Average Conservationist - Get More People Outdoors with Seth Spears

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You're listening to the Average Conservationist Podcast brought to you by GoHunt and in partner with 2% for Conservation. Sign up today to become an insider at gohunt.com. 2% for Conservation's mission is to create an alliance of businesses and individuals that ensure the future of hunting and angling by committing their time and dollars to fish and wildlife. 1% of your time plus 1% of your money equals 2% for Conservation. 2% helps businesses and people pair with conservation causes to support things that fit what they care about. Whether you're into fishing, hunting, or just getting outdoors, 2% can help you not only start giving back to wildlife, but get certified for it. Getting 2% certified means you've made the same commitments as popular brands like Sitka, First Light, Stone Glacier, and Seek Outside in giving at least 1% of your time and dollars back to wildlife. But it's not just for outdoor companies. Breweries, contractors, coffee roasters, and even piano repair companies have earned 2% certification and stand out as leaders in their community for doing so. Businesses that are committed to conservation deserve your business when you shop. Learn more about 2% for Conservation at fishandwildlife.org. That's fishandwildlife.org. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to another episode of the Average Conservationist Podcast, and I'm your host, Marcus Ewing. Uh, today on the podcast, I am joined by Seth Spears, and Seth is the founder and CEO of 2% certified ReWild Gear. Uh, and ReWild Gear makes minimalistic outdoor, uh, gear, uh, for, you know, really whether you're a hunter, an angler, a backpacker, just a general outdoor enthusiast. Um, they make some, some top-notch quality gear, um, that they believe is Meant to, um, you know, keep you in the outdoors and give you the basic tools. Uh, the— their gear gives you— they're the basic tools, um, you know, to help you get outdoors, to help shorten, uh, that, or, you know, lessen that barrier of entry. Uh, and, you know, the gear is high quality so that you're, uh, as Seth says, uh, during the episode, buy once, cry once. Uh, so that way it's not something that you're constantly having to replace. Uh, and then is also hopefully something that can be passed down from generation to generation. Um, we, we talk about, you know, really how Seth and his, uh, 3 brothers that own and run the company, uh, were introduced to the outdoors. Uh, you know, what the outdoors really means to them as a family. Uh, some of the cool experiences that Seth has been able to share not only with his sons, uh, but with his father as well, uh, at deer camp, uh, down there in Kentucky. Uh, where they spend a lot of their time, uh, recreating. Uh, we also get to really talk about kind of the, the outdoors and the natural world as a whole, and a lot of the changes, uh, that we're seeing, um, whether it's through, uh, urban sprawl and what that's doing to the wildlife population in certain areas, um, some of the, uh, genetics, uh, the, the altering of genetics with maybe like certain fruits and vegetables that are being done, and just kind of this totality of an effect. That us as humans are, are having on the outdoors and on wildlife and how we can really help minimize that as much as possible and try to keep our wild places wild. Um, really cool episode. Seth offers a lot of insight into a lot of the things that are kind of plaguing, I guess you could say, um, you know, the outdoors. And, you know, gives you, you know, kind of asks some questions, uh, some big picture questions that, you know, really Seth and I didn't have answers for, but certainly make you think and hopefully want to, you know, investigate things on your own and see what it is that you can do to try to help kind of minimize our footprint and really keep our wild places wild. So episode 61, Seth Spears. Then see, today's episode is actually brought to you by Wild Rivers Coffee Co. And Marshall and Sammy, the owners of Wild Rivers Coffee, are super passionate about a few things. Specifically coffee and the outdoors. And that's why at Wild Rivers Coffee, they're roasting in small batches so that they can ensure that their coffee arrives at its peak freshness. Like many of the people on this podcast, Wild Rivers is also a proud member and partner of 2% for Conservation, and they believe in preserving the wild places and wild things that bring all of us so much joy. That's why everything that you purchase from Wild Rivers Coffee, a portion of the proceeds is being donated back to conservation organizations that are near and dear to them. Conservation organizations like Trout Unlimited, Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, Ducks Unlimited, and Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. So head over to wildriverscoffeeco.com where you can order your fresh roasted beans. They have some really cool handmade mugs, a ton of sweet merchandise. And right now, actually through the end of the summer, if you buy their bundle coffee, which is actually one of each one of their, their blends, you're gonna save 10% off your order. No coupon code or anything necessary. But let's say you just want to order, you know, some merchandise and maybe just a bag of coffee. Uh, when you're at checkout, use the promo code, and this is all caps, FISH_WIL्डलIFE, and you're going to save 10% off your order there as well. So again, head over to wildriverscoffeeco.com and use the promo code all caps FISH_WIL्डलIFE and save at checkout. All right, joining me today on the podcast, I have the founder and CEO of 2% certified Rewild Gear, Seth Spears. Seth, how are you, man?

I am great, Marcus. How about you?

I'm doing well. Yeah, no, it's, uh, I know I'd originally reached out to David and his schedule didn't work, so he, he put me in touch with you and, uh, yeah, we were able to make this happen. So I'm excited to learn more about the company.

Yeah, totally. Glad to be here. This will be fun.

Yeah. So first, if you've had a chance to listen to any of the podcasts or, or, well, either way, I kind of like to establish a little bit of a baseline. In terms of how really, you know, yourself, and I know you run the company with your, with 3 of your other brothers. So how was it that you guys were kind of introduced to the outdoors? So going all the way back.

Yeah. And honestly, it's just been in our blood since we were born. My parents, none of them, they were not really super into the outdoors, which is funny. However, all of us siblings— there's actually 6 siblings in the family, and I'm the oldest. And then the other, the 3 brothers that are involved with the company along with me, Josh, Adam, and David. We also have a younger brother, Joe, and a sister who's right underneath me, Maria. We all just love being outside, love being in the outdoors— camping, backpacking, splunking, rock climbing, hunting, you name it. It's— I don't know, we just grew up wanting to be out outside all the time. In the summer, we all swam competitively and loved being around the water. We'd go hiking whenever we could. So, it was just something from a very early age that we just really, really enjoyed.

Yeah. I think the— I was talking to another guest about this in terms of how we grew up as kids in terms of the things that we did where it was almost like, especially if you grew up around woods or around the outdoors at all, I mean, just kind of in close proximity, It was almost like your parents would say, hey, just go play. Go play in the woods. Do what you want to do, and then just make sure you're coming back for dinner. So, whether they gave you a watch to wear or you just guessed at what time it was and what time you should be coming home, or your parents were out driving around looking for you to corral you in the car, it's funny how times have changed in that regard.

Yeah. And, I wouldn't say that my parents were like that. My mother could be a little bit strict and controlling and wanted to know where we were at all times. However, if we were in the backyard playing, it was fine. And, we kind of grew up in the suburbs and there wasn't a whole lot of woods around there. However, anytime there was a tree, we would be climbing it. We had this big silver maple in the backyard and you couldn't keep me out of that damn thing. I would be at the very top freaking everybody out. You're gonna die. Oh my gosh, what are you doing climbing so high? And so, you know, I've always had an affinity just for trees and nature in that regard. I think one of the things that really helped build that love for the outdoors though, and just being in nature— well, 2 things. For myself personally, when I was a kid, probably in kindergarten or first grade, maybe second grade. So we were all homeschooled.

