The Rock Fight: Outdoor Industry & Adventure Sports Commentary

Today on The Rock Fight our normal Monday crew of Producer Dave and outdoor industry insider Eoin Comerford join Colin to run through the following topics! We already have the dates and location for next year's Switchback Spring. With the show staying June, will there be a public pushback by brands? (07:28) It's The Rock Fight Lightning Round where we hit a couple of industry news stories: Moody's...

Today on the show we finish off our coverage of Showpocalypse 2025 with The Rock Fight's instant reaction to Switchback. Recorded in a Nashville hotel ballroom on the second day of the trade show, Colin is joined by Producer Dave, Shawnté Salabert, and outdoor industry insider Eoin Comerford to talk about what they liked, what they didn't like, and what needs to be improved for next time when it c...

Today on the show we present a live recording of The Rock Fight, straight from the floor of Switchback Spring! This past week Colin was joined by Producer Dave, Shawnté Salabert, and outdoor industry insider Eoin Comerford in Nashville, TN to record an episode of The Rock Fight in front of the crowd at Switchback Spring. The crew handed out their brand booth awards and were also joined by Switchba...

Today on the show Colin is joined by Monday regulars Producer Dave and Eoin Comerford (who is suffering from a case of outdoor industry insider overexposure) to preview and make predictions for Switchback Spring! It was about a year ago that The Rock Fight broke the news of a new national outdoor trade show from the organizers of The Running Event and now the event is here! After hitting a quick L...

Today on the show we're bringing you the first interview recorded at 2025's GOA Connect and then checking in on the latest attempt to sell off our public lands. First up Colin and Eoin Comerford sat down with NEMO's Cam Brensinger to talk about 20 years of building a bullet proof reputation and ponder if outdoor gear needs to go as far with sustainability initiatives as apparel. Then Colin is join...

We are back from GOA Connect (even if the show isn't over yet) and today Colin is joined by Eoin Comerford to offer their thoughts on what they saw and more importantly highlight their favorite brands from the show's Discovery Marketplace. At Connect, before the big show begins, they hold a 5 hour mini-show called the Discovery Marketplace to highlight brands that don't have the required retailer...

Today on the show Colin is joined by the regular Monday crew of Eoin Comerford and Producer Dave to kick off their coverage of the summer 2025 Trade Show Season. Here's the run down! What have learned from the past 10 years tumultuous trade show scene and shows do we actually need? (05:50) On the eve of GOA Connect and with Portland's Next Adventure closing up, what do we make of the broader speci...

Today Colin is joined by Marmot's Vice President & GM of Technical Apparel, Jon Graden. Marmot has been the poster child of what we've been calling the 'zombie brand' here on The Rock Fight. Not quite what it once was but not entirely irrelevant either, a zombie brand is a former 'it' brand that has fallen out of favor with retailers and doesn't have the juice it once did. Marmot is one of the...

Today on the show Shawnté Salabert joins Colin to run through the following topics to come out of the outdoor adventure community: People are using Fake My Run and hiring 'mules' to falsify their Strava feeds. And we want to hear from those who are doing it! If you have faked your run, hired a running mule or have been hired as a running mule email us at myrockfight@gmail.com. (06:39) The mother o...

Today on the show Colin is joined by the regular Rock Fight Monday crew of Producer Dave and Outdoor Industry Insider Eoin Comerford (aka The Consigliere). And this week that crew hits the following topics! Which brand would you resurrect? On the heels of last weeks Top 5 Outdoor Apparel Brands episode, the good folks at the Utah State Outdoor Archive reached out and asked us to memorialize the ou...

Today on the show Colin is joined by the CEO of Reju , Patrik Frisk. Started in 2023, Reju is a "textile regeneration company" that is trying to create a circular system for polyester by taking existing polyester garments and turning them back into reusable polyester components that apparel brands can then make into new garments. On today's episode Patrik talks about the mission of the brand, the...

Today Colin is joined by outdoor journalist and host of Open Container Doug Schnitzspahn to talk about a couple of stories to come out of the outdoor community before taking a look at the current health of outdoor media. Here's today's docket! Everest season comes to a close with multiple FKT attempts. (05:39) Pickleball Corner returns because campgrounds are now building pickleball courts. Colin...

