Ep 21: Brothers Catch-up & Product Updates

Welcome to the Rewild Gear Podcast. Modern life, society, and responsibilities have domesticated us, but now it's time to rediscover your adventurous side. Whether that's camping, hiking, hunting, fishing, or just spending time in the great outdoors, this is the podcast for you. Join us as we get back to the wilderness and rewild.

Welcome to the Adventure Made Podcast sponsored by Rewild Gear.

I'm your host, Seth Spears, and I am here today with our other 3 company founders and brothers, Josh Spears, Adam Spears, and David Spears. We have not done a group podcast with all of us on— well, actually ever, um, and with more than 2 of us together in a while, several months. So we thought it would be a good time to hop on and give some product updates, company updates, and talk about our upcoming backpacking trip and just kind of shoot the shit and see what goes. So guys, unmute yourself and, uh, welcome to the show.

I think that worked. I'm unmuted.

Here we go.

There we go.

Cool.

Good to be here.

Yeah, so it's been a while since we've, uh, all recorded. Um, David, I guess— well, no, actually, Josh, you and I did episode— what episode was that, like 5? Episode 4?

Something like that. It was towards the beginning. Yeah.

Yeah, and before that, David, you and I did it like end of season deer camp or end of season archery at the cabin. Adam, you, David, and I did during deer camp.

Deer camp.

Yeah. So yeah, so let's get into some updates. You know, we've been working really hard on getting these products rolled out. We've had some delays manufacturing. delays and things like that due to supply chain and all kinds of fun stuff and actually, you know, perfecting designs and everything. But the Gasper 4 knife, which is our signature product, which we are super excited about— we've all been playing around with the prototypes for a couple of months now, and the knives themselves are in production and should be out here in August. So we're gearing up for pre-sales really soon. By the time this goes live, we may have those ready to go, so I'm not sure yet. Just, uh, all depending on a few things. So anybody want to say anything about the knife?

Love it.

So many things.

Um, yeah, so whenever I get a knife, I like to test it out, typically doing the item that you're going to be doing with it the most. So if it's a bushcraft knife or outdoor knife, that type of thing, take it out there and utilize it, kind of abuse it a little bit, test it, see how it works. Um, And then something that I've done with this one is taking it to the kitchen to just get daily use, you know, where you're cutting all sorts of stuff. Now the prototype that we have, it's using 52100 ball bearing steel, so which is a high carbon steel, so it definitely stains, patinas, you know, all that good stuff. We were just talking about this before the show, how just the character that it's created on the, on the blade. But as far as usability Fantastic. It's so comfortable in the hand, cuts really, really well. Um, and yeah, can't wait to get it, um, the actual knife with the S35 steel, which is, uh, stainless. So that'll be super— oh yeah, superb getting that back. So yeah, I'm a big fan so far.

Adam, let's hear your thoughts.

Yeah, no, I, uh, I have not put as much use into it, I don't think, as Josh has in regards— I don't have it in the kitchen yet. But I am about to transition into there. But no, I've definitely spent some time around campfires whittling, messing around with it, and definitely by far the most comfortable. And there's no hot spots with it. You don't get tired after using it. It's very sharp, keeps an edge. And this is just, you know, some cheap steel compared to what we're about to put on it.

This is the prototype, and we've already made a few tweaks to improve just based on Our own experience and testing and feedback from others.

Yeah, but the size of it, the blade length, and I'm one for a large knife typically. And this is definitely smaller than what I'm used to. But considering— yeah, yeah, exactly. But considering, actually, I like it a lot. I've already fallen in love with it.

You do like goofy-ass knives.

David, how are you? Yeah, man, it's, uh, it's been going everywhere with me. So any, any outdoor excursion, I've had it with me. Basically, it's gone to the river, the lake, uh, camping, hiking, backyard, anywhere. And I'm just— I love it. It's— I think it's everything that I'd hoped for in an all-around outdoor knife, which has been really cool to see just months and years of talking about it, planning, tweaking, uh, design after design after reiteration really come together. And it's just cool getting to use it and have it in your hand. And, um, yeah, excited about sharing it with everyone. And I just— I think people are really gonna love it. Um, and even if they don't, Heck, man, it's a great knife. I think we're all gonna love it and use it for years to come. So yeah, yeah, I would say the one big surprise— one, not even really big surprise, just the manufacturing side of it, man, it can, it can drive you up a wall. Just, you can have timelines and then they'll get pushed back and hiccups, and it just, it, um, all the way frustrating at times. But as far as the knife goes, man, I'm, uh, I'm super stoked to have the actual production line released soon.

So I went to Blade Show back in June and showed it to a lot of people and got a lot of amazing feedback. All very, very positive feedback, and I don't think I have shown the blade to anyone and received any type of negative feedback on it. It's all just been incredibly positive, both in the size, the dimensions, the materials, all the little features that we've added into it. And just to touch on those a little bit that we've been very specific about: the shape of the blade with the belly so that it's good for skinning, but it's just a great all-around camping, backpacking, hunting knife. The jimping where we've tweaked that so that it's really comfortable. It's great to choke up on for doing fine work. The ferro rod notch on the spine so you can start a fire with a ferro rod. The glass breaker pommel and the nutcracker on the end, so for more bushcrafting tasks and survival type things. The TerraTuff handle material, which we have contoured and made it very ergonomic so that it— you can use it much longer and harder without getting hot spots or blisters. And we've just, based on our own testing, we tweaked that a little bit too, just to make sure that it works really, really well. And so I'm really excited about this and have great expectations for it. And I even had a conversation with our manufacturer And they asked, they're like, Seth, so is this like a thing? Like, you know, you plan to be selling these for a long time or just want to make a few and sell them and then call it a day? I'm like, no, this is the thing. They're like, well, good, because if not, then we would want to take this design and sell it under our own brand because it's that good of a design. So really excited about this and can't wait to get it in everyone's hands because it's just a beautiful, well-performing knife. So really excited about it.

