, all right.
Shawnté Salabert
00:09:07.070 - 00:09:53.960
Yeah. But. No, but, but here. The. The sensual lives of elk. This email thrilled me.
So this came from a regular listener, Troy, who ported over here from the Rock Fight, which for any of you listeners who dropped in randomly into episode 18. Colin is the co. Creator, co host of the Rock Fight. I show up on there every once in a while. That's where Gear Abbey spun off from.
But anyway, regular listener Troy is a biologist who used to work with elk, among other things. Troy has written us before about other things and I want.
I would love to read the whole email, but that would be an entire podcast because Troy is a very good writer. Very prolific as it turns out. Um, but I'm just going to read a few excerpts.
I'm going to try to set the stage for you here and why I love this email so much.
Colin True
00:09:54.040 - 00:10:01.840
So we're not doing Greatest Hits. You know, we're not doing the clip episode yet.
We're just actually going to go with a fresh email that otherwise we would not have another opportunity to read. Otherwise. I know.
00:10:01.840 - 00:10:14.320
Yeah, I had to. We had to carve out space for this. This is such a good one. So, okay. Troy writes elk are fascinating if you want to talk about sex.
And he put this in bold and man, do y' all ever. He's not wrong.
Colin True
00:10:14.320 - 00:10:17.320
Okay, well, hold on. Not to like, what's more fun to talk about?
Shawnté Salabert
00:10:18.280 - 00:10:20.170
I mean, poop. Yeah.
Colin True
00:10:20.170 - 00:10:25.050
I mean. Okay, there you go. Then what? After that there's like a lot of a big gap and then you get to the next things that are fun.
Shawnté Salabert
00:10:25.210 - 00:10:26.730
Running shoes is probably. Yeah.
Colin True
00:10:26.730 - 00:10:29.010
Maybe, you know, movies after that. I don't know.
Shawnté Salabert
00:10:29.010 - 00:10:30.610
Oh, Vertical limit. Yeah.
Colin True
00:10:30.610 - 00:10:31.210
Oh, yeah.
Shawnté Salabert
00:10:31.210 - 00:10:33.850
I mean we did. I feel like we did promise the people.
Colin True
00:10:34.810 - 00:10:36.890
I was gonna re watch it last night, but I didn't.
Shawnté Salabert
00:10:36.890 - 00:10:37.530
I didn't either.
Colin True
00:10:37.530 - 00:10:40.010
I didn't see it in the outline. So like. Oh, good. I don't have to rewatch it.
Shawnté Salabert
00:10:40.010 - 00:11:03.170
You don't. But anyway, he says if you want to talk about sex and Mandy all ever elk are a good model. Everyone's got an angle here.
A bull's goal is to maximize the quantity of matings gang while cows those are the ladies are seeking to mate with one high quality individual same to produce a high quality offspring. Not the same People, well, they want to get in the middle of it all.
Colin True
00:11:03.250 - 00:11:04.850
I don't think he means bestiality.
Shawnté Salabert
00:11:04.850 - 00:11:07.970
No, I don't think that's what he said. We need to. Yeah, they're just curious.
Colin True
00:11:08.130 - 00:11:08.610
Yeah.
Shawnté Salabert
00:11:09.090 - 00:11:16.550
So he goes out, he describes the process, which includes the dude, elk skin sniffing the lady elk's bits to determine which of them are ready to roll.
Colin True
00:11:16.550 - 00:11:17.630
So consensual.
Shawnté Salabert
00:11:17.950 - 00:11:45.370
I. Apparently, within the elk community, this is like a special. You know, they.
Yeah, they're just all milling about, I guess, and then just like, sniffing is happening. And he says once when he was on the job, and this is a quote, I once heard a scandalized young woman gasp, he's smelling her bung hole.
Which makes me really glad that this is not how most humans mate. Like that. That part is mine, the really glad part. I wouldn't want to. It's like dogs. I don't want to sn. I don't know.
Colin True
00:11:45.450 - 00:11:50.810
I've had a few drunken nights at bars where people were saying interesting things. I don't know if I've heard that specifically, but, you know, I can't.
Shawnté Salabert
00:11:50.810 - 00:11:52.490
I can't hear bunghole.
Colin True
00:11:52.650 - 00:11:56.330
I can't say that. It's never been said among a human population.
Shawnté Salabert
00:11:57.610 - 00:12:26.300
Yeah, no, I, I. Yeah, I don't know. But apparently once these elk are ready for carnal pleasures, the sniffing has commenced. It's.
It's kind of aggressively businesslike is how Troy sort of described it in his email. And he says, I once described elk mating as a slam, bam, thank you, ma' am affair to a group of high school kids.
I received a number of letters from those kids thanking me for, quote, talking to them like adults. If those kids listen to this podcast, they would know that.
Colin True
00:12:26.300 - 00:12:26.780
Yes, I know.
Shawnté Salabert
00:12:26.780 - 00:12:35.540
Send them a link, Troy, to them like adults. Anyway, I think my favorite part of the letter, though, was his description of the pre game, which I'm just going to read to you. Okay.
Colin True
00:12:35.540 - 00:12:37.260
Elk foreplay is what we're doing right now.
Shawnté Salabert
00:12:37.260 - 00:12:59.900
This is great. Y' all are learning so much about elk and their harems. Okay, this is a quote to impress discerning cows.
Bulls spend most of the year growing big, gorgeous antlers and putting on fat. Once the rut starts, bull elk stop eating and barely drink or sleep for weeks. They grow irrationally horny.
Okay, irrationally horny is another phrase. I've never used another band name.
Colin True
00:12:59.900 - 00:13:00.420
Right there.
Shawnté Salabert
00:13:00.740 - 00:13:04.900
What kind of band is it? A sca band. It's a ska band.
