The new Ocun Twist Tech Eco climbing harness sets a new standard in sustainability without compromising on safety or quality.
This eco-friendly harness is the first of its kind, made dominantly from recycled and bio-based materials to deliver a comfortable three-buckle harness intended for all round use. It is suitable for sport climbing, mountaineering, and via ferrata.
The concept of the Twist Tech Eco was to create a harness made of recycled or bio-based material of the highest quality possible, ensuring no compromise on safety or durability. Special attention was paid to user comfort, and 3 sizes (XS-M, M-L, L-XL) option was chosen to satisfy as many climbers as possible.
“If you want to make the climbing harness from recycled or bio-based materials, you have to dig down your sourcing options to the absolute bottom, to make it happen. After the successful sourcing of recycled high tenacity polyester yarn, the next challenge was to make the harness in an attractive design and for an affordable price“, explains Milan Řehák, Head of R&D at Ocun.
Ocun utilized bio-based Dyneema® made from waste from the lumber industry, as well as recycled high tenacity polyester yarn for webbings, both together making up 82% of the Twist Tech Eco. The synthetic fabrics used are made from recycled PET bottles. The materials underwent comparison tests and research about its tensile strength, elongation, degradation, and UV stability for over 2 years, ensuring the material’s integrity was not compromised during manufacturing. The Twist Tech Eco harness is certified in accordance with EN 12277 and UIAA 105 safety standards. Using these ecologically sourced materials is Ocun’s contribution to sustainability.
Louisa Smith, textile and fashion expert and leading jury member of ISPO Textrends, says about the new climbing harness: “A great effort in incorporating a more eco direction into this product. Interestingly, they are using up to 82% bio-based and recycled materials.“
Ocun also offers a women-specific harness, designed for the female anatomy, with a better fit thanks to special women sizing. Additional features of the harness include a system of connection leg loops with a waist belt, a wear and tear indicator in tie-in points and load-bearing webbing, movable waist belt, stainless steel buckles, and easy-entry tie-in points. The load-bearing webbing around the connection points ensures strength, even with a rope tied into the wrong place. Indicators in all straps alert the user that it’s time to purchase a new harness when they’ve reached their safe limit of use.
The harness is perfect for climbers with respect for nature and the environment, who want to reduce their environmental impact while maintaining product quality and safety.
8BPlus has developed a bouldering brush made from ocean plastic waste that does a lot of good: it helps rid our oceans of trash and supports local communities. It can clean holds, too, of course.
Why use new plastic when there is already so much old plastic floating unused in our oceans? Austrian climbing company 8BPLUS asked itself these questions and put their heads together with the Swiss changemakers from Tide Ocean Material. The result? A unique bouldering brush made from 100 percent ocean plastic and bristles made from durable boar hair.
Collecting plastic trash in the Gulf of Thailand and Philippine Sea was the starting point for the Tide and 8BPLUS idea. The continuous removal of garbage from the oceans has the charm of protecting our marine fauna and preserving ecosystems. At the same time, the project supports local communities on the ground that collect and recycle the trash. This leads to much cleaner beaches, sustainable jobs for fishermen and garbage collectors at fair wages, and creates a better recycling infrastructure. At the same time, it significantly reduces the carbon footprint of new products.
The product is simple. Yet the designers naturally paid attention to details, such as pinpoint flexibility and precise bristle cutting. Both together make the Ocean Brush a useful addition to any bouldering bag. All of the material is RoHS and REACH compliant. The cardboard packaging is reduced to an absolute minimum.
The Ocean Brush was launched in January 2023.
The goal of the campaign was to communicate the benefits of Dynafit pin bindings to an educated community at eye level. This is how Dynafit achieved this with ISPO.com:
In an SEO-optimized article, we let the Dynafit product team have their say. In an authentic way, without seeming promotional, the Dynafit team explains the advantages of the new pin binding in an interview.
The article was placed on the home page of ISPO.com as a teaser and in the Dynafit Brand Channel. Furthermore, it was sent out in the B2C newsletter, Perspectives of Sports, as well as specifically distributed via Outbrain & Taboola in the D/A/CH region. In the article itself, call-to-action buttons were placed with a redirect to the store and the Dynafit podcast series.
High reach, dwell time and conversion rates prove beyond doubt that the article not only reached the right target group, but also touched the readers' hearts.
As the first and only megatrend-oriented sports and outdoor magazine, ISPO.com is the perfect platform for reaching ambitious consumers and industry professionals alike. With our native advertising offers, your brand reaches decision-makers, influencers, and buyers.
My name is Florian von Stuckrad and I am responsible for marketing ISPO.com. Contact me now so that we can find the optimal solution for you and your brand on ISPO.com.
A unique avalanche airbag technology for special protective equipment. And it was rightly honoured with the ISPO Award. And not only the seal of approval is not the only benefit to the innovation: the new concept uses native advertising to capitalise on its news value as well. And it does so precisely when the company's own marketing plan requires it.
The ISPO Award is judged four times a year but is awarded when the client wants it. The presentation of the quality seal takes place in a targeted native advertising in review-style. In addition, the innovation is automatically included in the ISPO Award Exhibition.
The article was placed visibly on the ISPO.com home page as a teaser. It was also published on the customer's desired day in all B2B and B2C oriented newsletter, for example the Sport Business Update, the B2B newsletter, which has around 3,000 subscribers. In addition, the article was played out in both German and English to a relevant target group on LinkedIn and achieved over 14,000 impressions as well as targeted via Outbrain & Taboola. It was part of the ISPO Award Exhibition and other communication measures.
