From The Lean-To: Poler’s Different Outdoor Vibe

A couple of months ago, Portland, OR’s Poler released their Campalogue on the world wide web. Poler is a fresh take on outdoor gear—more “car camping skater” than “let’s go to the top of Everest.” At the PROJECT tradeshow this past August in Las Vegas, I happened upon the Poler booth where two extremely excited writers were trying on and photographing the sleeping bag/jacket thing pictured above. Sorry, I don’t know how else to describe it. Poler put the bag/jacket thing, called a Napsack, on sale today. I have a feeling that the look will catch on around the campfire, but as soon as I see someone walking down the streets of SoHo with a large sleeping bag on, I’m coming to Portland…

Poler merchandise doesn’t stop there and includes an entire line of tents, backpacks, magic tarpits, sleeping pads, heat bags, and loads of shirts and sweatshirts. And one of the best parts about all the good looking “stuff,” as they call it—their url is polerstuff.com—is that it’s pretty darn inexpensive. Perfect for “travelers, couch surfers, regular surfers, skateboarders, snowboarders, bicyclists, parents, kids, car campers and anyone else looking for something that looks good, is a good value and is all about having fun on road trips and in the outdoors.”

Poler is all about having a relaxing time with friends around a campfire, enjoying the outdoors without being too obsessed with 20+ mile days. And you know what? It’s refreshing. And after spending a good while on their very recently updated website this morning, I want to stop thinking about weight in my pack, and instead, sit on the edge of my Subaru and cook some food on a dirty metal grate. Because sometimes those are the best nights…

Jeff Thrope is the editor and founder of Cold Splinters. For more ways to pretend you’re sleeping under the stars instead of reading the Internet, visit coldsplinters.com and twitter.com/coldsplinters.