It's become a monthly tradition around here to answer the question:
Is this stuff Overrated, Underrated or is it Properly Rated?
Where our resident gear expert, Justin Housman, rules FOR ALL TIME on the status of some specific pieces or categories of gear. A ruling that cannot be undone!
On this edition, compiled with the help of emails we've received from our G&B listeners, Justin and Colin judge snowshoes, Solo Stove, and the category of stuff that is Made In The USA.
And when it comes to this weeks beer pairing, our Gear & Beer certified beer expert (that would be Justin) wanted to pair the perfect winter or holiday beer with today's gear. So Colin went out and found one that he thinks could Stump our Cicerone.
Did it work? Was Justin stumped? Are these gear items Over, Under, or Properly Rated? You need to listen to find out.
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Gear & Beer is part of the Rock Fight podcast network. Be sure to check out THE ROCK FIGHT for the best outdoor industry commentary on Apple or Spotify.
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Have a question you want answered on Gear & Beer? Send your feedback and suggestions to myrockfight@gmail.com or send a message on Instagram or Threads.
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Episode Transcript
Justin
00:00:02.480 - 00:00:22.689
Welcome to Gear and Beer, the podcast for gearheads, beer buffs and adventurers with discerning tastes. I'm your host, Justin Houseman, editor, professional gear reviewer, certified cicerone and dad with about really no patience left. Anybody.
If anybody out there wants to purchase a five year old and a three year old, we're having a bogo sale right now.
Colin
00:00:22.777 - 00:00:24.753
I've seen your kids. You could get a fair amount of.
Justin
00:00:24.769 - 00:00:33.885
Money, probably get a good amount of money. A couple little toe heads. Um, yeah, but yeah, hit me up, hit me up. Send us an email. Um, you know, I might even pay you.
Colin
00:00:34.425 - 00:00:41.985
I'm calling True. And I worked in the outdoor industry for brands and retailers for over 20 years, so that's why I'm qualified to be on this podcast.
Justin
00:00:42.025 - 00:00:45.525
I suppose that, that and you're just absolutely perfect. Radio voice.
Colin
00:00:45.825 - 00:00:47.605
Welcome back to Gearbeer.
Justin
00:00:47.905 - 00:00:53.371
I'm still surprised that you're not constantly getting like, like headhunted by, I don't know, Sirius or something.
Colin
00:00:53.473 - 00:00:59.111
Yeah, I guess one day if I'm like, hey, man, I can't do the pod anymore, I'm going to go be like work for Pixar.
Justin
00:00:59.143 - 00:01:09.703
I'm going to be a satellite dj. You know, when Sirius, when, when Sirius first happened, there was a part of me that was like, are they in space?
Like, I don't really understand satellite. Like, I didn't know what satellite radio meant. I'm like, obviously Howard Stern's not in space.
Colin
00:01:09.759 - 00:01:12.167
Do they train DJs or do they train astronauts? I don't.
Justin
00:01:12.191 - 00:01:18.111
What's happening is Howard Stern flying up to space in a rocket every day to record his show. Like, how was this? How is this working?
Colin
00:01:18.143 - 00:01:19.747
I'd be so sick if that was real.
Justin
00:01:19.871 - 00:01:48.101
So, folks, this is an outdoor gear love fest advice show. It's a safe space for honest discussion of gear and whether or not we need it.
And of course, we chase all that gear talk down with beer because, well, we love beer and because we're dads and we need beer. Because that's. Turns out, that's why dads drink beer. Because they cannot deal with their goddamn kids.
Because after all, we're just two out dorks who'd pretty much always rather be sitting around a campfire talking gear and drinking beer. Even Colin, who professes to not like camping, though we have camped together and he had a. Colin, you had a great time. You were so stuck.
Colin
00:01:48.133 - 00:01:50.785
I had the best time camping with you. That was so much fun. You had a really good.
Justin
00:01:51.285 - 00:01:52.333
Before the sun went down.
Colin
00:01:52.389 - 00:02:13.077
Not to tease our audience, but we're planning an episode. Probably be like, I don't know, mid winter called a cozy night out. We have some gear that's been sent to us.
Not gonna tell you everybody what the gear is, but my wife actually wants to get in on that. Like my oldest college age daughter may watch the two younger ones so we can peel off.
But I was thinking, should we make an attempt to meet up for the cozy night out? Yes, we should.
Justin
00:02:13.221 - 00:02:19.695
Cause I think it'd be nice. Cause we could maybe even cuddle up in our sleeping bags next to each other and record while we're.
Colin
00:02:19.815 - 00:02:20.959
While we're doing it. Right?
Justin
00:02:21.047 - 00:02:23.663
Like have, like, literally during a cozy night.
Colin
00:02:23.759 - 00:02:34.071
I would love that, I think. And also, like, I've. I like the fact that we could.
We could like back our trucks up, like tailgate to tailgate, because I think we have to sleep in the back of the trucks for this experiment.
Justin
00:02:34.263 - 00:02:48.121
Yeah, you're right. It's way cozy. It's hard to. I don't want to sleep on the ground in the wintertime, I'll tell you that.
I will also say that last week I unveiled a couple of the products that we'll be talking about in my living room. And it was so badass.
Colin
00:02:48.223 - 00:02:50.141
Yeah, I've got him sitting up in my bedroom, actually.
Justin
00:02:50.213 - 00:02:55.345
And yeah, I. I like, camped in my living room. It was great. It was so nice. I might do that tonight actually.
Colin
00:02:56.045 - 00:02:56.517
Thank you.
Justin
00:02:56.541 - 00:03:00.533
I've been. Apparently I've been snoring and it's keeping my wife awake. I guess I just keep waiting for my doorbell to ring.
Colin
00:03:00.589 - 00:03:01.865
Like, hey, what's up, man?
Justin
00:03:02.725 - 00:03:03.905
I can't do it.
Colin
00:03:04.205 - 00:03:05.717
You drove to San Diego?
Justin
00:03:05.781 - 00:03:37.479
Yeah. Well, today, dear listeners, we're going to come. We're going to. We're doing our favorite.
Our favorite type of show, which is over overrated or underrated or properly. Yeah, we. Or properly rated. We're going to decide once and for all, for real, like, no questions. No questions. After this. This is the definitive word.
Piece of outdoor gear or an outdoor activity. Could be whatever. Or like an outdoor specific place. And I'm thinking about you. Denver is either overrated or underrated.
We should do that one of these days.
Colin
00:03:37.647 - 00:03:38.223
Do we have to?
Justin
00:03:38.239 - 00:03:39.895
I mean, Denver towns.
Colin
00:03:40.015 - 00:03:41.239
We already know, right?
Justin
00:03:41.287 - 00:03:41.711
Yeah, we know.
Colin
00:03:41.743 - 00:03:43.471
They know. They know.
Justin
00:03:43.663 - 00:03:44.847
Deep down inside, they know.
Colin
00:03:44.911 - 00:03:48.263
Well, are we saying Denver or just the Front Range in general or Boulder? Because it's really.
Justin
00:03:48.319 - 00:04:10.881
I'm saying. I'm saying Denver because I mean, Denver's. We don't need to get into it again. I'd Say Boulder counts. Boulder has like shit to do right there.
Denver, as we know, is in Kansas, technically. Thankfully, though, we have some, we have some help here from our listeners. We'll get into that in a minute.
But before we get to judging this outdoor gear, we got a couple things for our gear and beer listeners.
