Technical And Tactical: The Future of the Outdoor Gear and Clothing Market

Recently, I was catching up with an old friend and we were talking about the overlap, in the outdoor gear and clothing category, between technical and tactical – and how the two categories share so many commonalities, including the intended user – that it makes sense that they become more and more woven together.

Anyway, I remembered writing about it a few years back – summing the whole thing up – and I wanted to share my perception:

“It seems that with each changing season, the worlds of outdoor products and tactical gear overlap more and more. Not only has this amalgamation increased the amount of Cordura and earth tones used in common clothing and gear, but it has also introduced a new approach to outdoor activities – one that is more zeroed in on preparedness. It can be argued that this type of clothing and gear, when coupled with a focused approach, has allowed people to go further and further into the outdoors. It can also be argued that this unification was a long time coming, and I for one am all about it. This hybrid approach is interesting because it brings two different schools of thought together, and yet somehow it just works. It’s a little easy and outdoorsy, and a little tactical and militaristic, but it works.”

It was the opening paragraph on a bit I wrote on Prometheus Design Werx for Gear Institute . And I wrote it – the whole article – because I was super-impressed how PDW hit the market right as a consorted focus on preparedness and survivalism had peaked and was started to wane. Time, love, and tenderness all went into the launch and execution of that brand, and their timing was perfect.

Flash forward three years, and though I believe there is some stale air in the outdoor industry, in terms of new and wow things, I believe that, industry-wide, we’re seeing that the melding of technical and tactical – or sport and military – or true grit and outdoorsy – is really a THING. And it might just be the next big thing. In fact, we might be in the middle of the next big thing and just don’t realize it.. Hmm.

Well, either way, I dig the overlap. I think it’s pretty wild to be able mix up the color palette and introduce Earth tones into the mainstream. I think we’re benefiting from the introduction of technology that has been used by the military for years – even if it is something as small and simple as adding a red light option to your headlamp; or in anti-microbial clothing – which has been around the outdoor industry for a while, but stems from the military.

Maybe it’s always been happening, but it’s just more noticeable now? Not sure.

I guess the flip-side to all of this would be to see how much the outdoor gear and clothing world has impacted the tactical and military segments?

Anybody humping packs and ammo out in the desert in Chaco sandals?

Haha. Maybe?
Anyway.

Our Fear Of Being Unplugged and Disconnected – A (Very Real) Social Disease

Whenever I look through one of my multiple boxes and bags of gear that I have accumulated over the years, I am bound to pass by myriad charging cables and rechargeable battery packs – solar or conventional – and, as I do, I feel a wave of elation come over me.

Like many of you, I fear that randomly my gadgets will run out of power – and, to some extent, being without a cell or WiFi signal to keep me tethered to society and social media.

The latter, not as much – but the former is a big one; like “whoa”.

Like feeling phantom vibrations in your pocket or on your wrist from your cell phone and ever-tethering smart watch, we have become conditioned to rely on things that didn’t exist until most of us were adults or teenagers. I mean, we’ve always had electronics in our lives, but I don’t remember stockpiling batteries. Sure, we had a drawer in the kitchen with a few – but nothing like this; nothing like a bin full of wires and a collection of battery packs.

The wires are easy to explain: everything that you buy – that requires power – comes with a wire; which is generally a duplicate of a wire we already have in our collection.

But the rechargeable battery packs? Well, I guess it could be the same reason we always upgrade our phones, televisions, etc. – we are a society who has to have the best of the best?

But those are just excuses.

In all reality – it’s fear that keeps us hanging on to these widgets. The fear that we will find ourselves in some situation where we need to rely on each and every one of these items. Because, you know, a Lightning cable will most likely fail when it senses impending doom. Or a battery pack, that has proved reliable thus far, will just shit the bed – in the middle of this apocalypse that is, seemingly, always on the horizon – but never landing on our front steps.

I liken the whole thing to the Ketchup packets my grandmother used to horde due to a fear of running out of food – triggered by living through two world-wars.

But this fear seems a little slapdash – the fear that my cellphone won’t turn on. The fear that, because I am so conditioned, my mom won’t be able to text me when the ice giants finally take over the planet and steal our souls.

Anyway..

When compared to dying of starvation it all seems a little silly.
(Yes, a Ketchup packet can keep you alive).

Listen to Music… All the time.. Even when you’re sleeping.

Music has always played a large roll in my life. There isn’t a certain type of music I lean towards, but I’m currently drenching myself in Americana. Actually, it’s probably always in this realm, but I don’t mind branching out and listening to a little bit of everything.

Bigger than what I’m listening to – is what it does for me. There are key moments in my life that are associated with key songs. Even more – there are albums that define full seasons I’ve lived through. And I don’t think I’m alone – in fact, I know I’m not. Music has shaped my personality.