Okay.

And so there was a book that my mother had used for kind of like the natural sciences. It was about being a naturalist, and it showed like insects and bugs and animals and identifying like flora and fauna and things like that. And I just remember from a very early age being fascinated by it and just kind of the natural world. And so I think that helped kind of inspire my own love, and I would say for my siblings as well. I don't know if that had the same impact on them. But then when, let's see, when I think I was 10, 10 or 11, my parents bought 7 acres of woods, probably about 5 miles from our house.

Okay.

And so it was, we called it the baby farm. And it was just this little patch of land, of woods that backed onto all this other land and across from like a cave. And so we would go over there and just hike and we would go camping and just, you know, try to get back to our Aboriginal roots, if you will. I mean, we would play paintball in those woods, and one of my brothers nearly took my eye out one time with a paintball. But then, yeah, we would go spelunking in the cave across the street and everything. And, you know, we weren't really supposed to, but, you know, we would sneak in sometimes.

Yeah, you're kids, right?

Yeah, exactly. And so I think those 2 things were very instrumental, and just spending time in the great outdoors and in nature and our natural environment. And there was just something that it appealed to us and it just really called and said, get out there and be one with nature.

Yeah. So at what point did you kind of— well, I don't want to say transition, but did you start, you know, really getting into the hunting side of things or the angling side of things?

Yeah. Um, as a kid, we fished every now and then. Um, there was like some lakes and streams and things that like when my dad would take us sometimes, like we were all in Cub Scouts and And I think some of my siblings were in Boy Scouts. I wasn't. So we did, did that some. And so we would go to like friends' houses and go fishing. And as we got older, probably in high school and maybe in college, we did more fishing. But it wasn't until I think I was out of college when I started hunting, and then I kind of brought everyone else into that fold.

Okay.

My dad, he grew up in very rural Kentucky. He was in Vietnam, and he grew up They would hunt squirrels and, you know, rabbits and things like that.

Small game, yeah.

I really remember, like, he really didn't hunt much after that. And so we never really grew up hunting that much. For me, I mean, I was always fascinated by tools, by weapons, knives, guns, you know, quality gear, things like that. And so I think out of college, and I was married, and I've just You know, there was something that like, I want to go hunt deer.

Yeah.

So I had a friend that had some land. And so he's like, yeah, come over here, you can hunt here. And actually the first deer that I took was on his property. And then fast forward a few years and I bought 50 acres. It was like my dream property. This is back in Kentucky. And I, you know, I'm like, I'm gonna hunt it. You know, you can hike, there's a stream on it, we can fish, all that stuff. And so, it was— we spent so much time there. And so, we started doing an annual deer camp. So, my background is I'm in the digital marketing space. So, I used to run a boutique digital marketing agency. And so, I had a client who specialized in— he was a builder and specialized in log frame and log home and timber frame construction. And so, I'm like, I need a cabin. Why don't we trade out a little bit of work?

Yeah.

So, I had him build this really rustic Appalachian-style cabin on the property, completely off-grid, no electricity, no running water, like a 20 by 16 footprint.

Okay.

And so, really small, a couple lofts upstairs, wood-burning stove. So, we built a cabin on it. And so, we've been having an annual deer camp every year. So, me and all my brothers and my dad and our sons and stuff, we come out there. And, that's just really been instrumental in our love of of hunting and, and, uh, being in nature in the fall.

Yeah, deer camp especially. I mean, you were in Kentucky, you know, more in the south, but in the Midwest, man, that deer camp is, is kind of a sacred thing, right? With— it's almost like, you know, this rite of passage for, you know, for your kids, or, you know, when you're, you know, maybe in those formidable years, you know, the, the early teens, and your dad brings you along and you got your grandpa, your uncles. It sounds like— excuse me— exactly what you were just saying. that kind of really shapes, you know, how you kind of view the outdoors, you know, the hunting world in general, and that connection that you're able to get, especially like you said, you know, no electricity, no running water. You know, you guys, whatever you bring in is what you have, and, and that's what you live off of for, you know, 3, 4 days, you know, long weekend, whatever the case is that you guys are going to be there for.

Yeah, oh, 100%. And so some of the traditions that we've incorporated when we first started doing this, and that probably would have been like 2015, I think, We— so, you know the movie Escanaba in the Moonlight?

Sure.

Yeah. So that's become one of our traditions. We all watch it like a few days before deer camp starts, or sometimes we'll bring a computer out there and just download it and watch it there. And it's like the tradition that we have. We have to watch that movie and then we're quoting it the whole time. You know, we'll, we'll bring a bunch of Jägermeister and we'll drink that while sitting around the fire at night and stuff like that. And, you know, it's the, it's the liquor of the hunter.

Yeah.

Yeah. And so we've just got like different traditions that we've developed over the years. Yeah, we pack in all of our water and our food and everything. And, you know, we've got a couple outhouses out there. And so it's just so much fun. And I know I can speak for everyone on this. We literally look forward to this every day of the year, like the night before the opening of deer camp that Friday evening. And usually in Kentucky anyway, it's usually the 2nd Saturday in November. Okay, opening day. Sometimes it's the first Saturday, just depending on how the season falls. But that night before, it's like Christmas Eve. I mean, it is. You are so excited, and just the anticipation of being out there and hunting and spending time with family and friends, and it's just an amazing experience. I love it.

Yeah, and I would imagine, because we spoke before we started recording here, that, you know, you and at least the 3 brothers— the 3 brothers that are involved in the business are all spread out throughout the country. So I'd imagine that this is, you know, especially the way the world has been in the past, you know, year and a half, that it's probably a, just a good opportunity to catch up with each other if you, you know, if it's been months since you've been able to see each other, you know, I don't know what the frequency is there.

Yeah.

But yeah, just, yeah, you're right. There's like this air about going and then looking forward to it because, you know, we do the same thing. I do the same thing, um, like with deer camp on my wife's side of the family. Where, I mean, we're not roughing it quite like you guys are, uh, because they have like a, like a, a cabin, a second home kind of, that, uh, has been in their family for a really long time. So it's a lot of, uh, like my father-in-law and his brothers, uh, my brothers, my brother-in-laws, uh, and yeah, I mean, some of the guys don't even hunt. They just like to be there for the camaraderie, you know, stay up late playing some poker, you know, drinking some beer and stuff like that. And then, yeah, I mean, it's, uh, it's the It's funny because as the younger generation there with myself and my brothers, uh, my brother-in-laws, is that we're always the first ones in bed. And, and, and all the, the older guys are always the ones staying up late and drinking and giving us a hard time that we're, we're going to bed too early and this and that. But then again, we're the ones that are, you know, actually getting up and hunting in the morning too.

Yeah, yeah, no, for sure. And, and typically everyone is hunting opening morning. Um, not always. So my son, he, uh, He's almost 15. And so last year, like, he's like, I'm not hunting opening morning, I'm sleeping in. So, you know, teenagers, they don't want to sleep in and stuff like that. But I mean, he got his first deer last year though.