Seth, what, what have you found to be the biggest hurdle with starting a new company like this from scratch?

Oh, man, I'm getting the interview questions now.

This is interviewing the interviewer.

Time to turn the tables around a little bit.

So my background is more on the marketing side. And some of the branding and the strategy surrounding that. But I've been so intimately involved in the logistics, whether that's the supply chain and finding sourcing of materials and industrial designers, and working directly with some of those different aspects that I have had no experience in the past— finding a fulfillment center, all the back and forth between the product design and everything. That's all been— I don't want to say hard, but stretching, just because it's a new skill set that I've never had to do before. So that's been really interesting to learn. Somewhat enjoyable, not all the time, but just, you know, kind of pushing myself to learn some of those new skills. So yeah. And I would say the frustrating part is when you're dealing with delays from the manufacturers or you get prototypes in, it's like, this isn't the design we sent over. The handle is wrong, like on, like on the ferro rods and just things like that. Some of the hats where they got the coloring wrong or something like that. So, you know, just the quality control and attention to detail that can be lacking, that's been frustrating.

Yeah. How much— so going through this process, how much more does it make you appreciate companies that are doing a really, really good job with their products?

That's a great question. When you say doing a really good job, you mean the quality of the product?

Right.

Yeah.

Yeah. Quality.

Yeah, a lot more so, especially when you're doing it at scale, because it's that much harder. When you're working with smaller boutique manufacturers, well, I don't even want to say boutique manufacturers, but for lack of a better term, I'll say that. Just smaller ones, because there's a little bit more handholding and you have a more direct relationship as a opposed to a much bigger manufacturing facility where you're just a number and the quality can go down further. So when you're trying to do that at scale, say, take like a big knife manufacturer, let's say Benchmade or Kershaw or whoever.

Sure.

And they're just manufacturing so many that the quality control, I would expect to be a lot harder. Although, I mean, it could be easier because they have so many systems in place and so many templates for everything that it might make it a little bit easier there as well. Because I mean, there's— you can economies of scale, and sometimes that can be better or worse, just depending.

Yeah, yeah, no, that makes sense. Yeah, it's always fascinating because even just from my standpoint, looking at all the little details, I don't think you ever really stop to, to walk yourself through the process from an idea to a live product, live company, and all these things that go into it. But even just seeing, like you mentioned, the attention to, attention to detail, quality control, some of those things that, like, for me, that's been kind of surprising just seeing, you know, you give up specific directions to the manufacturer and then it comes back and you go back and forth, go through that process and that can take a while. So I, I agree with what—

Even when, you know, so like Adam's been working on creating this fire starting kit, like these, what we're tentatively calling Fire Biscuits. I don't know that that's going to be the end name or that that design is even what we're going to use. But like just seeing that process and kind of like the testing, like in-house and just, you know, Adam, maybe you can speak to that a little bit more as far as how that process has been.

Yeah, well, I would say it is, it's kind of trial and error, especially something, I mean, play with fire and matches and lighting different things off. But when you start trying to figure out like the science behind some of it and see what's going to work well and not be too flammable and be just enough flammable and still burn for it. You just have to try with all— and you can buy other people's stuff and see what they have, but you don't necessarily know what they're using. So again, it's see how theirs respond and then try and mix and match and see what'll work.

And because we're also trying to make our own that is unique and works better and, you know, separates us from other companies and the things that they're doing because we're trying to go high-end and minimalistic and just the essentials too.

Yeah, yeah, exactly. We're trying to put the best out there. It's going to take more time to figure out the logistics out and get the right ingredients for sure.

David, anything to add there?

So something I've found myself doing just as a result of this whole project is looking at the little things, whether it be packaging of something I get in Oh yeah. Whether it be a marketing piece that someone puts out, just stuff that you don't think about before, you just kind of take for granted. You're like, wow, they really did a great job with that. And just how they connect with the end user, just really being aware of that now, which has been really cool to see kind of the progression of that.

Any particular thing there that you found yourself becoming more aware of, whether that's positioning or branding or messaging? Or just quality control, or what specifically there?

I, I would say the marketing, um, piece and the social media piece, just because I'm doing a lot of that, or some of that with, with, uh, the project. And so just, uh, you know, people in the outdoor space kind of seeing how they position themselves, how they're getting their messaging out, and what the messaging is that they're putting out. and really kind of their brand identity. Because I think, you know, I think there's two, a couple pieces of a company, you know, you have the actual products, but then the actual brand and what's the story you want to tell, you know, so what is the story brand of the company? And, you know, some companies you're just like, wow, that really resonates with me. And I've just noticed myself observing that and I'll just kind of tip my hat to them and say, wow, you did a really great job with that. So that's kind of been fun, fun to see that.

And for those that don't know, David is handling pretty much all of our social media right now as far as the organic social goes for Instagram and Facebook and Twitter and all that. Dave, going through that prospect— that process, are there any companies that you feel like are doing just a really good job with their messaging?

Yeah, that's a good question. You know, there's a few— well, okay, there's a couple ways to look at it. You have some that are just always— so kind of the Gary Vee approach where content, content, content just all the time. And then you have some that are—

Which can be overwhelming.

It can be. And it's interesting people's approach and how they decide on, I guess, what model to use. And then you have the other, other, whether you want to say brands or influencers, where they're more curating a specific piece of content. So maybe they don't put stuff out as often, but maybe it's just a really well-thought-out, great piece of content or post or what have you. You know, the first one, maybe it's because I was looking at some of their stuff today, is First Light, you know, just their conservation piece. And the story that they tell with that. Or even Argali, you know, Brad Brooks and his conservation piece with that and just how they're utilizing film to tell their story and bring brand awareness. So it's, you know, there's just, there's so many outdoor companies and, you know, some of them are niched down to the hunting or the backpacking or camping world. And I don't know, I just find it a lot of fun to just look at them and say, you know, how are they approaching their end consumer and how are they getting their messaging out? Yeah, pretty cool.

