21 "vanlife" hacks we've learned after living on the road for one year
21 tips and tricks to make living out of a van easier for you.
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Justin Salas, Premier Adaptive Climber
Justin Salas is a visually impaired athlete who found his home in rock climbing.
He’s relatively new on the scene, but is making waves in his first three years as a climber. He’s won a 2017 USA adaptive national championship, and as of 2018, Jusin is the first adaptive climber to send a V11 (8a).
1) Tell us a bit about yourself: where are you from, how long have you been climbing?
My name is Justin Salas, my crew calls me J. I am a blind/visually impaired rock climber from Tulsa Oklahoma. I've been blind for a little over 10 years after losing my sight to an eye disease not yet diagnosed. The docs have given me a temporary name for it, calling the disease an “Optic neuropathy of unknown origin.” I’m 25 years old and I’ve been climbing for 3 years now. I am the 2017 adaptive national champion as well as earning a couple silver medals, including one from the Para-climbing world cup in Edinburgh Scotland. I’ve only been competing for a year now but It’s been a hell of a ride, and I'm psyched to continue competing. Aside from my competitive life, I have just become the first adaptive rock climber to send the bouldering grade of v11 or 8a. I spend as much time as I can climbing outdoors, it's where my true passion for climbing lies, and I get to express myself through the best sport on earth.
2) How and when did you get into climbing?
My good friend Nic started working at the local climbing gym around the same time I started to lose my sight. He invited me to go with him and give climbing a try, but I was pretty hesitant, as you could imagine. He said, "you don't need to be able to see to climb." Me being a skeptic, I was doubtful, but being one of my best friends I trusted him and went.
That was the day everything changed.
Before I lost my vision I was an extremely active kid, I rode bmx, played soccer, and paintball. I just loved being outside and trying to perfect anything I did. See, I've always been a stubborn person so even after I lost my vision I tried to continue doing all the same things I once did. I excelled at most things surprisingly, perhaps I'm just a perfectionist, or maybe it's just my refusal to sit by and let this disability get the best of me. Of course, there were roadblocks at every step of the way; from running into the back of parked cars on my bike, to getting hit in the face while playing soccer everything I did was a very visual thing. But here came rock climbing, of all things. Something I once thought impossible for me turned into the one thing I found suited me more perfectly than any other sport I had tried or done. Occasionally those roadblocks try to creep back in but I simply climb around them. Climbing is no longer just my sport, I am a climber through and through, I've sacrificed a lot for the thing I'm most passionate about.
3) What were some of the early hurdles with climbing, indoors and outside?
I think the biggest issue is also the most obvious: trying to figure out how to make climbing work for someone who can't see the grips or sequence of movement. This broke down into developing a better muscle memory. Think of the brain like a muscle needing to be worked out like any other part of the body, to perform at the intensity you require it to. This process came pretty naturally to me since I've been using my memory pretty uniquely since I lost my sight. Needing to memorize everything about my surroundings anywhere I go so if I'm shown where something is I won't need to ask again, or counting all stairs so I don't trip when I encounter the stair set again. Even things like memorizing voices, the difference in footstep patterns to identify people I know, etc. Basically, it all comes back to a form of memory. So translating this to climbing was the most beneficial thing I could have done, and in turn, the hyper-awareness I use for climbing has helped in other parts of my life as well.
4) Do you mostly lead, Top rope, or boulder?
I enjoy all aspects of climbing, from Ice climbing to bouldering. However, bouldering is where my true joy lies currently.
5) What are your climbing goals, for this season, and the future?
2018 will hopefully be another big year for me. I'd like to do well at Nationals again, try my best at the world championships, and continue to bring exposure to the adaptive world and myself.
However, my main focus in climbing is definitely outside. I'd like to climb 5.14 and above, as well as v13 and above and pave the way for the next generation of adaptive climbers. I'm certainly not in this for "the grade" but the media seems to be, so It's a nice way of making a statement as an elite climber.
6) What are your favourite places to climb?
Well, as I'm in Tulsa some of the best zones in Arkansas are less than 4 hours away, so we've basically adopted that area as our home crag. Aside from that, Joe's Valley is the first thing that comes to mind. I've spent up to a month at a time living in my tent and climbing there. I've been to a fair amount of zones now throughout the world and up to this point it still holds the title as my favorite place to climb. Who knows though? There are still many places I haven't been yet. This certainly could change.
7) With the tactile experience being so strong for you, do you have a favourite type of rock?
Definitely sandstone. Nothing else can create the shapes, textures, and holds like sandstone can. It's also some of the most temperamental rock out there so it takes more care to climb on than other types of rock. I also really like the Gneiss found in Rocky mountain national park, as well as the Granite that Rumney has.
8) Do you prefer slab, overhang, or vert walls? Which caters more to your climbing style?