As a kid I would visit my aunt and uncle at their place in Andover, VT. You would enter the house and, ever so softly, there would be music. This music would play all day, be turned off at night, and then turned back on when my aunt or uncle woke up the next morning.

I’ve adopted something of the same routine, over the years, but go as far as to keep it playing throughout the night. Sometimes it’s white noise, going undistinguishable across the wooden floor boards, up the wall, and out the window. Other times, it’s the center piece and we all sit around it and feed from it’s wonderful bounty.

I find it sets my tone, helps me work better, and keeps me from getting lonely when my girls aren’t around.

Anyway. I wanted to share a couple of playlists that I would encourage you to follow – if you have Spotify.

1. Overland Harvest (Revisited)

This is a collection of music – most of which kept my head on straight during my divorce – that became my culture and personality. It fit me well at the time, and I think it still does. It’s great for long drives out on crisp nights – roads, trails, wherever your vehicle will take you.

2. Wanderlust Of My Soul

This one is my whole life, in song. Literally, a collection of songs that either trigger memories, or make new ones as I hear them. This is my opus. This is what needs to be played by my family, after I check out, so people who didn’t know me well – get to know me well.

Music is culture and it is what has allowed civilization to grow and expand. It’s the stories once told by a campfire and shared by different cultures to break the ice in their first meetings. It’s therapeutic and it’s medicinal.

We all need music.

It’s like sharing part of my soul with all of you…

The Outside Magazine Article

Being that this blog is new, I haven’t really given you all the information about me – because, well, I like to be coy.

So here’s the scoop: I am a knifemaker. After years of study – under my former father in law; bladesmith – John Zembko of Zemknives – I started a knife company called “Ragged Mountain Knife Works” with my best friend, The Wolf (Really, that’s his name).

RMKW is in a state of hibernation right now, but we’re working on the next batch of knives, eternally. I’ll go deeper into that realm another time, eternally…

I am also an overly-technical, deep-dive reviewer of knives, tools, and all sorts of things related to hiking, camping, overlanding, and living my life in the outdoors.

So all of this a natural fit – an extension of my soul – as I find myself at the peak of my existence when out wandering.

I digress.

Over the years, I’ve made a bit of a name for myself, through various channels – all in an attempt to keep myself writing, exploring, and entertained. It all worked, believe me – life is good. I am happy. The creativity within me seems endless if not ethereal, and I keep finding more ways to keep on sharing my thoughts and ideas.

I digress, again.

In July, an email came across the wire from Joe Jackson at Outside Magazine. He’d been given my name and some cocktail napkin credentials from a mutual friend in the industry (I love you, Tal-ee), and he wanted to ping me about knife care.

We got on the phone, talked shop for a bit – had a few laughs – and then it was a bit silent for about a month. Then comes another email, followed by another phone call, a bit more of the laughs, and then the stage was set.

Never didn’t I think the whole article was an interview with just me:
https://www.outsideonline.com/2401794/edc-pocket-knife-care-maintenance

To say I am humbled would be an understatement. So, believe me when I tell you, I am going to get a little bit of traction out of this one.

“Itchy Scars”

For every flower I ever picked you –
Who’s pedals have all turned to rust
From our back and forth tears –

I still love you.

For every lie you sang to the wind –
For everyone who believed you –
For all the fences I was forced to mend –
For everyone else in our bed –

I forgive you.

And for our children
Who don’t know a world without you –
Who don’t know the truth about you –
Who don’t know what you’ve done –

I am forever grateful.

But you are broken
And I can’t fix you.
You are lost
And left your life behind you.

And breaking me won’t fix you.
For I cannot be broken.
Our memories are holding me together.
Our children are helping me
put one foot in front of another.

I am not your hobby.
I am covered in itchy scars.

Robert Hunter, RIP

Today, Robert Hunter passed away…

Lyricist for the Grateful Dead, and so much more – Hunter penned some of the stuff that became our memorable moments in life. His words carried through the tunes and gave them the spirit they needed to sit up on the shelf for generations; without need of support. He was so prolific, that what he was able to create didn’t need explanation. Which is kind of wild, seeing how out there the Dead were known to get – how out there those lyrics were known to get…⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

And now he’s gone.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

I saw Hunter years ago. He played somewhere that I can’t right now remember. But I do remember how he came on to the stage quietly, there was a burst of energy and enlightenment, and then he left the stage, as he came, about an hour later.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

Not knowing him, I get the feeling that, that is what just happened. That, that scenario sums up Robert Hunter – as well as I know him. That he came into the world quietly – had a burst – and left quietly. How amazing. How beautiful. How lyrical.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

So goodbye, a friend I never knew – who helped see me through the good times and the bad times, along with his brother in song, Jerry Garcia. May your next life be as much of an adventure as this one.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

Thank you.

“Hi” to Jerry when you see him down the road.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

#roberthunter #rip #greatfuldead #family #wordshaman