Where did my KEEN hiking boots take me a few months ago? Portland! It was my second time in this city but I didn’t get much time to explore the city much (which was fine as I was exploring the Nike Lab at their HQ in Beaverton and getting to see Kobe Bryant speak at one of the Nike sessions, oh and the New York Knicks were staying at my hotel!).
This time around, I got to go the KEEN headquarters and their factory, where we got up close to see how the boots are made (the machine’s noise is a little hard on the ears, my apologies!):
Plus, we factored in lots of time to walk around the city, eat (Voodoo Doughnuts, of course) and, hike, obvi. Portland’s got some gorgeous hiking not far from the city. For more on what you should do in Portland, check out my story on AmongMen.com.
I don’t hike, bike or ATV but I kinda wish I did so I’d have a reason to buy this camera. Well, it is waterproof (to 10 metres), too, so I could use it for goofy underwater photos, I suppose.
The Polaroid Action Camera 035-0122 features a two-inch LCD touchscreen and shoots 720p HD videos, and it includes the rack and bike mount. Plus, it can take still pictures at up to 5 megapixel resolution.
Actually, with its affordable price tag, it’s almost worth it for the non-hardcore bikers/bikers/ATVers amongst us.
Polaroid Action Camera XS7, $99, available in April exclusively at Canadian Tire.
No, really — can someone tell me how to take a hike?
Or rather where I can go take a hike.
I only seem to get the opportunity to hike when I’m traveling. I’ve done some great ones in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Scottsdale and Rwanda (OK, one of the hikes in Rwanda could be more accurately described as absolutely terrifying than “great”…more on that another time).
But I have no clue how to go about hiking in Toronto…or is Toronto not a hiking sorta city? Can someone tell me? (Note: I do not have a car)
Anyhow, yesterday I finally had the chance to check out Evergreen Brick Works with Wolverine (they’re the makers of rugged, outdoorsy footwear and apparel) where we did a “hike” (the quotation marks are because it was more of a very, very brief jaunt, followed by a super delicious lunch). It sure is purdy up at Brick Works (that’s where we hiked above).
We were trying out their new Wolverine Individual Comfort System. What is it? In their shoes outfitted with ICS, there’s an orange rubbery disc that you can turn and adjust based on the type of support your foot needs. You place the disc according to the stabilization that’s comfortable for you.
Yahn Lebo, product line manager with Wolverine, advises turning the disc gradually (rather than from one extreme to another) when testing out different settings so your foot can adjust more smoothly to the change. And if you use orthotics, he suggests putting the ICS on the cushioning setting. I asked if you can injure yourself by having it in the wrong setting, and Lebo said you’d notice symptoms (such as a blister) before you actually do any harm to yourself with the wrong setting of the ICS.
