The Rock Fight: Outdoor Industry & Adventure Sports Commentary

Today on the show, the Monday crew (the Monday Boys?) of outdoor industry insider Eoin Comerford and brand/creative expert Producer Dave join Colin to talk through the following topics:

Today Colin is joined by the host of Open Container, outdoor journalist Doug Schnitzspahn, to check in on where outdoor culture sits halfway through 2025.

Since the launch of Open Container in January Doug has had 26 conversations with artists, musicians, authors, brand founders and many others who operate in or around the outdoor community. Today he and Colin find out what he's learned so far and how it reflects on the broader outdoor world.

For The Parting Shot, Colin previews his trip to next week's Outdoor Market Alliance Media Event and makes a prediction about Superman.<...

Today on the show former Rock Fight guest Emily Holland ascends to the co-host chair to fill in for Shawnté who is out hiking the JMT!

Colin & Emily hit on the following topics:

Today it's the last interview that we recorded at GOA Connect in Reno last month. This time Colin and Eoin are chatting with Jon Frederick of Rab.

Jon talks about why Rab has found more traction in the US when other EU based brands have struggled to enter the market. They also discuss Rab's current product initiatives and what Jon would like to see out of the national trade show scene.

Then Shawnté Salabert calls in with an update from her three week hike on the JMT to help Colin process his discovery that he n...

Today on the show it's a special Fourth of July episode of The Rock Fight as Colin is finally joined by outdoor journalist and sustainability legend Kristin Hostetter, to talk about her big 2024 hot take that it is time to ban fireworks.

Last year Kristin wrote this piece offering all the reasons why we should rethink fireworks despite them being a significant fixture in modern society. We covered her article here on The Rock Fight and now, to celebrate this year's Fourth of July, Colin finally gets to chat with Kristin.

In addition to fireworks...

Today we're featuring the second interview we captured while attending GOA Connect last month. This time Colin and outdoor industry insider Eoin Comerford sit down with Eagle Creek president and CEO, Travis Campbell.

They talk about Travis's unique path to owning Eagle Creek and if that puts him in the same category as other founder led outdoor brands. They also touch how Eagle Creek tries to differentiate in an increasingly competitive travel market. Lastly they touch on outdoor events and what needs to happen on the national level.

Thanks for listening! The Rock Fight is...

Today on the show the Monday boys, Producer Dave and outdoor industry insider Eoin Comerford, join Colin to talk about the following topics:

Today on the show Colin welcomes Tania Lown-Hecht from the Outdoor Alliance and Friends of Grand Rapids Parks Executive Director Stacy Bare to chat about the latest efforts to sell off our public lands.

Tania provides an update of where things stand with Senator Mike Lee's proposed sell off while Stacy provides some context on the importance of protecting and preserving our public lands.

Our public lands need your help! Click here to contact your local representatives to send word that you do not support the sale of America's public lands.

Thanks for...

Today on the show Colin is joined by outdoor author and journalist Shawnté Salabert to run through the following stories to come out of the outdoor adventure community:

Today on The Rock Fight our normal Monday crew of Producer Dave and outdoor industry insider Eoin Comerford join Colin to run through the following topics!

We already have the dates and location for next year's Switchback Spring. With the show staying June, will there be a public pushback by brands? (07:28)

It's The Rock Fight Lightning Round where we hit a couple of industry news stories:

Today on the show we finish off our coverage of Showpocalypse 2025 with The Rock Fight's instant reaction to Switchback.

Recorded in a Nashville hotel ballroom on the second day of the trade show, Colin is joined by Producer Dave, Shawnté Salabert, and outdoor industry insider Eoin Comerford to talk about what they liked, what they didn't like, and what needs to be improved for next time when it comes to the newest trade show in the outdoor scene.

They also revisit their pre-show predictions to see what they got right and what did not come t...

Today on the show we present a live recording of The Rock Fight, straight from the floor of Switchback Spring!

This past week Colin was joined by Producer Dave, Shawnté Salabert, and outdoor industry insider Eoin Comerford in Nashville, TN to record an episode of The Rock Fight in front of the crowd at Switchback Spring.

The crew handed out their brand booth awards and were also joined by Switchback show director, Christina Henderson, president of the OIA Kent Ebersole, president of Mountain Hardwear, Troy Sicotte, and GM of Cumberland Transit, Jason Thienel.

W...

Today on the show Colin is joined by Monday regulars Producer Dave and Eoin Comerford (who is suffering from a case of outdoor industry insider overexposure) to preview and make predictions for Switchback Spring!

It was about a year ago that The Rock Fight broke the news of a new national outdoor trade show from the organizers of The Running Event and now the event is here!