Colin
00:04:10.993 - 00:04:23.277
We do. We do. I need everybody listening to this. Please follow and rate Gear and Beer. That's the show you're listening to, wherever you're listening.
It's your favorite podcast app, presumably that you're listening to us on. Just click Follow or subscribe, whatever the option is. Usually it's follow.
Justin
00:04:23.341 - 00:04:26.437
Click that button and you're probably on Fountain. Apparently.
Colin
00:04:26.621 - 00:05:09.251
Yeah. But Fountain's great Apple podcast, terrific Spotify, lovely. But leave us a five star rating. It's really the best way to help grow the show.
Also, you should check out, speaking of shows, our other show, it's called the Rock Fight. It's also available whatever podcast app you're listening to this on. And that show is where Justin and I talk about the outdoor industry.
We talk about the outdoor community. You hear from like producer Dave. We got Owen Comerford on that show. Now that show's really growing if you've not listened to it.
It'd be kind of weird, frankly, if you're listening to the show and not that show. But hey, we'll take it and you should go listen to that show. So follow and rate that show as well.
And now, Justin, if our followers, you said we got some emails from some of our listeners. So if somebody wanted to email us or reach out, what should they do?
Justin
00:05:09.443 - 00:05:39.097
Well, they should use their favorite email client to send us an email to myrockfightmail.com if it's for gear and beer, just go ahead and throw that there in the subject line so we know where to route it. You can follow along at Instagram, where our handle is Rock Fight company And also last but not least, our newsletter kicks a lot of ass.
Comes out on Tuesdays now. Tuesdays, Tuesdays now. Used to be Sundays, but Colin is taking a Sabbath where he can't do any kind of work and that includes emails.
Isn't that right, Colin?
Colin
00:05:39.161 - 00:05:39.993
That's exactly right.
Justin
00:05:40.049 - 00:05:44.761
Also, just I assumed. Anyway, I didn't really ask you. I sort of assumed that's why you switched from Sunday Pro.
Colin
00:05:44.793 - 00:05:48.565
Felt a little more like a real this to come out during the week, you know?
Justin
00:05:48.645 - 00:05:49.045
Did it?
Colin
00:05:49.085 - 00:05:49.421
Yeah.
Justin
00:05:49.493 - 00:06:07.389
Yeah. So it's not a Sabbath. It's not a Sabbath thing, no. Ah, okay. Well, either way, RockFi Co our that's our, that's our URL and you can just.
Our homepage, as it were, and you just click right there where it says join the mailing list and you'll get that delivered right to your inbox.
Colin
00:06:07.437 - 00:06:08.413
That's what will happen.
Justin
00:06:08.549 - 00:06:16.061
That's what will happen. Colin's. Colin's brain right into your inbox. Okay, let's do it. You want to do a beer? I'm. I'm ready to do a beer.
Colin
00:06:16.093 - 00:06:18.361
You ready to see if we can st the Ciron? You ready?
Justin
00:06:18.533 - 00:06:19.521
Yeah, yeah, I'm ready.
Colin
00:06:19.553 - 00:06:26.929
So you're, you're basically since we started this, what you're, you're two and one is that we decided one and have we done three? It's either one and one or two and one.
Justin
00:06:26.977 - 00:06:33.497
I think I'm kind of one in one, but like one and a half and one because I got. Yeah, I got Figueroa, but That's right.
Colin
00:06:33.601 - 00:06:36.641
That's right. And, and I think for this one, because it's another import that I brought.
Justin
00:06:36.673 - 00:06:39.409
Today, I feel like if I get it at all, even if it's not my first.
Colin
00:06:39.457 - 00:06:44.913
No, I agree, I agree. Like last week we should. If you, you, because you said you should have guessed polar. Right. So it's like if you had guessed.
Justin
00:06:44.969 - 00:06:47.233
Oh, I have done three. You're right. You're right.
Colin
00:06:47.289 - 00:06:47.457
So.
Justin
00:06:47.481 - 00:06:49.305
No, I am, I am. Two and one. Okay, two and one.
Colin
00:06:49.345 - 00:06:51.525
All right. So another import.
Justin
00:06:52.225 - 00:06:53.785
Are we guessing before we open?
Colin
00:06:53.905 - 00:06:54.697
Yeah.
Justin
00:06:54.881 - 00:06:56.313
Okay, go ahead, Go ahead.
Colin
00:06:56.449 - 00:07:03.125
You said last week the beer assignment was seasonal. We're gonna go winter or Christmas themed thing. So this is.
Justin
00:07:04.025 - 00:07:05.113
But it's an import.
Colin
00:07:05.249 - 00:07:12.833
It's an import. It's European. But I say it's a little further west of where last week's brewery was based.
Justin
00:07:13.009 - 00:07:13.545
Okay.
Colin
00:07:13.625 - 00:07:32.489
Okay. This is a supporter. Oh, yeah.
I was noticing a lot of multi options in some of the holiday beers that I was seeing and I'm not a huge multi guy, so I found the porter, but. Oh, I like porters. This would be good. ABV is I think it's like a 6ish in the 6 range, I want to say.
Justin
00:07:32.537 - 00:07:38.065
And this is further west than Germany, correct? Correct. Further west than Munich.
Colin
00:07:38.145 - 00:07:47.445
And this was brewed in the country of origin. This was not like the three dollar beer that was actually made in Connecticut or whatever that you always see. This is actually imported.
It was eight bucks. It's in a bottle.
Justin
00:07:48.635 - 00:07:49.691
$8 a bottle?
Colin
00:07:49.763 - 00:07:50.547
Yeah.
Justin
00:07:50.731 - 00:07:55.015
For how big or 11 point whatever ounce, 6% alcohol.
Colin
00:07:55.635 - 00:07:59.739
Yeah, it's a pint. One point. Oh yeah, one pint? Yeah, one pint. It's a pint.
Justin
00:07:59.787 - 00:08:03.635
Sorry. Okay, I'm going to ask my usual question, which is, had you heard of this before?
Colin
00:08:03.675 - 00:08:04.491
I had not.
Justin
00:08:04.643 - 00:08:05.675
Have you heard of the brewery?
Colin
00:08:05.755 - 00:08:07.535
No, I never heard of the brewery.
Justin
00:08:08.515 - 00:08:09.763
Can you pronounce the name?
Colin
00:08:09.819 - 00:08:10.131
Yes.
Justin
00:08:10.203 - 00:08:13.797
Without trying to. Okay, but you never heard of the brewery? No.
Colin
00:08:13.821 - 00:08:16.757
Do I. Should I give you the country of origin? I think it's probably fair.
Justin
00:08:16.901 - 00:08:17.861
I have an idea.
Colin
00:08:17.933 - 00:08:18.205
Okay.
Justin
00:08:18.245 - 00:08:18.813
Is it England?
Colin
00:08:18.869 - 00:08:20.509
It is, yeah.
Justin
00:08:20.677 - 00:08:23.185
Porter. Porter is the big key there.
Colin
00:08:24.245 - 00:08:25.101
Oh, good point.
Justin
00:08:25.173 - 00:08:26.269
Is it Brew Dog?
Colin
00:08:26.397 - 00:08:27.781
No, damn it.
Justin
00:08:27.813 - 00:08:37.173
Because you know Brew Dog? You know Brew Dog? You ever heard of Brew Dog? They made a. They. They're one of my. They're Scottish and they made one. They. They're fantastic.
They made a Christmas vacation beer.
Colin
00:08:37.309 - 00:08:39.513
No way. A Scottish brewery did.