Speaking of the conservation side, Josh, you've been digging into that a lot as we are really trying to focus heavily on the conservation side for the company. So we're 2% conservation certified. And Josh, you've been researching a whole lot of others. What are you finding there as far as companies that you feel like are doing a good job and who you like Either companies that are focusing on the conservation side or those conservation organizations who you feel like are doing an exceptional job right now?

Yeah, there's a few that kind of, that come to mind. And, and we've talked about this some just in our meetings and everything where conservation can be super controversial as far as Go back and listen to the podcast episode that I did with, with Johnson.

We got into a lot of controversy surrounding it.

No, I thought it was a great— yeah, that was a great podcast.

That was a good one.

I love that episode.

Yeah. But so it's really interesting because even just in conversation with people, you talk about, oh, you know, well, we're looking at different conservation groups and, and, you know, different organizations and Coming up in conversation, right? Talking about okay, so like bringing back wolves, and then that opens up a whole can of worms, right? Some people love the idea; others, you know, oh, I had a cousin or uncle once removed that lived in wherever he was a rancher and and hates the idea. So you get like all these different viewpoints of it. Others are saying no, like it's their land first. You know, we want to bring them back to where they. Were native and, and, you know, used to roam. Um, same thing with bison and, you know, um, and so it's really interesting, some of these ideas behind that. Now, that being said, there's a couple areas that seem to be a lot less controversial, like clean water, right?

I mean, who doesn't want clean water?

Exactly. Um, and even just Taking care of the land. Now, you know, keeping the land clean, picking up garbage, that type of thing. So there's a few, a few areas that seem to be a lot less controversial. And, you know, as far as which other one we're gonna align with, we're still kind of going back and forth trying to see what's gonna make the most sense. The other thing that we've been looking at also is to see Um, how much of the financial side is actually going to contribution versus just going to employees and some of those areas, because there can be a pretty big discrepancy among some of the organizations.

If it's a nonprofit and the majority of the money is going to the employees and not actually the cause they're trying to support.

Yeah.

Yeah. So, um, yeah, so we're looking at a few different options. Um, we got a few more phone calls set up and, and appointments with some to figure out what's gonna align with our mission. So that's kind of where we're at, um, in regards to that.

Yeah, yeah, great points all around. Um, okay, let's talk about some of the other products. So we talked about the knife, the Gasper 4. Um, let's talk about the Tinder Ridge ferro rod. Adam, you have been pretty instrumental in this because as the resident fireman and pyrotechnician Why don't you talk a little bit about that and what you like about it and all that stuff?

Yes, so I, I've spent some time playing with it for sure. Mine's getting pretty worn down actually. I don't know if you saw those videos.

He doesn't just put out fires, but he also starts them.

Probably do more of the latter actually, but Can I just interrupt here?

As we were talking, uh, Adam's actually at the fire station. He was literally throwing sparks while we're on camera in the middle of his room there.

And I was doing my best not to crack up laughing because of it.

Um, yeah, yeah. So I mean, I, I don't know. I've loved fire since I was young as I can think back to Cub Scouts before Cub Scouts.

But, um, house down.

Yeah, honestly.

But actually, although we did burn some trees down in our woods.

Yes. I mean, we've— yeah, we definitely made some big fires, just no structures. Yeah, that I can remember. But no, the— our ferro rod— actually, I was comparing it to a couple of the other ones that I have. And I actually did notice the difference. It— ours is a little softer and the sparks are flying a little bit better and it's easier to strike.

Nice. Uh, to me, not the handle.

The handle. So, right, well, the handle is what— so the prototype that I have, the handle was not up to our specs. So that's, that's one frustration with it. I mean, it works what I have, but it doesn't have the 2 flat sides to it. It's not extended like we're gonna have. Uh, once we have those in place, this thing's gonna be top line. I mean, I won't— I'm not gonna go to another ferro rod after that.

Yeah.

So the differentiating factor I feel like with our ferro rod is that we have created a much more ergonomic shaped handle. So it's easier to hold, especially whether you're barehanded or with gloves. And we're also using bamboo, which is a much more sustainable resource than— because most companies, they're using a hardwood, which that's great and everything, but hardwood is a more limited resource than say something like bamboo, which is technically a grass. It's a little bit softer, but it's going to last just as long and it's much more sustainable. So we feel like we're doing a much better job environmentally of the materials that we're choosing to use.

Yes, 100%. But yeah, no, I do love the handle. I like the bamboo.

I'm—

yeah, I'm excited to get the actual, you know, the revised edition of what our specs were. But I mean, I love fire. I love the Phaeron. It works great.

Yep.

And one of the frustrating things that I found with this process is all the back and forth with manufacturer. And so part of this— so ferrocerium, all the ferrocerium actually comes from Asia. You can't actually get any in the US. Any that you can get in the US is coming from Asia. It's actually mined there. And I believe in Russia as well, like about maybe 5, 10% max. So dealing with Chinese manufacturers, unfortunately, and sometimes them not getting the design correct. So there's been a lot of back and forth and sending them 3D printout versions of how we want it and just trying to get it correct.

Yeah, I know. It's been very frustrating. You think you have it all squared away and ready to rock and roll, and then they come back with Messed up design. Yeah, you're like, all right, so how much longer I gotta wait now?

But David, did you want to add something to that?

I was gonna say the one other piece that I think is really cool with the ferro rod is, um, like you're talking about the bamboo. I know one thing a lot of people will complain about with other ferro rods is using a hardwood. Depending on the environment, that wood will swell and shrink, and so then oftentimes the handle will pull out But the cool thing with bamboo is it's really impervious to, to the elements, to water. And so you don't have as much of that, much of the wood play with the varying environments, which is a pretty cool—

Yeah, great point.

