EP 214: Under Armour Product Release 2021 with Travis Gessley. In this Episode we talk with Travis of Under Armour about the 2021 product release that has now begun. For years we have used and loved the Raider Pants but have asked for some heat relief. UA answered with the new UA Raider HD and the Raider Lite pants. The Raider HD has heat dumps allowing for heat let off. The Raider lite is made of a breathable mesh fabric. These are some of the new products that we will talk about in this episode as well as others. Were looking forward to having more time in the field with the new gear.
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00:00:00:09 –> 00:01:19:06
Hunting season’s right around the corner. But you know, it’s, it’s really hot out there. So we really wanted to focus on keeping you cool. I love the challenge of finding, so I love it. Like, I don’t want this scouting season to end anything to do with Western Big Game. Welcome to the Epic Outdoors Podcast, powered by Under Armour. Hey everybody. Jason Carter. Adam Bronson coming at you from Southern Utah. It’s a rainy flooding water everywhere. Southern Utah. Bronson, you got water at your house. What a different difference a few weeks makes. We were talking about, you know, wearing face masks just to keep the dust outta your lungs. Now we’re not. Yeah, now there’s no dust problem. No, we need windshields. I needed windshield the other day. We got rained on running cameras. You’ve been running the trap line a little bit here and there. I know you went scout this weekend up on top. Yeah. Yeah. The mountains look absolutely beautiful. It’s again amazing what three or four weeks of basically constant rain can give you. And it’s, it’s not too late for range land. It’s gonna be, or range conditions. It’s, but it’s too late for deer antlers. We’re not gonna do Jack, it’s too late. But we’re still, we still like it’s, I love it. The weather, wind, rain vibrant. Yeah. I don’t love it in my basement. No, there’s been a lot of that going on. Chris, are you guys doing okay?
00:01:19:08 –> 00:02:27:05
We’re all right. The, we, we got it like about a week ago. We got a little bit in our window wells, but we, we took care of it, dug everything out and we haven’t had a problem since. Well, yesterday here in Cedar City, Utah, you guys can Google it, but there’s like 200 homes that were major flooding and that’s a lot for this area. It’s not like, we’re not talking, we’re not Vegas or Salt Lake or Pro. I mean, it’s a small town. This suburb I guess, or North Enoch. Yeah, north Cedar Enoch. 200 of them. I, they said, isn’t that like one in 10 homes? They were saying, yeah, I got an email. We’re supposed to take shovels and buckets and this week help people out. I mean like standing water. It’s crazy. So anyway, well we, we’ve needed it, but not the violent storms and it’s day after day, we’re walking at a hot dry week. Well, not, yeah, just sunny, fortunately not even in the nineties here, so, well, yeah, eighties, nice. But sunny and clear weather and some other places of interest, like where, I don’t know, just warm places. So anyway. Yeah, it’s pretty, pretty. It’s that time. It’s August, so here we go. Bow hunts are gonna be kicking off in a week in Nevada. I just saw weeks antelope, but dead an I guess Ry antelope’s cranking in Nevada. Yeah. Wow. Oh yeah.
00:02:27:20 –> 00:03:35:05
By the way, Bronson, this is when Nevada’s coming out with their new turnback tag, reissue allocation process. Stay tuned for that. No question. It’s gonna happen within a day or two. Yep. And that’ll start and it’ll proceed through the fall because you got, you know Yeah. Hunts kicking off when it gets between, what, two weeks before a hunt? Yeah. Two weeks before. And there’s, they can’t go to an alternate, they’re just gonna go throw ’em online and buy ’em. It’ll take your points for, but we’ll see who gets a good tag or not. It’ll be interesting. Tell us about it. If you get something good from what I, from what I understand, there’s like 117 tags getting ready to be getting hit this list. Yeah. How many of ’em are doing well? I don’t know, but 70 of them, I don’t know. But there’s gonna be archery deer. These will take your points. Yeah. And you know, waiting periods are gonna be incurred in species that it matters. There’s only probably two things I would take and that would be one, probably one of my elk or Yeah. Or a good sheep tech. Yeah. So things are gonna, it’s gonna cr crank throughout the remainder of the fall. They’re doing some testing, you know, like some, they got bandwidth. Make sure they got the proper bandwidth. Like when you go through a reallocation, they gotta say, okay, is this guy eligible? Is he a felon?