Justin
00:08:39.669 - 00:08:41.593
Yeah. I was really hoping. I was really hoping.
Colin
00:08:41.609 - 00:08:42.921
Oh, you were about to be so stoked.
Justin
00:08:43.073 - 00:08:44.605
I was going to be so stoked.
Colin
00:08:44.905 - 00:08:49.897
Do you want me to do the. Do you want to know the name of the beer and then you can guess the brewery?
Justin
00:08:50.041 - 00:08:50.761
Yeah, yeah.
Colin
00:08:50.833 - 00:08:52.685
It's called Santa's Butt.
Justin
00:08:53.105 - 00:08:57.473
Okay. I'm not going to get this. This is totally obscure. What is it? I'm never going to guess. Get this.
Colin
00:08:57.529 - 00:08:58.745
Ridgeway Brewing.
Justin
00:08:58.905 - 00:08:59.545
Never heard of it.
Colin
00:08:59.585 - 00:09:02.649
No way. I thought for sure. I'm like, yeah, check that out.
Justin
00:09:02.737 - 00:09:07.763
Big Stump. Big stump. Yeah. Can I see the can?
Colin
00:09:07.859 - 00:09:08.779
This is it. This is it.
Justin
00:09:08.827 - 00:09:10.331
Santa's Butt. Look at that.
Colin
00:09:10.403 - 00:09:13.099
Yeah. I love this bottle. It's got like that. Wow.
Justin
00:09:13.187 - 00:09:14.915
I've definitely never heard of Ridgeway.
Colin
00:09:15.035 - 00:09:16.123
Ridgeway. Yeah.
Justin
00:09:16.179 - 00:09:23.135
I mean, it's possible that I've had it and I just don't know. That's amazing. Santa's got cake back there, folks.
Colin
00:09:23.435 - 00:09:24.323
He certainly does.
Justin
00:09:24.379 - 00:10:05.253
Amazing. Yeah. English beer, you know, it's interesting. Like, obviously. Well, I mean, UK beers in general. I mean, there's. I.
Obviously Ireland is not part of the uk, but, like, that general great Brit certain zone, like, I mean, for the most part, like, you got your. Your harps and your. Your Guinness, you know? Yeah, these sorts of things. But, like, I don't. They have a craft brewery scene.
Like, brewdog is part of that. Right. It's not. For whatever reason, that hasn't been like, a huge export to the US Whereas, like, Danish craft brewers were.
And like Germany's craft brewers were. And like, even French craft brewers and stuff.
Like Spain has an amazing craft brewery scene, and I feel like you get more of that here than you do English for whatever reason, so I don't know why.
Colin
00:10:05.309 - 00:10:05.557
All right.
Justin
00:10:05.581 - 00:10:06.485
But that's a good one.
Colin
00:10:06.525 - 00:10:07.541
What did you bring?
Justin
00:10:07.733 - 00:10:30.493
I got. I got a. Have you ever heard of Anderson Valley? So they're their biggest one. Anderson Valley is local.
Ish to me in Northern California, probably like, two hours north. Ish. And they. They've been around for quite a long time. They're one, like, California's, like, first crappers. I got their winter solstice. Now I've.
I've had this before. I don't remember if I like it or not.
Colin
00:10:30.549 - 00:10:31.225
Okay.
Justin
00:10:31.525 - 00:10:51.297
It's. It's a 6.9%. It's. If I rem correctly, the winter take on the winter warmer. Made for the longest night of the year.
It's rich mouthfeel, creamy finish, are made to lift your spirits. Hints of toffee, spice, and caramel. So it's just kind of a dark ale, I would guess. I truthfully do not really remember whether I like it or not.
Colin
00:10:51.361 - 00:10:51.889
Okay.
Justin
00:10:52.017 - 00:11:09.957
But their best owned beer is their amber ale, and it's been around for quite a long time. That's really solid. Their beer can be hit or miss.
They're like one of these breweries that started a while back, and they're kind of like, as far as I can tell, kind of just coasting on their. You've heard of us, you know us kind of a thing. They don't really make a lot of, like, new stuff.
Colin
00:11:10.021 - 00:11:10.629
Right.
Justin
00:11:10.797 - 00:11:20.581
And I hate their summer solstice. But. But, you know, it was. It's. It doesn't get a lot more winter. I mean, look at this. Can we go? We got a. Their logo is like a bear with antlers.
Colin
00:11:20.653 - 00:11:21.197
Oh, I love it.
Justin
00:11:21.221 - 00:11:23.917
You know, it's got snow and, like, the logo's got. I like.
Colin
00:11:23.941 - 00:11:24.945
You like the can?
Justin
00:11:25.285 - 00:11:27.133
Yeah. So let's go. Let's. Let's do it. You ready?
Colin
00:11:27.149 - 00:11:27.861
Crack them open.
Justin
00:11:27.973 - 00:11:28.693
I'm ready. Crack.
Colin
00:11:28.789 - 00:11:30.277
I'm excited. All right, here we go.
Justin
00:11:30.421 - 00:11:38.765
All right. Three, two, one. Ooh, that was a good bottle sound. I often get the bottle sound.
Colin
00:11:38.845 - 00:11:41.805
All right, so. Well, it's at the pour, right? Because it's.
Justin
00:11:41.845 - 00:11:52.685
It's like the black of the universe right there. All right.
Colin
00:11:52.725 - 00:11:53.253
Cheers, buddy.
Justin
00:11:53.309 - 00:11:54.025
Cheers.
Colin
00:11:57.045 - 00:11:57.881
That's awesome.
Justin
00:11:57.973 - 00:11:59.085
What does it taste like?
Colin
00:11:59.665 - 00:12:08.545
It's actually not that thick. It's like. You know how I feel like with some porters, you can get kind of bitter. You can get kind of heavy.
Justin
00:12:08.625 - 00:12:08.817
Right.
Colin
00:12:08.841 - 00:12:15.281
And you kind of.
You're like, you get it and you're like, I don't think I'm going to finish this because like, like, like a very, like, like a six hour would have been perfect kind of thing.
Justin
00:12:15.313 - 00:12:15.897
Yep.
Colin
00:12:16.041 - 00:12:22.165
Not this. This is like, if you. It's. It's kind of edging maybe towards more a brown.
Justin
00:12:22.625 - 00:12:23.137
Yeah.
Colin
00:12:23.201 - 00:12:25.205
In terms of flavor and drinkability.
Justin
00:12:25.725 - 00:12:30.053
Nice, nice, nice. Multi. But it's not like so roasted that it has like a bitter coffee thing. Yeah.
Colin
00:12:30.149 - 00:12:32.877
I really like. But it definitely tastes like a porter. It doesn't taste like a porter.
Justin
00:12:32.901 - 00:12:34.373
Does it taste like a butt?
Colin
00:12:34.509 - 00:12:35.965
It does. It is kind of funny.
Justin
00:12:36.005 - 00:12:38.197
Does it taste like the butt, Dark.
Colin
00:12:38.261 - 00:12:42.505
Brown liquid on something called Santa's butt? I don't know if that was a good branding call by them.
Justin
00:12:43.085 - 00:12:49.425
I don't. I mean, frankly, it's hard to take it seriously. Like, that could be the best beer on earth. And I'm gonna be like, yeah, so it's pretty good.
Colin
00:12:51.455 - 00:12:55.375
Well, how's yours? What's the. What's the verdict? Do you like the winter solstice more than the summer solstice?
