Great Outdoor Blog

For the first 10 days of May, Patagonia will donate $10 to the Mountains-to-Sea Trail for every pair of their footwear purchased through Great Outdoor Provision Co.

That’s a generous corporate donation, though not a surprising one from a company that has long abided by a bottom line that differs significantly from that observed by much of the corporate world. Patagonia is a company that in the mid-1990s hired third-party auditors to inspect its suppliers, a practice that’s only become common recently among mainstream retailers. A company that would just as soon you not buy their stuff unless you really, really need it, going so far as to take out ads on Black Friday — the high holy day for retailers — in 2011 proclaiming “Don’t Buy This Jacket.” A company that has gotten uber-retailer Walmart on board to sell environmentally responsible clothing.

If you’ve ever picked up a piece of Patagonia apparel in the store, looked at the price tag and thought, “Hmm …” , remember one thing and do another:

1) The privately-held Patagonia (owned by founder Yvon Chouinard and his wife) has long been a leader in socially responsible business practices — practices that haven’t been widely adapted throughout the retail world because they cost money.

2) Go home to your gear closet, fetch something with a Patagonia label and try to remember how long you’ve had it. (“Holy cow! I remember wearing this fleece on a road trip to the mountains driving my new Gremlin!”)

Patagonia, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, began when a California rock-climber decided he wanted better climbing equipment than was currently available. Yvon Chouinard bought a coal-fired forge, taught himself to blacksmith and soon was producing top-notch pitons and carabiners. But it wasn’t until he started importing apparel — first rugby shirts and corduroy knickers for his climbing buds, later fleece vests that became the rage among New York fashion models — that Patagonia took off as a company. A company Chouinard didn’t really want in the first place.

“I never even wanted to be in business,” Chouinard told the Wall Street Journal in 2012. And, at age 74, he still doesn’t. “… I hang on to Patagonia because it’s my resource to do something good. It’s a way to demonstrate that corporations can lead examined lives.”

No U.S. company examines itself like Patagonia.

That approach dates back to at least 1988, when Patagonia opened a retail outlet in Boston. Within the first few days, all the employees at the store became sick. Engineers discovered the ventilation system was recycling the same air over-and-over. But what was in the air that was making everyone sick? Patagonia wanted to know.

Formaldehyde, it turned out, sprayed on the cotton used in its apparel.

“This lead us to commission a study of conventional cotton, and the discovery that cotton grown with pesticides is one of the most destructive crops in the agricultural world,” Patagonia writes on its website. “Knowing what we knew, we could not continue to use conventional cotton for our sportswear. We went organic in 1996.”

Organic Cotton – Grown in the USA from Patagonia on Vimeo.

Examining one’s corporate self isn’t always easy — “Living the examined life is a pain in the ass,” says Chouinard — but it does put the customer’s mind at ease. Among Patagonia’s other efforts toward corporate responsibility:

• Creation, with Walmart, of the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, encouraging major brands and retailers to adapt clear, quantifiable standards for producing environmentally responsible clothing. In addition to organic cotton, Patagonia uses recycled and recyclable polyster and hemp in its products.

• Donating, since 1985, more than $41.5 million — 1 percent of annual revenue — in grants and in-kind donations to grassroots environmental organizations. During that time it has convinced more than 1,400 other companies to join its “1% for the Planet” initiative.

• Created, with eBay, Common Threads, the aforementioned program designed to get people to buy and sell used gear rather than buy new. It’s part of their 5Rs pledge: to Reduce consumption, Reuse old gear, Recycle gear, Repair gear rather than toss it, and Reimagine a world that places less of a burden on the planet through consumption.

• Adopted a comprehensive program to ensure that its products are produced fairly and under humane conditions. To this end, Patagonia began contracting with third-party auditors nearly 20 years ago to inspect the factories that produce its apparel and gear, and was a founding member of the Fair Labor Association.

• In 2002, created a Manager of Social Responsibility position, which in 2010 was elevated to a director post — Director of Social/Environmental Responsibility.

• Toward the goal of being socially and environmentally responsible, created The Footprint Chronicles http://www.patagonia.com/us/footprint/ on its website, which lets consumers track the origin and creation of each Patagonia product.

Patagonia’s offer to donate $10 for every pair of its shoes purchased expires May 14.