Awesome.

So, and this is one of the best experiences of my life as a parent, as a father, just because it was, you know, the afternoon of— I guess it would have been Saturday afternoon or Sunday, I don't remember. And so he was in a stand and I was in like this smaller, this old beater stand about 20 yards away. And, you know, we hear Kind of hear a deer pitter-pattering from the backside coming around, and it's this little buck. And I'm like, Tony, psst, psst. And he sees it, and he lines up and takes a shot from about 40 yards and hit him in the heart. It ran about, you know, 10 yards.

Yeah, not too far.

Keeled over and knocked him down. I mean, you know, it was a small buck, little 4-pointer or something. And, you know, not one that I would prefer that is taken because we do a lot of quality deer management. and try to let them grow big and get big horns. And I mean, we're all about the meat, but we also, if we're gonna shoot a buck, want them big.

Yeah.

So, but it was one of those things where I was just so proud of him. As a father, you're just like so excited to see your son finally, you know, bring home the meat.

Yeah, that's a really cool thing to be able to share. I mean, I recall, you know, my first year with my dad and just like, you know, At the time you don't realize it, but, you know, in hindsight and you look back on the moment, you know, especially as I've gotten older and my dad has since passed, but like, just like how proud they are. Like, you kind of—

Yeah.

You see it in kind of like, like I said, in hindsight, you know, just, they're just kind of beaming. They're just kind of taking a step back and just watching you like appreciate, you know, what just happened and like seeing how proud you are. And it's just, it's It's, it's one of those things, it's really hard to describe if you haven't been in that situation.

100%. And to kind of bring it full circle there, so 2 years ago, um, I helped my dad get his first deer. Okay. So, so because he had been coming out for a couple years, and then I put him in a stand that was really good, and I was— I had the— our— my 2 sons like in a big box blind, kind of not too far but, um, away. And so he was able to take his first, uh, little buck as well. So it was like, you know, I my dad never raised us hunting, and so I didn't get to experience that with him getting my, my first one. But it was kind of cool just being on the other side and watching him get his first deer. And so that was really cool as well.

Yeah, no, that's, that's an awesome— excuse me— an awesome scenario anytime that, yeah, you're, you're part of that, that first harvest, whether it's, yeah, with your son or in this case with your dad. I mean, being able to share that experience kind of, you know, with both generations there is really, is really something cool and something that You know, you can never take away from you guys, and you guys will always have that experience with you.

Yeah, for sure. It's— and those are the bonding family moments. And, you know, that's one of the things with our company, with Rewild Gear, that we're trying to do, because our mission is to help people, men specifically, to get back into nature, into the great outdoors, and spend time with family and friends. Because we have lost a lot of that wild side that, you know, we're kind of born with. It's my belief, you know, as men, when we're younger, we have this fire in the belly. We have this wildness about us that we want to go and conquer the world and we can do anything. And then we kind of get domesticated and kind of, you know, shot down because based on school, bills, work, bosses, just, you know, family, everything, just the normal domestication that happens. Not that it's all a bad thing at all. There's lots of good there too. But we lose a little bit of our soul, I think. And the best way to find that is to get back out into nature, into the wilderness, and kind of And find that again, rediscover it, so that when we spend time with family and friends in nature and disconnecting from, you know, our phones and technology and things that are dinging all the time, when we come back into quote-unquote real life, we become better husbands and fathers and business owners and employees and all of those things, because then we've been able to take a step back and focus on what's really important, and then we can be more intentional about everything that we do.

Yeah, the— it does bring about this primal side of you that I think, yeah, for, you know, even a lot of hunters who are only able to hunt, you know, maybe, maybe it's deer camp, right? Maybe it's, you know, the one weekend a year where they get together, uh, or maybe it's, or, you know, maybe they're lucky enough to be able to, to hunt, you know, regularly throughout, you know, in this case deer season. But yeah, it does bring— it kind of unearths this primal side of you when you get into a tree stand. Especially, you know, like during archery season when everything is much closer quarters and you're just— you're one and you're in their element, you know, that you're in their house, so to speak.

Yeah.

And yeah, it, uh, yeah, it, it heightens your senses. You're hyper aware of everything, uh, you know, from just, you know, adjusting in your tree stand just to get a little bit more comfortable, you know, the little creaks and cracks that come with that.

Yeah.

You know, it's amazing The things that you see and that you hear when you just slow down, you just stop, and you just are just aware, and you're just paying attention to everything around you instead of your phone or what's going on in the other room in the house or anything like that.

Yeah, exactly. That's so true because there's so many distractions in today's world. There's so many things that are vying for our attention. And so, it's really easy to just get so scattered and spread that we lose a lot of that intentionality in our day-to-day lives. And, I really feel that disconnecting and getting back to very much our more primitive and primal roots, that's how we can reconnect with our soul, with who we are, and really focus in on the important things. And then, we can be much more intentional in our day-to-day lives.

Yeah, absolutely. That is a great way to look at it and a great approach as well. So, I want to shift gears a little bit here and kind of transition into talking about Rewild Gear.

Yeah.

Because first, tell me, tell me exactly what Rewild Gear is.

So Rewild Gear is an outdoor equipment company where we are— we design and build and sell high-quality, minimalistic outdoor equipment to help people spend more time in the great outdoors. So myself and my brothers as well have the philosophy of quality over quantity. You know, you buy once, you cry once. Better, better to buy the best and have it last forever than buy crap and, you know, have to rebuy it multiple times, you know. So part of the concept of creating this company, and I've owned multiple businesses over the years, online e-commerce and digital marketing and all kinds of things like that, and a lot like in kind of the natural health space and things like that. However, whenever we, my brothers and myself, we would be camping, hiking, you know, at deer camp or wherever, just sitting around the campfire drinking coffee or bourbon or Jäger or whatever, you know, we'd be talking about gear. What do you have? What kind of knife do you have on you? What do you like about it? What do you don't? How many knives do you have with you? And we'd just be comparing and just saying what we liked and what we didn't like. And the conversation would inevitably happen was, okay, if you were going to design your own, what would it look like? What kind of steel? What would the features be? How would it differ from what you already have? And so these conversations just happened organically, and knives were kind of the first one one, but then it happened with all the different types of gear that you have when you're in, in the outdoors, whether that's a backpack or a water filter or, you know, whatever the case may be. And so we had always talked about, well, we should start our own knife company, you know, we should, we should make our own gear and sell it. But the timing was never right. You know, it's expensive, it's a lot of work.

Yeah.

