True story: I fell in love with the outside after shifting to Chicago. It wasn’t till I purchased my first actual pair of shoes and ventured on hikes that ribboned town that I knew the true joys of on a regular basis journey. My love of mountaineering has since taken me world wide.
In the case of gear, I’m a giant believer in investing in gear you should use on adventures close to, far and in all places in between. And as a metropolis dweller who likes to discover in city and distant nature, I additionally search out merchandise that may cross over between city and path. Earlier than any gear buy massive or small, I ask myself if it’ll stand as much as the three Ts: Path, City and Journey.
If it’s a shoe, will it really feel comfy on my lunchtime walks and supply sufficient assist on weekend hikes?
If it’s a backpack, will it work on a commute to work and on a journey by way of the airport?
If it’s a rain jacket, will it maintain me dry within the metropolis and at a campsite within the backcountry?
As a result of there’s one thing to be mentioned for gear that may go together with you—wherever you go.
Fortunately, REI Co-op additionally believes that the perfect gear can go anyplace. The co-op has teamed up with beloved outside manufacturers HOKA and Cotopaxi for a second time to collaborate on new co-branded variations of their versatile best-sellers: the Cotopaxi Kapai 3L Hip Pack – Del Día and the Anacapa Breeze Low Climbing Footwear. No strangers to the three Ts themselves, HOKA and Cotopaxi are each well-known for producing items in fashionable shiny colours with trail-tested consolation and performance.
The collaborative Kapai 3L Hip Pack and the Anacapa Breeze aren’t any exception, promising efficiency on a variety of adventures, from native outings to epic journeys. The sneakers and pack each embody the manufacturers’ shared missions of minimizing influence on the planet whereas inspiring outside journey for all.
In 2021, the manufacturers launched their first collaboration with variations of the Cotopaxi Batac 16L – Del Día and HOKA Torrent 2 Path-Working Footwear. The gear showcased Cotopaxi’s vibrant, one-of-a-kind colorways and HOKA’s agile, versatile design with co-branded emblem accents. This 12 months’s partnership—supplied as a restricted launch out there in any respect REI Co-op areas and REI.com—seeks to proceed inspiring anyone and all people to come back collectively outdoor to do good for themselves and for his or her communities, whether or not on a stroll across the neighborhood or a day on the path circuit.
“Our manufacturers are like-minded in the way in which we have interaction the outside group—and that begins with a humanistic method,” says Hy Rosario, director of product: outside and children’ footwear at HOKA. “Cotopaxi’s tagline ‘Do Good’ and HOKA’s tagline ‘Fly Human Fly’ each middle across the humanistic a part of being outdoor. I really like that each manufacturers consider within the significance of human connection within the outdoor.”
Anacapa Breeze Low Climbing Footwear
The ultra-breathable, light-weight and cozy Anacapa Breeze is cherished by mountain towners and metropolis dwellers alike. Preferrred for warm-climate mountaineering and journey days stuffed with lengthy walks, the Breeze swaps the unique Anacapa GTX waterproof GORE-TEX higher for an engineered air mesh, including a ton of air flow.
They usually look sharp, too. The collab model of the mountaineering shoe sports activities a brand new mixed-panel colorway showcasing HOKA’s core model colours.
“Our clients search for merchandise that won’t solely carry out on the path but additionally look good on their ft,” says Rosario. “The best way we styled and coloured this shoe in collaboration with Cotopaxi lends itself to far more versatile utilization.”
However aesthetics don’t come on the expense of efficiency. Light-weight leather-based uppers mixed with the HOKA signature compression-molded EVA foam midsole make these sneakers tremendous versatile and supportive. The Vibram Megagrip outsole with 5-millimeter lugs guarantees robust traction on a wide range of terrain.
Rosario says sustainability was additionally a giant focus for HOKA designers as they thought of every thing from supplies to construct. The shoe options recycled thread within the collars, mesh and laces, and was manufactured utilizing an “engineered knit” course of that goals to be extra sustainable. The method forgoes the normal die-cut sue manufacturing course of through the use of a continuous weave design that leaves little to no waste as soon as the shoe’s full. The leather-based used within the higher is licensed by the Leather-based Working Group, a third-party physique that audits and evaluates the environmental influence and provide chain transparency of uncooked leather-based and leather-based items.
“We all the time design HOKA merchandise by way of a performance-first lens, and the Cotopaxi collab Anacapa Breeze isn’t any exception to that rule,” says Rosario. “This shoe additionally completely encapsulates the thought of efficiency and magnificence assembly within the center.”
Kapai Hip Pack – Del Día
Hip packs arguably belong in all places—on the path, across the metropolis, on days spent touring and possibly even on the workplace (I imply, they’re an ideal place to stash snacks).
So longtime Cotopaxi followers and newcomers will each love the HOKA x Cotopaxi model of the Kapai 3L Hip Pack for its versatility, consolation and sustainable design. Identical to our personal fingerprints, each Cotopaxi Kapai colorway differs barely. That’s as a result of every pack is made utilizing high-quality manufacturing facility leftovers and scrap supplies that might’ve in any other case gone to a landfill.
The most recent Kapai options distinctive colours impressed by the HOKA model, and an extra-wide hipbelt and padded and contoured again panel give the pack a snug match on the waistline. Purposeful options like a high seize deal with and a padded sleeve for storing sunnies cater to vacationers and outside adventurers. Excellent for a day working errands or a day hike in your favourite native path, the Kapai 3L Hip Pack can carry as much as 3 Liters of necessaries (in different phrases: snacks).
“Plenty of merchandise we work on can seamlessly translate from use in an city space out to an journey on the path—they work each methods,” says Rawmin Ehyai, tools design director at Cotopaxi. “On the town, it’s widespread to put on the Kapai as a cross-body sling or, if you wish to be extra energetic with it, you’ll be able to put on it round your waist like a fanny pack whereas mountaineering.”
Like their respective unique variations, the HOKA x Cotopaxi Anacapa Breeze Low mountaineering shoe and Kapai 3L Hip Pack are designed to indicate up able to work, whether or not you’re a weekend path warrior or just like a pop of shade in your work wardrobe.
So go forward, take your self out for a extremely seen spin with these merchandise—and encourage others to affix you as quickly as they see how a lot enjoyable you’re having. In spite of everything, you’re sure to be noticed wayyy down the path while you’re sporting these vibrant items of drugs within the wild—and even simply in your personal native park.