It is in extreme weather conditions that you can see whether an outdoor product delivers what it promises. With the Nordic Lynx, the Danish tent specialist Robens has a well thought-out expedition tent in its range that is particularly suitable for winter camping thanks to many clever features. The concept was honored with the ISPO Award 2023.
The two-person Robens Nordic Lynx 2 tunnel tent is designed for winter conditions. While gliding through fresh powder during the day or proving your survival skills while ice fishing, the Nordic Lynx provides a safe and functional base to relax in during the night. Robens product manager explains the tent's design concept this way, "As an outdoor enthusiast, I wanted to create a fully featured winter tent, but one that could be used year-round thanks to its classic design, natural color, and space and weight savings. Based on this idea, we developed the Nordic Lynx tents. They are reliable borderline year-round tents that, once purchased, also leave enough money in the wallet for outdoor adventure."
A combination of smartly designed features ensures easy handling and functionality of the Nordic Lynx tent. Thanks to large pole channels and long peg loops with additional guy ropes, the tent is easy to pitch. Long snow guards keep the snow out and the interior dry. The long zipper pulls are easy to use even with gloves on. A side door with double zipper for flexible ventilation provides access to the large extended vestibule. The cleverly designed ventilation system protects the front and back from snow and insects and can be regulated from the inside in any weather.
An expedition tent like the Nordic Lynx 2 should have an optimal balance between the necessary stability, a low weight and the smallest possible pack size. To meet this requirement, the product designers of the Nordic Lynx 2 decided to use high-quality anodized #7001 T6 large diameter alloy poles in combination with Robens 20D 380T siliconized rip-stop nylon with PU coating on the inside. This construction also allows the seams to be bonded, improving durability.
All in all, the Nordic Lynx is a very durable tent with many features for a perfect winter adventure. The tunnel tent is available in three sizes. The Nordic Lynx 2 sleeps two and weighs 3.3 kg, while the Nordic Lynx 3 sleeps three and weighs 4.1 kg. Four people can sleep in the 4.6 kg Nordic Lynx 4. At under 5 kg, all three tents are light enough to carry in or on a backpack. If you're traveling with more luggage and hauling your gear behind you on a pulka, you can safely stow your tent in the Robens Sled Tent Bag, available as an accessory.
This convinced the jury:
The Solid Peg Tough tent peg is a good example of how a proven product becomes something special through a new design approach. In this case, innovative functional product design meets traditional Chinese craftsmanship. The result is a tent peg that stands out from conventional pegs, both visually and in handling.
Terygen Lab is one of China's cutting-edge outdoor product design laboratory. The company was founded in Hangzhou, China in the late summer and early autumn of 2020. Since then, the design-team at Terygen Lab aims to combine extraordinary design with the outdoors to create more excellent Chinese original outdoor products.
The Solid Peg Tough is the latest innovative outdoor product designed by Terygen Lab. The product was created on the initiative of the South Korean luxury home & camping brand Autumntree. The brand focuses on designing the equipment needed for leisure and camping life, manufactures the best products with the best design and creativity, and brings high-quality experience to users.
Eric Zhao, product Designer at Terygen Lab, explains: “A good design is far more than a pile of parameters or a cool appearance. High-standard materials and craftsmanship are only the basis for a good product. Designing on these foundations and serving people is the original intention of design. When we received the design requirements for this product, we immediately understood what we needed to do. Nothing but a better user experience. As outdoor enthusiasts, we clearly understand where we can improve user experience:
• Make ground spikes easy to carry and not easy to miss;
• Make the connection between the product and the ground more stable
• Make the product easier to maintain when in use
• Reasonable use of angles.
Based on these pain points, we use our design capabilities to change its usage status. Rather than simply stacking numbers. After the concept is completed, an organic shape is built by means of parametric design, and the shape is given meaning. At this point, this product was born."
The overall shape of the pegs is inspired by the forks of natural tree roots. Trees rely on their well-developed root systems to hold up their tall trunks. So the goal was to make the massive pegs as strong and reliable as trees that are firmly rooted in the ground. To achieve this, the tent pegs have a variable cross-section: the design of a decreasing surface creates a torso with different cross-sections. This reduces the resistance of the pegs in the initial phase of penetration into the ground, and in the subsequent phase of driving into the ground, a relative state of expansion is achieved. All in all, this provides a firmer hold of the pegs in the ground.
Another special feature of the solid peg is the angle of 1.5° between the head (impact surface) and the end (tip). This angle creates a straightening effect for the pegs and the angle between the peg and the ground is always maintained when hammering. Because of the angled head, the pegs remain in a stable position at all times.