Overhanging routes definitely spark my interest the most, and usually hold some of the best movements in climbing. But I do like all of it. It just depends on what mood i'm in, or what I'm required to do.
9) What, to you, is your personal greatest achievement in climbing?
I've done a lot, and I'm only just beginning. However, accolades and personal achievements aside, If I can help give inspiration or psyche to one person through my story I feel like I've done something right.
10) What advice do you have for other adaptive climbers?
It may sound simple but it's so true. To my friends and fellow climbers: If you believe you can do something, go and do it. Because it's the only way you can get it. Make it happen.
Jeremy Ritchie and his Prosthetic Climbing Shoe Project
Jeremy Ritchie is a cell lead assistant/production associate, who eat, sleeps, breathes climbing.
Born in London, Ontario, Canada, he lost his left leg at 4 years old in a fight with a riding lawn mower. Jeremy spent his early years challenging the boundaries of what was possible, trying his hand at soccer and BMX. He later found his niche at the climbing gym, where he plans to stay for the foreseeable future.
Jeremy has started a GoFundMe project to create a climbing shoe specifically for prosthetic legs.
Dirtbag Beta: Our First Three Weeks
Some of you probably assumed we've been on the road for over three months, but the person we hired to convert our 1975 Airstream delivered us an unfinished Airstream three months late. With no climbing cave, leaky windows and roof, and no shelving, we had three weeks to finish the Airstream showroom before our first event in Park City, UT. We literally worked day and night for three weeks to finish it in time. It was a blessing in disguise because we had a lot of fun during the process and it was very rewarding in the end. Taz didn''t have any carpentry experience, but managed to design and build a beautiful perfectly curved wooden climbing cave made from Mahogony with the help of some close friends and family. 21 trips to Home Depot, 317 man-hours, 1700 screws, 19 tubes of PL glue, 5 litres of wood glue, 15 sheets of 1/4" ply, 1/2 gallon of varnish, and 78 cups of coffee later, the build-out was complete. Watch it unfold in just over a minute below:
To view more photos of our finished Airstream showroom, click here.
With not a day to spare, we set off to Park City, UT spending our first night in a Walmart parking lot. We thought we would be spending most nights at RV campsites, but it turns out dry camping in Walmart works perfectly fine when we're stocked with water and our batteries are fully charged. Dirtbag tip #106: Walmart's allow people to spend the night in their parking lot. Dirtbag tip #152: Walmart bathroom's and soap allow for dirtbag showers. (Wetting paper towel with some hand soap and scrubbing away).
We arrived in Park City just in time for our first big event, PressCamp. We got to meet with some amazing editors one-on-one and tell them our story inside our Airstream showroom. We met with editors from Men's Journal, National Geographic, Men's Health, Gear Junkie, Outside Magazine, and many, many more. We also ate like kings and gained a bunch of "bad for climbing" weight... but it was so worth it. The event was a success and Boulder Denim was a hit with 4 articles already posted on us just weeks after the event. We can't wait to see what print material comes out in the months to come. Read some of the articles here:
50 Campfires: Boulder Denim Jeans Review
Gear Junkie: Future Gear: 8 Eye-Catching Developments from PressCamp
Backcountry Skiing Canada: Boulder Denim Stretch Jeans for All Your Adventures
Gear Institute: The Hottest Technical Fabric of the Year is...Denim?
To view more photos from PressCamp, visit our PressCamp album by clicking here.
After PressCamp, during the day we met with retail buyers from outdoor shops all over the Salt Lake City and surrounding areas. The meetings went very well as we have already received order commitments for store's fall lines. In the evenings we put on jean demos at 6 different climbing gyms in the Salt Lake City area where we nearly sold out of our Airstream showroom stock.
Jean Demo at The Mine Bouldering Gym in Park City, UT
We spent the last week in Colorado doing jean demos at the Movement climbing gyms in Boulder and Denver and then finally found time to shoot some content in Estes Park, CO.
Click here to see more photos from our time at Estes Park, CO.
Today, I write this from Crux Coffee in Lander, WY just hours before the festivities of International Climbers' Fest commences. In two weeks we'll be showcasing at the tradeshow of all tradeshows, Outdoor Retailer in Salt Lake City, UT. Signing off for now. Make sure you follow our Facebook Page to find out when we're in a city near you.
Awareness: An Honest Review
The following is a guest blog post from our ambassador Gerard West. It's Mental Health Awareness Week in the UK and this is his story:
One in three of us will, at some point, experience an issue regarding our mental health; be it depression, anxiety or something else. As a person who lives with the something else, I was falling deeper down a hole I thought I couldn't escape from. I was twenty five when I was finally formally diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder, not long after, more issues began to peek their heads out in the form of Dissociative Identity Disorder (formerly multiple personality disorder) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder among other things.
