I just got back from Salt Lake City, where I attended the outdoor industry’s largest trade show. Outdoor Retailer Summer Market usually draws about 1,000 gear manufacturers. Because of the rough economy this year, the number of exhibitors was down about 10 percent, according to show organizers. Nevertheless, Outdoor Retailer delivered the expected assault on the senses as I strolled the aisles of the Salt Palace Convention Center.

At a show so massive, it’s nice to see something that stops you in your tracks. That was the case for me when I saw a simple solution to a problem as old as the Coleman cooler. When you open your fridge at home, a light comes on so you can see what’s inside. Now, thanks to the good folks at Coghlan’s, the same thing can happen when you lift the lid on your cooler.

Coghlan’s Cooler Light (MSRP $8.99) uses a simple ball-bearing mechanism that shuts the light off in the horizontal (cooler lid closed) position, and turns it on when the angle starts to climb (cooler lid open). Don’t fret about killing the Cooler Light’s batteries if you forget to close the lid, the light always shuts off after 20 seconds. Brilliant!

I already donated the Cooler Light to my friend Ryan, who let me stay at his Boise home on the way to and from this year’s Outdoor Retailer Summer Market. I know he’ll use it tonight and every night until cold fall or winter weather forces him indoors.
You haven’t lived until you’ve sat on the back patio at Ryan’s house, listening to him play acoustic guitar late into the night and right on through until early the next morning. Because of Ryan, I have a new benchmark of just how relaxing relaxation ought to feel. Enjoy that light, my friend.

For me, an important part of attending Outdoor Retailer is to talk to as many people as possible. I had a particularly good conversation with Joyce Laituri at the booth of Colorado-based Spyderco Knives and Accessories. Joyce showed me Spyderco’s prototype fixed-blade Bushcraft knife (MSRP $299.00) designed for “bushcraft” enthusiasts. Then she had to teach me what the growing bushcraft trend is all about.

Bushcraft is a tradition as much as a sport, Laituri explained. It follows a regime of survival skills derived originally from Bushmen of the southern hemisphere, and has gone mainstream in the United Kingdom thanks to television programs starring survivalist Ray Mears.

Spyderco’s version of a bushcraft knife results from a three-fold collaboration between Tactical Bushcrafter Chris Claycombe, a bushcraft Web site called BushcraftUK.com and Spyderco designers. Knives used in bushcraft practice have specific parameters such as having blades between 4 to 6 inches in length.

Spyderco’s offering is typical of the genre with a 4-inch blade. The steel continues the entire length of the 8-and-three-quarter-inch knife (underneath the maple burl handle), making it nearly indestructible. Spyderco gave its bushcraft blade a Scandinavian grind, or “Scandi grind,” to better withstand the twisting and hacking chores common to bushcraft adventures.

In an era where fancy steel differentiates great knives from simply good ones, Spyderco went old school for its Bushcraft blade. The company used 0-1 tool steel because of its high carbon content, which sharpens easily and holds an edge well. I’m looking forward to learning more about bushcraft, and heading out on my own bushcraft adventures in the months to come.

Outdoor Retailer Summer Market provides an endless supply of new and improved gadgets to drool over. I’m already starting to daydream about the winter version of the trade show, the Outdoor Retailer Winter Market, set for January 2010 in Salt Lake City. It’s only six months away!

Mike Bitton is a contributor to The Voice.