Outdoor Retailer gear expo begins today

Today is the start of the Outdoor Retailer Summer Market, held bi-annually in Salt Lake City, Utah. The OR show is a gathering of outdoor and travel gear manufacturers who come together to show off their latest tents, backpacks, clothing, and other products to industry buyers, as well as the media. Over the next four days, companies like The North Face and Patagonia will unveil new products that will be hitting stores over the next few months and eventually find their way into our suitcases and gear closets.

Two of Gadling’s intrepid reporters will be on hand at Outdoor Retailer, and they’ll be sharing updates from the show floor via Twitter. If you’re a gear junkie, you won’t want to miss their tweets from the event, which will offer a glimpse of where the gear industry is headed in the near future. Follow Pam Mandel at @nerdseyeview and Kraig Becker at @kungfujedi for the latest gear news directly from the show, and be sure to tweet back if you have questions or want more information on a product.

Both Pam and Kraig write gear reviews for Gadling as well, and much of what they see over the next few days will be appearing on the site in the months ahead. We’ll be letting you know which items deserve a place in your travel collection and which items are best left on the store shelf.