Colin True
00:13:04.980 - 00:13:20.680
You know, it could be a ska band because they're. Yeah. Yeah, you're right. I don't like to default to Scott because I like Scott so much, but. But this. No, but I try not to for this game.
But it's like, in this, in this instance, rationally, horny definitely is.
Shawnté Salabert
00:13:20.920 - 00:13:29.960
It has to be. It's not like a retro soul band. It is a scarboat. And it's probably down in San Diego for being honest. Like, that's the birthplace.
Colin True
00:13:29.960 - 00:13:32.280
The Southern California pumpkin Scott scene is real.
Shawnté Salabert
00:13:32.440 - 00:14:12.390
It's pretty hot, but yeah.
So apparently they grow irrationally horny and aggressive, fighting with other bulls, occasionally to the death, and charging anything that gets too close. They urinate all over themselves and wallow in a mix of mud and urine.
The fighting, chasing mating opportunities, and herding cows 24 hours a day cause bulls to rapidly lose weight. By the end of the rut, a successful bull is exhausted, often injured, dehydrated, and sporting numerous non lethal punctures.
Basically, a bull elk is nearly killing himself each year in order to breed. Having a harem can be a rough gig. Colin, that was my favorite. Just the call out for you.
Colin True
00:14:13.510 - 00:14:25.510
You know, if you go back and look in history, this is also how John Holmes operated in the 70s. You know, he just. He dehydrated himself, got irrationally horny. Horny. They shot for like three days and then that was it. Then he recharged.
Shawnté Salabert
00:14:25.910 - 00:14:31.910
Do you think that's why the salmon are so successful at going upstream, is they've just got. They've gotten irrationally horny?
Colin True
00:14:32.350 - 00:14:40.030
They are motivated, man, we just gotta get there, man. They're. They're hanging out by dams for decades, waiting for the dams.
Shawnté Salabert
00:14:40.030 - 00:14:52.150
True, that's true. That I would be irrational too, at that point. That's fair. Tarantulas, I don't think, ever. I think tarantula. Tarantulas are probably like.
I feel like they have a fairly low sex drive if we're just ranking animal and insects. Yeah.
Colin True
00:14:52.150 - 00:15:22.850
I mean, I mean, for as much as, like, as scary as big spiders are, like, they're pretty, like timid animals. They kind of like, hide. They don't want to be found. They don't really want to be seen.
I think they probably have to bump into each other in order to mate. They're not out there, like, you know, at the tarantula bar, like, you know, just like tying one on and looking for a willing partner, you know?
But I think you're right. This is.
This is definitely the best email and I'm glad you got a chance to read it because otherwise this wasn't really a typical email we would read on the show. And we've had so many good questions and I don't want anybody to think that they should send emails like this instead of questions.
Please send us your questions, Dear I.
Shawnté Salabert
00:15:22.850 - 00:15:27.690
Like to be in gmail dot com. Entertain me, teach me something. I know, I love, I love that we learned a little something about this.
Colin True
00:15:28.010 - 00:15:38.820
For sure. Go nuts, send this in and then add a question as well.
But this is, this is pretty special given all, given all the, the animal sex topics we've been able to cover in the first few episodes of Gear Abbey here.
Shawnté Salabert
00:15:39.060 - 00:15:40.380
It's truly my pleasure.
Colin True
00:15:40.380 - 00:15:41.780
I think it's the elk's pleasure.
Shawnté Salabert
00:15:43.940 - 00:16:22.870
Oh, man. Okay. Good one there. That was a real good one. I think. I think it was all of our pleasures.
Maybe the listeners as well, or maybe they've already tuned out. It's hard to say. I think we started strong, though. I feel like that's a good way to start.
So I, I am going to say it is my turn now to ask the question. Okay. You and I used to host a weekly episode of the Rock Fight where we basically rift on outdoor news.
And of course, we probably talked way too much about Michelino Sinceri on this podcast. And I know you really miss looking at the news every week, Colin, about the outdoors. Searching, searching for something to talk about that week.
Colin True
00:16:22.870 - 00:16:23.710
Oh, my God.
Shawnté Salabert
00:16:23.790 - 00:16:43.180
No, I don't really. I didn't know that. You definitely didn't tell me multiple times.
But I'd say looking back at 20, 25, which we are rounding the corner on right now, what was your favorite outdoor related news story? And I'm going to let you interpret favorite and outdoor however you want.
Colin True
00:16:44.220 - 00:17:40.990
Yeah. You sent me this. It's a little tough. I think a lot of what we talk about in the Rock Fight is kind of inside baseball stuff. To your point. Yeah. Right.
Yeah.
For the outdoor industry, which, you know, some Gear Abbey listeners may not find that interesting, although we do have a lot of kind of, we call prosumers, people who aren't really in the industry and are just interested in the stuff in the brand. So maybe they will find some of this interesting.
I mean, but the big stories this year, the Trump tariffs and the impact of the industry, that's probably what we talked about the most. Trail running led the product conversation. I'm sure you and I are going to talk some more shoes.
And as we sit here today, looking back on this year, we got another wave of casual versus core debating, which happens like clockwork every 18 months or so where the hardcore people think the industry exists to serve them. And then while all the numbers show that, like, actually the casual consumer is growing rapidly in the outdoor space.
And then of course, you know, outside of the making stuff part of the outdoors, we had at least. And you know this because this is when we were doing those episodes. Three or four instances of morons trying to pet a bison.
Shawnté Salabert
00:17:41.790 - 00:17:44.710
Always my favorite news. Yeah.
Colin True
00:17:44.710 - 00:17:52.750
To the point where I do think we are eventually going to make merch with like somebody like, you know, riding a bison. Because it's just like, seems to be a trend that is not going to go away anytime soon.
