Cool Gear You Shouldn’t Miss From ICAST

These goodies didn’t win an ICAST New Product Showcase award, but we think they’re much too cool to go overlooked.

Gerber, the maker of fine knives for the military and outdoorsmen, just kicked out a comprehensive line-up of tools for the adventurous angler. There are a round dozen durable and multi-functional items in the series. Highlights include the Magnipliers, which look tough as nails; the clever Processor Take-A-Part Shears, which work cohesively and as independent tools; and a Gerber natural, the Controller Fillet Knife System.

Power-Pole made a splash with accessories meant for powerboats – the Vision marine digital dash looks amazing – but kayakers weren’t left out. The ‘stop-it steady’ company introduced a pair of new Power-Pole Ultra-lite Spikes meant to be used with the Micro Anchor or separately – the HollowCore technology sticks come with push handles and a 6-foot loop of braided dock line.

13 Fishing cooked up a doozy, the striking Concept Z baitcasting reel. Get this – it has a sum total of ZERO ball bearings. Something dubbed CZB Technology bearings replaces them. We don’t have the details, but the buzz on these things at the On Water Demo was impossible to miss. Definitely worth a second look when more details are available.

If you get hungry while on the water and hanker for some hot grub, Omeals has you covered. Each meal pouch comes with an entrée, a heat pack, and utensils. Just add water – any water, which shouldn’t be tough if you’re fishing – and in three minutes you’ll have a piping hot snack, no stove required. Sounds like just the thing for a nourishing meal on the water.

This Mustad hard bait replacement treble hook kit comes in a waterproof case. Now, few of us plan to swap hooks when we’re on the water, but it sure looks nice as a back-up for when your hot bait needs a field replacement.

Daiwa goes tactical with a new tackle backpack. Just the thing for moving your key tackle from the kayak, to the bank or a bass boat or vice-versa, it is built around a three-box stack system accessible from the outside. Fish savvy features include a sunglass holder, plier holder, a leader wheel, Velcro attachment area and a ‘booger box.’

Have you heard the news? Hobie’s exceptional H-Crate tackle management system has a new little brother. The H-Crate Jr. includes all of the original’s go-tos, such as a quartet of rod holders, lengths of H-Rail around the top, and pre-drilled grid walls that accept additional accessories.

Here’s something you can’t buy, but it’s as cool as anything we encountered at ICAST. Kayak fishing friendly apparel manufacturer AFTCO donated a cool $42,000 to conservation organizations such as the Coastal Conservation Association. The company, known for it’s active role in fisheries conservation throughout its history, made the donation by scaling back its ICAST booth.