The communication launch of the product starts directly with word-of- mouth and high trust of the ISPO Award quality seal. Google page 1 placement, high reach and high visit times give the product a strong kick-off and loads of trust when hitting the shelves.
As the first and only megatrend-oriented sports and outdoor magazine, ISPO.com is the perfect platform for reaching ambitious consumers and industry professionals alike. With our native advertising offers, your brand reaches decision-makers, influencers, and buyers.
My name is Florian von Stuckrad and I am responsible for the marketing of ISPO.com. Contact me now so that we can find the optimal solution for you and your brand on ISPO.com.
Helping to help – as simple as the basic approach of the Swedish company twICEme sounds, it is as efficient as the use of the app and its integrated technology. This innovative company should noticeably increase the safety of outdoor athletes. So what is it all about?
Founded in 2017 by ex-militaries, the Swedish safety technology company saw a huge problem during rescue missions – the lack of information about a person. As they had experienced first-hand the feelings of helplessness in military missions, where close friends were injured and needed medical aid, they wondered if this was a problem elsewhere.
It turns out rescuers had requested additional information during rescue missions for decades, and the founders even found an open letter signed by some of the largest rescue organizations in the world, begging equipment producers and others to prioritize this to help them save lives. An idea was born that, perhaps, technology that securely stores safety information in equipment without the need for network access, should be useful.
As Christian Connolly (CEO) and Jack Svensson (COO) entered the company in 2019, it was apparent that the product had been met with rejoice in the rescue community, and some of the front-runners in the equipment industry (e.g. POC) had already bought into the vision of the company - to re-connect humanity with its instinct to help. Because twICEme believes that helping is human and that feelings of helplessness are a dark and terrible state of mind.
“Our innovative technology, which can be built into accessories such as helmets, goggles, or jackets, delivers safety information such as medical data, coordinates, or phone numbers to loved ones,” says Linnea Koistinen, Head of Marketing and PR at twICEme, summarizing the benefits of the technology.
As twICEme developed the product, and after initial market research, they understood that the technology had to be built with three pillars in mind – it should run on technology for the future, have privacy in mind at all times, and be easy to use. No sign-ups, no sharing of sensitive data in the cloud, and anyone should be able to use it. The choice fell on NFC-enabled hardware specifically developed to store large amounts of data and transfer them quickly when a smartphone touches them. The user experience had to be fast, so information can be accessed when it was most needed. And, of course, easy to integrate and use.
But the technology itself is not the important part of twICEme, at least in their own eyes, “We could’ve used any technology that achieved our mission and purpose, and, who knows, we might update or change it in the future if something even better comes up. But with the incredible speed of adoption for NFC technology, the fastest growing industry in tech, there are currently no safer nor better options on the market,” Jack Svensson says.
An app version of twICEme is available for both Android and Apple devices and, once installed, works immediately. The easy installation and usability of the twICEme app also convinced the two members of the ISPO Collaborator Club, Lina and Alessandro. The two outdoor enthusiasts were able to try out the app and its functionality during the development phase. “The easy structure and clear design of the twICEme app appealed to me right from the start,” says Lina, describing her impression of the app. Both collaborators see the fact that the current version of the app also allows medical information to be stored in the app in any quantity as a clear advantage. “This sets the app apart from existing solutions such as Apple’s SOS-Pass,” Alessandro and Lina mutually agree.
Using the connection between something we carry on ourselves at all times, the phone, and safety equipment creates an interesting potential for future developments. Christian Connolly says, “We’re currently solving the identification and location part of a rescue process, which is one of the least developed areas, but we’ve identified several more parts of an emergency - alerting the rescuers and helping them immediately locate you, are two of those things. You can share your coordinates with contacts right now, but we’re about to release a solution for immediately calling the local rescuer in skiing areas in case of an emergency. Which is huge for mountain rescuers. That’s one of 10 product expansions being released this year. Also, other areas around safety, like before an accident even happens, are something we see huge potential for helping product developers create safer products, and helping people stay safe. Since twICEme is an integrated technology, we can help create a safe experience when performing otherwise higher-risk sports and work.”
But it’s not just the ISPO Collaborators Club testers who are satisfied with the smart technology. Manufacturers already using the technology see great potential. “The fact that the twICEme solution is based on a user-friendly app and process for uploading and accessing relevant health data makes it easy to set up, which is a real added value of a helmet. Collaborating with the young and dynamic team at twICEme to set a new safety standard in the market for the benefit of all skiers and snowboarders is really exciting for Julbo and that’s why we are spreading this technology on both our ski helmet and goggles,” says Nicolas Defude, Product Manager at Julbo, describing the collaboration.
twICEme Marketing Manager Linnea highlights another benefit of the technology for manufacturers: “The whole safety concept of a product like a ski helmet is supported by our technology,” says Linnea. “The additional technology and the added benefit for the customers should, of course, also create an added value, which increases the willingness to pay more for such a helmet.” Additionally, Linnea emphasises that by using twICEme, bystanders are also encouraged to help in an emergency. “Thus, twICEme creates a sense of community around safety,” she adds. Helping to help – with twICEme, technology is now available that can help rescuers and injured outdoor athletes in a noticeably different way.