Shawnté Salabert
00:17:52.830 - 00:17:56.670
Or maybe the bison is riding the person. Maybe that's like the person is there.
Colin True
00:17:56.750 - 00:17:57.390
Oh, I like that.
Shawnté Salabert
00:17:57.390 - 00:18:03.630
They've been slightly headbutted and so now they're riding the top of the bison's head because they. Yeah, I feel like that's what probably.
Colin True
00:18:03.630 - 00:18:11.990
More appropriate maybe that or maybe it's just kind of like a far side style cartoon where it's like the bison like, you know, creeping up to the people going, they could let me ride it.
Shawnté Salabert
00:18:13.590 - 00:18:15.830
I love that idea. Are you listening, Gary Larson?
Colin True
00:18:16.550 - 00:19:04.420
I do think the most fascinating part of the outdoor world is the ability for very smart people to radically misunderstand how the industry contributes to our economy while still being out there quoting the Bureau of Economic Analysis saying that we're a trillion dollar industry. Which for those listening who maybe not know that that's a thing. The Bureau of Economic Analysis, Bureau of Government Agency.
Again, inside baseball, nerdy stuff. Right. But it says that the outdoors is a trillion dollar thing.
Now, that number includes oil and gas production and theme parks and RVs and boats and everything like that. But it's a really sexy number to throw around.
And there are people who really want the outdoor industry to be one thing while convincing themselves it's something else. And I find that very interesting.
But in terms of the story of the year, the thing that I really reflect back on, 2025, when it comes to the outdoors, I don't want to talk about Tarif gear.
Shawnté Salabert
00:19:04.420 - 00:19:05.260
Abby, thank you.
Colin True
00:19:05.260 - 00:19:07.260
So I'm going to say, yeah, thank.
Shawnté Salabert
00:19:07.260 - 00:19:08.220
You from all of us.
Colin True
00:19:08.220 - 00:19:45.960
Plus, Owen Cumberford's not here to really explain it to us, so I'm going to say the trail running footwear. The trail running footwear explosion, I think that has to be the answer. It's like everyone finally caught up to.
A lot of us have known since 1998, and everyone's like, oh, trail running, yeah, more comfortable than hiking shoes. Oh. And I Could wear them around, like casually too. Oh, that's a thing now. So that's been a huge deal. Many brands have entered the space.
There's been new brands. It's been just the products story of 2025. So that's what I would say is probably my.
What I would dub the category or go to conversation piece of the outdoors for 2025. Besides Beyond Bison anyway.
Shawnté Salabert
00:19:46.040 - 00:19:56.440
Beyond. Beyond bison. Is there anything beyond bison? That sounds like the vegetarian. What is the vegan bison? That's disgusting to even think.
I bet it's very gy.
Colin True
00:19:56.680 - 00:19:57.240
Probably.
Shawnté Salabert
00:19:57.320 - 00:20:19.740
I don't. Yeah, I. That's. That's a good one. I feel like trail running. I've been doing it for a while. I was ahead of the curve.
I like to think, um, it's mostly because it hurts my knees less than running on pavement. Um. But yeah, it was a big year for that. How many. Just a question. Give me an estimate.
How many different trail running shoes did you try out this year?
Colin True
00:20:20.460 - 00:20:54.520
I tried out by six or seven. Had the opportunity to try out in the low teens probably. And some I'm just like, I'm.
I'm all right, like, no, take a pass on those because I'm not really a runner anymore. But I still like try them out and I once to try them out and I'm still a shoe guy at heart more than anything else. So it's fun to try out shoes.
It's true, man.
It's just, I mean, every time you turn around, it's another brand that, you know that's coming out with a trail running shoe or an entirely new brand that didn't exist before or that you weren't aware that existed before making a trail running shoe. I mean, you know, everybody, some of the AI bubble. I think the trail running bubble is going to pop in 2026.
Shawnté Salabert
00:20:54.600 - 00:21:18.580
No, people are just going to. They're just gonna be like, screw this, I'm over it. I don't think so.
I feel like after, like during COVID people were just scratching at the walls to get, you know, figure out what to do with themselves. So you saw, right? And then outdoor participation exploded. So, yeah, I think, I don't know. I think trail running still has legs.
Still has little skinny, muscular legs. Does.
Colin True
00:21:18.740 - 00:21:44.320
I think. But it's still funny because like I said, like, and you know, this early adopter, I mean, it's. When did Montreal come out?
Like the late 90s and innovate and these trail running brands that came in the early 2000s and it's kind of Been around ever since. And we were, you know, I was working for brands making new trail running shoes in like 2007, 2008, Hoka, and all those brands come out 2010.
So it's not like anything new. It just found its time, I guess that it really is now surging forward.
Shawnté Salabert
00:21:44.320 - 00:21:50.560
So, you know, who needs to wear the trail shoes is maybe, maybe those people who are bison petting so they can get away faster.
Colin True
00:21:50.800 - 00:21:52.160
Right, Exactly.
Shawnté Salabert
00:21:52.240 - 00:21:53.200
Try to outrun it.
Colin True
00:21:53.600 - 00:21:55.650
What about you, though? What's your, what's your story of the year?
Shawnté Salabert
00:21:56.040 - 00:22:18.040
Ah, you know, I think, well, I'll, I'll give an honorable mention here. And it's a very new story.
Now my favorite, not my favorite, my not favorite story of the year is the new faces on next year's America the Beautiful interagency pass, what people call the National Parks Pass. But I have to give honorable mention here to painter Jenny McCarthy, not McCarthy.
Colin True
00:22:18.120 - 00:22:21.900
I thought you wrote Jenny McCarthy. And I'm like, what is going on with Jenny McCarthy?
Shawnté Salabert
00:22:22.450 - 00:22:30.610
She is, she's trying to, you know, find a new audience. She's already done tv, she's done anti vaxxer stuff.