And so over the years, I've been pretty successful in business. Primarily focusing on natural health, which is, which is great, nothing wrong with that, but not necessarily my passion. And so I had planned to start this company and really scratch my own itch of creating really high-quality minimalistic equipment just for myself, for my, for my brothers, for my family, anyone else who might be interested as well, but really to scratch our own itch. But plan to do that in a few years down the road because I've was launching a personal care line of products a couple years ago. So fast forward to last year and COVID happens, and realizing life is short, we don't know what's going to happen, and the only thing people can do right now is go spend time outdoors. So you know what, there's no time like the present to do what you're passionate about and move the needle forward. So I really started digging in on What would that take to launch, to get the products that we want? So we started making a roadmap of the different products that we wanted to launch with. We already had the domain, already kind of had the idea for the branding and what we wanted to do, wanted to call it Rewild Gear. And so a knife is the first product that, that we're launching. And so the primary products that we have, we have a knife, we have a fire starter, we have a backpacking grill, we have a utensil. We're working on a, like, a backpacking stove, some cookware, all very minimalistic and high-quality equipment that everybody needs. So like our knife is made with S35VN steel. So probably all of the steel goes to our knife. Fire starter, everybody needs fire when they're in the great outdoors.

Right.

All the other equipment is, we're making it with titanium because it's super strong. And super lightweight. And so it appeals to so many different people, whether you're a backpacker, a hunter, you know, just a general camper, survivalist, bushcrafter, whatever. So that's kind of been our focus and where we're headed with all of it. And so we officially incorporated last year and have been in the design phase and getting all of our branding and everything there. And the products are launching in August. So coming up very soon, within the next month.

Awesome. Well, that's exciting. Now, yeah, I think I just saw a post that you guys had on Instagram. Um, gosh, I don't think it was too long ago, probably within the last week or even, you know, less, less time than that. But, uh, the utensil, the, the fork and spoon, uh, yeah, that I thought looked super intriguing, especially— I mean, yeah, it's lightweight, it serves multiple purposes, and like you said, it's made out of titanium, so it's going to be tough and durable and last. And that's one of the things that I think that people oftentimes overlook is a utensil, right? It's something so basic and simple, but, you know, I think like if you're on like a backcountry hunt, you know, out west or something like that, and, and you're living out of your pack, you know, you've brought in whether it's, you know, your own freeze-dried meals or you brought in a bunch of the prepackaged freeze-dried, they just have to add water to. I mean, you need to stir it, you need to eat it with something, you know. You're not gonna be out there like a caveman just shoveling into your mouth with a hand, with your hand. Yeah.

Yeah, for sure. So that's our Trailside Utensil. And so this is a completely new design. You know, most people, when they think of like a backpacking utensil or something, they think a spork.

Yeah.

Who actually likes using a spork? And how well does it work?

Yeah.

No one. And it doesn't. We've all tried dozens of them and they just don't work. So I found a really cool design that I liked a lot, and it had a fork on one end and a spoon on the other. And I'm like, okay, that's a really cool design. I didn't— the quality of it definitely left something to be desired. I'm like, well, we could do a better job of this. And so then we started thinking about it. How could we improve upon it? What would we do differently? Well, let's use titanium for one. Let's make sure that it's really strong and it's really lightweight. And what if we enabled it so that it would fold down? So because then it's going to reduce the length and it'll fit into your, your cookware, your mess kit.

Yeah.

And so part of that, when it folds down, has a little screw so that it can pivot, and it also has a bottle opener there as well if you ever need that. So it's a completely new design on just a basic utensil. So it's got a fork on one end and a spoon on the other, and also a bottle opener, and it packs really, really small and is very lightweight and minimalistic. So we're super excited about that.

Yeah. So how is it that you guys had kind of determined, at least in the initial offering of products, You know, which specific ones? I mean, I know you said, you know, you talked about the knife and that would seem to be, you know, one that you guys all kind of agreed upon, like, hey, let's, let's see what we can do for that. So, but as far as like the other products that you just mentioned, you know, how did you land on those ones?

Yeah, that was kind of, it was sort of an organic process. I'm kind of a high vision thinker where I kind of start really up here and kind of look down the big strategy and say, what do we need? What are the, what are the bare minimums that someone needs to get into the outdoors? So part of this, it goes back to our philosophy of encouraging more people to get outside, especially those who have not— they're maybe they're not hunters, they're not campers, but we want to encourage people that they want to spend time outdoors, but they don't know where to start. So let's, let's make really high-quality equipment and just the bare essentials that they would need. So the knife, the knife was the first tool. It is the thing that everybody needs because you can make additional tools once you have the knife, right? You know, you can whittle things down, you could carve a spoon, you can start fire. There's so many things you can do with it. So the knife was a no-brainer and is the thing that we're most passionate about. The name of the knife is the Gasper 4, and that has a lot of meaning to, to us. The Gasper River is this river that flows behind my property back in Kentucky.

Okay.

And my brothers and I, we grew up kayaking and canoeing and fishing on this river, and then it backs on to where we hunt. And so we decided let's call it the Gasper. And then 4, because there's 4 brothers that are involved with the company, and it has a 4-inch blade. So it just made a whole lot of sense.

Yeah, that's a super cool name. I like that.

A lot of meaning. Thanks. Um, yeah, so the utensil, you know, once everybody needs a utensil to eat, and whether you're, you're hunting and you harvest some meat, you're fishing, you, you catch some fish, um, yeah, sure, you can use your hands, but it makes it a lot easier. So that made sense. A fire starter. Fire changed civilization. Everybody needs fire. And so having a ferro rod, you know, ferro rods are a dime a dozen. Everybody's got one. And so everything that we try to do, we want to differentiate. How can we separate ourselves from the competition?

Yeah.

For us, it's like, okay, everybody's typically using like a hardwood, like beech or oak or whatever for the handle. Well, that's not sustainable. So let's use bamboo. Super sustainable, you know. Let's change the handle design so it's more ergonomic, so it fits in the hand better, it's easier to hold, you can use it longer. You know, the rods themselves are pretty standard. You know, we tested a lot of different ones just to see what would work best as far as most sparks, and works really good. And I feel like we really nailed that. So the knife and the fire starter and the utensil, those all seem very basic. And then we also have— we're working on a bellows as well.

Oh, cool.

So like a collapsible bellows, because that really helps with the firemaking process.

Yeah.

And this is one where anytime you start a business, there's going to be concessions you have to make.

Right.

And this is one of those where we cannot find a manufacturer that either in the US or abroad who can make it in titanium. So unfortunately, we have to use stainless steel for that, which is unfortunate. But even that, we're innovating as far as having a mouthpiece and a lanyard hole and just the sizing and the way that works.

Okay, so what does the design process look like? I mean, are you guys essentially coming up with like a concept, whether it's like a sketch, or if someone, you know, between the 4 of you, one of you has, you know, some type of design experience, and then you're, you know, passing it off to, you know, someone who may be able to like manufacture a prototype and then just kind of refining it from there? What does that whole process look like?

Yeah, it's been— it depends on the product really. So we all had— we had ideas about the products we wanted to go with and what was out there on the market already, companies that we liked but we knew we could improve upon. So we kind of came up with our own ideas. But then there's a big difference between you have an idea in your head, you're kind of writing it out or sketching it out on paper, to getting it into CAD and passing that off to a manufacturer.

Right.

So I've hired an industrial designer who— that's his specialty, and so he has handled the majority of that process. Okay.