We've made you wait long enough! We've finally made it to the conclusion to 2025's 'Top 5 Brand' episodes and we saved the biggest category for last. After ranking the top 5 footwear , gear , and accessories , today we're listing the Top 5 Outdoor Apparel brands! While completely subjective, the mission is simple: determine the top 5 outdoor apparel brands of the moment. Colin is joined by Shawnté...

After months of rumors and speculation, on May 16th MEC finally announced that they have indeed been acquired. One of the group that has purchased MEC from Kingswood Capital Management is also their Chief Merchandising Officer, Chris Speyer. Today on the show Chris sits down with Colin and Eoin Comerford to talk about MEC's new ownership group, where the brand is and where it's going. (04:00) Then...

Today on The Rock Fight Colin and Shawnté dig into some stories to come out of the outdoor adventure community. On the docket: 100,000 new mountains were discovered below the ocean's surface. No one tell Killian Jornet. We don't want him to drown trying to run all of them in a single day. (07:14) One person died and 3 others went to the hospital due to excessive heat during a recent trail half mar...

Today on The Rock Fight we dig into last week's news that Dick's Sporting Goods has acquired Foot Locker. Colin is joined by Producer Dave and Outdoor Industry Insider Eoin Comerford to discuss and answer the following questions: How does this acquisition play into Dick's long term strategy? (06:45) How has the market reacted to the acquisition? (19:25) What will be the fallout to footwear brands?...

Why make a list of the best outdoor towns when you can draft them instead?! Today on the show Colin is joined by outdoor author and journalist, Shawnté Salabert, and the host of Open Container, Doug Schnitzspahn to draft the best outdoor towns in the US! Round by round they'll draft outdoorsy locales from all across the United States. In the end they'll each have a list for you the listener to vot...

Today on The Rock Fight Colin & outdoor author and journalist Shawnté Salabert the following topics: MLFNOW on MyOutdoorTV! Yes, we also thought it said what you thought it said, but don't worry the link is completely SFW. (06:07) Resale platform ThredUp raised its sales and earnings targets for the year after a strong first quarter. Secondhand FTW! (10:30) 300 billboards in 40 different citie...

Today on the show we have updates on two topics that have dominated the outdoor industry discourse over the past few months. First Tania Lown-Hecht from the Outdoor Alliance sits down with Colin to talk about the congressional midnight vote that happened last week that is threatening thousands of acres of public land in Nevada & Utah. (01:19) (We need the Rock Fight Army to show up and make th...

Welcome to Monday's on The Rock Fight your home for the best outdoor industry discourse! There are two big topics on the docket today. First! After checking in on the recently released Outdoor Retailer floor plan (04:59), Colin, Producer Dave, and Outdoor Industry Insider Eoin Comerford go through the key takeaways from the annual REI members meeting that went down last week. Here are the topics t...

Today Colin is joined Adam Cramer the CEO of the Outdoor Alliance to talk about what is happening with our public lands. And there is a lot happening. Over the last few weeks, we’ve seen or heard the following: A leaked document from the Department of the Interior. Last week the administration released their budget guidelines for 2026 which included upheavals for the Park Service including things...

Today Colin and outdoor journalist and author Shawnté Salabert run through the following recent stories that have come out of the outdoor adventure community: Aspiring Mt. Everest climbers will now have to climb another 7,000m peak in Nepal before attempting the world's highest mountain. Progress? (05:20) A team has successfully completed an expedition to drive to both the North and South Pole. Th...

Today on the show Colin is joined by outdoor industry insider Eoin Comerford to check in on Eoin's 2025 predictions for the outdoor industry given how things have gone off of the trails over the past month (05:56). Then Eoin walks us through the model he put together to demonstrate the impacts the current tariffs that are in place are having on a small outdoor brand(16:15). That leads to Colin &am...

Colin is rolling solo today and he starts the show reflecting on an early episode of The Rock Fight where he defended his anti-Dawn Patrol stance before reflecting on a recent Dawn Patrol experience that didn't really change his mind but was still worth it. Then for The Parting Shot he pays tribute to one of the original Rock Fighters our own, Justin Housman. Check out hundreds of wildly cool prod...

Today on the show Colin is joined by outdoor journalist and author Shawnté Salabert to talk about some recent headlines to come out of the outdoor community! On today's docket: Paddler Kyle Parker is looking to paddle across the United States from "Tip 2 Tip"! (06:55) Injinji released a line of tech tees. Is this a sign they're going to take on apparel? (23:33) Strava announced a new subscriber fe...