Colin True
00:22:30.610 - 00:22:33.570
Yeah. So she's RFK standing on her corner, you know.
Shawnté Salabert
00:22:33.810 - 00:22:37.090
Yeah, I don't, Yeah, I don't think she would be the one to create the stickers here.
Colin True
00:22:37.250 - 00:22:38.210
No, I don't think so.
Shawnté Salabert
00:22:38.290 - 00:22:51.410
No.
But Jenny McCarty no H is selling stickers featuring her original artwork that are specially sized to cover this maybe undesirable non nature imagery that we are finding on these passes.
Colin True
00:22:51.650 - 00:22:53.490
It's amazing and it is, you know.
Shawnté Salabert
00:22:53.490 - 00:23:14.870
Her work is actually quite beautiful. I'm glad from all of this, like all the press she's gotten for this.
It led me to her website, which is, by the way, The Sage Leaf Studio.com, if you want to get some stickers or just check out her artwork. But it's beautiful. Like she's got one of them features a brown baron Denali.
One's got a little pika pika pika pika in which I can't just say, I have to say it multiple ways.
Colin True
00:23:14.870 - 00:23:16.230
I. I understand, I understand.
Shawnté Salabert
00:23:16.230 - 00:23:33.210
They're so stinking cute. That one's in Rocky Mountain National Park. There's a wolf in front of the Tetons, Wolfen.
And I cannot promise that any of them are horn horny and or maintaining a harem of any sort, but they all are. Yeah, I think we can assume. I think it's safe to assume.
Colin True
00:23:33.210 - 00:23:38.570
Okay, so I have two beefs with the new imagery on the national parks Pass.
Shawnté Salabert
00:23:38.570 - 00:23:41.050
Do you. Is it the two men's faces on there?
Colin True
00:23:41.210 - 00:24:06.630
That's one. Okay. You know, I think the. Listen, this is not a. We are. We are not fans of our current presidential administration on this podcast.
And so for any of you who are about to send in the like, don't bring about politics, man. Like, no, listen, this is beyond politics. It is objectively horrible. And we are not fans. Hands. So the fact of what they're doing and putting.
I mean, why is George Washington on there, if anything? Put Teddy Rose. What does George Washington have to do with national parks?
Shawnté Salabert
00:24:06.630 - 00:24:08.350
Nothing to do with national parks.
Colin True
00:24:08.350 - 00:24:43.280
And then you got, you know, scowling Trump. Okay, my second beef is who fucking designed it? Like, I could do a better job in.
Can give me the two images and I could take Canva and make it a more a well executed image of those two faces, even if I wouldn't want to than what they actually did. It was a total throwaway hack job.
So it's like, not only are you doing it, you're doing it poorly, which, by the way, stands up to everything else that happens with this administration, but. Oh, my God. So thank you, Jenny McCarty. You are doing the Lord's work. And this is not a religious podcast either, but I'm going to say it anyway.
You're doing the lord's work, Jenny McCarty.
Shawnté Salabert
00:24:44.080 - 00:24:45.920
I'm glad you got to rant today, Colin.
Colin True
00:24:46.640 - 00:24:48.080
I feel. I feel good now.
Shawnté Salabert
00:24:48.160 - 00:24:49.120
Take a deep breath.
Colin True
00:24:49.440 - 00:24:51.760
Those clouds got a. Got a. Got a fist shaking.
Shawnté Salabert
00:24:53.760 - 00:24:57.690
All right. Cloud fist shaker man. Are you all right now?
Colin True
00:24:58.320 - 00:25:02.680
I'm good, I'm good. I feel good. I feel ready. Got. That was. It was just bubbling up all day.
Shawnté Salabert
00:25:02.680 - 00:25:11.440
Exercise some demons in there. Yeah. All right, well, now that. Now that you're in a more Zen place, why don't you ask me your next question?
Colin True
00:25:11.680 - 00:25:22.520
Okay. And this is. I mean, really what the people want if they're outdoorsy people. It's all about the stuff, right? Let's just be honest. It's this, this.
It's about this stuff. It's about getting the stuff and going and using the stuff.
Shawnté Salabert
00:25:22.520 - 00:25:25.290
So for my third wonder of nature, Colin. Well.
Colin True
00:25:25.360 - 00:25:47.040
Well, that's important too, sort of. So, you know, people. Actually, I need to know what was your favorite gear of the year?
Whether that's something new that came out, whether that was a giant packet of goo that you were slurping down, you know, or just something that you started using this year that you love. What's your favorite new thing that you tried or got?
Shawnté Salabert
00:25:47.200 - 00:26:22.690
Oh, That's a good one. And I guess the name of the podcast is Gear Abby. So we. Whoop.
While we're doing this, you have to think of yours because I'm going to ask you, but I'll say mine. Mine is going to be a multi part answer.
So first of all, I just actually wrote about this for Treeline Reviews Best outdoor gear of 2025 roundup, where a bunch of the writers and editors listed their faves and I wrote about the Lem Switchback sandal. I love it. So for people who aren't familiar, Lem's is a shoe brand that makes minimal just.
Colin True
00:26:22.930 - 00:26:24.130
I'm not cutting that out.
Shawnté Salabert
00:26:25.490 - 00:27:32.320
They make minimalist barefoot style shoes. I'm going to just talk in a weird voice to enunciate. So the Switchback is a minimalist sandal. It's. It's kind of a cousin.
Colin can't stop laughing at that. He loves it when I mess up, by the way. So the Switchback is kind of like a cousin to the bedrock that people love.
It's got a thong style upper, not the Cisco style thong. Thong. This is a like a flip flop thong. It's. It's kind of light but surprisingly cushy footbed. It's kind of sculpted a little bit in there.
