Geoduck Travel Pillow The Puget Sound’s favorite bizarro bivalve makes for a dreamy pillow in your tent or on the road, at least once you swap the hard clamshell for soft down. Feathered Friends makes all of its down sleeping bags, puffy jackets, comforters, and insulated full-body suits (should an Everest climb be in your future) at a facility in SoDo. The pillow is one of the store’s most popular items, especially for out-of-towners who insist on calling it gee-oh-duck. (Hint: It’s gooey-duck.) $45 at Feathered Friends, 119 Yale Ave. N.
Lib Tech Skate Banana Snowboard Snowboarding was invented in Vermont, but reinvented 10 years ago at The Summit at Snoqualmie, when Lib Tech’s founders first goofed around on their bright-yellow board. Designed to replicate a skateboard feel rather than ski construction technique, the Skate Banana’s reversed camber forced manufacturers the world over to reconsider their assumptions. In honor of the anniversary, the Seattle-based company has reintroduced the iconic fruit-inspired snowboard, which can be scooped up next door to their Stone Way offices. $499.95 at evo, 3500 Stone Way N.
Gripper Sensor Gloves Our phones are coming with us in the wilderness, from irresistible photo ops to pocket-sized map libraries. But cold weather can present a dilemma, one which local gear manufacturer Outdoor Research has tackled head-on with its line of smartphone-compatible handwear. The Gripper glove is a perfect midweight model that works just as well on a nippy bike ride as for a winter hike. For the resort-bound skier or snowboarder, upgrade to the warmer Ambit model ($99). $53 at Outdoor Research, 2203 First Ave. S.
MSR Evo Snowshoes Snow is already here in the high Cascades, which can keep many fair-weather hikers from their favorite trails. But why settle for a gray, rainy day down here when it’s sunny and snowy in the mountains? Enter the Evo. Made in Seattle by Mountain Safety Research, this ideal entry-level snowshoe will get you up and down anything you tackle in the summer. Just remember to take an avalanche safety course before tackling slide-prone terrain. $139.95 at Second Ascent, 5209 Ballard Ave. N.W.
Platypus GravityWorks 4 Liter Water System Pumping water through a filter after schlepping a 40-pound pack 10 miles into the back country is a drag. Platypus, the hydration arm of local outfit Cascadia Designs, has an answer that lets gravity do the work—just find a tree to hang the water bladder from. Four liters of filtered water in 2.5 minutes will have you guzzling H2O in no time. Besides which, a heavy-duty filter will be handy once President Trump’s climate-change-denying EPA poisons our water supply. $119.95 at REI, 222 Yale Ave.