But—

and he's had some great ideas, things that we hadn't thought about as well. But for the most part, it's based on our own ideas, our own concepts, and just discussing and testing and trying out different gear to see what works and how could it be improved upon.

Yeah.

An example of this where we already had an idea, so our grill, our Granite grill that's coming out. So, this is a 17, 18-inch-long backpacking grill that has vertical stays. So, you just put it over some— about 18 inches long by 7 inches wide. And so, you set it over coals or rocks or whatever, and then you can grill your meat or fish or anything on top of it. And, you know, there's a couple out there that do a pretty good job, lightweight, made of titanium. The problem that we saw was that, okay, it's really easy for things to fall through if they're not big. So unless you have big chunks of meat or fish, if you're grilling vegetables or anything or smaller chunks, they're gonna fall through. So our designer, he's like, well, what if we did some cross pieces there, like on one end? So you have like more surface area where it's not gonna fall through. Like, oh, it's a great idea. So we're looking at it and like, okay, well, instead of putting it on the end, what if we do it in the middle? Because that's going to increase the tensile strength of the grill as well. So instead of just having the vertical, um, the vertical pieces, now we have cross pieces as well. So it gives a little more surface area for cooking there, and it's still super lightweight because it's made of titanium. It'll fit in a backpack, it can go anywhere, doesn't have legs or anything. So, you know, get some rocks or some wood or whatever and put it there. And so it works great. So that was kind of one of those organic processes.

Yeah.

Where we, uh, just kind of iterated and improved upon it.

Nice. So where did the name Rewild Gear come from? I feel like you've kind of alluded to it throughout, you know, some of your explanations, but why don't you go ahead and tell us?

Yeah, so part of the— so to rewild, it means to get back to a more natural state, or to, to change something that was at one time a very primitive environment or state and has become kind of domesticated or urbanized, and to kind of revert it back there. And that's kind of our philosophy as far as for getting people into nature and to the great outdoors to rewild themselves, to reconnect with that wild primal state that we were born with.

Yeah.

And so, just we tossed around a lot of different names and ideas and like, huh, that concept is great. And, you know, the rewilding concept, I mean, the most famous example is the reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone and how it changed, which I'm sure you're familiar with.

Yep.

It changed, you know, the entire ecosystem there. And so, it just made sense to use that name. And so, we incorporated a wolf into our logo just realizing, hey, that was the first kind of rewilding concept in the modern age of the way we think about it. And so, let's run with that. And so, our goal with it is to help people to rewild themselves and nature as well. And that's where the conservation side comes into play.

Yeah. So, let's talk about the, the conservation side of things, because you had mentioned, uh, obviously, or again before we started recording, about, you know, each brother and kind of their specific role. Um, and then obviously one of the reasons we're able to hop on this podcast is because Rewild Gear is 2% certified. So let's kind of first start there. So tell me, how was it that you guys kind of first learned about 2%?

Uh, that's a great question. Um, when we decided to launch the company, I realized that we wanted to make a difference both for people and for the natural environment, because unless we take care of the Earth, of Mother Nature, we're screwed. And this goes back to my prior experience kind of in the natural health space and realizing that we are polluting and destroying, destroying our world. There's so many toxins and everything. We're ruining our soil and our waterways. I'm like, okay, if we're gonna do this, we have to do it for the right reasons. And not just— I mean, we want to scratch our own itch as far as creating high-quality gear, and we want to help people as far as better relationships and things like that, but we also want to make the world a better place. And so just realizing that there's so many avenues that you can go to do that. And by— when you get people into nature, they can learn and appreciate it, and then they're more likely to go back and help take care of it and not litter, not pollute, you know, not throw crap into the waterway, into our waterways and things like that. And so just focusing on all of, all of those aspects is just instrumental to who we are and our ethos as a company and as people.

Yeah. Now, would you say like the— I guess let's call it the conservation mindset, right? And, and kind of, you know, one of the, the goals of, of Rewild Gear. I mean, was that something that you think was instilled at a young age, or is it, you know, as you got older, you got more involved in the outdoors and you kind of understood the bigger picture, is when things kind of really started to click and you really started to understand, you know, I guess the effect that we as, as humans have on the natural Yeah, um, that's a great question, and I think it's a little of both.

So from an early age, just the way we were raised, uh, was that you take care of things, you know. You— we want to be good stewards of the land, of, of everything that we've been given, you know. This is the only world, only Earth we've got, so we got to take care of it.

Right.

Um, I've had conversations with friends of where they grew up just, you know, their parents sitting on the banks of a river fishing, they're eating a candy bar or whatever, and they're throwing it in the water. Oh, it'll just— it'll go somewhere, whatever.

Yeah.

And, I'm like, I don't get that. I was never raised like that. You just don't do that. But, as I've gotten older and got really deep into kind of the natural health space and just realizing the amount of how bad our soil is because of all the Roundup and just the pollution and the big ag and everything that has happened to our soil and how it's depleting the amount of nutrients Uh, in our soil is so much less now. And so, our food supply is so much worse. Um, our water quality is terrible. All the, the nanoparticles and toxins that are in there from all the single-use plastic and the birth control that has ended up in the water supply and the amount of soy and everything that is increasing estrogen in all of us, which is reducing testosterone, which is, uh, you know, it's just this big circle of things that is affecting everything in our health and everything that we do and our outlook and our mental state. So it's something that we all have to be cognizant of and just, you know, be more intentional about what we do. And whether that is recycling, whether that's reusing or reducing what we're doing. Simple things like everyone should have a compost bin, you know, in their backyard. You know, make a little garden for yourself and grow some of your own food and not just go to the store where it's probably not organic and it's not as healthy and the nutrient level is so much less.

Yeah, I feel like that The, you know, teaching, especially like the younger generation, you know, teaching them about conservation kind of as a whole can be a bit difficult. Like if you're trying to just, you know, if, if it's a young kid, you know, whether they're 5, 10, 12 years old, explaining to them, you know, this is what conservation is and this is why we should do this. As opposed, I think it's almost a better route to kind of show them, you know, and teach them kind of just the basic principles of it.

Yeah.

Then that's something that I feel like, especially at that age, I mean, kids are a sponge when they're young, and it's amazing the things that they're retaining when you don't even think they're paying attention, right?

Yes.

If your kid sees you throw a wrapper on the ground or a bottle out the window in your truck or something like that, then they're going to think that that's okay. But if they're seeing you throw stuff away, recycling, saying just little things like, oh, that's— whether— let's talk about food waste. It's crazy, yep. Eat that. Finish what you have on your plate before you decide to get more and you're not going to eat that. It's amazing the things that if you can just kind of show them that they're going to start to mimic because we all know that kids tend to mimic their parents or grandparents or whoever they're spending a lot of their time with. So if they're seeing a good example set forth, they're much more likely to follow suit. to reciprocate those acts as opposed to saying, hey, don't throw that away because that's not what we do. It's like, yeah, okay, well, that's what he said. I'm just going to do what I want to do anyway.