Justin
00:12:55.535 - 00:13:01.135
I like it more. I don't love it. I. Wow.
Colin
00:13:01.175 - 00:13:05.447
This is the first time we haven't liked a beer. Maybe the arrogant bastard was probably the only other time.
Justin
00:13:05.591 - 00:13:38.251
Oh, yeah, well, there's nothing wrong with arrogant bastard. I just didn't really like it. This is clunky. I'm going to be frank. It's clunky. It's got like a nice. Almost like a. This might be a lager, actually.
It's hard to say. It's got like a. What do they call it? They don't call it. Do they say what it is? It's an ale.
It's got like a Bach sort of flavor and Bach is a lager, so. But like that, like Chris, like, like an Oktoberfest, like that kind of like syrupy sweetness. But you can like.
They put stuff in it to make it taste like toffee and spices. Like, you can tell that there's like, there's like artificial stuff in here.
Colin
00:13:38.283 - 00:13:44.267
Okay, so are there beers that, like, you're just like, ah, this is not my favorite, but I respect the craft.
Justin
00:13:44.371 - 00:13:46.923
Yeah. Oh, all the time. Arrogant bastard, I would say, is like that.
Colin
00:13:46.979 - 00:13:47.307
Okay.
Justin
00:13:47.371 - 00:13:56.079
Like, as a good example, like, I don't want to drink that, but I can tell that it's, like, made. They did what they were trying to do and there's nothing wrong with how it was made. This tastes clunky.
Colin
00:13:56.207 - 00:14:01.047
This is one where you're like, this is just a bad beer. Like, they did, and they did not do a good job with this beer.
Justin
00:14:01.231 - 00:14:51.909
Yeah, like, I. Like, if you. If you. If I was in the snow and I sat down at, like a. At like, some kind of hut and you handed me this, I'd be, like, happy.
I mean, I'm enjoying. It's a beer. It's not. It's not terrible, right? But it tastes like. It kind of tastes like something I could make, you know, like, if I. If I made.
I've actually made, like, winter spiced ales before, back in the day. And like, this kind of tastes like that to me. Like, it tastes like you shouldn't be able to.
If you're gonna add adjuncts and different flavor things to a beer besides specifically, like, barley and hops and all that sort. And yeast. Like, if you're gonna add extra things to make it taste like you want, it needs to be so smooth that you can't tell that's happening. This.
You can. It's like, here's the beer, and then here's the layer of, like, flavoring on top of it. Okay, so not a huge fan. Not a huge fan. I'm gonna finish it.
Well, let's. Let's. We got our beers open. Let's. Let's answer some. Let's answer some questions here, Colin.
Colin
00:14:51.957 - 00:15:26.905
All right, so we're gonna do, like we said. We're gon through. This is for all time.
We're going to list a category or a piece of gear, and our gear expert, Justin, is going to rule if it is overrated, underrated, or properly rated. So we have a letter first is from a guy named. Or a gal named JP from Southern California. Hey. All right. Southern California.
And they write in deer gear and beer snowshoeing. I see people strapping into snowshoes sometimes to head out from trails near ski resorts, and I don't get it. This has to be overrated, right? Yeah.
Justin
00:15:27.765 - 00:15:30.709
You strike me as somebody who's probably not really into snowshoes.
Colin
00:15:30.797 - 00:15:31.381
Me?
Justin
00:15:31.533 - 00:15:31.909
Yeah.
Colin
00:15:31.957 - 00:15:33.157
I love snowshoes.
Justin
00:15:33.261 - 00:15:33.901
Do you really?
Colin
00:15:33.933 - 00:15:42.149
Oh, snowshoes rule. That's why I'm sitting here like, JP's.
Like, you're hurting my feelings a little bit, but I'll clear out and let the expert weigh in, and I'll give you my two cents in a second here.
Justin
00:15:42.317 - 00:15:50.421
So we talked about. Was it yesterday, the podcast, the pod that dropped today? That's when we talked about, like, how hiking is often overlooked.
Colin
00:15:50.453 - 00:15:51.461
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Justin
00:15:51.613 - 00:18:10.635
So I feel the same exact way about snowshoes. I do too. Like, I, we.
I mean, I've been on record all of this, the existence of these podcasts, talking about how I'm not a downhill skier, but we go to the snow a lot. And like, we got, you know, my wife and I got super into cross country skiing, which I think is badass and really enjoy and doing hut trips that way.
But then we did a hut trip in Colorado up to one of the 10th, 10th Mountain Division huts, you know, a few years before we had kids. And that was a snowshoe trip. And that was the first time I like, I like, dicked around with snowshoes.
But that was the first time I'd ever, like, been in a situation where you, like, that was a. It was a required piece of gear to get to do what you wanted to do and frankly to live through it.
Like, it was a long hike at high altitude in basically whiteout conditions and, you know, without snowshoes, you would have post told your way to a, to a, to a very chilly death. And it was that trip that, like, I really started to understand, like, oh, this is, this is fucking cool.
Like, this is providing access to something that I would not have access to otherwise. You're go. And same thing I talked about with skis. Like, Or, I'm sorry, with hiking. Like, you, You. You're going slow, you know, and like, you have.
It's just a. It.
You know, cross country, like, Nordic skiing is great, but you're off, you know, if you're not, if you're climbing, you want to die in on Nordic skis because it's really tiring and you're not paying attention to anything but like, your breathing and your. How much your legs hurt.
And then when you're going downhill, you're like, thank God I'm not going uphill right now, you know, like, and, and you're going kind of. And you're going too fast to really fully appreciate things.
Plus, you're, you're on groomers, you know, like, and so, like, it's, it's, it's not quite the same experience, man. I don't know if there's anything more like, satisfying than. I guess.
I'm sure powder skiing is like this, but when you get like this untouched powder in like a little Glade or something, and you got snowshoes on and you just float around on a cloud like, it is so epic and like, I don't know, I freaking love it. And like, I have multiple pairs of snowshoes I've, like, you know, I've gone enough to where I have, like, kinds I like and kinds I don't.
I've tried out running snowshoes. I've tried out, like, you know, like, mountaineering snowshoes, where they have crampons built in, all this kind of stuff.
And I just fucking love snowshoes. There's just. There's something extremely cool about. About the capabilities that they provide. I'm a huge, huge fan.
So, yeah, I mean, if you're like, I'm trying to think of a place where I've been where, you know, there's snowshoeing, like, right next to, like, a ski. Like. No, it's Palisades. Palisades has, like, a really epic. In Tahoe.
Colin
00:18:10.675 - 00:18:11.295
Yeah.
Justin
00:18:12.275 - 00:18:36.693
Like. Like, trail system right next to it.
So, like, you'll be kind of loading up next to people that are going to go skiing, you know, and they kind of look at you funny as you're, like, putting on your snowshoes or whatever. But. And, yeah, it's obviously a completely different experience, but, like, it's pretty rad.
Like, everybody else is, like, going onto the lifts and, like, cruising up and there's, like, a party scene. You can hear the, like, music at the lodge or whatever, and you're just, like, off in the distance with your snowshoes. It's pretty sweet.
Pretty sweet. Yeah.
Colin
00:18:36.709 - 00:18:53.369
And JP kind of describes some of that. Right. Coming out of the emails, talks about how you see them coming out in your ski resorts.
And I guess I could see how you might look down your nose at that if it. You know, because I, you know, it's like any other kind of newbie. Maybe they don't know what they're doing.