I would say that I get asked a lot about how I cope with my mental illnesses but I don't, the only people who ask me about my mental health is other people who suffer from mental health issues, my psychiatrist or my parents but that's ok. I don't expect people to ask me, it's a difficult, gritty question which is never straightforward and almost always a little uncomfortable. When I am having a period of stability I'm "improving", "getting well" or some other arbitrary cliché. Fact of the matter is that in my case, and for many people who live with similar issues, recovery isn't in the cards. Through intensive therapy following my official diagnoses six years ago I have made steps in managing my conditions a little better but it's a very slow and very unsteady race. So what would I say if somebody asked me how I coped? One day at a time, if it's a bad day, an hour at a time. Planning for the future becomes a pipe dream that you shoot for but when you're concentrating too much on getting through the next twenty four hours then only the strongest of goals remain.
Six years ago I was a mess, I lived away from my home city of Liverpool and had set up in Manchester with some friends. I was drunk most days of the week, I was in with a rowdy crowd and spiraling out of control while caring for my partner at the time who also suffered from severe mental health issues. A year later I moved back to Liverpool with my partner, let's call her Jane, she would prefer a pseudonym I think. Jane was just as unwell as me, maybe more so and that made things eventually become toxic and irreparable, eventually we went our separate ways and it was just me. I was there, alone in a house with my Dog, a pile of empty beer cans and all the time in the world.
During my time back in Liverpool I had, in times of rare sobriety, socialised a little and made some new friends who decided one day on a trip to the local bouldering centre; the Climbing Hangar. None of us had been to a climbing centre for many years, if, at all. I think anyone who has met me or seen my social media pages knows the story about my climbing career and where that has led me but this isn't about my achievements as a climber. I want to stay on the story of what happened behind the mask, the veil or facade, whatever you want to call the fake smile that we put on to make people feel less uncomfortable. I found, in climbing, a way to let out all of the anger and frustration in a non self-destructive way; a way to reign in my erratic thoughts and thought processes, the most important thing is that I found a way to survive.
We all know of the stigma of mentally ill people; they are liars, attention seekers and untrustworthy. They are right on one front, we are liars. We lie to our loved ones, our friends and our families every day. We tell you we are fine, just tired or it's been a busy week because we want to spare you in any way possible from having to even glimpse how life can be. Sadly, we can't hide this from you no matter how hard we try. We can't hide the sadness or pain in our eyes, the scars on our bodies or the trail of wreckage behind us but that doesn't mean we won't try to protect you, all of you, from seeing life through our eyes. We want you to be okay as much as you want us to be okay. Mental Health Awareness Week is an excellent thing to have in place as it shows people who may have begun to experience mental illness that the world isn't the cold, grey and lonely place we see and that people are trying to understand and help.
Climbing saved me, it helped me take control of my life by re introducing the idea of safety, awareness and physical health. Concentration is something I still have difficulty with but focusing on beta and honing a technical climbing style has helped me with my thought process and being around people who don't give a shit about my eccentricities or peculiarities has helped me feel included and accepted. Just walking into my local centre and having the staff say hi to me on a first name basis, ask how I am and even know the little things like that I always take tea before I climb (shouts to P.K for that!). It makes me feel like I matter and that is what it's all about.
Through climbing I have managed to remove the daily handful of medication that is designed to help, they never really worked for me and after almost fifteen years of trying different types and combinations both myself and my psychiatrist agrees that they aren't for me. Honestly, he is shocked but enthusiastic about how much throwing myself around a wall a few times a week has kept me stable and aware. I hardly drink now and it's always in moderation, I care for my physical health much more than I ever have and at thirty years old, after spending more than twenty of them unable to answer why I feel the way I do; It no longer matters why I am how I am. What matters is what will I do, what will we do and what will you do to make your time on this earth one that will be celebrated and remembered.
Mental Health Awareness Week is wonderful and every year people learn a little more, accept a little more and become less afraid to confront the Elephant in the room. For me, it's just nice to know that we matter. This isn't an easy way to live, there are a lot of assumptions that are still made, people can think we have it cushy when we can't work and receive benefits a lot of the time, we are drunks and drug addicts; that's what messed us up. The stigma must stop, usually it's the other way round, something happened to make it that way and alcohol and drugs were the way to cope. Sadly that can be the way the story plays out but hopefully we can change that story and every other fallacy about this highly misunderstood range of health issues. Together we can finally unlock the cages that we have been metaphorically and literally locked inside for centuries.
Don't live in fear, fight for your place on this earth and fight with everything you have. Fight hard and know that you are not alone.
--
Gerard West (IG: climbcentric | FB: facebook.com/climbcentric)
Last Chance For Direct-to-Consumer Pricing and Tour Update
An update on our pricing model, second batch of jeans, and our tour.
We're just getting started! Big things are happening in 2017.