100%. I agree. That's something I've tried to do with my own children is just set a good example for them and not wasting, finishing the food that's on your plate and, okay, well, if you're not going to eat it now, then you'll eat it later before you get dessert or something. You know, don't waste. I think that's really important, and it's the little things.

Mm-hmm.

It's because when we look at the problems in our world today, when it comes to the environment and everything surrounding all of that, we can't make a difference as much as we'd like, you know, because you've got massive companies that are causing a lot of the pollution and harming our soil based on their agricultural practices and things like that. But we can on a micro level. And the more we do this and it builds up a groundswell, the more we can affect— you know, I think it was Tip O'Neill that said all politics is local. And so I don't think of this as politics at all, but it's like any influence that we have, it's gonna be local, right?

Mm-hmm.

So within our own families, with our circle of influence, with our friends, and just setting a good example like you mentioned. And that will hopefully help create a change, a groundswell that will get bigger and bigger, and then there'll be enough demand that it will Yeah, and that's—

I mean, it's funny that you kind of mentioned it or kind of positioned it that way, because that's one of the— I say that at the end of every podcast where I say, conservation starts with you, right?

Yes.

I mean, you have to make those, whether it's small changes in your life, big changes in your life, to do the right thing. Whatever the case is, it starts at home. It starts at the basement level of things, and you just try to— Yeah, like you said, create that groundswell and hope that people that you're spending your time with are noticing and want to do the same things because they realize the positive impact that what you're doing has for the betterment of everything.

Yeah. Oh, for sure. As humans, I think we're very selfish at times. Part of that, we live in such a microwave culture and society. We want everything right now and we're not thinking long-term. We just want it instantaneously. Whether that's food or whatever, we want it right now and we don't want to wait long-term or think about the long-term consequences. That's why people pollute, why we would rather have something right now as opposed to waiting and the quality might be better if we wait. As an example, think about historically and anthropologically, you're in Michigan.

Mm-hmm.

You couldn't have strawberries in December, right?

Right.

They won't grow. We have them now. So, but were we actually designed to eat those? I mean, in December, if you grow up in Michigan or somewhere in the north, probably not. Someone who's like in Florida, then yes, but probably— so it's very different. So we want everything right now, but in order to keep those and ship them, you got to add a preservative of some type. You have to do something, and you're losing some nutrient value.

Yeah, you have to alter the state of it.

Exactly. It's not its natural state. And, part of that selfishness that we've seen over the years as far as the change in just within the geography and the flora and the fauna, plants and animals where, I mean, think about how we wiped out almost the majority of the bison. They go from, what, 30 to 80 million bison that used to roam in the Midwest and now there's, what, less than 100,000 now, I think, something like that. So, I'm trying to bring this back.

Yeah, it's a very small number, right?

Yeah. It's crazy. And, that had a drastic impact on the soil quality, which affected everything, our food supply and so many other things. One of the things that we always try to focus on as a company and just as individuals, I don't even want to say a company because we've been doing this for years even before we started ReWild Gear. So, when we're at my property in Kentucky, it's been owned by multiple people over the years, there's trash out there.

Yeah.

People have littered. And, whether that is just a plastic bottle or a beer can Or even like metal appliances.

Mm-hmm.

Whenever we're out there, we walk around and we clean up, and then we, you know, put it in the trash and take it to the dump or try to recycle it or whatever we can. I'm in Florida. I go for a walk on the beach. I bring a plastic bag and pick up trash. And it's not even people who are trying to litter. It's just they're there on vacation or with their kids, and people are leaving things. And, you know, these single-use plastics that end up in the water and that are affecting all of us. And so it's just taking personal responsibility and looking out for the long term, both for ourselves Yeah.

And you made a good point there talking about how everyone kind of wants everything, whatever it is that they want, they want it right now, right? Like everyone's thinking extremely short-term. Um, and that's, that's kind of the, the hard thing for some people to grasp about conservation is because conservation is like the ultimate long game, right? I mean, because you're doing things and I've heard plenty of stories about people who have participated in conservation projects and they've been And helping restore a population of something that, like, let's say I had a gentleman on who was, it may have been Jared actually from 2%, was telling a story about some people in Wisconsin who were helping bring back the elk habitat there. Something that is going to be years and years in the making. And these individuals who are volunteering their time are never going to see the fruits of their labor. Right? They're never going to have a chance to hunt elk in Wisconsin. They're never, you know, going to be able to, you know, really participate. But they're, they're looking at the long, the long game. They're looking at, you know, maybe 2 or 3 generations from now, and maybe, you know, their great-grandkids are going to be able to go out and at least have a chance to hunt elk in Wisconsin, right? Yeah. So to, to, to try to explain to someone, you know, why you're doing something for, you know, in the name of conservation, and why Yeah. You know, approaching something in, in a specific way can, can be a bit difficult, especially for the younger generation to grasp because they haven't, you know, seen the effects of the previous 30 years and all the damage that has been done. And, you know, where a population maybe once was and where it's at now. Like, you know, like turkeys is a great example. You know, like everyone sees turkeys right now and they're just like, oh yeah, turkeys are everywhere. Well, that, you know, that wasn't always the case, you know, and the same, you know, the same with bison. I mean, you know, whitetail deer at one point was, you know, severely low in numbers, and now it's like, you know, especially here in Michigan and this time of year with fawns and everything like that, and just kind of really starting to venture out. I mean, you see, you know, roadkill all the time in Michigan, right?

Yeah.

And people just— with whitetail specifically, they just, uh, yeah, deer everywhere, deer everywhere. Well, you know, that hasn't always been the case. There's been a lot of, you know, hard work and, you know, boots on the ground and science Scientific studies and things like that to, to help get the population to where it's, where it's at now.

Yeah, no, that's, that's a great point. Um, and that's something that I've wrestled with as well, as far as— because it goes in cycles and in different areas where, uh, historically where there would have been a range of elk or whitetail or turkey or bison or whatever the case may be. And so we try— or wolves, you know, we try to bring some of these back But at the same time, the landscape isn't the same, you know?

Right.

And so maybe it's a good thing or maybe it's a bad thing that we're bringing some of these back. And I don't have an answer. Like, I wanna think it's a good thing, but then there's part of me is like, okay, are they gonna be able to survive? What is the carrying capacity? Because the thing that when it comes to conservation that we look at, especially when it comes to public lands and things like that, which is hugely important, and I'm a big supporter of that, the thing that I see that seems to be infringing upon this is urban sprawl because we just keep pushing out and pushing out. And even like the mission of Rewild, of what we're trying to do to get more people in the great outdoors, that can be very inspirational. And so people often, and especially after last year where people want to get away from the big cities and spend more time outdoors.

Yeah.

But what does that do? That's great on a philosophical level, and it's— their life is probably becoming better because of it. They're getting in touch with nature and spending more time with family. However, maybe they're building a house that's further out. More people are doing that. Things are spreading further and further, which is decreasing the animal habitat. And so there are, you know, it's a cause and effect relationship, and there's unintended consequences here.

Yeah.

And I don't know where the solution there is.