They're on packed trails where they don't really need to have anything on their feet. And they're kind of like.
Justin
00:18:53.417 - 00:18:57.545
You see that a lot, like on rental snowshoes and you're on, like, a groomer. Like, dude, you could just be in boots.
Colin
00:18:57.625 - 00:19:32.477
It doesn't matter. And they're loud.
When the trail's packed and icy, they're just kind of clacking around, you know, so I get the inclination to maybe look down on them.
I think the thing about them, though, that is when you really do use them in a situation where you kind of need them, you know, I think there's two ways I think snowshoes can really work. Like, one is there is a little cramp on. On most of them, you know, there's.
So it adds traction underneath and, yeah, there's other solutions for that. I mean everything from like full on crampons to micro spikes and things like that. But it kind of checks that box.
And if you want, if so, if you are, if there isn't that much snow and it is a little icy, it will help you give you some grip.
Justin
00:19:32.621 - 00:19:32.981
Yep.
Colin
00:19:33.013 - 00:20:58.145
But then I remember the first time I ever really was in deep, like over knee deep snows in the White Mountains in New Hampshire. And putting them on and realizing that the flotation you get from snowshoes is actually really functional.
And you're like, oh hey, that's kind of incredible. Now you're like just before you're post towing up to your crotch and now you're not, now you're not anymore. Like you said, you're floating through.
You know, I have backcountry skied. I understand.
Like you can make the argument I guess, like well if you're just in the backcountry skiing or you're in, you know, Nordic skiing or whatever, you get the flotation from your skis. I get that.
But there's still something to be said if you just want to go on a hike in the wintertime and then what snowshoes can, can offer and there's just something, there's a romance to snowshoes.
Like and maybe this is in my own head because the first time I ever really used them I was working at East Mountain Sports was in the 90s Tub Snowshoes was based in Stowe, Vermont and we did a. Yeah, they're not there anymore. But we got to go up and tour cuz I was, I was living in New England.
We got to go up and tour their factory and got a killer pro deal on a pair of snowshoes. And then like a month later my wife and I went back to Stowe to spend the weekend. And this was classic, right? This, this is something out of a movie.
We, we arrived in Stowe and it's dumping rain and we're like oh my God, can't believe. I guess we'll just like hang out in town or whatever. We go to bed and wake up to a foot of powder.
It had flipped overnight and it was just like, just a winter wonderland. We're like, oh my God, this is amazing. So we went up near Smuggler's Notch and we started trying out our social.
Justin
00:20:58.845 - 00:21:01.465
That sounds like an amazing tiki bar.
Colin
00:21:02.205 - 00:21:19.019
Smuggler's Notch. Yeah, they said there's a ski resort there but like they close the road so it's basically a Big road, but it's closed with, like 2ft of snow on it.
And it's just awesome. It's just such a fun experience. It is its own thing. So even if you are a backcountry skier, there's.
There's situations where you'd want to have snowshoes, too. Oh, totally.
Justin
00:21:19.067 - 00:21:19.291
Yeah.
Colin
00:21:19.323 - 00:21:19.555
Yeah.
Justin
00:21:19.595 - 00:22:10.323
The people on my trip to the 10th Mountain Division hut, there were. There were two guys that were. They had skins on their skis and they did some back country skiing while we were up there.
But this, it was really dumping. It was pretty nasty. And they actually brought snowshoes with them just in case, like, skins wasn't work. And they.
And they ended up snowshoeing up, too, which was. Which was cool. But I mean, like, you kind of. You feel like you're on Hoth a little bit. Like, it feels. It just feels like.
I don't know, it feels awesome. And I've. And like, I. I did a trip you. So I don't know if they always do this or not, but you can.
In the wintertime at Yosemite, they turned the Glacier Point, like, visitor center into a. Into a lodge, into a hut. And so you can actually, from Badger Pass to the Glacier Point hut is about 11 miles. And it's, you know, they.
So you can do a hut trip out there.
Colin
00:22:10.379 - 00:22:10.811
Oh, cool.
Justin
00:22:10.883 - 00:22:35.187
Really freaking amazing.
I mean, it is so gorgeous because, like, once you get to Glacier Point, you're overlooking the valley and like, Half Dome, you feel like you can reach out and touch it. It's spectacular. And we did this a while back and we did on skis.
And when we got there, we wanted to go for like, a hike up to Sentinel Dome, which is nearby. And, like, they had these ancient snowshoes. Like, ancient. Like, I swear to God, they were. I think they were like, like leather or something. Like.
Colin
00:22:35.211 - 00:22:35.531
Yeah.
Justin
00:22:35.603 - 00:22:59.355
I mean, so old. I was like, well, I guess I'll try these. And they worked fine. Sure, they worked. And I was like, this is so. This is so cool.
Like, I don't know what it is. It just. It's just. And they're not that expensive. You can get a good pair for a couple hundred bucks, right?
If you go to the winter, you know, go to the snow often, you know, that's absolutely worth it. But. And you, like, once you kind of learn, like, how they work and like, I forget what you call.
But that little bar you put under your heel when you're, like, climbing, like, super steep stuff. Like when you.
Colin
00:22:59.515 - 00:22:59.835
Yeah.
Justin
00:22:59.875 - 00:23:03.403
Kind of like, you know, I'm talking about there's that. There's like a little bar that goes under your heel so you have like a platform.
Colin
00:23:03.459 - 00:23:10.075
Back. Country skis have it too. Right. It kind of gives you that thing. It lifts your heel up. So you're not like.
You're not like plunging your heels back down to the ground when you're at like a 45 degree angle or whatever.
Justin
00:23:10.155 - 00:23:18.583
Exactly. Yeah. And like, you. Once you kind of get the, you know, the hang of how they work and everything, like, it just.
They're super useful, they're super fun. I. You know. Yeah. I can't. Yeah. J.P. get yourself a pair.
Colin
00:23:18.719 - 00:23:20.023
Underrated. They're underrated.
Justin
00:23:20.079 - 00:23:28.519
Underrated. And in the, like, in the sense of, like, people that probably, like. It's not really an activity. If I need them, I'll get them.
But as a straight up activity. Underrated.
Colin
00:23:28.567 - 00:23:58.717
Yeah. All right, next one. We got a letter from Jesse in North Carolina. Jesse, hope you're doing okay post Hurricane Helene. Jesse writes in.
Hey, Colin and Justin. Just got my first solo stove. And I gotta ask, these are underrated, right? They're incredible.
I have the bonfire, which is not the smallest one, but not the biggest one either, and I love it. P.S. thanks for the shout outs about helping out Asheville. You're welcome, Jesse. Hopefully it's helping.
Over on the rock fight, we've been talking a lot about what's going on in Asheville. So you'll hear that if you listen.
Justin
00:23:58.741 - 00:24:02.205
To the rock fight, they just got potable water, like.
Colin
00:24:02.245 - 00:24:03.749
Yeah, like a week ago or something like that.
Justin
00:24:03.797 - 00:24:04.549
How gnarly is that?
Colin
00:24:04.597 - 00:24:16.255
That's so gnarly. Uh, that was September when that storm came through. Um, all right, so, Justin, so I've never owned a solo stove, so you're on your own with this one.
Tell. Tell me about solo stove. Is. Are they underrated like Jesse suggests, or are they.
Justin
00:24:17.475 - 00:24:21.227
For some reason, I kind of thought you. I kind of thought you had one. For some reason. I just have.
