It takes something like the Outdoor Retailers

It takes something like the Outdoor Retailers Summer Market to put outdoor recreation in perspective. It's not big, it's HUGE.

The mere size of the show is overwhelming, and that's before you get down on the floor and begin to walk the aisles. There are thousands of items and a thousand makes of each item. And obviously, people are buying all this in quantity.This section of the market - and remember this is just summer market - accounts for $5 billion annually.

You've got to wonder how a retail buyer can keep everything straight and not wonder into some strange booth and order up a thousand pairs of the competitor's boots.

John Bartlett and Dan Meldrum, of Canyon Sports, say they have a system. They write down specific companies, schedule precise times, and then rely on each other follow their appointed route.

Still, they say, it's hard to accomplish everything in four days, despite going from dusk to dark.

Last year, a study by the Sporting Goods Manufacturers showed camping (in a tent) and hiking/backpacking were Nos. 2 and 3 on the popularity charts. No. 1 was freshwater fishing. The study showed 42.1 million people fished, 41.2 million hauled their tents into the hills and 20 million hiked.

Obviously one of the reasons there were so many hikers (industry term for rugged, stylish boots) is that these 20 million people need boots to hike in. Just guessing there were that many boots in this show alone. Everywhere you turned there was a wall of one-of-a-pair hikers.

This show, though, is overwhelming. Thirty minutes into it and you begin to look for familiar signs so you don't retrace your steps - a sign, a shoe you liked, a boat of a particular color, a tent you've always wanted. Still it happens. You walk down the same aisle you did a hour before.

Counting just Utah companies, there were 38 in last week's show. Among them A.T. Paddles, Black Diamond Equipment, Bibler Tents, Smiley's Climbing Equipment, Moab Outdoor Products, Jagged Edge Mountain Gear and Cisco Sports Accessories, makers of watchbands, wallets and fleece bags for the outdoor enthusiasts.

It is, as Jeff Blumenfeld, marketer for the show, jokes, a place where you find new things you didn't know you needed but can't do without, "like the cel phone or fax machine are to us now."

A new twist to this year's show was the appearance of newsmakers. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was there to talk about the outdoors and "you." And, he said pretty much what you'd expect someone from the No. 1 political family would say: "You're making a mistake if you're not starting a PAC (political action committee). You need someone on Capitol Hill that can tell your story . . . I have enough politicians in my family to tell you that it works."

It doesn't hurt that your names is Kennedy, either.

Next up on the show schedule is the Fly-Fishing Retailer World Trade Expo at the Salt Palace Sept. 10-12. It won't be as large as this show, but Blumenfeld promises it will be just as overwhelming.