Most people who know me would say that I’m pretty into gear and tinkering with stuff. Sometimes I do reviews of things that I’ve purchased. I do this so that I have an account of the pros & cons of things I use. I don’t know that it’s helpful for other people, but I think it helps me to really think critically about whether or not I’ve evaluated something very well. I’ve got reviews on knives, titanium spoons, whistles, and a compass!

For me, the exercise of writing a review is a good check & balance to see whether or not I really used a piece of gear enough to have an opinion about it. I also think that when you write about your experiences you get a chance to think about the overall context of something. I feel that’s a great way to evaluate things. For instance, the Therm-A-Rest Compressible Pillow started out awesome because I used it on my flights for work and for the trip to Maine, but when it came to a backpacking pillow it had a couple of issues. I want all of the contexts around the use of the gear to be available.

Also, I use the interwebs for all kinds of research before I buy something. That really is one of the neatest things about the World Wide Webs, after all. I try to not only tell you my opinion about the stuff I’ve purchased, but I try to give you context and application so that there are good relative data points for you to consider.

I use a lot of the work I have on this website on other sites, like Amazon, CampSaver, Yelp, etc. because I don’t want to recreate the content. I will piecemeal my own thoughts together so that people who visit those places, which get a lot more traffic than my humble site, get my take on stuff. So whether you want the soundbite off a big retail site or the down & dirty paragraphs; if I bought the gear you’ll read about it here!