The boys at Alpkit have just launched a 'design your own outdoor gear' competition in collaboration with the Ordnance Survey Outdoors Show, so it's time for the innovative amongst you to put on your breathable, UV-resistant thinking caps and come up with the must-have outdoor product for 2008.
As Alpkit's Nick Smith comments: "We have all sat around the fire chatting to friends or idly doodling in our note pads. This time it's for real and the winning idea will have a chance of becoming a real product."
How do I enter?
The process of designing your own piece of gear has been kindly mapped out by Alpkit in the form of a trek, with a possible summit attempt at the finish (no need for a descent on this occasion).
Base Camp, above, equates to the start of the competition, and we're currently plodding our way up to Camp One, which is where you have to submit your ideas for new outdoor products. Competition entrants are all due to reach the camp by 1st December, with no delays for bad weather allowed, I'm afraid.
After that, judges from all sections of the industry - manufacturers, journalists, sponsored climbers, and academics - will sort through the design ideas and come up with a short list of 18 (Camp 2). These finalists will have the chance to refine their ideas - make sure the hood's the right size and the straps all fit properly, that sort of thing - before a final shortlist of nine is announced.
And where's the summit party heading for? Well, that infamous peak known as the Ordnance Survey Outdoors Show looms large and the best weather window for climbing it looks to be 14th - 16th March 2008. On those dates, the 35,000 or so visitors to the show will vote for the winning design.
The Award
If the winning design is good enough it has a chance of becoming a real outdoor product, for sale to the public.
If you aren't first to the summit though, it isn't all over. According to Alpkit "there will also be several honourable mention awards reflecting these values including the 'It does what it says on the tin' award and the 'Pie in the sky' award."
All sounds good, so long as that's a vegetable pie we're talking about:-)
Further Information
Browse through the competition website for further information, or go straight to the design brief, and don't forget you have to submit your ideas to the site by December 1st.
For any further questions, email colab@alpkit.com.
Good luck!
Susan 