And I think my favorite part is the adjustment system that's super easy to use. It's called.
The name is kind of hilarious to me because it's switchback slider and it's S L Y D E R. It's kind of like comic booky to me, but whatever. But I have to say, like, I've tried a lot of different minimalist sandals and this has been by far the easiest to use.
Like, user error is very low on this one because other ones you have to like, like thread the, you know, ribbons of the ribbons. I'm not. It sounds like I'm wearing ballet flats. I'm not. You have to thread the. The. Why can't I think of the floral?
Colin True
00:27:32.320 - 00:27:34.600
You have Christmas presents on the, on the brain. I think.
Shawnté Salabert
00:27:34.840 - 00:27:41.880
No, I didn't even do presents this year anyway. I don't have to thread anything with these shoes. And for that I am grateful.
Colin True
00:27:41.880 - 00:27:47.480
So listen, I'm sure I'm going to offend a lot of people listen to this podcast, but I probably already done that in this episode.
Shawnté Salabert
00:27:47.480 - 00:27:48.600
You definitely did.
Colin True
00:27:48.600 - 00:27:53.010
Listen, Chaco is the, is the gold standard of like, of sports sandals at this point.
Shawnté Salabert
00:27:53.090 - 00:27:54.370
Minimalist sandals.
Colin True
00:27:55.010 - 00:28:04.530
Nothing minimalist about him, but if you get a. And it made sense when they Came out. But now when you get a pair of Chacos, it literally comes with instructions of how to adjust them.
Shawnté Salabert
00:28:04.850 - 00:28:06.450
Straps is the word I was thinking.
Colin True
00:28:06.450 - 00:28:24.050
Yes. And you know, for the uninitiated and frankly for some of the, you know, how often do you get a pair of chacos? You got to remind yourself.
Oh yeah, how does it slide through? How do you make it happen? It's kind of. It kind of sucks. Honestly.
I don't want my shoes to come with instructions and the switchback slider makes it really simple and easy and. Yeah, that's a great. It's a great shoe.
Shawnté Salabert
00:28:24.050 - 00:29:01.310
Yeah. And I have to thank you. Thank you, Colin, because you are the one who actually brought me over to the LEM side.
And so now I think I own four different pairs of lens. They are. Yeah. Very comfortable on my feet. So big fan. I also a couple other quick favorites. I switched to using possum socks on the trail. Yes.
Z packs, which makes a lot of ultralight, you know, tents and backpacks and stuff. They make, make possum socks and I bought them on garage grown gear. Our friends at ggg. That's right, they sell all sorts of stuff like this.
I don't, and I don't think this is the only possum materialed item on that site. So you might be able to.
Colin True
00:29:01.310 - 00:29:05.150
Was it like. Wait, so is possum fur a thing? Like what is this made from?
Shawnté Salabert
00:29:05.230 - 00:29:07.750
Really warm. It's super duper warm. I think they.
Colin True
00:29:07.750 - 00:29:09.230
You're not wearing gingies anymore.
Shawnté Salabert
00:29:10.270 - 00:29:18.100
You just want me to say it wrong. I wear a lot of different socks out there. Okay. No, these are my sleeping socks socks. I'm not hiking in them.
Colin True
00:29:18.340 - 00:29:19.700
Why do you need sleeping socks?
Shawnté Salabert
00:29:19.780 - 00:29:22.300
Because I need to stay warm while I'm sleeping out there.
Colin True
00:29:22.300 - 00:29:23.780
Well, isn't that what your sleeping bag does?
Shawnté Salabert
00:29:24.340 - 00:29:27.860
Oh, I just. No, my top. My tootsies get cold. Colin.
Colin True
00:29:27.860 - 00:29:29.340
Oh my God. Thought you were tough.
Shawnté Salabert
00:29:29.340 - 00:29:40.140
You don't even camp. Shut up. All right, anyway, so there's that and then I actually also I love that I'm mentioning our two beloved two of our fancies.
Colin True
00:29:40.140 - 00:29:42.180
Yeah, we're going to need to charge them more in our next contract here.
Shawnté Salabert
00:29:42.340 - 00:29:45.220
Yeah, we're going to add an extra, extra zero next time.
Colin True
00:29:45.370 - 00:29:45.610
Time.
Shawnté Salabert
00:29:46.010 - 00:30:20.260
But actually, no, this is just something I love. I started using a gossamer gear Mariposa pack this year and I finally get what all of the hype is about.
I know so many backpackers who use these and I was like, okay, they're a good looking pack. Whatever. No, it's great. They've. They've got a 60L capacity, which is a pretty typical large pack capacity.
But it does not feel like a big pack when it's on your back, which I love. You can cinch it down really easy. I love the big ass mesh pocket on the back. I love the big ass pockets on the side.
I love the big ass cushy shoulder strap. I love the big ass hip belt pockets. There's a lot of big words are there.
Colin True
00:30:20.260 - 00:30:22.380
Like if you go to the website, does it say big ass?
Shawnté Salabert
00:30:22.380 - 00:30:27.100
Yeah, it's just like a trademark. And I said, this is our patented big ass pocket.
Colin True
00:30:27.180 - 00:30:28.100
Somebody should do that.
Shawnté Salabert
00:30:28.100 - 00:30:49.280
Somebody should. Yeah.
But yeah, I mean, I think outside of all of the big acid ness of it all, I love it also comes with something for your ass, which is a sip pad that is included as part of the frame system. So. Big fan. I love that Canuck finally released their through bottle, which replaces smart smart wool. Oh, I'm flubbing left and right here.
Colin True
00:30:49.280 - 00:30:50.520
You know, I might edit that one.
Shawnté Salabert
00:30:51.640 - 00:31:24.410
I love that Canuck finally released their through bottle which replaces smart water bottles for a lot of backpackers who love using that. And they're awesome. They fit with Sawyer squeeze platypus, quick draw, like any of those threaded water filters.
