Ep 30: Solocast with Seth Spears on the Origins of Rewild Gear

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, brought to you by Rewild Gear. I'm your host, Seth Spears, and today I'm here with myself.

That's right.

Today's episode is going to be a little bit different and a little bit shorter than most of them because I'm just going to be talking here, doing a solo cast and talking about the company and our goals and what we're doing and a little bit of the history too. One of the things that we realized in discussing just about the company and the products and about the podcast in general is that we've not really done a full-on just overview and deep dive into Rewild Gear and why we started the company and our mission and the products and all of that. So I decided today is that lucky day when you get to hear all about it and our background story and all of that. So let's get started. So just to, to go back several years, the idea for Rewild Gear came while myself and my brothers, Josh, Adam, and David, and even our younger brother Joe, were camping. I can't remember the specifics. If all of us were there? Most likely not. It's very likely it was just myself and Josh, and we were sitting around the campfire drinking beer or bourbon or something, and we're comparing knives. And we've always been gearheads in my family. I've always loved high-quality, minimalistic gear, and quality over quantity has kind of been the mantra that we've had forever. And so sitting around the fire, we were comparing knives and asking each other, what do you like about that knife that you have? What do you like about yours? What would you do differently if you were going to design one? How would you improve upon it? What would you change? And that conversation was very much an organic, an organic conversation where we just started talking about our likes and dislikes and what we would do differently. And inevitably, that conversation led to, what if we started our own knife company? That would be pretty cool. And it was this kind of pipe dream, this far-fetched idea of one day, one day in the future, we'll start— we'll make knives ourselves. But, you know, a lot of times someday never comes, right? Fast forward a few years, we're camping again, and probably Adam and David were there as well. And same conversation happened. And, you know, we were comparing knives, probably guns, and a lot of the other gear that we had with us. And the same thing. What do you like about it? What do you not like? What would you change? How could you improve upon the design, maybe the functionality? And so we had had these ongoing conversations for a long time. Fast forward even, even a few more years further into the future, and we're sitting around the campfire at deer camp after hunting, and then we're really comparing gear. And now with bows and rifles and knives and cookware and grills and stoves, starting fires and really talking about we should really start our own company. Because my background has been as an entrepreneur over the past decade or so and starting multiple businesses and realizing that you can, if you have an idea, you can definitely create it and make it happen. But it just takes a lot of work and effort and a lot of planning and research as well. So So we started talking about it a little bit more seriously, still not that seriously, but we were definitely talking about it and like, yeah, we should do that. We should design knives. We should make our own and use the steel that we want and the handle material and the shape and basically create the perfect knife for us, what we were looking for. So again, we're like, yeah, in the future we're going to do that. And we started talking about it more seriously. And so I had the idea that in, say, 2022 or so, we'd really push this forward because I had recently launched a personal care line of products called Wellness and was very busy with that, just getting that going and getting new customers and sales and all the business activities that surround starting a new company. So didn't think that starting an outdoor equipment company, which has always been the passion and the, the fun side that we wanted to do, would happen That quickly. So then of course, 2019 and 2020 roll around and COVID and all of the shenanigans surrounding that and just realizing that with the lockdowns and everything, the one thing that people can still do is get outdoors. They can get in nature and they could go camping and hiking and still spend time with family and friends just in a more distant environment and away from people, which is what the wilderness and the outdoors is all about. And so it seemed like the natural— just a very natural progression, natural segue into creating the equipment that we'd always wanted to. So because of that, I started doing a lot of research. I went to Blade Show, which is the biggest knife show in the world, and did a lot of research on manufacturers and different knife styles and designs. Josh was very deep researching the blade steel. Adam kind of has a penchant for all of the exotic blades and Damascus steel and the big burly survival type knives. And David was definitely more in the hunting vein. And myself, I just like really strong, functional, minimalistic type of knives. So doing all this research led us to a manufacturer, a couple manufacturers, and started reaching out to find out who would be a fit. And it comes to find out that we found a very good one. However, still wasn't quite ready to pull the trigger and move it forward. So continued to research and Had more conversations. And if we're going to do this, well, we got to come up with a name and we got to figure out what other products we, we want to design and manufacture. And so that led us down a more research path and we were going back and forth on the name. What should the name of this new company be if we're going to start this? We got it. The branding is so important because this is something we want to last for the long term and pass on to our kids, because if we're going to