A wide selection of outdoor products from Ram Mountaineering

Photo courtesy of Ram Mountaineering

The Sports Trader team recently attended the Ram Mountaineering Gear 2013 Expo, which displayed their offering for next year. Lehan Bornman introduced their newest products.

The company recently signed a new brand, JR Gear, that replaces Pacific Outdoor Equipment in their arsenal. The range includes a variety of dry bags that come in various sizes for different applications and self inflatabling mattresses. Their Primaloft filled blow up mattress created a great deal of interest. The range also includes inflatable bags for use in water and dry bag duffels.

Black Diamond products at Ram, courtesy of Ram Mountaineering

Black Diamond is for the first time introducing a range of technical clothing that will be available in South Africa from the first quarter of next year. The range will include, among others, top quality down jackets, fleeces and waterproof pants.

Keep an eye out for their new headlamps arriving from October this year. They will feature the new Power Tap system that offers the wearer an easier touch-sensitive solution to quickly change the lamp’s brightness settings.

Jetboil has introduced a brand new system – the Joule – that will be available in South Africa in March. The bigger system boasts that it will boil water in 2min 40seconds – faster than a kettle! It is unique, because it uses the gas canister upside down to turn the gas canister into a liquid system to offer a more consistent performance – no tapering off of the gas. The liquid also means that the system is great for use in extreme conditions – no loss of performance down to -12 degrees C.

The GSI brand now also offers a wider range of coffee accessories, such as collapsible drips, espresso makers and pressers. The new commuter Java press has been a hit

In their Baladéo knife range they introduced an interesting new pocket utensil set that consists of a spork and knife that can fold away just like a pocket knife. This has already been a hit among the retailers who have seen it, says Bornman. The brand also offers other useful outdoor accessories such as a compass and a distance meter.

The Zamberlan and Boreal footwear brands, distributed by Ram Mountaineering affiliate Traverse Outdoor Gear (TOG), are gaining recognition. Although they have been distributing the Zamberlan brand for less than a year, they have already found that the speed hiking shoes are doing very well in South Africa, due to the diverse range of activities for which they can be used. 

For climbers, Black Diamond has introduced a new safety system, the Magnetron technology, that keeps the carabiner closed. Unlike the previous design that used a 3-step spring and screw method, this system keeps the carabiner’s clip closed by means of two magnets (one on either side) and thereby offers more security.

In addition, their patented Grid Lock karabiner design prevents the harness and rope from sliding and pulling on the wrong parts of the carabiner, which can a handle less load than when pulling on it lengthwise. 

Black Diamond has also added to their range of cams. The X4 Camalots provide a solution for very small, narrow placements. Equipped with a very flexible stem protected by a unique beaded armour, the X4’s also have an off-centred axel design which enhaces the camming range of these tiny units.

In addition to the above brands Ram Mountaineering also distributes Beal Ropes, e3 Gear, Gidgitz, Nikwax, Princeton Tec, Saltic, Singing Rock and SteriPEN to the South African market. The brands cover a wide variety of products for various activities including backpacks, climbing gear, hiking and camping.

Published by www.sportstrader.co.za

Ram Mountaineering shows new ranges

Sports Trader visited the recent Ram Mountaineering trade show to learn about their new brands and ranges for 2013.

Ram Mountaineering has founded a new distributorship, Traverse Outdoor Gear (TOG), that will distribute two new footwear brands, Boreal and Zamberlan.

Boreal, Spain’s top mountaineering footwear brand, had been in SA intermittently, but their rock climbing boots, especially the classic Fire Rock, were mainly brought in by retailers, explains owner Simon Larsen. Now, for the first time, the brand will be handled by a distributor in SA, who will be concentrating on the high-end products within the range. Boreal caters for the high performance mountaineering market seeking top quality and provides a range equipped to tackle the likes of Mount Everest, scale rock faces, trek in the Drakensberg mountains or along the Otter Trail.

Zamberlan is an Italian brand founded 80 years ago that is now distributed in more than 40 countries, including in SA for the first time. TOG will be introducing products that will be more focused on the “main stream” portion of the outdoor market, like backpacking boots, lightweight trail lifestyle leisure and travel footwear. They will also launch a “Speed Hiking” range, which will be a new category in our market. Speed hiking is a new trend identified at the OutDoor Show in Friedrichshafen and the hikers that want to cover a bigger distances in quicker times need a specialised good quality, light, walking shoe.

Simon Larsen presenting the Zamberlan mountaineering footwear.

Zamberlan features GoreTex waterproofing.

Ram Mountaineering has also brought in Baladé, a French brand with the main focus on knives for hunting or camping. They will be focussing on a tight range in four categories:  the Superlights, that are as light as 27g to 37g, are very well balanced and pack away neat; the more general range style sell at good price points that will give retailers good margins; the top end Laguiole range includes a product with a genuine bone handle; the compasses manufactured by the brand.

Black Diamond is now introducing headlamps in a variety of colours.  The redesigned Cosmo incorporates the more feminine colours of the discontinued Moxy and has been upgraded from 55 lumens to 70 lumens. The ReVolt headlamp is 110 lumens strong and can recharge via USB. It can work either on alkaline or rechargeable batteries.

Nikwax has developed a base wash to cater for the needs of the sports market rather than just the outdoor market. The anti-microbial cleaner enhances the durable water repellence on baselayers, eliminates odours and adds fragrance.