Component of it. Yeah.

Okay, let's talk about the bellows. This has been a frustrating one. I would say that of all the products, I've probably been the most frustrated with this because the goal was to make this out of titanium, which is what the majority of our products Or we're working with because it's a stronger, lighter material. It's going to last longer for cookware and everything. It's a healthier, safer material to use. For the bellows is obviously not a cooking utensil. It's a collapsible bellows that can extend to help start a fire, which, Adam, you can explain that process in a minute. However, that's been a big source of frustration for me because we came up with this great design using titanium, having a mouthpiece on it, having a lanyard hole. And then just finding out that no one can make this out of titanium. And if we were able to find a manufacturer who could do this, whether domestically or abroad, our cost was going to be like $50, $60 apiece, which is like triple what a ferro rod should cost, just because the tooling is not available and no one is currently doing it, which is a great differentiating factor. So unfortunately, we've had to settle for stainless steel for this. Um, holding out hope the long term we'll still be able to do that, but just the cost is, um, it has just been a little bit much right now for that. Adam, you want to talk about the bellows and using, using it and some of the testing we've done there?

Sure. Yeah, so I, I know a lot of people hear bellows and they're just like, I don't know what that is. And I mean, I was there at one point, but if you— it's actually a very old tool. If you look back, there's almost like an accordion-looking bellows that they use for fireplaces.

The original kind.

Yeah, they're made out of— yeah, like the original. Almost look like it's like a piece of leather basically to blow air, oxygen, into your fireplace to get it roaring and hot and keep it burning. So this is just like a downsized version of that. It's like a telescoping straw that compacts very tiny into, you know, a couple inches you fit in your pocket and extend out to a foot, foot and a half, 2 feet, you know, just kind of— there's different sizes. But you need fuel, heat, and oxygen to get a fire going. So you add extra oxygen in there, it's gonna— just gonna speed up the process and get that going quicker and faster for you.

And once you start using a bellows, you'll never go back to life without it just because it makes Makes it so much easier to start a fire.

No more burning off your eyebrows and eyelashes and arm hair. Yeah, it saves pain and saves time for sure.

David, were you trying to add something to that?

I was just gonna say, once you, once you use a bellows, I can remember the first time I used it, it was amazing, the difference.

Life-changing fire-making tool.

Yeah, no, for sure. But I was just going to say how we're, we're adding the little mouthpiece to it and then the end cap as well, so it kind of narrows the— it makes it— it fine-tunes the, the air coming out of it a little bit more, so it'll be a little more precise, a little more powerful.

Yeah, exactly. Josh, what'd you want to add to that?

No, I was just going to ask a question actually. Um, does anybody have any good fire stories, whether it be like the fire that shouldn't have been or, or, um, anything relating to that. Uh, what do you guys have? There's got to be something.

I mean, I can remember making some really big bonfires like in college and having like a kegger around the fire, like right out in the field.

Yeah.

Um, and you know, getting, uh, beer muscles and deciding to jump over it and nearly get on fire. I mean, that would be one.

Okay. Adam, Dave, you guys gotta have something.

Well, burning the tree down in our woods was a pretty good one.

Let's hear this story.

Which was actually—

I don't know that I was there when that happened.

I wanna say it was due to fireworks that we were lighting off.

Yeah.

Maybe.

It was. Yeah, so we were shooting off—

Caveat to that, where we live, right next to the volunteer fire department.

Yeah, literally across the street, 20 yards from our property is the volunteer fire station. Uh, but yeah, we're just shooting off every sort of firework we had in our woods, in the field. And then we had the idea— there was an older tree that was halfway hollowed out, and we're like, Why don't we just shoot a bottle rocket up in there and see what it does? Like, that makes sense, right? I mean, you know, maybe it'll— I don't know. I don't know what we're thinking, honestly.

No, I think, I think later on we said, hey, let's see what happens if we put a bunch here and see if we can actually blow it, like, over.

Yeah, that sounds more accurate.

Yeah, that's exactly what it was. Too old, old enough to know better.

Leave that out.

Yeah, it doesn't matter. But we, we did it and we lit it and like, yeah, that's kind of lame because we didn't see anything happen, you know, other than big boom. So we walk away, didn't think anything of it, went inside or went back to doing something else. And then I think we hear sirens and see the fire truck and like, what is going on down there?

And then the neighbor came over.

Yeah.

Said, hey, hey, I don't know if you guys know this.

Your woods are on fire.

He's got a fire in the woods.

Yeah. Like what?

So sure enough, we burnt that tree down.

Damn.

And the volunteer fire department guys came over.

Yeah. Yeah, they did. Yeah, they did.

Yeah, he loved it.

He would. You should ask me if he sees anything.

That's when Adam decided he was going to be a fireman.

Yeah.

I think the other ones I think of are just, I mean, we used to burn stuff all the time and they would, we'd either make them too big or it was too hot out. And they, I mean, the amount of fields we've set on fire and like some of the property that we were working on, some of those we had to put out. We'd be running around with rakes and towels and banging the fire off the ground, putting them out. Multiple times I can recall that happening. Or that huge bonfire that we were burning all that brush that started to light the, uh, the electrical post on fire. Remember that one? Yeah, yeah, it's a long time ago.

Yeah, that got way out of hand. It's supposed to be like a small contained fire.

Yeah, and then someone threw gas on it, I think. Seth, maybe.

Yeah. Yep, some of your gas, plus there's a breeze. It just—

it was a bit—

yeah.