After hitting a quick Lightning Round of industry topics, the guys get into what they think will go down in Nashville. Here's the rundown, with time codes, for...

Today on the show we're bringing you the first interview recorded at 2025's GOA Connect and then checking in on the latest attempt to sell off our public lands.

First up Colin and Eoin Comerford sat down with NEMO's Cam Brensinger to talk about 20 years of building a bullet proof reputation and ponder if outdoor gear needs to go as far with sustainability initiatives as apparel.

Then Colin is joined by Tania Lown-Hecht from the Outdoor Alliance to discuss the news of the Senate's attempt to require the sale of 3 million acres of public lands...

We are back from GOA Connect (even if the show isn't over yet) and today Colin is joined by Eoin Comerford to offer their thoughts on what they saw and more importantly highlight their favorite brands from the show's Discovery Marketplace.

At Connect, before the big show begins, they hold a 5 hour mini-show called the Discovery Marketplace to highlight brands that don't have the required retailer appointments necessary to earn a spot at the main event. This part of the show features lots of brands you've heard of and even more that you haven't.

On...

Today on the show Colin is joined by the regular Monday crew of Eoin Comerford and Producer Dave to kick off their coverage of the summer 2025 Trade Show Season. Here's the run down!

Today Colin is joined by Marmot's Vice President & GM of Technical Apparel, Jon Graden.

Marmot has been the poster child of what we've been calling the 'zombie brand' here on The Rock Fight. Not quite what it once was but not entirely irrelevant either, a zombie brand is a former 'it' brand that has fallen out of favor with retailers and doesn't have the juice it once did.

Marmot is one of the OG outdoor brands that the outdoor industry was built upon but after a series of acquisitions and big swings that didn't pay...

Today on the show Shawnté Salabert joins Colin to run through the following topics to come out of the outdoor adventure community:

Today on the show Colin is joined by the regular Rock Fight Monday crew of Producer Dave and Outdoor Industry Insider Eoin Comerford (aka The Consigliere). And this week that crew hits the following topics!

Today on the show Colin is joined by the CEO of Reju, Patrik Frisk.

Started in 2023, Reju is a "textile regeneration company" that is trying to create a circular system for polyester by taking existing polyester garments and turning them back into reusable polyester components that apparel brands can then make into new garments.

On today's episode Patrik talks about the mission of the brand, the challenges they face, and the need for these kinds of innovative solutions to solve our textile waste problem.

Check out hundreds of wildly cool products by visiting...

Today Colin is joined by outdoor journalist and host of Open Container Doug Schnitzspahn to talk about a couple of stories to come out of the outdoor community before taking a look at the current health of outdoor media. Here's today's docket!

Lastly...

We've made you wait long enough! We've finally made it to the conclusion to 2025's 'Top 5 Brand' episodes and we saved the biggest category for last. After ranking the top 5 footwear, gear, and accessories, today we're listing the Top 5 Outdoor Apparel brands!

While completely subjective, the mission is simple: determine the top 5 outdoor apparel brands of the moment. Colin is joined by Shawnté Salabert, Producer Dave, and Eoin Comerford to pick a brand from the following categories:

Will you agree with the final list? Maybe? M...

After months of rumors and speculation, on May 16th MEC finally announced that they have indeed been acquired. One of the group that has purchased MEC from Kingswood Capital Management is also their Chief Merchandising Officer, Chris Speyer.

Today on the show Chris sits down with Colin and Eoin Comerford to talk about MEC's new ownership group, where the brand is and where it's going. (04:00)

Then Colin is joined by Tania Lown-Hecht from the Outdoor Alliance who has an update on the plan to sell off hundreds of thousands of acres of public lands in...

Today on The Rock Fight Colin and Shawnté dig into some stories to come out of the outdoor adventure community. On the docket:

100,000 new mountains were discovered below the ocean's surface. No one tell Killian Jornet. We don't want him to drown trying to run all of them in a single day. (07:14)

One person died and 3 others went to the hospital due to excessive heat during a recent trail half marathon and we're really hoping no one gets blamed for this. (11:20)

Outdoor Pop Culture Watch! Colin & Shawnté react to the following recently released tr...

Today on The Rock Fight we dig into last week's news that Dick's Sporting Goods has acquired Foot Locker. Colin is joined by Producer Dave and Outdoor Industry Insider Eoin Comerford to discuss and answer the following questions:

Lastly Colin wraps up the show with The Parting Shot with a tip for any of our older listeners!

Check out...

Why make a list of the best outdoor towns when you can draft them instead?!

Today on the show Colin is joined by outdoor author and journalist, Shawnté Salabert, and the host of Open Container, Doug Schnitzspahn to draft the best outdoor towns in the US!