Colin
00:24:21.251 - 00:24:23.011
We have a fire pit in our backyard.
Justin
00:24:23.163 - 00:25:48.853
Is that. Is it wood or propane? Yeah. So I started out with a propane stove or propane stove. A propane fire pit. Living in San Francisco.
So, like, I had an apartment. I wanted to have a fire pit, but I couldn't have one in my backyard, so I got a propane one and I thought that they're great.
Propane, propane fire pits are awesome. Like, mine was really. It was a camp chef, one of my favorite brands, and they're super portable. So I actually, I would take it Camping.
Sometimes if I was get.
I don't really, you know, it just, I guess kind of as a gimmick or if I didn't really feel like dealing with, like, wood, you know, I'd bring it, and it was great. And then I got a solo stove when I moved to Marin and had a yard, and I could actually, like, burn wood in my yard.
They are the coolest things in the world. I mean, there are other brands now that are basically doing the same kind of thing. These smokeless, ish fire pits that are basically portable.
And if you expand your mind about what the uses are for these things, they're just so freaking fun.
If I wanted to have a fire in my backyard normally, obviously they didn't invent the concept of a fire pit, but you can build a brick wand or whatever people did before.
You could, like, buy these stainless steel ones or like, I know back in the day, people would, like, get, like, washer drums or, I'm sorry, a dryer drum from landfills. Like, this was, like, a thing. Oh, no way. Because they're. They're. They're. They're. They're like, presumably stainless steel as well.
Colin
00:25:48.909 - 00:25:49.413
Right.
Justin
00:25:49.549 - 00:26:43.561
And you could, like, you know, put wood in them and burn. And burn. That. That was like, kind of a dirt bag way to make your own fire pit. Back in the day. You go to, like, a junkyard and get.
And get like, an old, you know, dryer drum anyway. But they're just so freaking useful. Like, I have. So I have one in my backyard. I have, like, a table around it. But it's fantastic in the.
You know, in the wintertime, like, we. We have fires there all the time. They're just really easy to use. They're. They keep everything really clean. They work really well.
But the best part, too, is I take it camping if I'm car camping, because I don't want to build a. Like, I don't. They don't really, like, build this as, like, a thing. They make that. They make a whole line of, like, campfire stoves that are.
That are for camp campfires or for camping. But I take my. I have the bonfire, same size, and it's pretty good size.
And, like, I take it with me when I'm camping because I can fill it with stuff. Like, I. I put my food in it or I put wood in it or whatever in the back of my truck. So it doesn't really take up.
Even though it's big, it doesn't take up that much space because I'm using it as, like a. As like a storage device.
Colin
00:26:43.633 - 00:26:44.249
Right.
Justin
00:26:44.417 - 00:27:36.575
But when, like, where I like to go dispersed camping in the summertime, like, it's. It's. It's, you know, untouched. Like, I'm, you know, it's not a campground. And I don't want to build a rock ring. Like, that's like the.
Like, I hate rock rings, you know, and so I use this and it doesn't. It doesn't leave. I don't have to build a rock ring. I'm not leaving, like, stuff behind. I mean, I do. I do make ash.
I dump the ash out, but I usually bury it. It's just a nice clean way to have a campfire without, like, disturbing the ground. And, like, it's like, I don't.
Again, they don't necessarily, like, build themselves as, like, that's a. That's a use for them, but that's one of my favorite things about it. And then I get home, boom, I pop it right back.
They call it the surround, right back into its little circular table thing. They're just brilliant.
There's now, again, there's other brands that are out there now that are doing effectively the same thing, meaning, like, a stainless steel, like, ring that has some sort of engineering so that it doesn't produce quite as much smoke.
Colin
00:27:36.655 - 00:27:36.895
Right.
Justin
00:27:36.935 - 00:28:14.179
But whatever. I mean, so, like, they're not super expensive. The customer service has been fantastic with everything.
I have a couple other products that they make that a little mesa, which is like a tabletop one, which is. Which is, like, ideal for, like, one person if you're just camping or.
Like, sometimes I'll do it in the summertime if I just feel like having, like, a cozy moment, read a book outside. I'll just have a little fire going on my picnic table in the backyard. That thing is epic, too. Um, and I've tried out, like, I have a big, like.
Like cast iron, like, griddle that goes on top of the solo st. Like, you can. You can cook food on it. And I've done that, and it's great. It's just an awesome device. They, you know, they got.
They blew up last year when, like, Snoop Dogg, right? They did.
Colin
00:28:14.187 - 00:28:15.923
Like, which they're brought back again this year.
Justin
00:28:15.979 - 00:28:37.863
Yeah, yeah, they. I could, apparently. I don't know. If it didn't go. I guess it didn't go well. They, like, axed their CEO. Like, it was like their cmo.
It was like a huge thing. But now they got Snoop back, you know, so there's, like, some buzz about them. But they're. They're just. They're freaking awesome. So.
Yeah, I mean, like, I think they have. I, I, I feel like maybe there's, like, a douche element that some people think when like, they see one in someone's yard or something like that.
But, like, I. Fucking these things.
Colin
00:28:37.919 - 00:28:44.599
I don't know why you would. I mean, I mean, mine's. I should have said. It's actually not propane. It's natural gas. We just hooked it into our gas line, you know what I mean?
Justin
00:28:44.647 - 00:28:45.231
Oh, really? Yeah.
Colin
00:28:45.263 - 00:28:49.207
It's a permanent one back there. Like, that's probably more douchey than having a solo stove, you know?
Justin
00:28:49.271 - 00:28:49.863
It is, actually.
Colin
00:28:49.919 - 00:28:54.263
Yeah. But also, I can go out and turn a key and have a fire and like, that.
Justin
00:28:54.319 - 00:29:11.029
That's nice. That's nice. You know, but, like, and I, and I. And like, I could see the nice thing about that is where I live, we do a lot of spare the air days.
So, like, lately, like, it's probably not going to rain again this year at all. Like, it's a bad. It's bad California folks. And. But you can have propane and, like, that would be really nice. But.
Colin
00:29:11.157 - 00:29:18.117
Yeah, we can't have wood down here. But the. But, no, that's awesome. So, wait, back to back. Underrated, you're saying? Or are they properly.
Justin
00:29:18.181 - 00:29:18.469
Yeah.
Colin
00:29:18.517 - 00:29:19.069
Is it properly?
Justin
00:29:19.117 - 00:29:40.737
I guess these are. I was. I don't know. I. I guess I would say. I mean, they asked, Jesse asked if it was underrated.
I kind of feel like they're underrated in the sense I don't really hear people, like, gushing about them as much as I feel like I should. Like, like, it's just. They're just an awesome.
Yeah, they're one of the pieces of, like, I've had, you know, I'm trying to think of something else that would be kind of similar, like, like my outdoor pizza oven that I had for a long time. My uni. It's like. Yeah, it was cool.
Colin
00:29:40.921 - 00:29:42.041
Same. I got rid of mine.
Justin
00:29:42.073 - 00:29:51.657
I feel like it's kind of in the same kind of, like, thing where it's like, oh, like this new way of, like, having outdoor stuff or whatever. Like, just kind of transforming your backyard into a bit more, like, of a useful space.
Colin
00:29:51.721 - 00:29:52.369
Yeah.
Justin
00:29:52.537 - 00:30:03.561
And, like, I feel like they occupy kind of the same category, and I got rid of it because it's like, it was cool and it was kind of, you know, But I. We have fires all the time, and if we didn't have a solo stove, I would never have a fire.