00:03:35:05 –> 00:04:40:01
Or, you know, whatever. And then, and then busy he not within the waiting period. And then all of the requirements, they never had an overthe counter type sales situation in Nevada per se. No. They don’t know what a, these other states, like Colorado, other places that deal with people crushing websites, they figured out the bandwidth and the it people know what they’re doing. Nevada, they’re praying a little bit new. Yeah. And, and then they, yeah. So you’re logged into your account and then you to see the list, you’re gonna have to be logged into your account. Yeah. That’s not, they publish a list like Colorado does. No, not an easy public link. You’re gonna go on to your account, you’re gonna be logged in and then you’re gonna see this list, click it and, and if it’s a, if you’re eligible, eligible for it, sure you want it, but make sure you want it, your points are gone. Yeah. It’s not, this isn’t a true freebie tag. That’s right. And if you don’t want it, then I don’t know, maybe we won’t exit, I dunno. Exit your account and let, especially just, we have a problem with that Bronson, it letting go of things of opportunities that just an opportunity. We just get excited about the opportunity and we fill up our schedule. Just make sure you want it. Yeah, just make sure you want it. That’s all I’m saying.
00:04:40:03 –> 00:05:54:16
I’ve got a tag right now that Yeah. I, you know, or two or three that I don’t, just thinking you don’t. Well, I mean, because I’m supposed to want it. I think I want it. And the kill of getting the tag that kill sometimes is more exciting than the actual, now I’ve gotta go and make good on this tag. So be careful what you want. That’s right. Be careful what you wish for, right? That’s right. All right. All right. Well, what else? We got a got something new to talk about. Some new gear hitting the hitting market, hitting web. So we, we appreciate Under Armour out there. They sponsor about everything we do here. Right. Chris, you’re dealing with them all the time. Yeah, that’s different things. Social media stuff. And you know, as one of our major sponsors, they are coming out, they came out with new products this year trying to make things a little bit cooler. You know, kind of, I guess I, I’ve been in there pretty heavy on, it’s just hot that some of this stuff. Well, you hunt 110 degree weather, you hunt some, some shit and you would think you’ve got some places, man, with a company that, you know, I mean, that makes products for everybody and everything in every sport. I’m thinking make some, you know, breathable. Real breathable. And it’s been awesome stuff and now they’ve done it. There we go.
00:05:54:25 –> 00:07:13:15
So, well, let’s find out more about it, I guess. So let’s give Under Armour call. We’ll call Travis. He’s, he’s been there for years and he’s right in the middle of all the research and design. Chris, I think you’ve dealt with him a bit too. Yep. Travis Ley and he knows his stuff, part of the design process and, and creating these products. So we’re gonna call him and we’ll hear a little bit about maybe the backstory of some of this stuff, where it came from and, and all right. Okay. Let’s get him on the line. Hello, is this Travis? Yeah, this is Travis. Hey, Jason Carter. Adam Bronson, Chris Peterson Epic Outdoors podcast. How you doing? I’m doing great. How about you guys? We’re we’re good. We’re good. We got a little more moisture water here than we’re used to. How about you guys? How’s your weather? It’s nice. Today it’s about sunny and eighties, so no complaints. Mm. Wow. Well you get a lot, you guys are used to probably a little more moisture. We’re kind of arid environment and then we get hammered with a storm and people die here. Yeah. I guess where it’s just runoff on that water, huh? Just because it’s normal. Yeah, too much. Yeah, it’s three inches in like an hour, you know, about a half or something like that. But it’s a lot of concrete and asphalt and canyons. Yeah. It all funnels out right? To people’s houses, unfortunately.