And I'd say finally, this is a little last minute surprise. I just, I just recently started using and like kind of testing out Keen's seek trail runners.
And you were talking earlier about brands that have never done, you know that this isn't what they're known for. Just busting out with trail runners this year.
Colin True
00:31:24.490 - 00:31:24.970
Yeah.
Shawnté Salabert
00:31:25.210 - 00:32:03.030
I am shocked at how much I love them. Like they might be my favorite trail runners. Wow.
I know they're like just wide enough that my toes can sit in there without being cramped, but they're not so roomy that they feel like clown shoes, which is an issue. And I love, I love my ultras. I wear Olympus to backpack in and I don't mind the clown shoiness then. But not for running in.
They got this like integrated tongue sock liner situation that's really comfortable, keeps the dirt out. The sole is kind of a thick boy, but it still has ground feel to it, which is impressive. And they're so.
They're pricier than you would expect from Keen or, you know, 180something.
Colin True
00:32:03.430 - 00:32:06.670
But that's pretty typical in the trail running category these days.
Shawnté Salabert
00:32:06.670 - 00:32:11.070
You don't. I don't think of Keen as that. Like, that's not, to me a keen price point.
Colin True
00:32:11.070 - 00:32:11.430
Right.
Shawnté Salabert
00:32:12.180 - 00:32:18.900
They say the outsole could last up to 925 miles. Now, I don't know about the upper right, so that's going to be.
Colin True
00:32:18.980 - 00:32:20.660
That just disintegrates after 100.
Shawnté Salabert
00:32:20.980 - 00:32:23.860
You're just strapping it on with those straps you pulled off of your chalk.
Colin True
00:32:23.860 - 00:32:25.540
Look at that outsole still going.
Shawnté Salabert
00:32:26.900 - 00:32:40.520
It's going on its own. Yeah. I mean, it's. It puts it up there, though, in longevity category with Norda. Mount to coast, like, you know.
And I will say, though, like, I know the Nordas have Kevlar uppers, so those are maybe meant to last a little longer. Dyneema.
Colin True
00:32:40.520 - 00:32:41.040
Dyneema.
Shawnté Salabert
00:32:41.040 - 00:32:44.520
Dyneema. Thank you. Yeah. But doesn't know somebody uses Kevlar, though, like, woven.
Colin True
00:32:44.520 - 00:32:46.600
Oh, they might be. Yeah. I think somebody is some Kevlar.
Shawnté Salabert
00:32:46.600 - 00:32:56.360
Might be somebody else, but. Yeah. Anyway, I love them. I could. Cannot believe it. I don't know. Yeah, that's me. What about you? I know I rambled on, so.
Colin True
00:32:56.360 - 00:32:57.520
No, now it's your turn.
Shawnté Salabert
00:32:57.520 - 00:32:58.600
It's your turn to shine.
Colin True
00:32:58.680 - 00:33:33.090
I look, it's. Again, it's. It's shoes. I'm always gonna go with shoes. I'm a shoe dog. When I worked retail, it's my favorite department to work. Yeah.
Shoe dog's a thing, man.
You know, you're shoe dogs when you work in the shoe floor and you know all about all the shoes on the wall and you know how to fit them and you know how to. And that's. That's your. When you're working retail, you're a shoe dog if you love working the footwear floor. I never did that. Yeah. And it's. I just.
I've always called shoes the show because, you know, you go into an outdoor store or an athletic store or a run store, whatever it is, and it's like, hey, there's all sorts of interesting cool things. But where do you gravitate to? You go and you look at that shoe wall.
Shawnté Salabert
00:33:33.170 - 00:33:34.690
I go to the clearance racks.
Colin True
00:33:34.770 - 00:34:28.159
Y. Look at the shoes in the clearance racks. No, I just like, I love shoes and, you know, I guess, you know, to kind of. Yes.
And what you were saying about Lems, you know, the thing about Lem's. That is always that and all the shir. I've. I too, have tried a few of their shoes at this point. Their fit is unmatched in my eyes.
I think you put them on. They. They're. I've yet to put a pair of their shoes on that don't make me go, oh, my God, that feels good. And they they do a great job with the fit.
And so the one I want to call out is their shoe called the Trailblazer, which has kind of become a daily, daily driver to me. And in the world of trail runners, they. It's a little bit more of a light hiker, has kind of a 90s ACG vibe.
And I kind of started referring to it as a mountain sneaker because it's not chunky or heavy or roomy and uncomfortable like a traditional light hiker. It fits like a sneaker, but it has kind of a cool outdoor, hikey sort of aesthetic to it, which I really, really like.
Shawnté Salabert
00:34:28.239 - 00:34:29.079
I love a hiker.
Colin True
00:34:29.079 - 00:35:00.390
Like we said, you know, I've tested, you know, about half dozen different trail runners this year, and for me, the clear winner is being the Nordic, the Norda 002 or the Topo Athletic Terraventure 4, which is currently my passion in life of those Topo Athletic Terraventure fours. It's like everything I like about an ultra lone peak, but it fits kind of like a Lem's does, actually.
So The Topo Athletic Terraventure 4 is a sick shoe, but the Nord is a great mount. To coast has been great. Tried those this year, but I tried on the keens that you're talking about at, at the, at the running event.
Shawnté Salabert
00:35:00.390 - 00:35:00.910
Oh, really?
Colin True
00:35:01.310 - 00:35:12.660
I wasn't overwhelmed by just slipping them on. They reminded me a lot of the Craft Explorer 2s and just sort of the out of the box feel.
But I've not done as much work in them as you have, so maybe I need to give them another look.