The designers have also paid special attention to the transport and storage of the pegs. The sturdy pegs are sold in sets of 4, and each pack is equipped with a holder. This effectively prevents wear from collisions between the pegs and damage to the storage bag. Thanks to the practical holder, it is also easy to count the amount of pegs and prevent the loss of pegs.
This video explains the features of the Solid Peg Tough tent pegs:
Each peg is cast by the traditional Chinese craft lost wax method, which can restore the complex shape design that cannot be realized by die casting. The pegs are made of polished stainless steel. This material has a better corrosion resistance and stability while ensuring the strength of use.
• 1.5° inclination of the head
• Variable section design
• Smart holder for easy handling
• choice of material and durability
Unzer: The new name stands for customized payment solutions for the sports retail sector. Thanks to the payment service provider, major players in the industry are already offering seamless payment on all channels in up to 200 variants. This is how omnichannel works in today's world.
The fast-growing mountain sports outfitter Bergfreunde is full of praise. "For us Bergfreunde, good cooperation and collegial behavior are important. Even with external service providers, we always ask ourselves: 'Would we climb a mountain with them? And that's definitely the case with Unzer," says Ronny Höhn, Managing Director of Bergfreunde GmbH. That speaks for a great deal of trust in the colleagues at Unzer - a basic prerequisite for cooperation, especially with an existentially important partner like the payment service provider.
With the launch of its new store, Rose Bikes also decided to process all transactions via Unzer. And the interim results are excellent, and not just because of the processing of pure payment transactions: "Unzer's backend gives us a complete overview of all online payments on just one platform at all times," says Daniela Pröhl from Rose Bikes. Intersport and the Keller Group also rely on the services of the new big player in the industry, which is actually not all that new. Bergfreunde, for example, has been supported by the payment processor for years in its phenomenal rise from a small online retailer to the largest e-commerce platform in its segment.
In September 2020, the payment processor Heidelpay was renamed Unzer. A logical consequence of the company's acquisitions in recent years, thanks to which the company can optimally manage the entire digital journey of customers at all touchpoints. In 2019, for example, the debt collection specialist Universum Group was acquired. This was followed in 2020 by the acquisitions of Paysafe Pay Later and the technical service provider Lavego. The whole thing was co-financed with the help of KKR, one of the largest private equity investors in the world. KKR takes a long-term strategic view and supports Unzer on its growth path.
The aim is to become one of the top 3 payment service providers in Europe. But above all, as Mirko Hüllemann, CEO of Unzer, puts it, "we want to offer our customers holistic services and revolutionize retail". The new approach is to offer customers an all-round carefree package for omnichannel business, from e-commerce to the app to the retail store, which goes far beyond pure payment processing.
The "added value" includes a complete overview of payments in all channels at all times, smart checkout and POS systems for retail stores and the special "Unzer Insights" analysis tool for customer behavior. All of this can help to increase sales and conversion.
Just like the seamless payment on all channels that today's sports customer expects. And Unzer offers up to 200 offers, some of them exclusive, in all conceivable variants - from the card, mobile wallet, invoice and installment purchase, direct debit, prepayment and alternative payment methods. Unzer ensures secure payment transactions and maximum data protection.
The risk of fraud and payment defaults is minimized. For example, Unzer ensures immediate payment when purchasing on account or in installments, regardless of whether and when the end customer pays. This allows the sports retailer to concentrate on their core business. Meanwhile, Unzer's support team takes care of any financial problems. This complete product has won over well-known sports companies as well as large companies from other sectors such as Deutsche Bahn, DHL, Verivox and Netto.
In the field of down garments manufacturing, Bosideng has been one of the leading companies in China for many years. But the company is capable of much more: in order to further advance the industry in the field of performance and sustainability and to demonstrate its own potential, Bosideng invests in the development of innovative sustainable fabric and product solutions.
Since its founding in 1976, Bosideng has continuously invested in new developments and has grown far beyond the production of down garments. At its own Global Innovation Institute, the company is dedicated to researching and developing innovative products to meet the increasing demands of daily life, mobility and outdoor comfort. This includes the development of new, functional and sustainable fabrics, which are produced with excellent technology partners from around the world - for example with Gore-Tex.
Some of these fabric innovations were awarded twice at the 2022 ISPO Textrends and will be incorporated into the Bosideng collection in the coming seasons. As different as these award-winning fabrics are, they all combine high-performance function with innovative sustainable aspects.
For example, one of these fabrics combines the sustainable cellulose fiber Tencel (63.51 percent) in the warp with a certified biodegradable polyester (36.49 percent) in the weft that can degrade up to 94.5 percent in 174 days. A bio-based and PFC-free water repellent additive provides water repellency. To save resources, Bosideng uses the fabric undyed.