Colin
00:30:03.633 - 00:30:07.321
There you go. There you go, Jesse. Get yourself a solo stove. You heard it here first.
Justin
00:30:07.353 - 00:30:11.089
I guess yourself a solo stove. All right.
Colin
00:30:11.137 - 00:30:28.565
Last email we got is from CG in Las Vegas. Hi, guys. I've heard you talk about. I've heard you talk before about how great it is to have a Made in America gear, but why the quality isn't better.
Who really cares anyway? Cheaper is cheaper. Cheaper is cheaper? What does he mean, cheaper is cheaper?
Justin
00:30:29.105 - 00:30:31.485
I don't know if it's cheaper, it's cheaper.
Colin
00:30:31.825 - 00:30:40.965
I don't know. Well, okay. Well, you start. What do you got for Made in America? Made in America gear? I'm assuming we're throwing apparel in this mix, too.
Justin
00:30:41.265 - 00:30:49.725
Yeah, we should. You should buy stuff made in America. Like, you should, if you have the option. You should buy stuff made in America.
Colin
00:30:50.505 - 00:30:56.143
Well, there's one reason even before you get the quality, and it's just miles of shipping stuff around the world.
Justin
00:30:56.319 - 00:31:26.711
Yeah. Yeah. And just honestly. Honestly, whether or not even if. And I. I've looked into this before.
Like, it takes surprisingly little energy, like, per item to put something on, like, a freighter and send it from, like, China to the U.S. right? Like, it. It's entirely possible that if you bought, like. Like, an Oxbow. Is that the brand that. No, not Oxbow. What was the Bowflex? No, the. God.
The bike brand that went out of business. That. We did a podcast about it. The bike brand.
Colin
00:31:26.823 - 00:31:29.791
Oh, apparel. Oh, Kitspo. Kitspo.
Justin
00:31:29.823 - 00:31:29.999
Thank you.
Colin
00:31:30.007 - 00:31:30.383
Yeah, yeah.
Justin
00:31:30.439 - 00:31:36.287
Oxbow was, like, an obscure French surf brand back in the day. You know, like, they were, like, North Carolina, right?
Colin
00:31:36.311 - 00:31:38.863
Yeah, originally North Carolina, but then North Carolina.
Justin
00:31:38.919 - 00:31:46.463
Yeah, that's right. So, like, if I bought one of those.
If I bought something from them in California, it's entirely possible that it would actually take more energy to get it to me over land.
Colin
00:31:46.599 - 00:31:47.311
Okay.
Justin
00:31:47.463 - 00:32:32.655
Or air. Than it would to, like, buy something in China to have it sit on a freighter, because, like, Tinker ships are super efficient for that.
But it's logically.
It's insane that we're like, you buy something that's, like, made in China, and it might have parts in it from, like, Indonesia or something, you know, and, like, it's being shipped all over the world just to, like, get it to you, like, a little bit cheaper. It is nuts. And I mean, domestic manufacturing would do a lot for our economy. I mean, I would love the opportunity to go work at, like, a.
Like, if there's, like, a local, like, place making cool stuff, like, I don't know, maybe that I would like to at least have that Opportunity, you know, like we used to have back in the day. But I will say though, that, like, quality, like, I do think that there's a.
That there's a, like an assumption that if something's made in China or overseas, like, the quality is not great. And like, that's very.
Colin
00:32:32.695 - 00:32:34.615
That's antiquated. That's not the case anymore.
Justin
00:32:34.695 - 00:33:11.635
But people still think that, like, people see like a Made in America logo, like, oh, this must be better. And like, oftentimes it's worse. I mean, it's like, because we offshored everything to China. Yeah. Nobody knows how to make stuff anymore.
You know, like, they have better equipment, they have better knowledge, they can do it faster and cheaper. And like all this sort of stuff now obviously you can get a bunch of cheap crap there too.
But just because it's made in, like, Ohio doesn't mean it's going to be better off. So that. That's kind of a tough one. I mean, I.
The thing is, at the end of the day, though, it's like, I don't think you necessarily want to be supporting the Chinese economy over our economy. So, like, I would always, you know, we. You don't.
Not everybody has the sort of wherewithal to, like, spend extra money on a Made in America thing because it's made in America.
Colin
00:33:12.395 - 00:34:10.895
Well, the problem is you're going to have a tough time finding things. It really depends on what we're talking about.
If we're talking about like outdoor apparel and you're talking about like top of the mountain stuff, like, yeah, you should look at a brand like Northwest Alpine, like, they source American textiles. They make it in Oregon. And to your point, like, right. If you had a one for one. I have a unit here. A unit here.
Shipping it from China might be better if it's in terms of environmental impact simply because of, like that one unit. But yeah, you have to look at where did all the components come from, where did those, where were the zippers made, where were the buttons made?
All of that kind of stuff.
If it's made in the USA and was all sourced here, probably overall is going to have a lower environmental footprint to ship it around, how it was made. And you're supporting the American economy and American jobs and all those kinds of good things.
But we go back when was the last time we had meaningful manufacturing here. It's been a really long time. And I know that's sort of what all the tariff talk is about, getting back to that. But there's no infrastructure.
It's going to Be what, a decade if it's successful?
Justin
00:34:11.275 - 00:34:26.823
And then who's going to work in that? Who's going to work these jobs? Right. We're in for a rude awakening about that kind of stuff. Yeah. What was it?
I was using something the other day, and it was something so mundane. It was like. It was either a tool or, like, I don't remember what it was, or it might have. Honestly, it might have been like a chemical.
Colin
00:34:26.879 - 00:34:27.111
Yeah.
Justin
00:34:27.143 - 00:34:43.631
And it was like, made in Kentucky.
I was like, wow, there's like some factories from just, like, just dying of cancer, just horribly noxious fumes, and they're making this, like, goo gone or whatever it was. I don't remember what it was, but, you know, I'm like, okay, well, that's. That's interesting. That's still made here. Of all things that's made here.
Colin
00:34:43.743 - 00:35:18.607
I mean, textiles are one. Like, so when I was working for Poland, that's when the mill, the textile mill, there was a mill in Lawrence, Massachusetts.
And going there and we would bring customers in to tour it, and it was inspiring. It was so cool.
It made you want to believe, like, we need to do more of this in the US it was so interesting to see these just rolls of fabric being made by people in Lawrence, Mass. And then shipped to wherever it was going to get sewn into garments.
But, you know, so I guess really the only real answer here is, you know, just do your research, if you can. If there are options in the U.S. yeah, you probably should. If.
If not, I wouldn't feel too guilty about buying it if it comes from China, though, either.
Justin
00:35:18.711 - 00:36:02.493
It's just, it's. It's, you know, you can't escape the sort of. The irony of the.
Of people that, you know, especially like the MAGA crowd, you know, who's like, yeah, you know, America first. You know, bring everything back to America. Like, like wall ourselves off from the international community and just.
And just, you know, but, like, they're gonna be shopping at Dollar General in Walmart because it's just so, so much goddamn cheaper. Yeah. And it's like, I would love to, like, we've talked about this before.
If you want to see more domestic manufacturing, you have to support the brands that exist now, you know, because it's not going to happen otherwise. Like Coleman. I'm looking at a Coleman Propane cancer.
They're not going to just decide to make stuff in America now just because, like, it's the right thing to do. Like, that's not how it works.