Yeah, that's, that's a great question that I don't know that anyone has the answer to that, right? It's because it's— you're seeing You know, growth in the population, and like you said, we can't add land. So where's everyone gonna go, right? What are we gonna do?

Yeah.

And if we've learned one thing in, like you just said, the past year and a half, it's that when people are, you know, forced to stay inside or to social distance, I mean, people— I mean, look at all the sporting goods companies, the outdoor companies, who couldn't keep, you know, any gear in stock for, you know, for the past, you know, 18 months because, you know, there was all this, this influx of people who either wanted to, to get into the outdoors, who wanted to reconnect with the outdoors, who just— or, you know, if you had your, you know, an avid outdoorsman or outdoorswoman who just wanted to spend more time, well, now they're buying more gear and things like that. And there just became this, this shortage of any type of gear to To allow you to get outside. I mean, I've had people on who make backpacking meals, right? And they can't keep things in stock. I mean, they're saying— I had someone on, or someone that I spoke to the other day, that'll be a future episode, who makes backpacking meals, and they're like, anything that's coming off our production line for the next 6 weeks is already spoken for.

Wow.

I mean, that's a crazy— I mean, it's a good problem to have for them. But it also is, you know, it's just this, this same problem that you're seeing kind of across the landscape of outdoors.

Yeah, no, that's really true. Um, something else I'd like to add within there, um, going back to kind of that selfishness, is just going to affect that in a positive way. Um, over the years that we've seen where people will bring in plants and animals to an area where they never were before and how that's The example of this that I like to use is kudzu. Are you familiar with the kudzu vine?

I'm not. Okay.

So, kudzu, K-U-D-Z-U, it was originally a small plant, a small vine from, I think, Japan. And so, I don't know, 50 years ago or whatever, someone brought it over. And, in Japan, it grows small. It's not a big thing. Well, in the South, it takes over and destroys Everything. So if you're in Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, it— you'll be driving on the interstate and it just takes over and chokes out everything, all the trees, all the plants. Great snake habitat, which might not be a good thing necessarily. Another example of that is all the anacondas in South Florida. So people had them as pets and then they got too big, and so they let them go into the Everglades. Guess what? They're growing massive in the Everglades. We're talking 20 feet. And so they are eating all the other animals. There's practically no deer left, all the rabbits, everything, because they don't have any natural predators.

Right.

And so when we go and, you know, we don't think about those unintended consequences that happen, and because nature isn't in a vacuum, and so when those happen, it's affecting things in so many different ways that we have no idea about. And I don't know how you fix that either.

Yeah, it— I mean, Just looking at that in a broad spectrum, it's people a lot smarter than me that need to hopefully help come up with some type of solution. You're right. I don't know that there is just because the amount of people that are doing the research or that can hopefully positively affect change is far less than the people actually causing the change.

Yeah. The American chestnut is another great example of that. We had so many American chestnut trees, you know, for centuries. And then the early— late 1800s, early 1900s, when there was a Japanese chestnut— I think it was Japanese chestnut tree— that was brought over. And so it had some type of bacteria that affected all the American chestnut trees, and it practically destroyed all of them. And so they're— I've been reading up on this a little bit, and so they're trying to genetically modify the chestnut so that it takes It takes a very small percentage of the Japanese chestnut combined with the American chestnut tree, and so it's resistant to that blight or that fungus, whatever it was that killed it. And, but we're not sure if that'll work or not. And, what are the effects of that? Because if you're genetically modifying an organism, which in a natural state that would not happen. I mean, you're going to see cross-pollination and things like that, but that's kind of a natural and organic way of something happen, but not artificially doing it.

Right.

I don't know. I think sometimes we, we worship science too much. Like, just because we can do it, that doesn't mean that we should, right? Because we don't know, and that's scary.

Yeah, yeah. The unknown especially— yeah, is the unknown can be scary, uh, especially when you put it in terms like that, when you start, you know, making hybrids of things that normally— or the likelihood of, of that hybrid coming to fruition in wild is, is very low. Right. And then you, you produce it at a mass scale. And yeah, there's, there's no way to, to know what the, the consequences or what the outcome is gonna be.

Yes, totally. And I know some countries and states that are doing a lot more, uh, to make sure that, uh, types of, whether that's fruits and vegetables or, uh, plants or things are not being brought in there where it could affect that. Hawaii is a good example of that. So I went on a hunt in Hawaii a few years ago and they're like, you can't bring in any type of, uh, plants or fruit or meat or anything like that. Because they're worried about contaminating theirs and having such a negative effect, and for good reason.

Yeah, I remember my wife and I went on our honeymoon to Hawaii. I mean, this is 8, 9 years ago, something like that. I should know that off the top of my head. But yeah, when you're in the plane and you're in your final descent there, you have to fill out this little card that says, are you bringing anything in like fruits and vegetables, just like you said? Yeah, that was something I'm like, I was not really sure at the time why I was having to do that, but it makes total sense as you learn more about conservation and things like that.

Yeah. Another example of that, so Arizona used to be known as a state that there were really no allergies. On the East Coast, a lot of people have allergies. There's the seasonality, the pollen, when everything's blooming and all that. But Arizona is so dry and arid that you could go there and anybody that was normally affected by allergies on the East Coast, didn't happen there. But that's changed. Part of the reason, so many people have moved there and they brought their plants with them that it's affecting and changing. Pollen coming in, no longer the same. And it's, you know, we just get into these ruts of like, okay, this is what I want, this is what I'm gonna do, but not thinking about what are the consequences of those actions.

Mm-hmm.

What are the unintended consequences of those actions, and how might they affect not just me, but everyone else? And I don't think it's an intentional thing, or maybe even being that selfish. It's just like we don't think that far ahead because we're so focused on, you know, our phones and social media and what we're trying to do, just, you know, living life or providing for our family and things like that, that we lose, lose sight of the bigger picture things and how that affects everything.

Yeah. So now with Rewild Gear and being 2% certified, what are some of the organizations that you guys are working with or giving back to?

Yep. So we're doing a lot of local things right now. We're— and my brother Joshua is handling the conservation side of the company. We are digging into a lot of different companies that we want to support because there's so many things, there's so many aspects and avenues that we can go. And so, because our mission isn't— if we were just a hunting company focusing on public lands and things like that, it would make sense. If we were a fishing company, waterways. If we were more like a food company focusing on our soil and things like that. But, we see a need in all of this. So, we're trying to keep it local as much as possible and working with local co-ops and people that are doing things in the local area to focus on maybe that That's composting and setting up like a community compost area, cleaning up waterways. Like, so back in Kentucky, we're, we're trying to work with an organization that focuses on, on doing that. So, so there's several areas that we are, and we're trying to find other organizations that we can align ourselves with much more officially that kind of fits our values and our ethos, and that is not— doesn't get too political about everything and just—

Yeah.

Because I mean, to me it's like once you get into that realm, and yeah, they can do some good, but then it's like the dollars that you're putting in, it's going to lobbyists and other things as opposed to actually making a difference.