Oboz Firebrand II BDry day hiker
Great handling in sloppy conditions

My wife thinks I’m nuts because I love hiking in the rain.
“As long as I’ve got the gear to stay dry,” I say in my defense. And as long as I’m not slipping and sliding all over the place.
Staying dry, especially in a cool rain, hasn’t been an issue for years, thanks to layering and advances in rain shells with waterproof membranes. The slip-sliding-away, though, has been a challenge, especially on North Carolina’s rocky, rooty, icerink-slick-wet-red-clay trails.
Which is why I was intrigued when I picked up the Oboz Firebrand II … read more of Joe’s review at www.getgoingnc.com

Oboz Footwear talks about what makes the Firebrand. special

Great Outdoor Provision Co., the southeast’s largest independent specialty outdoor retailer since 1972 has been acquired by local staff. Raleigh, NC native and founder Tom Valone announced that four longtime employees have taken a major equity investment in the company.

The new ownership team is made up of veterans Molly Cherry, Travis Zarins, Bill Mauney and Chuck Millsaps, the company’s Minister of Culture who will serve as the company’s new president. Valone remains on as chairman of the board and added “Each of these individuals do a better job than I ever did when I was in their shoes. They’ve been outfitting folks with quality gear for a long time and they love the outdoors and our customers as much as I do.”

“A lot has changed in 40 years but much remains the same,” remarked Molly Cherry, VP of Retail Support. “Our mule-team has over 90 years of cumulative experience. We will continue our legacy to save the wild places in North Carolina.” A significant amount of company profits are given away each year to support local environmental efforts. Not your typical corporate behavior. But Valone is not your typical executive.

“Equity groups kept pitching me to expand like wildfire and then sell-out.” Valone shakes his head. “But that’s not the adventure we intended. This transaction maintains our environmental legacy, protects our employees, and guarantees our loyal customers that Great Outdoor Provision Co. will remain the same great experience they have always enjoyed.

Travis Zarins, VP of Merchandise explained, “Our hand-picked product selection and friendly staff make us different from big-box retailers in the area.” Located in neighborhood shopping centers from Charlotte to Wilmington, the company’s seven stores total more than 65,000 square feet and feature brands like Patagonia, The North Face and Hobie Kayak.

“Without question, the greatest asset at Great Outdoor Provision Co. is our people,” responded Bill Mauney, VP of Retail Management. “We will always be a place to not only purchase great outdoor brands, but a friendly place to get information and meet others who are excited about getting outside. We are looking forward to growing this company over the next 40 years.”

By Scott Wood

I hate to maintain equipment. I’d much rather use it. Perhaps it’s a rebellion against my father, a meticulous engineer with a depression-era mentality. When I was a child he and I spent far more time maintaining equipment than we did using it. I watched many a beautiful Saturday afternoon slip away from under a ’76 Oldsmobile. The outboard that ran great most of the time but occasionally sputtered had to be fixed before it could be put on the river. When the bail spring broke on a spinning reel it had to be taken apart, a spring ordered or fabricated and the reel repaired. No manual bail flipping in my family. The amount of lost fishing time weighed heavily upon my young mind.
A couple decades later, in 2001, freed from working on Oldsmobiles, I was salt water fly fishing every chance I got. I bought a couple of expensive cork drag reels and was surprised to discover that when I took spray over the bow of my boat, splashing the reels, the drag became quite sticky, requiring me to disassemble the reels, rinse them with fresh water and oil them to restore that super slick drag I had paid so much for. About that time Ryan Harrison with Waterworks/Lamson offered me a Velocity to try. He explained that he had designed a sealed, conical drag that was zero maintenance. O.K, I thought, we will see about this “zero maintenance.”

It quickly became my favorite reel, but I still wanted to put it to a true torture test. So I never put a case on it, and I never so much as rinsed it off. The only time it saw fresh water was when it rained. If it got sand in it, I rinsed it in the ocean. As months turned to years it became covered in salt crust and yet the drag was as smooth as ever. Then one day in 2009 I went to pull line off of it and it was locked up. I thought I had finally managed to abuse this thing to death. I was wrong. I popped the spool off for the first time in 8 years and saw that the drag cartridge had unscrewed slightly from the reel, letting water in. It was badly corroded but eventually I was able to get it apart. I soaked it in gasoline, cleaned it up, oiled it, dried it and put it back together. It’s as good as new today. If only Lamson built cars and outboards. But then guys like my father would go mad with boredom. Oh and the Oldsmobile? It was with mixed emotions that I received the news that Dad had sold it around the time I got that Velocity in 2001. I had driven it just the week before. For some strange reason, I wanted to see how fast it would accelerate from a stop. The 25-year-old engine spun both wheels in 1st and 2nd.