Oh, I've got a fire story. I'm guessing I was like 15, and I was cutting the lawn over at Grandma's and ran over— it was like an anthill, or like all of these bugs and fire ants and stuff. I'm like, I gotta burn those out. So I poured gasoline all over it and lit a match. And it proceeded to almost burn the entire yard. And then it got so big and I left the gas can real close, and so I had to run over and kick it out of the way, and it made a huge dent and broke it. And yeah, that, that wasn't a great day, but—

Oh my gosh.

It almost turned into—

She got those ants.

Oh yeah, killed those ants. All right, that granny was thrilled about that.

Don't think I told her. Nice.

Oh man.

Cool. We got enough about fire there, I think. Let's talk about the utensil. I'm really excited about this one because it's so different than any utensil on the market when it comes to like a camping spork or just a general utensil to use. And so kind of what's differentiating it from all the others out there, so On one end you've got the fork, the other end you have a spoon, and then it folds. So it's got a little screw that keeps it attached, and then it will fold in half so it'll fit down in your cookware. And when it's folded, there's also a bottle opener that is there, so it serves multiple purposes. So I'm really stoked about this. It's taken a couple of iterations to get it right, both in— because we're using titanium for this. And titanium is really lightweight and it's very strong, but it can sometimes feel a little flimsy. So we've had to thicken it up a little bit more just to make it sturdier and stronger so it's going to last and not bend or break. So, but I'm really excited about that one. You guys have anything to add to it?

I would say I'm actually very excited about the utensils as well. I, I don't know about you guys, but I've looked for so many different utensils. I've tried the sporks and the spoons and the fork, but it's never One size fits all. You can never get the right components together, or it's too big or too small. So this, I feel like, kind of meets all those criteria and puts it all into one piece. It's like a one-stop shop.

I had someone recommend yesterday that it should be like a car essential. So, you know, if you're out and about and you need a utensil and don't have like a disposable or whatever, because it is so small and it'll just fold up, could put in a purse or in your console, or I mean in your pocket really.

I was literally just about to say that because I hate, um, I hate plastic anything.

Yeah.

From water bottles to forks, spoons, straws, like all that stuff. When, I mean, yeah, I hate that anyway. But there are so many times where you're in the car, whether it's driving, you know, a couple hours or just whatever the case is, but you just need that utensil. And there have been so many times where I've thought, man, like we have these plastic utensils that have been in the car for who knows how long, right?

Yeah.

And so you use it. But, um, I've thought so many times, man, it would be so nice to have that utensil, keep it in the car because, uh, especially if you have kids and what have you, um, huge need for that. Uh, and that could be an interesting thing to talk about as far as car essentials also.

Yeah.

Um, but yeah, no, I agree with that 100%.

David?

Yeah, I'm super pumped about this utensil. The packability of it with it being both a spoon and a fork is just— it's gonna be awesome just being able to take it anywhere. Uh, yeah, I'm just— I'm, I'm really happy with the design we came up with, and I think, I think people are really gonna like it. We've gotten Quite a few messages about it saying, "Hey, I'm going on backpacking trip. When's this gonna be ready? You know, would love to take it with me." So obviously always a good sign. Yeah, yeah. We do too. But yeah, super excited to have it and start putting it through the wringer. And yeah, it's gonna be it's gonna be a great piece, I think.

Yeah, for sure. Want to talk about the grill?

Yes. Good idea.

Yeah.

So really excited for our backpacking grill.

So that's been a fun one. Yeah.

Just, you know, creating such a unique design. So it's about a backpacking grill, about 18 inches long, titanium tubing. It has both vertical and horizontal pieces so that you can grill up meat or vegetables or things like that. And we've designed it completely different than anything else on the market so that you set it on top of rocks around your fire while you're camping. It's super lightweight. It can go in a day pack. It doesn't take up much space at all. If you've just got like a book bag, it'll fit in there without issue. Take it with you and then you can grill up whatever you got. So I'm really excited about this. Josh, you wanna add anything to it?

Yeah. I think the, the size of the grill is gonna be huge just because of the packability. Literally huge, but Yeah, exactly. Uh, uh, uh, great benefit. Um, and the, the fact that it's super lightweight. So again, we trying to build in the durability with the lightweight, uh, benefit of titanium and just making it so that it's really easy to, like you mentioned, throw in a pack and, and almost forget it's there. So yeah, that'll be a great addition to the lineup of products that we're excited to release here pretty soon.

Yeah, I think the best thing about all the products we're creating is that we've been looking for specific products for years, and because we've not been able to find them, we're about to create all those to fill that need, that void that's been there. I really feel like we're filling that for a lot of people. We're not just scratching our own itch, but I really think there's, you know, a lot of people that have been looking for these things and we're about to provide that for them.

Totally.

David, anything to add to that?

Yeah, I completely agree. Well, yeah, I, I was gonna say the same thing Adam was. That's— I mean, every, every product that we're, you know, putting out there, so Much thought has gone into each one and details and the testing that's gone in. And, you know, it would be, it would be super easy to just say, hey, let's just put something out there, you know, something similar that's already on the market. But I, I feel like that's part of the fun of this is to really create something unique that is better, that fills a void that we would love to use, that others would love to use. And really just fill that need. And so, yeah, I mean, a lot of hours have gone into fine-tuning these products, you know, the grill itself. We, we said, okay, what's, what's on the market? What's out there already? What do we like about it? Where, what are some shortcomings? And, you know, one of the things is being able to cook some vegetables on it so it doesn't fall through the slats and Making some vertical bars on it. So just, you know, little stuff like that, really thinking through the process and, and one that the end user— Also easy to clean. Yes. Yeah, exactly. So really the whole, you know, from start to finish of looking at and saying, how can we improve upon this? What do we like? What do we not? So yeah, it's, it's been, it's been really cool.

Yeah.