The fabric innovation BSD BioX4_1.0 is about a 100 percent bio-based polyester fabric, where the base fabric, auxiliaries, coating and membrane are all bio-based. Here, the base fabric is made of bio-based material from SORONA. SORONA® bicomponent stretch fibers have a natural 3D spiral structure and are more than twice as soft as polyester fibers of the same size. The DWR is made of RUCO®-DRY BIO CGR, a renewable water repellent finish based on vegetable waste. A bio-based technology is also used in the coating. Finally, for the membrane, Bosideng uses Impranil® eco, a range of bio-based PU dispersions with up to 53 percent renewable content while maintaining high performance.
The sustainable BSD X-light Fire free fabric is made from 100 percent bio-based polyester and draws on Solotex's unique product properties. The yarn contains a 30 percent void content, which reduces the weight of the fabric while providing excellent thermal protection at a lower weight compared to wool materials. This fabric was developed for outdoor and camping jackets. To increase its safety in case of flying sparks at the camping fire, Bosideng has also made it fire-resistant.
In the field of coated fabrics, Bosideng has developed an innovative weather protection: The fabric is made of 58 percent polyester and 42 percent recycled polyester, and is woven with double warp and double weft. Not only does the fine surface structure have a high-quality Oxford-style look, but the nano-scale hydrophobic layer on the surface of the fabric creates a lotus leaf effect. This means that rain and moisture roll off quite automatically, without the need for a special finish. An antibacterial finish of Polygiene inhibits bacteria reproduction.
The company also sets new standards in design by developing innovative products that are consistently geared to the demands of modern life and people's increasing sustainability needs, such as the Composite Structure Camping Down Jacket, which won the 2022 Ispo Award. Technical innovation and cooperation with the world's leading technology players remain the key words for Bosideng's future development.
The Chinese down jacket specialist Bosideng has already won the ISPO Award 2022 with its Composite Structure Camping Down Jacket. With the help of product tests conducted by the ISPO Collaborators Club, the brand was able to gather more valuable feedback.
What will our clothes look like in the future? What are the needs of tomorrow's people in different regions of the world, how and what do they want to consume, and how can our clothing contribute to making our lifestyles more sustainable? To better understand all this, Bosideng invests continuously in innovation and founded the Global Innovation Institute, which is dedicated to the development and design of innovative products. Years ago, for example, Bosideng developed its first 100 percent recyclable jacket there
At Bosideng, however, the pursuit of sustainability is not limited to the material and the material composition of the product. Rather, it is also about the product design and how it is able to cover very different requirements and satisfy different needs. The Bosideng Composite Structure Camping Down Jacket has impressively demonstrated how design can be taken further for an outdoor jacket: With a transformative design and modular construction, Bosideng has created a unique product that is inadequately described by the term "jacket." In total, the garment can be transformed into eight different ways of wearing, allowing it to be adapted to a wide variety of situations. One garment instead of many is the motto here, and that saves resources. The material is also in line with the brand's sustainability concept: the fiber can be completely biodegraded and recycled. The unique concept was honored with the ISPO Award 2022.
But how can we find out whether the innovative design also passes the practical test? For this purpose, Bosideng equipped members of the ISPO Collaborators Club with the jacket in September 2022 and gathered feedback based on predefined parameters. The reactions were great: "We were able to test the new Bosideng jacket and are thrilled. In different weather and temperatures, we tried out a number of combinations. Everything works. All the parts can be quickly and easily combined with each other or look great individually. The jacket is very comfortable due to its width, even when sitting. We like it, wear it often and love it," is one overwhelming feedback. Almost all testers came to a similarly positive conclusion. They all liked the unique, stylish design, the well thought-out construction, the many possible uses and the good workmanship of the jacket.
But also new ideas and suggestions for improvement were gained through the cooperation with the ISPO Collaborators Club, which Bosideng can incorporate into the further development of the jacket. In the future, Bosideng will continue to expand its collaboration with the ISPO Collaborators Club to gain more valuable feedback from specific target groups and markets, and to better manage the development of products and collections.
Bosideng was founded in 1976 and is one of the leading manufacturers of down jackets in China. Its success is based on the advanced technical and high quality of its jackets, which were warmer, lighter and more colorful than most down jackets on the domestic market. The high standards of design, performance and sustainability are embedded in Bosideng's DNA until today. Bosideng's craftsmanship and strategic focus on innovation has led to new fabric developments as well as numerous collaborations, including working with Gore-Tex, fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier to launch the co-branded series and helping China's scientific expedition team conquer the "three poles of the world" (South Pole, North Pole, Mount Everest).