Great Outdoor Provision Co. was founded in 1972 and we are still serving the local neighborhood as an independent specialty retailer. Our shops are filled with gear and clothing for life outside. Our staff are passionate about the active outdoor lifestyle and committed to personal, guaranteed to make you happy service. Here’s a fun “virtual tour” of the shop and we hope that you’ll stop by for a visit soon.

TOUR de Shop

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We go into the great outdoors for a variety of reasons. Sometimes we are content seeking solitude and refuge, other times, we want to find a challenge, an obstacle we can rise above, and to learn the lessons that can only come from challenging ourselves beyond all reason.

How’s this for a challenge: take the distance and endurance of a high-mileage race in mountain terrain and mix in the obstacles and stunts of the newest breed of extreme races. You’d have something like the Death Race: a 40 mile marathon packed with 15 to 20 different mental and physical obstacles ranging from a barbed wire course to Greek translations. The race’s slogan, “You May Die,” is hyperbole, we hope.

Scott O’Donnell, cousin to Charlotte staffer Amanda McGuire, is a veteran of the Death Race, and will be returning to Vermont to compete this year. Scott has made a lifestyle of challenging himself to his limits and beyond; he’s been a Hollywood actor, a Deaf educator, and, at the age of 41, is now an Army Combat Medic. Most recently, he participated in the US Army’s Special Forces Selection and Assessment at Fort Bragg, an experience he describes as the closest to the Death Race that the military can offer.

Last year’s race challenged participants to rise above over 24 hours of grueling, spirit-breaking endurance. Out of 250 who started the race, only 19 finished (Scott came in 17th). He aims to improve on that this year, but more importantly, he hopes to find out something about himself in the process. “For me, [it] is a learning experience. I want to see what I am made of. Am I a quitter? What are my limits? Can I surpass them? Every challenge is another opportunity to yourself and it’s a never-ending process. I want to be 80 years old and still testing myself.”

Last year, Scott prepared for the race with overnight hikes, but had little idea what to expect on the race course. He showed up with a change of clothes and spare pair of Vibram Five Fingers tucked into a school bookbag, along with the “required gear:” a knife, 10lbs of onions, a post hole digger, $50 in pennies and a Greek textbook. Over the next 24 hours he found himself building trails, splitting wood, eating onions, and diving in ponds for pennies, in addition to bonding with his fellow racers and covering 40 miles of trail.

Somewhere between the barbed wire and his last hundred push-ups before the finish line, Scott also learned something: “I felt like this race was a lot like life. Hard work, luck, good choices and some help from friends really determined how successful you finished. The definition of success in life is another matter I suppose.”

Pictured Above: Scott O’Donnell, who once challenged his cousin to eat her brussel sprouts in exchange for a turkey drumstick on Thanksgiving. Much to her surprise, she learned to love them.

Part of what makes the outdoor lifestyle special is time spent with friends who share the passion for adventure. As a locally owned outdoor shop we have the pleasure of spending time with neighbors who enjoy the outdoors and respond by giving back to the community.
This past week was a great example as more than a thousand folks gathered for a variety of events including live music with The Infamous Stringdusters, an AT thru-hiker send off, a 5K run along Raleigh’s Greenway and a fast hiking clinic featuring the Alaska/Yukon range. And not only did we have a blast together, we raised thousands of dollars for non-profit organizations who make a difference in the lives of others. Here’s a few pictures from this past week’s events.
Thanks for taking time from your busy schedule to participate. As a token of our thanks please use the link at the bottom of this post and download some free music from The Infamous StringDusters:

Hiking for the Stars- Celebration for AT Thru-Hiker Tommy Freeman

As a token of our thanks please use this free download link to enjoy music from The Infamous StringDusters-
http://soundcloud.com/thestringdusters/sets/snack-pack-ski-tour

Ashley Williams just got back from his initial paddle of the Jackson Cuda and he was most impressed. Read on to learn what GOPC Kayak Fishing Team member, “The Druminator,” says about this new boat from Jackson.