00:07:13:23 –> 00:08:33:21
Basements and, yeah. Oh, that’s, anyway, but you guys probably used to some of that and anyway, but no, not so much here. But hey, let’s talk about some of the new things you guys have got going on there at Under Armour. Maybe start off with your role there at Under Armour. I know you’ve been there for quite some time. We, we know you well, but just for the listeners, just kind of, you know, give us a little bit of background on what, on your affiliation with Under Armour and your role there and, and then we’ll jump right into it. Okay, awesome. Yeah, so Travis Gusley, category manager for Hunt and Fish and all outdoor products, apparel specific. Been here 10 years, so, you know, got to go through the great, you know, the growth that Under Armours had, you know, a lot of consistency and love where we’re going right now with the hunt fish categories. Awesome. Wow. So you’ve seen it all, I mean, basically 10 years ago, if you roll back time, I mean, you know, it was in, it feels infancy. Infancy, yeah. In the hunting, in the hunting category compared to today. So you’ve seen it, you’ve seen it all for sure. And you know what, especially like the western hunting focus, you know, with the, the brands jumping in and really paying attention to that, you know, pinnacle athlete that’s just out there, you know, grinding out there in the mountains.
00:08:33:21 –> 00:09:46:15
So I think that’s been the biggest change over the last 10 years. You know, it’s going from what was like still or stagnant hunting on the east coast and now just for brands focusing out west. Well, it’s awesome. And so, you know, it’s leaps and bounds. I remember, I wanna say it was, I don’t even have it in front of me, but like three or four years ago, let’s say, when you guys made the huge change with all new product lines, the in info or the alpine ops and pro shell wind stopper, all of these came out. It’s just incredible gear still is incredible. And then I think, you know, it seemed like kind of the push for this year, and I’ll let you expand upon it, just, you know, dealing with maybe the, the warmer weather climates. So Yeah, and you know what, that’s, you nailed it. You know, with the, the Gore pro, the alpine ops, the, the infill wind stopper, like those are like our, you know, our workhorses in the line and the, the feedback’s been phenomenal. We’re just tweaking ’em just to make ’em even better. And I can get into that, but you’re right, you know, this year we really wanted to focus on the warmer weather climate. So you know, specifically even for right now, you know, it’s, it’s August hunting season’s right around the corner, but, you know, it’s, it’s really hot out there.
00:09:46:19 –> 00:10:54:29
So we really wanted to focus on keeping you cool. So our new rate or light pant is made out of a hundred percent air vent. So it almost gives it, it’s a hundred percent breathable just for those high temperature, you know, August heat days. And then we have our iso chill technology for the top, and that’s just basically has body mapping mesh material, four-way stretch. It’s got our iso chill cooling technology in it, which, which is being used on the fish side for all of our offshore anglers who are out in the Gulf of Mexico right now, you know, and, and even in the Caribbean when it’s over a, you know, a hundred degrees. So it keeps ’em dry and cool with a lot of breathability. That’s what I think’s awesome about under Armours. They’ve done so well in all the different categories that you don’t, it’s not like we have to invent the wheel here. This, this product probably has been used in other categories for multiple years and we just gotta paint it camel, you know what I mean? At times I know it’s not that easy. There’s obviously some, you know, the, the ribbed knees and different things like that that are, you know, maybe specifically designed for hunting. But there’s so many different categories.
00:10:55:11 –> 00:12:07:04
I mean, some of the golfers, they have incredible, you know, golfing attire that’s breathable and whatnot, and just to kind of, you can overlap categories at times, and I’ve said that, but I, I know it’s not that easy. I’m, I’m way oversimplifying it, but there is, it’s not like you’re new to this product line, so to speak, or technology, right. And you know what, you hit the nail on the head. It’s, it’s basically leveraging, you know, we’re in so many different end uses, like you said, golfing and fishing and all those other sports where you need to stay cool and dry with a lot of breathability. So we just tailor it for, you know, the, the Pinnacle Hunt athlete, you know, like you said, we, we bring in some more mobility, some stretch, some reinforced knees and, and those type of things just to make it specific to Hunt. And the obvious thing is we had camo to it, so yeah, Carter doesn’t have to spray paint his golf clothes anymore. Hey, right. Hey, we’ve done a few things back then it was in its infancy, so Under Armours had the products and we’re just like, Hey, let’s bring it to the hunt side, you know, and, and the hunt side was evolving and, and under Armour’s a big company, right, Travis? I mean we to and to get each category to talk to each other and to overlap a little bit.
