This may be a cycling site, but for many who live in the mountains and near rivers & streams, trout fishing is a way of life. As a result, DeFeet and Handup have come up with some eye-catching new clothes based on their favorite rainbows as a way of raising funds to keep those waterways clean.
You can sport a colorful look and support river cleanup efforts with the brands’ Rainbow Trout line. The distinct collection includes a few key pieces to add to your kit and channels the proceeds to A Clean Wilson Creek Wilderness Conservation.
The nonprofit group helps keep western North Carolina’s Wilson Creek — DeFeet’s home playground — clean. Its mascot? The brightly patterned rainbow trout.
The celebratory collection covers DeFeet’s Aireator cycling sock, the compressive Levitator Lite compression sock, and the comfort-focused All Day.
Its unDLite tank top and Askott neck gaiter also get the speckled pattern. Handup gloves, with “Keep It Clean” printed on the palms, complete the loadout.
The companies plan to donate 20% of Rainbow Trout’s profits to the conservation group. Donations will fund volunteers and its paid River Patrol team to clean up trash and vandalism in the watershed. The cleanup fund also provides conservation outreach programs to limit future littering and vandalism.
Recently, A Clean Wilson Creek helped promote “Wild and Scenic,” a documentary that focuses on the river and the conservationists who banded together to form the group that now protects it.
Wild & Scenic (2021) Trailer from Appstate-Univ Doc Film Services on Vimeo.
The Rainbow Trout collection, including the Handup gloves, is available now on DeFeet’s website.
