Salt Lake trade show is dream for outdoor gear junkies

The Outdoor Retailer Summer Market trade show, held Aug. 10-13, in Salt Lake City, is an annual gathering of gear junkies large and small. Naturally, I was there to hike the show floor. Here are a few highlights from the journey:

Crank power: No batteries required with this tiny LED lantern, which gets its juice from a hand crank that generates electricity. The little light, which is made for camping and emergency situations, shines for about an hour after just a minute of hand cranking the integrated lever. ($40, www.freeplayenergy.com)

Utility trailer: Thule has introduced two small sport trailers for anyone with overburdening gear-hauling needs. Both have a removable heavy-duty cargo cover and a drop-down tailgate for loading gear into the trailer bed. Sizes are 7 x 4 feet for the $1,500 iteration, called Model 1700. The other trailer, Model 1500, costs $1,200 and measures in at 5 x 3.5 feet. ( www.thule.com)

Hot food container: Stanley Outdoor’s Food Jar looks like a small thermos for hot liquids. But as its name portends, the Food Jar is a leak-proof vessel made to keep your food — including soups, pastas, noodles and stews — warm for hours on the trail. ($30, www.stanley-pmi.com)

Buck Knives’ one-handed Whittaker X-Tract is a multi-tool gadget with a pliers, wire cutter, screwdriver, blade and other essentials. But what makes it unique is the product’s one-handed operation, which lets users access all accoutrements easily with a single paw. ($50, www.buckknives.com)

Wooly wear: The Synergy Jacket from SmartWool combines a cozy wool interior with a nylon face fabric to create a hybrid jacket that wicks and breathes while keeping you warm and dry. It can be used as a mid layer underneath a shell in winter or alone as a lightweight jacket in more temperate times of the year. ($150, www.smartwool.com)

Coco clothing: Discarded coconut shells are used to make the unique fabric for GoLite’s DriMove Long Sleeve Zip Top shirt. In addition to a soft feel, the company touts the fabric’s “activated carbon,” which is purported to keep odor at bay. ($35, www.golite.com)

Formal function: New Zealand-based Icebreaker is known for its sleek, fashionable wool apparel, and the company’s new windproof merino outerwear, which includes the Escape jacket, is no exception. This jacket, a pseudo-formal design with an iPod pocket, is at home in the city or on a mountain trail. ($269, www.icebreaker.com)

Party pack: The Cooler Party pack from Jansport is a 2,100-cubic-inch backpack made purely for casual recreation. Indeed, the pack has a cooler pocket with a 12-can capacity. For tunes, it has a headphone port, a button panel to control iPod functions, and built-in speakers on back to pump out music on the go. ($199, www.jansport.com; available next spring)