Shawnté Salabert
00:35:12.740 - 00:35:53.600
Yeah, the Explorer twos ended up being a little too narrow for me in the end. And I will say these hit all those spots that I love. They're like, they fit my foot perfectly.
They're like, foot can hang out in there like a foot wants to hang out and they are a joy to run in. So we'll see what happens with the midsole over time. I don't know yet.
Like, some of this is the thing with longevity on some of these shoes is that you could say that the outsole is like crazy. You can build your upper out of Dyneema or Kevlar or whatever, but the midsole is going to compress at some point. Right?
So it's, I'm curious to see, like, what, when that happens, how it happens, how comfortable these feel, you know, could I be running in them this time next year?
Colin True
00:35:54.000 - 00:36:00.880
When feet are hanging out at the feet hangout, do they criticize each other for the Odors. I mean, like, what do you think happens at the foot hangout?
Shawnté Salabert
00:36:00.880 - 00:36:10.140
What. What if it's just sniffing, like, the el carom and they're just like, someone's not wearing Merino, but for them, maybe that's enticing.
Colin True
00:36:10.780 - 00:36:17.100
That's a good point. Like, the stink. It's like Limburger cheese. It's just. Smells good. It's stinky, too.
Shawnté Salabert
00:36:19.500 - 00:36:41.320
Wow. I was at a friend's house last night, and they were making pizza, and. And my friend Gabe, he must have made, like, eight different pizzas.
And he made. The last pizza he made turned off everybody because it was. It was green olive, which. Whatever. And blue cheese.
And it just like you saying Limburger just made me think of this experience I had last night.
Colin True
00:36:43.000 - 00:36:47.640
I'm guessing he has something that's proven that that's a good combination, but he was into it.
Shawnté Salabert
00:36:47.640 - 00:36:52.520
He said it was very creamy, and I quote, I don't need my pizza to be creamy.
Colin True
00:36:52.520 - 00:36:55.360
So I think I need to hang out with Gabe, though. I mean, I am also a pizza maker guy.
Shawnté Salabert
00:36:55.360 - 00:36:58.200
So he has, like, a little outdoor oven situation.
Colin True
00:36:58.200 - 00:37:01.920
Yeah. Like an uni oven kind of deal, or did he do a. Did he build one?
Shawnté Salabert
00:37:02.000 - 00:37:19.440
I don't know. No, it's. It's a product. It's a made product. No, it's. It's delicious. I don't know how it works. Whatever. It's delightful. Except for that pizza, but.
All right, well, now that you've got me thinking about stinky cheeses, I have one last question for you.
Colin True
00:37:19.600 - 00:37:20.160
Okay.
Shawnté Salabert
00:37:20.240 - 00:37:46.980
I wish it was about stinky cheeses, but I'm just going to say, look, you know, we're about to round the corner on the year, as we said earlier, a couple days from now, a week, whatever. What are you looking forward to in 2020 as far as sort of the outdoors.
So it could be a trip, it could be an activity, Some sort of media, like a movie or something like that. Gear, whatever. Like, again, latitude to interpret. What are you looking forward to next year? What do you want to happen or wish for? What's your.
Colin True
00:37:46.980 - 00:38:44.340
I mean, I'm kind of at this point where consistency is what I'm looking for.
Consistent surfing, specifically, because that's something I did really well during lockdown and Covid and got actually kind of proficient at surfing and then haven't. And then lost it, because I. Because then we basically went back to normal and I stopped surfing as much as I was.
But I've kind of gotten to this point in life, and this is gonna Sound, like, really kind of pretentious and terrible, but, like, I'm more important than seeing anything specifically at this point. Like, it's just the consistency of getting outside and going for hikes and rides and spending time with people.
I mean, when I look back on all of the. I've had a really lot of opportunity to see some really amazing things in the outdoors.
And if I think about something that was awesome, I'd be like, oh, that was an incredible thing to see. But I always reflect on who I was with and, like, how did I feel leaving that adventure more than anything. El.
And so it's more like I don't really need to prioritize seeing or doing anything at this point more than just, like, getting outside consistently and with the people in my life, you know, like, that's kind of.
Shawnté Salabert
00:38:44.340 - 00:38:44.980
I love that.
Colin True
00:38:45.140 - 00:39:00.220
Yeah, it's just like, you know, like, you give me grief about Yosemite and you should. And I want to see Yosemite, but it's also like, I'm not also like, you know, oh, my God, I haven't been there. Like, I've seen a lot of cool stuff.
I'm sure Yosemite will be great when I get there. Right. But it's just like, what's going to get me there and who am I going to be with and why am I going.
Shawnté Salabert
00:39:00.220 - 00:39:04.860
Right, you're going to. It's going to be me. We'll bring your whole family if they want. No pressure. No, they do.
Colin True
00:39:05.010 - 00:39:05.570
They all want to go.
Shawnté Salabert
00:39:05.570 - 00:39:09.090
All right, we'll all go together. I'll do the planning. We're going to do this.
Colin True
00:39:09.490 - 00:39:16.850
You doing the planning is huge. Because, like, by the way, if you want to get me camping, plan it out. What are we eating? If I don't have to lift a finger, I am there.
Shawnté Salabert
00:39:16.850 - 00:39:20.930
Well, I didn't say I wanted to be your, like, your beck and call.
Colin True
00:39:21.650 - 00:39:26.130
Houseman used to say that. He's like, I'll. I'll cook. I'm like, if you're going to cook, I will camp all week long, buddy.
Shawnté Salabert
00:39:26.130 - 00:39:27.890
What are you bringing to the table, Colin?
Colin True
00:39:30.130 - 00:39:32.930
Dick jokes? No, that's all.
Shawnté Salabert
00:39:34.050 - 00:39:35.250
Sorry. All right.
Colin True
00:39:35.330 - 00:39:39.790
What about you, though? Come on. What do you have going on? 20, 26 is. It's on the horizon. What do you. What are you excited for?
