DESIGNING WOMEN

Outdoor companies begin responding to female clients

It's a safe bet that whoever designed the first sternum strap on a backpack was not a woman. Any woman who has ever attempted to close a taut strap across the middle of her chest will testify that the majority of outdoor gear just doesn't take female anatomy into consideration.

Whether it's the length of a backpack that fails to accommodate women's hips, ski bindings based on how a man's knee distributes force, or clothing that simply doesn't fit, historically, outdoor companies have forgotten that women go outside, too. But that's all starting to change.

Increasingly, national and international outdoors companies …