The Outdoor Trade Show is the UK’s only outdoor sports trade show, welcoming some of the biggest brands from Britain and beyond to display their wares.
This year, it was held in Liverpool and welcomed brands from across the outdoor pursuits space, including camping, hiking, climbing and trail running, alongside plenty of bikepacking swag.
While not a specific cycling show, we pushed our noses into the exhibition centre to sniff out the best cycling tech.
Sea to Summit camping setup
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Bikepackers will be well aware of Sea to Summit’s camping equipment, with the brand selling everything from lightweight tents to collapsible cutlery.
The brand was displaying its latest sleep solutions, with the Ultralight Insulated Air Sleeping Mat and Aeros Ultralight Pillow looking ideal for featherweight camping gear.
Much like a Chesterfield sofa, the Ultralight Insulated Air Sleeping Mat features a dimpled surface that is said to provide good stability and support.
It also has an R-value (a measurement used for insulation) of 3.1, which the brand says is perfect for spring, summer and early autumn.
The mat is inflated from the pack sack using the Bernoulli principle to blow air into a plastic portion, which is then compressed through the valve.
This sack can also be used to inflate the Aeros Ultralight Pillow, which sticks to the mat using Velcro, keeping it in position throughout the night.
The Ultralight Insulated Air Sleeping Mat weighs in at 430g and is priced at £140, while the pillow is sold separately for £35 and weighs only 60g.
Sea to Summit also had its Spark Ultralight Sleeping Bag on show, which is comfortable down to 7ºC, weighs in at 387g and features a longitudinally baffled design said to retain heat better. This comes at a pretty price of £330.
Combined, they should make for an excellent sleep setup for lightweight bikepacking.
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Silva Free 2000 M head torch
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This headtorch from Silva caught my eye, with its modular design looking great for ticking off those last couple of miles when the night sets in.
The design enables you to wear it as a head torch or mount it directly to a helmet, giving it great versatility on and off the bike.
The unit's party piece is that the light portion can be mounted directly to the battery, giving you a torch or lantern to navigate campgrounds.
This model has an output of 2,000 lumens and is priced at £284.99, although there are more powerful variants in the range, which may be more suitable for high-speed night riding.
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Big Agnes Copper Spur UL2 Bikepack Tent
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If you plan on spending a long time away bikepacking, a good tent is an essential.
This unreleased two-man, bikepacking-specific tent from Big Agnes packs down small enough to fit between most dropped handlebars and weighs in at around 1.8kg.
It's a double-skinner, meaning you won’t be waking up soaked by your own breath, and features plenty of storage inside with specific helmet storage.
There are two doors to the tent, both featuring space outside to protect your bikepacking bags from the elements during the night.
There are attachments to dry off wet clothes on the top of the tent, and sticking to the bikes theme, the Big Agnes logo features a chainring outline.
We don't have any official pricing, but it looks like luxury bikepacking material.
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Jetboil Stash camping stove
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If you’re looking for one of the most compact cooking solutions, the Stash looks a great option.
The design sees the stove and gas canister secured in the pan for easy storage.
Instead of using a full-titanium design, Jetboil has employed an aluminium pan for better heat transfer.
The stove itself is made from titanium and folds away into a smaller profile.
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Suunto Aqua Light headphones
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These cycling headphones from Suunto feature an open-ear design using bone conduction to send the music through your jaw and into your eardrum.
We’ve tested similar models in the past, giving the Suunto Wing 4.5 stars in our review.
The new headphones feature IP68 waterproofing, which Suunto says makes them waterproof for two hours at two metres.
Battery life is up to 10 hours and there’s now 32GB of offline audio storage.
While it’s nice to listen to your surroundings while bikepacking, when the hammer has to be put down to make a checkpoint, some music can be just the ticket – as long as you're not putting yourself or others at risk.
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