Shawnté Salabert
00:39:40.030 - 00:39:46.790
Well, I'm really, really looking forward to finishing this book. I've been working on it for a long time, so that's number one. Because then I can have a life.
Colin True
00:39:46.790 - 00:39:49.590
Again and we can start doing more Gear Abby episodes.
Shawnté Salabert
00:39:49.590 - 00:40:35.430
Oh, we can we can start doing the special episodes again, folks. Write in. Dear Gear Abby Mail. Tell us what you want us to be doing on the show. Send in more questions.
We need some more for 2026, but yeah, I'm really looking forward to finishing that so I can have a life again. And I would say I'm looking forward to running more. I knee issue for almost six months this year. I think exactly six. I forgot you did that.
Yep, yep, that was it. The enforcer. And the enforcer was enforcing bis in my knee and it sucked.
And I did physical therapy and I think, I cannot believe I'm saying this on the podcast, but maybe it's good for accountability. I am thinking about doing a race next year, which I haven't done in, in about a year and half a half.
Colin True
00:40:35.430 - 00:40:39.950
So I want you to do a race so I can crew for you. Because I don't want to do a race, but I would love to go to your race.
Shawnté Salabert
00:40:39.950 - 00:40:43.350
Okay, I'll plan the Yosemite trip. You'll crew for me. This is.
Colin True
00:40:43.350 - 00:40:44.110
I'm good at that.
Shawnté Salabert
00:40:44.110 - 00:40:51.150
This is our friendship exchange for next year. Yes, yes. Okay, cool. So remind me, I said this when I start complaining about it.
Colin True
00:40:51.230 - 00:40:52.630
When it's August and we haven't done.
Shawnté Salabert
00:40:52.630 - 00:42:52.470
Any of it, then, no, mostly I'll. I'll put it on the books, but I will be complaining. Like, why did I think I wanted to do this again?
But yeah, I'd say I'm also hoping, like, when I think about hopes and wishes and dreams besides world peace and for all people to be treated with kindness, I would say I'm also interested in seeing how my local mountains, that's the San Gabriel's. I want to see how they continue to recover from the Eaton fire earlier this year.
Like, I will never, ever forget driving home in a panic the night the fire broke out, just to grab some stuff and evacuate, get my cat, and just seeing the flames on the hillside and in a place that I would go every week. And it's, you know, it was just. It was sad. It was devastating. It was. Was heartbreaking.
The human loss of it is, you know, beyond comprehensible at this point.
But I'm really hoping that when we look up to the mountainside, I mean, we've had a pretty dry winter, so I don't know how this is going to play out, but I'm really hoping we start seeing some green once. Once some more rains come, some gentle rains. We don't want torrential rains coming down our denuded hillsides. But yeah, I'm.
That's what I'm kind of hopeful about for next year. And I think, like, I think nature is resilient. I think back to when I was on the PCT and I was finishing my PCT book and there were two hu.
Fires that broke out on either side of I15 here in Southern California, which I would call the 15. And it was wild. I got an extension on my book so I could go back when they reopened that area to see.
Because what I wrote when I was like, you can hang out under the shaded pine trees. They don't exist anymore. But it was interesting to see how quickly parts of the landscape rebounded.
You could see all of the little animal trails with, you know, all of the foliage gone. But it was interesting to see how quickly some of that green came back. And I remember seeing like a little wildflower. And I cry. I start crying.
I was like, this is. This is exactly what I needed to see. This is.
If this is not a metaphor for life and the resilience of nature and humans to get through hard, I don't know what is.
Colin True
00:42:53.110 - 00:43:39.910
Yeah, we gotta remember, I mean, the fire is a natural thing and it's. And we. It's our own fault that we're dealing with some of these problems because we suppressed for so long. Yeah. And then it is amazing.
You know, we think the timeline feels long because our lives are really short in the, in the scale of, you know, the way the. The earth works. But it also was. It's pretty short. I was mountain biking up near Big Bear a couple of years ago and it was.
And I was going through a burn and you could see so much growth that had come back and then it had only been a few years when I looked to see when the fire had gone through. It had not been that long. And so it's. I think I. It's going to be. It'll be interesting to, to. To track, I think.
You know, if you continue to live in the same place and look up at the hillsides from.
From where what it was before to seeing it a year ago to when it starts to really green up again, I think it's going to be probably faster than you think. You know, I think.
Shawnté Salabert
00:43:40.530 - 00:43:54.010
Think you're right. It's. You're making me think of a conversation I had yesterday. I was interviewing a geologist and. And he was saying that he's.
He's worked in the same place for 20 years and so he's gotten to see geology change over that 20 years.
Colin True
00:43:54.010 - 00:43:54.730
Oh, interesting.
Shawnté Salabert
00:43:54.730 - 00:45:00.380
Yeah, he's he both said like, you know, it's constantly changing, glaciers are constantly moving, rock is constantly falling and fracturing and everything.
But it was interesting hearing her his perspectives on like being present for it and going to the same spot every year and looking at this glacier and you know, anyway, I think, I think nature has a lot to teach us in 2026 and beyond. Gotta end on a philosophical note. Well, that's it for this episode of Gear Abby.
Until next time, send your burning questions about your relationships with outdoor products, people, places and pastimes over to DearGearAbbyMail.com and I'm going to do my best to answer them or find someone else you can. And of course head over to your podcast listening service of choice and subscribe, rate and review to support the pod and make my day.
And follow us on Instagram @GearabyPypod. Promise I will start posting again. I've been a little lax lately. In the meantime, today's episode was produced by David Karstad and this guy Colin.
True art direction was provided by Sarah Gensert. I'm Shante Salibair and remember, there are no dumb questions, just smart advice.
