The expected trail off in traffic and visitors did not happen this year and today had some of our busiest times yet of the show. It was good to see the excitement hanging around for the show.
We’ve seen the expectedly high levels of interest in our new models, but especially the Wilderness Systems Commander, Dagger Axis, and Perception Tribe.
Here are a few shots I was able to sneak in between meetings today:
Before the show started, apparently the show took its toll harder on some than others. I did check to make sure he was alive before posting.
The site owners of the awesome BoaterTalk website and forum.
The mad scientists that are moving kayak product development into the future.
Chad Hoover gives Commander product feedback to the engineers as only he knows how.
Chad's wife measures up the Commander to see if it meets her standards.
3 hours later, Chad continues to give product feedback on the Commander to the engineers.
Steady to heavy booth traffic for Day 3.
Here’s a few odds and ends from the second half of day 2 at Outdoor Retailer.
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- I think the metaphor here is probably clear.
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- Chad has been missing the fish, so decided to cast in the booth. Caught a sales rep.
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- The popular item of the hour, a monkey that’s arms doubled as a slingshot.
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- Paddler’s forum proved to be very popular.
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- Late lunch at 4. Busy day.
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- The beer canoe patiently awaits.
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- New Langer skirt from Harmony
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- Paddler forum traffic overflowed into the booth.
Greg Larson, who loves the new Dagger Axis series, explains what this new kayak is all about. It’s amazingly maneuverable and has built in performance for a wide range of paddling environments…emphasizing Dagger’s commitment to moving water, from the mountains to the sea.
Nate gives a description of AT Paddle’s other new addition to the fleet, a new Ergo paddle for 2009/2010.
Here’s a few snapshots of what’s happened during the first half of today’s show.
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- Wave Sport Introduces the popsicle inspired Firecracker color.
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- Head Commander 120 CX Designer Louis catching up some reading
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- Thought I was filming a video, accidentally snapped a picture
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- Some cool Swiss Army gear.
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- Bryan Kirk tells the tale of Wave Sport
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- The original owner of the famous Wave Sport van beside the current owner, Bryan Kirk.
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- Commander 120cx continues to be a hot item.
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- Much of the day spent in deep discussion in booth offices.
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- SlideTrax on full display.
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- This machine looked so much fun I was afraid to try it.
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- The long distance shot of our booth.
Bryan Kirk reviews each of the Wave Sport/Core77 design competition kayak hulls in this video clip. If you’ve seen the pictures, check out the video to get more texture and dimension on the designs…they look great in real life.
Correction – the technology used for the graphics is a proprietary Wave Sport process. Bryan refers to mold-in graphic (MIG) technology which is commonly used today, which this is not. We apologize for the mistake in the video.
Jesse Becker discusses the why and what of AT Paddle’s new Xception XV…it’s really cool design, check out the short overview below.
Bryan Kirk took his Fuse with Skateboard design into the deep forests of the booth across from the Wave Sport section of our booth.
As you can see the chicks like it. We’ll be selling a limited number of these concepts in the near future, check back for pricing and availability.
Oh, and they’re real and they’re fabulous. The hull graphics, that is. A few naysayers were scratching their heads at how we got the full color, molded in graphics and decided they must not be real. 