And I feel like that's been kind of the defining factor with all of these products. You know, we've taken such a direct interest and love for them and have been very careful to design them based on our own needs and specs and things that are not available on the market, or what is available, tweaking that so that it becomes a much better product. And I'm really excited about all of these. Yeah, and we haven't even really gotten into the, to the stove we're working on, which we're still tweaking the design there. So I don't think it's time to talk about it yet. We still got a ways to go for that.

It's getting there.

Well, that's all the primary products right now. We've also got some hats coming out. Uh, what color you guys all like? And we've got a few different colors.

Gray. I forget the technical name, the, uh, but the gray one.

Yeah, that's, that's my go-to right now. It's like an earthy tone color.

David?

Yeah, the gray's nice.

We know.

I like the orange.

Yeah, yeah, you're orange.

Yeah, yeah, the UK blue.

Yeah, I think that's gonna be a nice, nice touch. A little Kentucky nod there.

Yeah, yeah, for sure. Since they sent us the wrong orange at first, which is Tennessee orange, and not bitter about that at all. We're gonna charge UT fans extra. So any UT fans listening, be prepared, $50 a hat just because you're gonna subsidize the UK blue ones.

Nice. Oh man.

Uh, yeah, so what else do we have on the list for this evening?

Well, Josh mentioned car layout and what you have packed in there. And I know some of that stuff.

Yeah, as far as everyday carry when it comes to your car.

Yeah.

Yeah. What it kind of looks like for everybody, especially because everybody's in different regions. So it kind of varies probably.

In Arizona, extra water. Now what's crazy though, because it gets so hot, so you leave stuff in your car, everything melts. Um, or you go to, um, you go to drink and it's like fire. It's, it gets so hot. So you have to have, um, you have to have, you know, like a, uh, insulated bottle. Um, and it, yeah, it just gets so hot out here. So water for sure.

Yeah.

You just have to remember to change it more often than Yeah, you'd expect.

Yeah.

And a lot of this. Yeah.

How long, Josh? How long do you— what if you put— you had a double-walled container with water in it? Let's say it's a little cooler than— let's say it's— let's say it is iced. How long would that last in your car, you think, with ice in it, or at least stay cool?

I—

so I I'm gonna be honest, I haven't actually tested that. The, the bottles that I keep in the car are not insulated. So, um, Yeah. No real reason why. It's just what I tend to keep in there. Um, but I will say I had an insulated, um, canteen. I kept it in, um, like my bike, uh, the bike, uh, bottle holder.

Right.

And Like, so bike's in the garage, which gets really hot, and then pretty much overnight it's like warm again.

Yeah.

So fast. Um, and the garage is probably gonna stay a little cooler than the, right, than the car. So that's crazy. Um, yeah. I mean, yeah. When you're pushing close to, you know, 120, it's just hot.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah. And things melt, like things that you wouldn't expect melt.

Like, that's insane.

It's hot no matter how you push it.

Yeah, yeah. Tell that to my sweating existence.

But it's a dry heat.

Yeah. It's the hot, hot heat.

So, um, but as far as, you know, things that keep it in the car, and I think we're all pretty, probably pretty similar to this, like always a knife, flashlight, some type of first aid kit, water, food for the kids, something at least. Um, You know, pretty standard. Nothing crazy out of the ordinary.

The food melts too.

Yeah, no, it does. It does. So again, that's something you literally have to replace a lot more often because of the heat, man.

You could just, you could just cook some eggs on the grill.

You can. Yeah.

The granola bar you keep in the car is no longer a bar.

So we know somebody that put cookies in their car to cook, and then they brought them in to work later on that day because of how hot it got. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's crazy. That's crazy. But the desert—

oh my goodness.

Another animal out here. So hope you like the heat if you're coming to the desert.

Here's a question for Josh. What, since living Since living in the desert, what's the biggest lesson you've learned in terms of the wilderness or surviving? Or, I mean, surviving is a little bit of an intense word, but just being prepared or gear-wise.

If the desert wants you to die, you will. I mean, it sounds kind of harsh, but like, well, so Noted.

Mother Nature is a cold bitch.

Yeah, exactly. But even, even, even looking at like different survival philosophies and everything, like, you know, out in the wilderness, this, that, whatever, like you gotta find water, right? And, and shelter. But there are some places where you're not gonna find water and you're gonna be far enough away that by the time you were to get to water, it'd be too late. And like, that's a reality of different places in the desert, you know? And so it's really weird because like based off of, you know, where we grew up and there was water all over, right? It wasn't hard to find a stream, a creek or clean water. Exactly. That's a whole nother issue. But nonetheless, there's water here that, you know, that's just not the case. The Sonoran Desert does get the most rainfall out of any desert. I forget how many inches it is now, but yeah, it's harsh environment. So I guess, Dave, in response to your question, I think when you're going out in the wilderness, just be very prepared and aware of what you're going into.

Makes sense.

Bringing more water and making sure you know, like, yeah, where you're going and what the plan is.

Josh's one motto.

Yeah, it's always more water.

Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah.

Adam, what do you keep in your car?

Um, kind of a lot, probably more than I should. Part of that, well, Part of that's— well, okay, so I, I do have one bag that I keep in that's extra work clothes because if we have to stay overtime, uh, things like that. But then on top of that, um, I have a knife, I have, um, jumper cables. I have like some of your typical car stuff. And then I have a baseball bat, softball, because apparently if you have a baseball bat, you have to have a ball in there, otherwise it's not legal, you know, that whole thing. Flashlights, fire starting things. And then on top of that, so I usually carry a bag with me, which also has Some, I guess you call it get-home bag. Part of it just because, I mean, the odds of where I live, I mean, the odds of really needing any of that are very slim to none, but kind of like carrying it. My gun's usually in there in that bag. Let me think what else. Water. I usually have extra water bottles laying around in my car.

Blankets.

And you don't really need that in Texas typically, but, and some of that, and that depending on the seasons, I kind of take things in and out. Road flares. I think those are the main, main items anyway.