Round by round they'll draft outdoorsy locales from all across the United States. In the end they'll each have a list for you the listener to vote on and determine who has the best team of outdoor towns for 2025! (Voting will begin on Monday May 19th on www.rockfight.c...

Today on The Rock Fight Colin & outdoor author and journalist Shawnté Salabert the following topics:

Today on the show we have updates on two topics that have dominated the outdoor industry discourse over the past few months.

First Tania Lown-Hecht from the Outdoor Alliance sits down with Colin to talk about the congressional midnight vote that happened last week that is threatening thousands of acres of public land in Nevada & Utah. (01:19)

(We need the Rock Fight Army to show up and make their voices heard!

Click here to send the message that selling this land would be the wrong move. Every voice is needed right now no matter...

Welcome to Monday's on The Rock Fight your home for the best outdoor industry discourse! There are two big topics on the docket today.

First! After checking in on the recently released Outdoor Retailer floor plan (04:59), Colin, Producer Dave, and Outdoor Industry Insider Eoin Comerford go through the key takeaways from the annual REI members meeting that went down last week.

Here are the topics they hit along with time codes if you want to skip around:

Today Colin is joined Adam Cramer the CEO of the Outdoor Alliance to talk about what is happening with our public lands. And there is a lot happening.

Over the last few weeks, we’ve seen or heard the following:

Today Colin and outdoor journalist and author Shawnté Salabert run through the following recent stories that have come out of the outdoor adventure community:

Today on the show Colin is joined by outdoor industry insider Eoin Comerford to check in on Eoin's 2025 predictions for the outdoor industry given how things have gone off of the trails over the past month (05:56).

Then Eoin walks us through the model he put together to demonstrate the impacts the current tariffs that are in place are having on a small outdoor brand(16:15). That leads to Colin & Eoin talking about the amount of brands that are publicly addressing the tariff situation, searching for signs of hope, and what kind of timeline we are on (26:42).

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Colin is rolling solo today and he starts the show reflecting on an early episode of The Rock Fight where he defended his anti-Dawn Patrol stance before reflecting on a recent Dawn Patrol experience that didn't really change his mind but was still worth it.

Then for The Parting Shot he pays tribute to one of the original Rock Fighters our own, Justin Housman.

Check out hundreds of wildly cool products by visiting and shopping at Garage Grown Gear!

Thanks for listening! The Rock Fight is a production of Rock Fight, LLC.

Today on the show Colin is joined by outdoor journalist and author Shawnté Salabert to talk about some recent headlines to come out of the outdoor community! On today's docket:

Colin is joined by Producer Dave and Outdoor Industry Insider Eoin Comerford for an update on who might be buying Canada's MEC. (04:47)

Then they're joined by independent retailer Wes Allen to get his reaction and thoughts to last weeks rumors that REI is putting the squeeze on their brand partners to get new product exclusivity. (21:33)

Lastly for The Parting Shot, Eoin focuses on a leaked presentation from the Department of the Interior that details all the terrible ways that the Trump administration will be treating our public lands and Colin has a bone to pick...

"Are you not entertained?!"

Today on the show Colin is joined by outdoor pop culture aficionado, Shawnté Salabert, to talk through some of the more quintessential outdoor movies of the last 25 years: A Walk In The Woods, Wild, Touching The Void, and 127 Hours. The two talk about what works about these movies from and outdoorsy perspective and some outdoor movies simply fall flat.

Then in a new segment called Shawnté Explains!, Shawnté talks about why pop culture actually matters more to the outdoor community then some may think and offers suggestions on how outdoor enthusiasts can...

Today Colin and Justin Housman hit the following outdoorsy topics and headlines!

Today on the show Colin and Producer Dave address rumors that have been sent in by listeners of The Rock Fight that REI is looking for more new product exclusivity from at least some of their vendors. (04:40)

They also talk about the recent report that Passenger is pausing their launch into the US market due to the issues being caused by the Trump administrations tariff policy. (16:42) This leads to a new segment on the show A Little Frank Advice!

Lastly for The Parting Shot, Colin takes aim at Switchback's recently announced keynote address. (29:55)

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Today Colin reflects on this past week when he and Producer Dave attended Functional Fabric Fair in Portland (Oregon) and takes a deeper look at what National Trade Shows should do in a world where the smaller shows are so effective.

Then Colin is joined by Producer Dave and outdoor journalist and host of Open Container Doug Schnitzspahn to reflect back on the role Bob Woodward played setting the tone for the Outdoor Industry. RIP Woody.

Remembering Rob Coppolillo.

Check out hundreds of wildly cool products by visiting and shopping at Garage Grown...

Today on the show Colin is joined by Producer Dave and Outdoor Industry Insider Eoin Comerford for a Wednesday edition of our normal Monday show!

On the docket today: