Gear That’s Doing Good (from VT)
Burton
After the late Jake Burton Carpenter spent months first at Dartmouth-Hitchcock, recovering from Miller-Fisher Syndrome and then at University of Vermont Medical Center, his wife Donna Carpenter got to know hospitals well. So when the pandemic hit, Donna Carpenter had Burton’s prototype facility develop 500 face shields and Burton’s binding manufacturer deliver 500,000 KN 95 face masks to UVM, Dartmouth and other hospitals. Want to show your support for Burton and do something good for yourself? Pack cans of Aqua Vitae, Citizen Cider or bottles of Barr Hill Gin (three distillers that, along with Farrell Distributing, worked together to make mass amounts of hand sanitizer) in the 42L Burton Beeracuda Beerhaus Cooler Bag, $59.95. With a separate waterproof compartment, it’s perfect for a social distancing party on the go.
Darn Tough
Stylish, lightweight and backed by Darn Tough’s lifetime guarantee, the Darn Tough Vermont Foodbank Farmer’s Market Crew Sock, $22 is one we’d buy anytime. But there’s an added to reason to get it now: in response to the pandemic, Darn Tough is donating 100 percent of the sales of this sock to the Vermont Foodbank. That’s in addition to the 10,000 pairs of socks that the company donated to health care workers around Vermont.
Dodge Boots
Dave Dodge was one of the first to make custom ski boots out of carbon fiber and Dodge Ski Boots ($995) are known for their light weight and thermoformed construction, as well as their remote app-enabled fitting program. The Essex, Vt.-based company used that thermoform expertise to help Beta Technologies develop and deploy an automatic bag ventilation machine (ABVM). If you’re going to buy boots, doing so now means you have months to dial them in before the snow falls.
Skida
Burlington-based accessories company Skida turned their expertise in making hats and neckwarmers to making face masks. On top of that, the company offered health care workers 25 percent off on their products. Skida Face Masks ($22) are as fashionable as their headwear with patterns that range from a soft teal Moon Flower to a pattern of Puppies in Space that will definitely bring a smile to anyone you meet.
Vermont Glove
When the pandemic hit, Vermont Glove paused the manufacturing of its double-stitched goatskin Vermont Gloves, $100 – work gloves so strong they have historically been used by linemen. A family-run business based in Randolph, Vermont Glove ordered reams of cotton and worked with a network of home sewers to make cotton masks. They even shared their patterns in a DIY video and payed home sewers $1 for every mask. These gloves – a must for wood stacking or trail building — are still at retailers.
UnTapped
Add a spoonful of Untapped Lemon Tea Mapleaid ($24.95 for a 1 lb bag, also in single servings) to your water bottle and you’ll have an all-natural beverage made with unrefined maple sugar (which has traces of minerals, amino acids, and antioxidants) lemons and organic black tea (for a natural caffeine boost) and a touch of sea salt. Buy UnTapped online at the website now 20-percent of the sale will go to supporting the retailer of your choice.
