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Keith McCord ReportingAt the Salt Palace right now, all the talk is about winter recreation in the outdoors. More than 700 companies from around the world are here with the latest products, many of which will be in stores next season.
A lot of the items are about having fun in the outdoors--you know, skis, boards, snowshoes and the like. But many of the products have to do with staying safe out there.
Outdoor adventure enthusiast Brian Brawdy showed me how to stay warm using a thermalite blanket; it would help trap my body heat. With the Outdoor Retailers Winter Market in town right now, we asked Brian to assemble some items that, if we get into a pinch while out skiing or snowmobiling, we could get by. Everything he brought fit into a small backpack. The pack itself, called the "Avalung", could save your life if you get caught in a snow slide.
Brian Brawdy, Outdoor Adventure Enthusiast: "Now, one of the big things about avalanches is the suffocation, so you want to make sure when you're exhaling that carbon dioxide that it's going away from where you're going to take in your next breath."
When exhaled through an attached mouth piece, the carbon dioxide is routed to the rear of the pack. Brian actually tested it recently. He spent 30-minutes under 10-feet of snow.
Certain kinds of clothing can help get you rescued too. Brian showed me a jacket with a small, low frequency beacon stitched onto the sleeve.
Brian Brawdy: "When they know you're lost, it's like a signal finder. They hit that and it activates the signal in here, so they can find where you are."
A first aid kit should be carried at all times, as well as light weight water bottles. Some, made by the Swiss company Sigg, are aluminum so they won't break, smash or crack like plastic can.
We also saw some goggles that probably won't save your life, but they'll never fog up because there's a tiny, two-speed battery-operated fan inside.