This thing does it all! It’s quick off the start, turns and tracks very well, and is a great stand & fish kayak. Definitely use a 230cm paddle to accommodate the high or low seating position. Rod stagers kept two fly rods out of the way but in a ready position. Two rigged 7.5′ spinner rods were easily stowed away inside the rod hatch. The seat is super comfortable and it’s rear pocket held all my tackle. Goodbye milk crate!

Water may have come halfway up the scuppers so I left all my dry gear inside the boat instead of wearing it. The pull strap for standing worked great for getting up, sitting down, and dragging the kayak from one place to another. Also, this kayak is QUIET and there is no hull slap. Some kayak anglers find hull slap annoying and feel it scares fish.

Mine has a rudder for those nasty situations I may encounter, I paddled the Cuda with and without it deployed for some time today to get a good feel of it.

I think that most kayaks paddle “straight” at around 70-80% effort and with proper technique. When most people talk about their kayak not going straight they are generally pushing it too hard. Therefore, the kayak locks into an undesirable line and is hesitant to corrective strokes.

Rudder up this kayak paddles well and can hold a line so long as you don’t go overkill with the stroke. I found the sweet spot to be less effort than other kayaks I’ve had experience with. I felt I was only putting 60% effort into it and it reached maximum speed and stayed in line while also allowing sudden turns as needed. I found the Cuda to be more responsive to edging than other sit on tops. Turning was quick and there was a great amount of return for each stroke made.

With the rudder down was predictable. Turning was quick and flat as there was little lean needed when using the rudder. The rudder is also quiet and you hear very little disturbance from it. Jacksons’ choice of rudder allows for the cable length to be adjusted as needed rather than other rudder kits that crimp cables into a fixed position. I have this weird preference for having my left foot slightly forward of the right (don’t know why, don’t ask…).

High and low seating in the Cuda. At first I had to do some thinking as to how I was going to move this seat up into the high position. To solve this I put the seat in the high position and tightened the strap to about an inch of taunt. This allowed me to take the seat from the low position and move it up into the high position without it straying from the mounts. That inch of extra strap allows the seat to clear the grooves in the high position mounts.

Sitting in the high position felt awkward at first. It provides a noticeable change in center of gravity but it was not enough to worry about. I was able to reach the water and paddle with a 230cm paddle. Any shorter would have not worked.

The seat in itself is worth the price difference between the Cuda and others. I sweat just looking at someone being physically active. The seat in the Cuda provided venting and support like no other. You can feel the breeze coming through the back of the mesh paneling which will be a welcome relief when the heat and humidity come on full force. My Stohlquist Fisherman PFD cleared the back of the seat easily. As I always tell everyone, a full back PFD isn’t ideal for sit on top seats.

That’s it for now. If I think of anything I’ll add to this. Otherwise, ya’ll should respect this. After all, I found this important enough to type during The Walking Dead.

Ashley Williams is a pro kayak angler for Great Outdoor Provision Co and able assistant to Rick Grimes, former deputy sheriff of King County Georgia.

Great Outdoor Provision Co. has created a climbing team that will participate in a local charity Climbathon organized by Triangle Rock Club. Team members consist of current and former COPC employees as well as other enthusiastic climbers. We have all been training hard and look forward to climbing in the fundraising event.

As a team participating in the 1st Annual Triangle Rock Club Climbathon, our goal is to raise $1,000 for Durham’s Ronald McDonald House Charity. We are currently half way to reaching our goal and are looking for help raising an additional $500.00.

If you are interested in making a donation please visit the site below. You can also gather more information regarding the event from the same link.

Team Page

Team Donation Page

You may also visit the Triangle Rock Club website at www.trianglerockclub.com for more information.

Again, our current goal is to raise $500 before the event date of March 2. We hope to have your support and if you have any questions about the event or the GOPC team please feel free to email Chance at dbeasley08@gmail.com

4,700 miles around Alaska in 7 months? You bet! Save the date, March 24, and join Great Outdoor Provision Co. and The Summit School in Winston-Salem, for an evening of amazing photography, video, and tales from Andrew Skurka. Presentation is planned for 7pm but stay tuned for details.