Cool.

David?

Yeah, pretty, pretty similar to those. I think I, I like to, I like to set it and forget it. So periodically, I'll kind of go through everything just because I'll forget what all I have in it and make sure I'm— I don't want to change anything out. But yeah, the knife, small hatchet, first aid kit, poncho that kind of doubles as a tarp, blanket, change of clothes, like a sweater and some warm clothes and Gloves and a hat, jumper cables, a flashlight. I don't know if I said that yet. I think I have a flare in there still, some food, water, and I haven't checked it in a while, so I'm sure I'm forgetting stuff. Sometimes I'll change it out according to seasons, but then life will just get busy and then I won't do a smaller bag. I'll just keep the bigger bag that has like some extra winter stuff in there, which is currently where I'm at with it. So it, uh, it may have some extras in there that probably aren't needed in, uh, the summer days. So yeah, nothing, nothing too special.

Gotcha.

What do you keep, Seth?

Yeah, so, um, a knife, flashlight, um, a fire starter, uh, small first aid kit. Uh, usually like some hand sanitizer and napkins, um, some rope. Trying to think what else I have in there. Uh, usually like a water bottle or a cup or something. And usually I have a backpack with me also, which I've got extra stuff in there. Like, I usually have like a small water filter, um, some paracord, backup flashlight and fire starter and Knives and, you know, all the normal stuff. So nothing, nothing too big or exuberant there.

Cool.

Yeah. Rope. I forgot about rope. I have that as well.

Gotta have the rope.

I love that. I love good rope.

Well, we are about coming up on time here, I think. We could talk just briefly about the new knife concept idea we're discussing. And this will be— wouldn't come out till next year if it happens, we'll see. But the River Runner, River Runner slash dive knife. Josh, I know this is kind of your idea. You want to talk about that a little bit?

Sure. So we were talking about this where Like in the knife world, there's really, there's really not no one doing anything exceptional when it comes to a river knife, dive knife, basically a knife that's not gonna corrode, that you can— is small enough so that you can take with you wherever you go if you're hooking it to your BCD, or if you're just You know, throwing it in a waterproof pack or whatever it might be that you're doing on the— near the water, on the river, if you want to use it fishing, that type of thing. And so we're looking at putting together something that's gonna fit that need. So we're looking at probably around 7 inches or so, so it's not going to be a big knife. Blade length, we're looking at probably 2.95 inches. And still playing with a couple options as far as steel. Because again, we're looking for that balance. Corrosion resistance, toughness, ease of sharpening, edge holding ability. Yep, yep, all that good stuff. So there's a couple options out there that we're looking at. The The big one right now is the LC200N steel, just because it seems to have the best combination of those for a— yeah, Spyderco. Is that the Native?

Yeah, I've carried the Native Salt with me pretty regularly.

Yeah, yeah. And so, yeah, so that's what we're looking at right now. Spyderco does some great knives. And they're the ones that do the most with the LC200N steel. And we were talking about this last night, I guess, or yeah, last night.

Yeah.

Where I have a Spyderco, I forget which one it is now, one of the— one of their Salt series, and it's in H1 steel, which again, like, I've had this knife for years. I've kept it. I've left it in swim shorts after going to the ocean without rinsing it off. Chlorine water swimming pool, like, across the board, not a speck of rust. So it, it's— the corrosion resistance is exceptional. The only thing is it doesn't tend to hold an edge that well. So it seems like LC200N is better in regards to that.

Yup.

And still kinda testing some stuff out, doing a little bit more research, but But that's the idea is to kind of fill that void. Fixed blade around a 7-inch, 7-inch overall length, just under 3-inch blade. But again, like, going back to the Gasper, one of the most common responses I think that we've gotten is, wow, the attention to detail is just super impressive.

Mm-hmm.

Even people that are not necessarily knife, knife guys, they'll say, you know, like, I can tell that this was a really well thought out knife. And so that being said, we would want the same process to go through with this, you know, river running dive knife. But again, it's just in the works, just in the conceptual phase.

The concept right now and haven't quite put it on paper yet. So got a ways to go with that.

No rush.

Yeah, in due time.

It's in the funnel, if you will.

Absolutely.

Yeah, exactly. So we've got a backpacking trip coming up to Montana because our prior one was snowed out back in May. I guess they got more snow than they had had in 100 years that late in the year. So literally, we would have been hiking in 6 feet of snow. 4 feet, maybe, maybe it's 4 feet of snow. Either way, up to our waist or higher in snow. And so that trip was canceled. So we're going to be doing that in August and very excited to be getting into the backcountry with our good friend Jordan Resner from Wilderness Event. So that's going to be a lot of fun. And just planning that out and gearing up for that is going to be a good time. And And, you know, we'll be testing out equipment even more and putting it through the paces, probably conceptualizing some new products as well. So it's going to be a really good time.

Yeah, I'm excited.

I think—

Probably be doing a little fly fishing as well and grilling them on the—

I don't know about you guys. I mean, I'm still— I'm pretty much packed actually.

Never unpacked.

I'm ready to go.

Yeah, doesn't surprise me at all.

I'm excited. Yeah, it's gonna be a lot of fun to get out there. Nice.

Anybody got anything else to add before we call it?

Uh, uh, if you did a pocket dump right now, what would you guys have on you?

Hmm, if I did a pocket dump, all that I have on me right now is just my Spyderco Native Salt.

I have nothing else in my pockets.

Maybe a pen.

I took that out.

I'm using it to take notes here.

Josh?

I was just thinking, what do I have in my pockets?

Let's see.

Um, little, uh, Fisher Space Pen, little bullet pen.

Oh yeah, yeah, it's great. Nice.

Um, really like, really like it. Um, and what else? My wallet, which is Just the Saddleback little— this guy.

Oh, nice.

Business card wallet.