Colin
00:36:02.509 - 00:36:20.755
It's such a complicated Thing like how things get made and where it gets made and like why you would do it there and what are the resources and what's to your point, the talent pool. I mean, it's not just a, A, it's a says easy, does hard thing. Right? It's like, yeah, we should make more stuff here.
Like, yeah, I agree, we should make more stuff here, but it's just like they'll start peeling back that onion and where do you end up?
Justin
00:36:21.255 - 00:36:41.053
I remember the clothing brand Taylor Stitch, which is like a big deal and, and they make really high quality stuff. And I remember I was out of, you know, they hadn't been around that long.
And I was at a house party with a friend who knew the founder and the founder was there and we were talking. He was, he had like just gotten back from Portugal and he was like, yeah, we make they at the time. I think they're making their stuff in la.
Colin
00:36:41.199 - 00:36:44.705
Okay, yeah, probably there's still a lot of actually apparel manufacturing in la.
Justin
00:36:44.785 - 00:37:33.469
Yeah, yeah, LA has a lot. And. But he was like, you know, we went to Portugal and like they have all these like epic machines that like we don't have in the States.
And they're old, these are like old textile. Textile machines. And they have these like, just like artisans that make the stuff.
And it's like for the same prices we can pay, like people who don't really know what they're doing in la, we can go get stuff made in Portugal and it's better. Yeah, like, he's like, the quality is just better, right?
And he's like, we, you know, it's like at the end of the day we want to sell the highest quality stuff. And like, it sucks that it's not made in the States, but that's just how it goes. And I never really.
That was like kind of the first time where I realized, oh, right, like, and he was explaining, you know, people about Chinese made stuff. But he's like, you realize they've been making stuff for decades. Like they have a leg up on us in every possible way.
And you're like, oh, right, like that, like that ship sailed a long time ago. I don't really know how you'd like fix. How you'd like bring it back to port. So I forget who, who, who sent in who. Cg.
Colin
00:37:33.557 - 00:37:34.253
Cg.
Justin
00:37:34.389 - 00:37:44.409
Siege. Siege. Yeah. I don't know. I mean, I get, I get you're saying cheaper is cheaper. If you can't afford to spend more on Made in America stuff, I get it.
But I guess I Would, you know, at the end of the day, I, I, I guess Made in America stuff is.
Colin
00:37:44.457 - 00:37:47.125
I just go by the price. If it's cheaper, it's probably not great.
Justin
00:37:47.945 - 00:37:53.665
So it's underrated or overrated? I mean, I guess I would say it's. It's properly rated. Right. Like, people.
Colin
00:37:53.785 - 00:37:54.209
Yes.
Justin
00:37:54.297 - 00:37:58.177
You know, people, like, would lean toward Made in America. I guess you could say it's underrated. It's definitely not overrated.
Colin
00:37:58.201 - 00:37:59.209
It's not overrated, but I don't know.
Justin
00:37:59.257 - 00:38:05.433
Maybe it is overrated sometimes. You know, quality wise. It could be. It could be. It depends on what you're. I guess it depends on what you're rating.
Colin
00:38:05.529 - 00:38:07.005
All right, so let's recap.
Justin
00:38:07.185 - 00:38:23.345
Yeah, let's recap. What do we got? We got, we got snowshoeing. Underrated. Big time. Underrated. We got solo stove. I'm going to say underrated.
I think even though they're a big seller and a lot of people have them, I still, I don't. You know what? I need to hear more about how much people love them out there. So I'm going to say underrated on solo stove.
Colin
00:38:23.765 - 00:38:25.637
And then Made in the usa, men.
Justin
00:38:25.661 - 00:38:29.865
The USA is got to make a ruling, man.
Colin
00:38:30.165 - 00:38:31.309
I'd go properly.
Justin
00:38:31.357 - 00:38:39.785
I think it's probably properly. Yeah, I, I don't, I don't think it's a reason not to buy something, but I think it's a reason to buy something, if that makes sense.
So I'm going to say properly rated.
Colin
00:38:39.825 - 00:38:44.921
And look, you're right about, like, you shouldn't just, like, see the label and be like, you know, oh, it's the best thing ever.
Justin
00:38:44.993 - 00:38:45.273
Better.
Colin
00:38:45.329 - 00:38:50.945
But, you know, it was. If it was made here. That's not a bad thing either. Like, someone in the US Got to make something. That's great.
Justin
00:38:51.105 - 00:38:53.441
Yeah. Yeah. All right.
Colin
00:38:53.473 - 00:38:54.249
Well, there you go.
Justin
00:38:54.337 - 00:38:56.361
We did it. We did it again. We did another one.
Colin
00:38:56.393 - 00:38:58.977
I do want to have one last final sip with you, the buddy. How's it, how's your.
Justin
00:38:59.001 - 00:38:59.377
Are you.
Colin
00:38:59.441 - 00:39:00.735
Have you given up on that beer?
Justin
00:39:00.885 - 00:39:11.675
No, it's fine. It's fine. It's, like, perfectly. It's doing its job. It's, like, perfectly drinkable. It's fine. It's clunky, but it's not bad. I wouldn't pour it out.
Colin
00:39:11.795 - 00:39:19.923
You know what my favorite thing about Santa's butt is? I now actually have it. I officially have a favorite winter beer. This is delicious.
Justin
00:39:20.059 - 00:39:23.675
I feel like unless you're going to buy a bunch more of those, I feel like you kind of need to keep that bottle.
Colin
00:39:23.755 - 00:39:26.251
It's a great bottle. Look at the shape of the bottle, too. It's like old school.
Justin
00:39:26.283 - 00:39:26.979
It's a nice bottle.
Colin
00:39:27.067 - 00:39:29.355
Like the long neck and put that.
Justin
00:39:29.435 - 00:39:33.759
I feel like your house is too nice and new to have dust in it, but you need to put that somewhere. It's going to get dusty.
Colin
00:39:33.807 - 00:39:38.055
Oh, it gets dusty. This could be like, we should put something in. This could become like a Christmas decoration.
Justin
00:39:38.175 - 00:39:38.967
I love that.
Colin
00:39:39.031 - 00:39:39.255
Right?
Justin
00:39:39.295 - 00:39:41.191
Some holly in there, some poinsettias.
Colin
00:39:41.223 - 00:39:43.675
Yeah. Yeah. I'm definitely going to keep a good call.
Justin
00:39:44.615 - 00:40:03.905
Well, folks, gear and beer is a production of Rock Fight llc. And for Colin True, I am Justin Houseman and he's here to take us out. He thinks I'm going to go. I'm going to go ahead and rate things for Christmas.
Christmas. Snowshoeing is underrated. He thinks solo stoves are overrated. He hates fire and he thinks made in America is the best thing ever.
He thinks that's underrated.
Colin
00:40:03.945 - 00:40:08.633
He probably does. He's a southeast guy, so there's a lot of manufacturing in the southeast, so he's probably into it.
Justin
00:40:08.729 - 00:40:18.685
Bring it back. He says to bring it back and he's gonna.
While he's thinking about bringing back American manufacturing, he's going to perform the gear and beer theme song for us. And we will see you next time.
Chris DeMakes
00:40:27.175 - 00:41:11.025
To tell just like you're with your pals out on the trail, we review outdoor adventure gear. Pair it with the perfect beer. Now let the games begin. So glad that you're here at the break. The pudding, the trailhead.
We're going to crack up in the cooler and invite a beverage where we can celebrate our wins. Those losses we hold so close. The bottom line here is you'll get the berries that matter most. Kieran beer and beer.