Yeah, and that's one of the nice things about supporting local organizations is that— and that's something that I've realized with my company and as I've, you know, started to make, you know, donations and started to become, you know, more involved with, with Conservation organizations is I like to keep the money as local as possible that I'm donating because there's one you can get a much better feel for where the money is going. You know, I mean, and don't get me wrong, like these these big national organizations like you know RMEF, BHA are great organizations for what they're doing and what their mission is. But if you donate to them, you know, maybe that's just going to overhead, right? Maybe that's if there's some salaried employees, it's going to to fund that. But with these local organizations, you can, you can talk to someone and say, you know, hey, what are you working on? You know, what are some of the projects you have going on? Okay, I want to make a donation, but I want it to go, you know, I want it to be earmarked for this particular thing.

Yes.

And that way you know what the money is being spent on. I mean, these, again, these big organizations, I mean, they need that money to, to help further their mission, and I understand that. But for, for me personally, and one thing that I, I really like to do is find out exactly, you know, where that money is going to be going so that it's, it's, it's being put to good use. You know, it's the reason why I want to help, you know, whether it's like the Michigan chapter of the National Deer Association or, you know, uh, the local branch of the National Wildlife Federation, something like that. Yeah, you know, those are just a couple that I've worked with here in Michigan. Um, but, you know, there— and that's where I'm spending all of my time for the most part recreating, is, is here in the state of Michigan, right? So I want to make sure that That if I'm taking from the land here in Michigan and I'm spending my time here, that I'm doing all that I can to, to give back to those same resources that I'm taking from.

Yeah, totally agree. That's so important. And just trying to find those companies or those organizations that are doing the best job and that you can really align yourself with and that kind of aligns with your values and the goals you're trying to accomplish. So important.

Yeah. A few more things here, Seth, before I let you go. Do you guys have any kind of projects or anything like that that you're kind of working on or that you guys are excited about within the conservation world or with some other businesses or organizations that you're looking to work with?

Yeah, not yet. That is something that we are digging into because since we have not launched our products yet, the focus has been just getting to launch and actually bringing in some cash as opposed to just all out there right now. Since, you know, we are a startup and we're so new. Um, so, so no, not yet. But if you have any suggestions there, I'm definitely all ears because that is something that we really want to focus more of our efforts on for sure.

Well, I think you guys are definitely, uh, taking the right first step and looking locally, you know, and trying to partner with those organizations because, you know, if there's areas, you know, like Kentucky where, you know, you got a lot of you guys cut your teeth in the outdoors and where you're spending your deer camp and things like that. I mean, yeah, that's, that's where you want your money to go. So I think you guys are definitely on the right track there.

Yeah, totally. Thank you. It's, yeah, it's a process for sure. And, you know, just doing the due diligence to make sure that, uh, that the organizations that we want to work with, that they're where the money's going and they're actually doing what they say they are.

Yeah. Yeah. So one more thing here, Seth, before I let you go, and I always kind of like to ask my guests this is, you know, we're, we're kind of right on the cusp of You know, hunting season, let's call it, with the fall, especially, you know, some of the western states. You know, I think you can start hunting, you know, antelope, you know, mid-August, something like that. So do you have any like big trips or anything like that that you're excited for this year?

Yeah, so we are, as a company, we are gonna be doing a big backpacking trip in Montana in about 3 weeks, 4 weeks, the end of August. My buddy Jordan Reasoner is He runs an organization. He leads guys in the great outdoors and takes them on backpack extended backcountry backpacking trips called the Wilderness Event. And so usually like business owners and people that they want to disconnect from normal everyday life and reconnect with nature. So we're, we're doing that as kind of a company retreat.

Nice.

And just kind of as a kickoff. So that's coming up. And then I put in for several states out west for elk and, um, uh, elk and mule deer and some things like that in multiple states and was not selected. So, um, you know, it's the way it goes. Yeah, so I'm looking at potentially doing like an over-the-counter hunt in Colorado for elk, uh, but nothing is set in stone yet.

Yeah, well, no, that's, uh, that's exciting. I mean, that, that extended backpacking trip, um, yeah, it's, it's kind of goes back to what you touched on earlier Um, with, you know, the name of the company and just getting more people outdoors and disconnecting and kind of recharging the batteries. So no, that sounds like a pretty cool trip. And to have it, you know, be guided and with someone who's, you know, familiar with, with the terrain and with the area, um, to be able to kind of, you know, walk you— oh, not maybe not walk you through it, but just, you know, make the experience that much more enjoyable, you know, when you have someone who's a bit more familiar with, uh, with the landscape. No, that sounds like an awesome trip.

Yeah, really excited about that. And originally we were supposed to do it back in May, and then it got snowed out. They had one of those freak snowstorms where it was like waist deep. I'm like, uh, we're just gonna be camping in, you know, 3 feet of snow for a week. Um, that's not gonna be that much fun right now since we're not hunting or anything. It's just, you know, backpacking. So this is gonna be, um, this will be more like a high country fly fishing trip as well as backpacking. Perfect. Yeah, it's gonna No, that's—

anytime you can, you can get out on the water with a fly rod, man, I mean, that's, that's— oh yeah, that's a great time. I was actually able, uh, when I was, uh, corresponding with you over the last couple days, uh, I was, uh, up in northern Michigan, uh, with some family. We have a place up there and yeah, actually doing some fly fishing myself. So yeah.

Oh, nice.

Yeah, I'm jealous that you're getting out west to be able to do some of that.

Yeah, really excited. And the fun thing is we're gonna get to test out all of our gear and get some great pictures and everything for social media and for the website and all of that. stuff. So especially the grill, like our Granite Grill. I'm really excited to use that, you know, grilling up some trout over it. So that'll be, that'll be fun.

Yeah, put this stuff through the paces. No, that'll be really cool.

Totally. Yeah.

Well, hey Seth, this was, uh, awesome, man. I really enjoyed talking to you and hearing obviously more about your journey into the outdoors, you know, Rewild Gear, what you guys have going, you know, the outlook, uh, that you guys have for conservation in the natural world. It was awesome and I really enjoyed it, man.

Thank you. Me too. It's been a lot of fun.

Yeah, well, take care of yourself, and, uh, we will look for those products to launch here, uh, next month.

Sounds good. Thanks, Marcus.

Take care. All right, well, there you have it. Uh, big thank you to Seth for taking some time to join the podcast this week. I'd also like to thank the partners of the podcast, Go Hunt and Stone Glacier, as well as Wild Rivers Coffee Co. Uh, please be sure to support the brands that support this podcast and help make it possible. I would also like to thank 2% for Conservation And if you're interested in learning more about 2% for Conservation, you can visit their website fishandwildlife.org. And over there you can see all the certified brands, including ReWild Gear, that have committed to conservation that you should support when you shop. I also encourage you guys to give 2% a follow on social media where they're going to post only positive conservation-driven content, so you will enjoy that in your feeds. So again, if you'd like to learn more about 2% for Conservation, you can visit their website fishandwildlife.org or check them out on social media. Thanks for tuning in this week, everyone. Hope you enjoyed the episode. Remember, stay safe out there and conservation starts with you.

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