What's that?

The business card wallet.

The business card wallet. Yeah, yeah, exactly. I like because it's so thin and small. Uh, let's see, Benchmade Bugout. So carry this with me since they released it. I want to love it.

Just feels—

I don't know, it feels flimsy to me.

Yeah, you should try or get your hands on one with the carbon fiber handle. Let's see what you think of that.

Okay.

Yeah, that one's cool too. And then I had this little flashlight that I typically would carry in my pocket, and for the life of me, I don't know what happened to it.

I think maybe the kids used it or something and Flushed it down the toilet.

Yeah, I don't know if I'll see it again.

Probably not.

There was a little— yeah. Yeah. What about you?

Man, this is gonna be a big letdown. I literally don't have a thing. I have scrub pants on and they have one back pocket and there's nothing in it. Wait, do scrubs— they don't have pockets?

Just the back pocket?

It depends. It depends. Some of them do, some of them don't. But the ones I have, these are just like some old surgery scrubs that I got from somewhere. Uh, okay. So yeah, these simply have a back pocket. The ones I wear like on a daily basis, they have more than just that. But, um, yeah, currently I have nothing, nothing in them.

Nice. Well, what would you be carrying on the daily?

I mean, I have a pen on me and yeah, if I'm at work, I'll have—

Yeah.

If you're at work, what do you have? I'll have my phone, I'll have a pen. I'll usually have like some paper or a notebook or something just for to-do lists and take notes and stuff. And that's honestly usually it.

Write down new product ideas.

Oh yeah. Yeah. Or new product ideas when the When, uh, inspiration strikes.

So these little notebooks are awesome.

Yep, yep, I have that. Yeah.

Oh, what kind is that one?

Um, it's a little notebook. I forget— wait, Josh, what brand it is actually.

Yeah, those are great.

Yeah, yeah, I don't, I don't know the brand, but yeah, it's nice.

The same one.

I'm small enough so it's not in the way. Yeah.

I'll find— I'll put it in the show notes. I can't remember the name of it. Um, But yeah, I mean, when I'm at work, it is—

yeah, I do that.

I mean, nothing, nothing exciting as far as what I have in my pockets. The pen's the most exciting thing. And currently the pen I usually have, the little, little thing broke off. So I need to get a different one.

What, what kind of, what kind of pen do you typically carry?

This? Well, for a long time, I would I carry the— what's the name? I can see the pen. I'm drawing a blank on the name. It's kind of a thinner pen, but it— I love the way it writes. It's not ballpoint. I can't remember the name of it. But the one I currently have is a— I think it's just a ballpoint, a clicker pen.

Okay.

Yeah, it's nothing.

Have you guys tried anything? Nothing, right?

Fine.

Yeah.

What's that?

What was this, Seth? Tactical Turn. They're handmade in Texas. They're these great metal pens. I met them at Blade Show a couple years ago and then saw them again this year. I bought one or two of their pens. They're really nice.

Do you have one with you?

No, I don't.

Okay. I usually carry Put it in the show notes.

Yeah, I carry it when I travel a lot because it's metal and it's, um, could be a weapon too.

I wouldn't—

does it look like a tactical pen?

The pen doesn't. The only thing that looks slightly tactical is it has, um, like a bolt type of, um, where you make the pen or the ink go in and out. Okay, almost like a gun bolt. So that part looks like it, um, but other than that, no. But it's— they make them in a bunch of different metals. I think mine is brass. So, right. Well, uses standard like bit cartridges, I think. So, but it's real nice.

Sweet.

Cool.

Not inexpensive, but really good.

Yeah. Nice.

Adam, how about you? What's in your pockets?

So headphones right now anyway. Saddleback wallet as well. Just one of their little— I don't know if they make this one still, actually, but I've had that for a long time. My phone, a pen. It's just an old ballpoint pen. It's broken, actually. But, and right now I'm carrying a CRKT, the M21. Actually, Seth, I bought this from you.

You bought it from me?

Gave it to you? I acquired it from you.

I was gonna say, I don't remember selling you a knife. Maybe you stole it.

Maybe I gave it to you.

I commandeered it.

Oh my gosh.

Speaking of wallets, um, the wallet that I've been carrying for a while. Have you guys seen the Trayvax wallets?

Yeah.

Yeah, those are, those are nice.

Yeah, I've got the, their leather one there. I think it's called the Element wallet.

Yeah, I've seen that. Do you have it on you right now?

No, like I said, all I got is the new one.

Right, right.

Um, yeah, I think it's their Element wallet where it has a metal frame with leather wrapped around and then it's kind of encased in paracord. Um, and so it fits your cards, uh, some cash, and then the metal part The frame of it is also a bottle opener as well. It's really cool.

Huh.

How thick is it?

Yeah, it's sweet.

Uh, I mean, you know, it depends on how many cards.

Sure. Yeah.

Cash you put in it. So, but I mean, it's very thin, kind of a front pocket wallet.

Yeah, cool.

Yep.

Nice.

All right, boys. Well, it's getting late. This has been fun. Um, we've got some great New episodes coming up here soon, some new guests. Uh, I think we're gonna try to do more of these kind of catch-up interviews or just conversations here, and we will try to be more specific with, um, stuff we're gonna cover. But we haven't done one of these in a while. We were talking about the products. So any closing thoughts?

Get outside, go have some fun.

Boom.

Yeah, stay wild, get out and adventure. Get back to nature.

David?

Get your gear right and keep it tight.

Well, uh, we'll see each other very soon in Montana.

Sounds good.

Thanks for listening, guys.

Thanks for listening to the Rewild Gear Podcast. You can check out the show notes for today's episode at rewildgearpodcast.com. If you're ready to spend more time in the wild, At REWILD, our line of high-quality, minimalistic outdoor gear can help you do just that. Check us out at rewildgear.com.