It's been a while since our last blog post and we've got some exciting updates for you.
We were blown away with the continued orders this winter and after shipping the jeans to our backers, we sold out of our popular sizes within a few weeks! Word of mouth spread like wildfire. Here are just a few of the comments and emails we've received:
"After wrapping up my recent trip to Hueco, I have to say that I absolutely love your jeans. When I pledged to your kickstarter, I was a little skeptical because more often than not the very first run of a product can have it's flaws. However, after testing your jeans outside for multiple days and on multiple types of rock, I was hooked!" -Michael R. via Email
"OMG! These are the best jean I have ever worn, well done." -Christoph M. via Email
"Honestly I am in LOVE with these jeans this is the first time I've actually LOVED a pair of jeans. They are everything and more then I was expecting. You have done an amazing job and even more so being so thorough and easy going to work with." -Greg B. via Email
"Loving the Women's Skinny Fit! I dig the high waist, and especially love the giant pocket! It fits my entire phone, you just don't get that with women's jeans! I have long legs too, and they fit perfectly for length. Definitely getting another pair!" -Liz B. via Facebook
"My jeans just arrived and I am absolutley blown away by them! 11/10! Im tempted to get a second pair now." Harmen D via Facebook
"Most comfortable jeans EVER. Can't wait to see more styles!" - Jason C. via Facebook
To continue with Jason C's review, we're excited to announce that we're currently developing some new styles and colours for both men and women that will be ready later this year. We're also making minor tweaks to our current line that will be ready between February and March.
What's even more exciting is our North American tour. We recently purchased a vintage 1975 Airstream that we're currently converting into a mobile showroom and office.
A Sprinter camper van will be towing it as we travel across the continent climbing with our customers at crags and gyms nationwide! We'll be hitting up nearly every major climbing event and gym and will also be meeting with retail buyers so anyone can start trying on and purchasing our jeans in stores. Our new styles will be featured on the road. We will be documenting and taking photos of our Airstream build-out process every step of the way. The tour commences March 1st as we leave Vancouver, BC and start down the west coast with our first stop at the Red Rock Rendezvous. Here's the start of our Airstream build-out journey:
We started with building a life-size Airstream fort out of boxes. Lots and lots of boxes. Can you see the inner-child coming out?
Then we got everything on paper. This took many, many renditions to get it right.
This is the inside of the Airstream before gutting it. It's a little too cheesy for our liking.
So we started gutting it.
The next 6 weeks will be spent completely renovating the Airstream. The last photo you see with actually be a climbing cave where you can test out the stretch.
You can follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat: @BoulderDenim and you can find us on Facebook any clicking here.
Quick Manufacturing Update
Hello everyone!
We're going to keep this update short. We told you in one of our previous updates that as soon as we have an update on production we'll update you every step of the way. So here's a quick update! Our custom engraved buttons and rivet wax molds have finally arrived from YKK (this took much longer than expected). They turned out really well so we approved them immediately.
What now? Well, we wait for YKK to manufacture our 25,000 buttons and 100,000 rivets. Apparently this process can take 12-16 weeks but we've put in a request to expedite our order. We're willing to pay extra to rush the order and are waiting to hear back to see if this can be done. We'll let you know what they say and keep you updated every step of the way.
Here are some photos of the wax molds. Keep in mind that they are wax and that this will not be the actual colour of them.
Thanks everyone for your patience and support. We can't wait to get you in our jeans!
- The Boulder Denim Team
Big things are happening and it's all thanks to you!
Hey Everyone!
It’s April and everyday is starting to feel more like Spring so you better be spending more time outside! But first, we wanted to update you on a couple of things…
To all of our Canadian friends, we were accepted to pitch on Dragon’s Den! For all our American backers, this is like the Canadian version of “Shark Tank”. We are more than pumped to have been given this opportunity and will let you know when the episode goes live! Fingers crossed because gaining their support could mean HUGE things for us!
We also received the official Boulder Denim hats and they are awesome!
Want one? Click here and scoop one up for $35.
OR you can get your hat for $25 by pre-ordering with another pair of jeans by clicking here.
We are working super hard to get you the denim you ordered a couple months ago and will let you know when we have a firm date!
Thanks again for your continued support!
The Boulder Denim Team
Introducing: Nanosphere® by Scheoller Technologies
Hey everyone!
We're excited to talk to you about our Hydrophobic treatment we use. We chose to go with one of the best, Nanosphere® by Schoeller Technologies.
We didn't cheap out and want to deliver you with the best possible technology. We've included two videos. The first is a demonstration of our hydrophobic coating with red wine and water on our actual denim. The second video explains how the technology works. You can also read more on Nanosphere here. We hope you're as excited as we are!
Stay tuned to our blog for all the latest in our journey of manufacturing Boulder Denim. We can't wait to get you all in our pants!
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