00:12:07:06 –> 00:13:16:04
So a little bit challenging at times, but we got there and, and it’s awesome. The products are great. Yeah. We love it. And you know, it’s, it’s those heritage names too, you know, like Rader, it’s been in our Ridge Reaper line for several years. Same with infill and same with Alpine Ops. So it’s like we, we start tailoring and bringing these, you know, tweak adjustments to it just to make these platforms even better each and every year. Okay. So we’ve got this launch going on, basically it happens roughly this time each year. You know, July-ish, August 1st part of August, and that’s kind of where it launches the new product. I’ve always, I’ve always kind of wanted ’em to do it earlier in the year because everybody’s buying gear a little bit earlier, but that’s just the way Under Armour rolls with all the different products throughout all the different categories it feels like. So anyway, it’s always been in July and with this year we’ve obviously been talking about the heat and kind of focused on that new lineup with that. We’ve also got the heat zips and the heat dumps added to the, the Raider pants. So anyway, maybe jump into that a little bit.
00:13:17:03 –> 00:14:34:01
Yeah, so exactly, you know, the Raider material, it’s got a ton of stretch, but you know, it’s, it’s kind of for that September, early October season where, you know, it could be hot during the day, but a little chilly in the morning. So we built it to where, you know, if you’re climbing or it’s starting to get warm, there’s heat dump, ventilation zips, and when you kind of unzip it and it, it’s on the legs, so it’s on the thigh and then there’s the air vent material under your arms and the, and the jacket. But when you unzip it, it actually unzips to a fully mesh breathable material. So that way your skin is not, you know, right there with, it’s got a little bit of still protection, so it’s not bare skin facing the elements. Not gonna get a weird suntan v you know, down your thigh. No. So you gotta protect that. Well, yeah, and you, like I said, you did it in the jacket too, in the pits, you know, area like that just for increased breathability while you’re, while you’re moving basically these, the, the Raider stuff is built to move in. I mean that’s, that’s what we’ve used it in heavily. It’s, it’s stuff you wear and you, you work in, you, you’re, you’re trekking you know, usually earlier season we’re hiking a glass of knobs before daylight and getting out.
00:14:34:07 –> 00:15:41:24
I mean, you’re, you don’t, we don’t sit a lot in it. You move a lot it feels like, right? That’s right. And it’s ventilation when you need it and then you can close it off when you don’t. So if you feel like, you know, it is a little chilly and you wanna trap some of that heat, guess what? You just don’t use the ventilation. So it gives that ultimate versatility for that temperature change. Okay. So with all this, with the, with the new kind of emphasis on this particular product line, everything else is staying the same. So everybody, you know, anybody that’s hunting a little bit later season anyway from September on or or October on can still rely on the fact that, you know, the Alpine’s not going away. Pro shell info, wind stopper kit, all of those things are gonna continue, you know, with a valid skew and products continuing to be shipped out, developed and shipped out, correct? Yeah, so our Gore Pro rain gear, it’s staying just like as is like it’s, it’s awesome for us. So we didn’t see a need to update that. Same with the Alpine ops, that’s got the 800 fill goose down and that’s more of your glassing kit or you know, you can even sleep in it for extreme cold weather when you’re up on the mountain.
00:15:42:04 –> 00:16:46:16
But we did supplement the line a little bit this year, so we came out with a ridge deeper down hoodie and that’s basically just, it’s got 700 fill goose down, but it’s a layering piece to where, you know, if you’re wearing the infill wind stopper system, it, it’s gonna protect you from the wind. But this, this down hoodie, which ultimate packable you can layer underneath it just to trap some more of that body heat, especially in the cool mornings or when it’s, you know, really getting kind of below freezing. But you still need to be moving and still need to be active. This just basically compresses underneath that infill system to keep your body and your cooler nice and warm. And when you don’t need it, you just pack it up and it just takes up, you know, it, it’s very packable and basically takes up no room in your pack and it’s extremely lightweight. Yeah. So I I let’s just say, you know, it’s kind of, it’s nice to have these packable Bronson, we’ve used them, those down. You can pack ’em up, put ’em in the bottom of your pack, you don’t know when you’re gonna need ’em, but, but you’ve always got it in your pack. You don’t even need to take it out ’cause it’s not an issue. It’s not heavy. So tiny.
