ATHLETE FAVORITES

We asked this season’s athletes to share a piece of equipment they love. Check out what they had to say! All linked items go to REI.com as affiliate links and help support future issues of Butter Mag!

“I’ve had a few concussions over the years, I’ve been really lucky that none of them have resulted in a TBI. I don’t ski or bike without a helmet on, and I can’t imagine pursuing the career and lifestyle I’m going for without a helmet. Boring, I know, but take care of your brains kids!”

“Arc’teryx gave us kits, and I cannot describe how great this was. They gave us the biggest waterproof puffies. It was awesome. Everything fit perfectly, and we stayed very dry. All of us were like, this is the nicest stuff we’ve ever owned. We also wouldn’t have had our production quality without Lens Rentals. We had top of the top camera gear. We had a Red Raptor, which was so cool. They’re really lightweight. They’re also just like stunner cinematographer cameras. We had a whole fleet of Reds most of the time.”

“The one piece of gear I can’t live without, 100% is my pocket knife. Always. I always have a knife that I carry with me. I’ve done it ever since I was, like, seven years old. Not to school, but any time outside of that environment. And without fail, I use it two or three times every single day. Used to go out surfing. I’ve used it as a screwdriver to get stuff out. So my pocket knife is hands down, the one thing that I can’t live without.”

“I would say my puffy jacket. I actually had this kind of bright orange puffy jacket that I wore to pieces and then covered it in tape. I showed up to my tech job in the Netherlands wearing that, and all of my colleagues were just appalled. When I left the Netherlands and I was bidding farewell to my colleagues, they actually got me the exact same puffy jacket in black. They were like, here’s your brand new jacket. You don’t have to look like a ragged carrot. I also love my climbing shoes, but staying warm is kind of top of the list.”

“I stand by the fact that a nano puffy, if you can get one from any brand, is the best piece of gear you can have in your outdoor wardrobe. They’re so lightweight, they’re so versatile, so warm. I don’t even think that brand matters. My first nano puff I got was from Costmark. I got it used, and it’s from the North Face, which is a brand I love. But, yeah, I stand by the nano puffy.”

“If you’ve ever met a skater, they don’t have a lot of things. It’s being very detached from everything. I try to switch it up a lot. I don’t even need shoes. Like, I skate barefoot. Sometimes I skate without a board. I’ll put trucks and wheels on something different. So if I really have to pick one thing, I would just say probably my skateboard. Not even my skateboard. Just a skateboard, I think, because sometimes it’s fun to just do things differently because it’s like just changing anything, like changing your shoes or changing the type of board you’re riding kind of makes it feel, like, new again and interesting.”