BLISTER Partners With CU & Western Colorado University For Blister Labs

Today, BLISTER is pleased to announce a historic new venture in the outdoor industry, Blister Labs. Blister Labs is a new partnership between BLISTER, the University of Colorado at Boulder, and the brand-new, state-of-the-art engineering facility at Western Colorado University in Gunnison, Colorado.

Blister Labs will allow Blister reviewers to work with high-level engineering faculty and their students to marry their qualitative experience on the mountain and on the trail to quantitative analysis in the laboratory at the Paul M. Rady School of Computer Science and Engineering at Western Colorado University, and also out on the mountain, via sophisticated dynamic modeling.

Blister Labs will bring engineers and designers from across the outdoor industry to Western Colorado University to meet with students, faculty, and Blister reviewers about their current product testing and potential ways to improve that testing. As a result, people from around the world that are passionate about the outdoors will have unprecedented access to new tests and data from an independent party to help them better understand what they are, and aren’t getting from the gear they invest in, from expensive bike parts, technical apparel, and ski equipment.

A few of the tests Blister Labs will be conducting include: comparing durability and stiffness of bike wheels at a wide range of price points and weights, producing new, more consumer-friendly apparel ratings for water resistance and breathability, and working to standardize the flex ratings of ski boots, since no universal standard currently exists.

To follow along with the progress of Blister Labs tests, visit the BLISTER website and tune in to the ‘Blister Labs’ episodes of GEAR:30 podcast.