00:16:46:25 –> 00:17:50:05
And, and it’s nice too ’cause some of the other ones are big and heavy and thick and they, they are to be used as an outer shell when you’re not really moving, just sitting there bump on a hill glass and taking it on the chin. These are lot slimmer, a little bit more form fitting, you know what I mean? They fit your body better. Like you said, you put something over it to cut the wind, but they, they’re not just, you’re just not a marshmallow man up there. They’re a little bit more to, you know. Well, and when he’s talking with this down hoodie it’s Yeah. You know, you get a hoodie in your mind. Yeah, it’s, but it’s actually, I mean, I like it. It’s just kind of, I call it a, just call it a light jacket. Yeah. It’s, I like it just, just for that, you know? Yeah, that’s right. So anyway. Well that’s awesome. Travis is, I mean obviously how do people, where do people go to, you know, look at the different specifications and, and the different kits that, that are available and whatnot. Really the easiest thing is just to check out UA Hunt on Instagram. You know, it goes through tech videos, it’s got all the features, you know, ua.com, Sportsman’s warehouse, bass Pro, you know, they, they all carry, you know, all of our full range of hunt gear.
00:17:50:12 –> 00:18:53:04
And you know, one other thing I wanted to add on is, you know, working with you guys and working with our athletes, you know, epic outdoors, Remy Cam, you know, Lee and Tiff, one thing, you, you know, these products get better because we work with you all. And something else we did for the Ridge Reefer collection this year is we put a little bit more durability and comfort into the pants. So, you know, the moto knee, the function of it is to keep your pant in place and, and not, so the bottom cuff doesn’t come up over your boot. Okay? But we want, but what we did this year is we reinforced the knee and we actually elongated it. So that way when you’re on your knees and you’re crawling, you’re on the ground, whether it be thorns or rocks or whatever it may be, even brush, you get a little bit more comfort and actually a little bit more padding in the knee area. So you still get the full functionality, functionality of the motor knee or the longevity of it, but you also get a little bit of padding for that extra durability and comfort. That’s awesome. Yep. No, we’ve been, we, we appreciate working with you guys as well.
00:18:53:10 –> 00:20:03:25
I know that the heat thing was kind of near and dear to, to my heart and bro, and I mean, just at, and at times we’ve had some aggressive conversations that things need to be breathing a little bit better and, and, and then later on, you know, you guys nailed it in all the other aspects, product, category, dealing with, you know, later season stuff. And so anyway, I think this is just such a great addition. Good to see it coming out and you know, we appreciate your work on it as well. You’ve done great work over the years and anyway, it’s just awesome to see the innovation. Yeah, and you know what, when you guys are beating this new stuff up, you know, there’s always room for improvement. So we love it, we love where we’re at, but you know what, you guys, the, the more feedback you can give me, in fact I would take the negative stuff over the positive stuff ’cause that’s only gonna make us better. So beat it up and let me know what else you guys need, especially for coming around in, in fall 22. Okay, sounds good. And then as far as, as far as the general public, you, you guys I think are pushing comments and, and feedback, product feedback to go to UA seems like ua.com on some of the different reviews and whatnot.
00:20:03:27 –> 00:21:19:28
And anybody out there that wants to be heard and maybe has a suggestion or just likes the product go, we’d appreciate going on there and leaving a review. Exactly. That’s the perfect space. You know, we look at those on a daily basis and anything less than like a four star, we wanna fix. So we’re, we’re shooting for five stars on everything. So yeah, the more feedback, the better, whether it’s on ua.com or even leaving messages or, you know, comments on Instagram. Okay. That sounds great. Chris, do you have anything else? How’s the best way for people to get their hands on the new product? You know, the way things are moving these days, you know, everything’s online. It, it, it’s very simple, you know, if obviously if you wanna buy it, but if you just want to go check things out, you know, Sportsman’s Warehouse, you know, out West is great. Even the Bass Pro shops, I, I would say stop in there if you want to get your hands and try it on before you actually buy it. Okay, sounds good. Yeah. Yeah. UA hunt, UA hunt on Instagram, ua.com and then as well as Sportsman’s Warehouse, Cabela’s, and, you know, other stores. I don’t know all the outlets. I don’t have a list right in front of me, but there’s out west, those are the two main ones, right? Yeah. Bass Pro. Bass Pro. So, okay. Sounds good. Anything else? I think that’s it.
00:21:19:29 –> 00:22:26:09
I, you know, I can’t thank you enough and I’m so appreciative of what you guys do for us, so, you know, I love working with you guys, so keep the feedback coming. Okay. We’re about ready to, we’re about ready to start wearing it hard here. It’s August, so yeah, we’re gonna get it bloody and let you know. Perfect. Let you know how it works. Love it. Send me some pictures. All right. All right, Travis, appreciate you. Thanks guys. All right. You bet. Talk to you later. Bye. All right. Whatcha, are you gonna get bloody with that? Don’t, that just begs the next question, Carter, I’m not sure. I’m not sure Hey, any anymore bro. We’ve been talking about how picky you and I are, dude, we’ve been around a long, a long time. I don’t wanna say how long, but lots and lots of years and it just takes a lot to get us amped up. Hmm. It’s getting harder at times. I guess I will, I will agree with that. And not, not that we’re, I love the scouting. Oh yeah. I love the challenge of finding something. I love it. Like I don’t want this scouting season to end. I pulled all my cameras outta Nevada, you know, we’re things are coming down to the wire and I’m thinking, I don’t want this guy in. I like, the challenge of that is as much or more to me than the kill. It’s the fine.
00:22:26:09 –> 00:23:29:00
Yeah. Well and sometimes the kill it, it’s you and an animal and maybe not a lot of other people’s other times it’s you in the whole world and it’s like, am I really got a chance to, you know, ’cause I found this animal, but it’s, it’s right in the Yeah, it’s right on Main Street, you know, out there in the middle of a unit like it really? Oh yeah. I, I wish I didn’t even see that. Yeah. Because I, I gotta try to hunt it, but, but yeah, you’re right. It’s about time and it’s, I I don’t know, it’s, I I guess the older we get, I guess what what I will agree with y on is yeah, we’re getting more selective in certain cases about what, where we really spent a lot of our time. We’ve also got kids that are very involved in it too. So we got, you know, it used to be us and our kids couldn’t hunt, so everything was us. Now you got some kids hunt, sprinkled in and that some of those are taxing and take a lot of time and they’re fun. What do you mean? Some of time and what he mean? Some of them, and they’re awesome, all of ’em. But they kid hunts are taxi. They are. So you got those plus ours and Yeah, it makes, it makes young men old pretty fast. That’s right. So anyway, I don’t know. It’s good.
00:23:29:05 –> 00:24:20:15
I mean I, you know, we want the big stuff and, and that’s, I mean, that’s the drive for me, per personally I know. And, and we like the different adventure and opportunity and I like learning new units. So I’m a glutton for punishment and we’re gonna be, most, you and I are scattered. We’re learning, we got a lot new stuff, new places between you and I, if not more. We’ve got a lot of new stuff we’re trying to learn this year. Yeah. And it’s, and that’s exciting too. And there’s a big learning curve and there’s not a quick, it’s not like going to the old stomping grounds. Boom. I went for a three day weekend, I got three bucks to hunt because I hit all my honey holes that I’ve learned over 15, 20 years. It’s not like that. No. We should do more of that, but then it hurts the business. You need to be out and about doing other stuff. Yeah. But it, and it’s also some of the old, old honey holes as dry as Nevada Southern Utah’s been. They’re not honey holes right now. No. They’re, they’re crusty. They’re crusty on the edge when you know, when you can’t even open the top off of old honey that, that that’s what they are. Yeah.
00:24:20:16 –> 00:25:09:16
You’re dealing with the crust and they’re crumbles pretty now and they’re gonna be pretty looking rangeland, but as far as what they grew it, it’s not looking great. So yeah, we’re forced to look other places, other states, things that we haven’t done before, which is great. We’re stretching. And when you stretch and you go somewhere new and different, the learning curve is very steep. And, and we’re hitting that head on. We’re learning some stuff. So anyway. So is Wyatt, Devin, they went out scouting. I saw them in the hills for a brief second and then they went out and found some good stuff or getting prepared for things they got going on. And Chris, you’ve been out and about of course. Being a newlywed, I don’t know. She lets you out very often. Oh yeah. Drags me out. Drags you out. Remember she was the one that you said you guys would be fighting over the tags and guns, equipment. I like it. I like it. All right, everybody. Okay. Find a giant.
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