do it, we're going to do it right. And so we went down a research rabbit hole looking up domains and social media accounts and what seems to fit. And it took us a long time. And then I was on YouTube and watching a video about the rewilding of wolves into Yellowstone National Park back in, I think it was 2012 when they reintroduced them and how it changed the entire landscape of the park because the wolves, they came in and pushed the elk. The elk moved away from where they had been grazing, which allowed grasses to grow, which enabled more birds to come in. And it changed the whole landscape and the waterways and everything, the entire ecosystem. And it rewilded the, the landscape and the geography and brought it back to its more natural state from what it had been. To rewild means to reverse the process of domestication, a return to a more wild or natural state. And honestly, that's what we wanted to do with our company as far as getting into nature and the outdoors, because we all Just love being in the woods. We love camping and hiking and backpacking and hunting and just being in nature, even if that's just sitting around a fire with just a few trees around drinking a beer. There's something calming and rejuvenating about being in nature. And so we realized that the name Rewild Gear really spoke to the essence of what we wanted to do. And come to find out, we could actually get the domain name RewildGear.com. And so it just made sense and the social media handles as well. So push forward with that. And so I wanna speak a little bit about the mission of the company and what our goal is. Number one, it's to make the highest quality minimalistic outdoor equipment that we can, that scratches our own itch of creating the best products on the market that enables people to get outdoors and spend more time with family and friends. It's my belief that as men specifically, but all people in general, we, when we're younger, we have a fire in the belly. We are raging with testosterone. We can go and conquer the world. There's nothing that will stop us from our goals and what we want to do in life. And then unfortunately, life happens. We go to school, we get inundated with tasks, we graduate, you know, we have a job, we have bills, we get married, have kids, family responsibilities, everything. And we lose a lot of that fire in the belly. Not that these things are wrong. They're part of life and they're good. However, it does take its toll and we lose some of that essence that makes us who we are, that makes us the men that we are. And so the best way to recapture that is to get back into nature, into the wilderness for several days and spend time with those family and friends, with other men, and to rewild ourselves, to become one with nature, to realize that essence of who we are, because we are part of nature. It's not us versus nature. It's us with nature. You know, we are part of the landscape. And it helps us to rejuvenate ourselves by getting back there and spending time in the woods. We can reset our circadian rhythms. We come back healthier, we're happier, we lose the stress, especially when we leave our phones and all electronic devices, or if we're in a location where there is no cell phone reception, which is great. And I experienced this firsthand on our recent backpacking trip to Montana. The human brain was originally designed to be a sponge, to just soak up Everything. And that's how we learn. However, we're so inundated with technology and information from all fronts that our brain is no longer a sponge. It's now a filter and it has to filter out everything and all the stimuli that are constantly around us and coming, coming upon us from all corners. And so it just makes it harder. So it's so important to get into the wild and to disconnect from those things that are distractions. So that when we do come back, we can be better husbands, fathers, business owners, employees, just all around better people because we've had that time away. We've had that break. We've reconnected with our soul in nature. And so then we're in the real world, if you want to call it that, or the, the electronic day-to-day world that we live in. We have reset and we come back better people. And that is good for everyone, no matter what. So that's our primary mission, is to help People to get in the great outdoors and spend more time and to do those things that they love. And we want to provide the best quality equipment that we can to help them do that. So by, by building, by designing and manufacturing the top quality equipment that we can, it enables people to get out and spend more time outdoors because you don't have to worry about it breaking, about something going wrong, because the better equipment that you have, the longer you can stay out. And that's our goal— quality over quantity. Or the way I like to say it, buy once, cry once. It's going to be a little bit more expensive, but if it lasts you the rest of your life, then it's really not. So the cheap equipment that you go to Walmart and buy is the stuff that's expensive because it's going to break and you have to buy it again. The second part of our mission is conservation. When you're in the wilderness, you realize how special it is. But more and more when we're out there, we see pollution. You know, there's more smog, there's more litter, plastic bottles everywhere, people that have come through and left cigarette butts or, you know, All kinds of litter and cans and just pollution and things in general. And we're not getting any new land. They don't make any more. What we have is what we have. And so we have to protect it. So we want to do our very best to protect all of our, our public lands, our private lands, our waterways, our soil, our air, and do our very best to encourage other people to do the same. And the more time that people spend outdoors, the more invested they become in doing just that. Because if you realize this is the only world that we have, Earth is our home, so we have to protect it. The more that we can do that, the more we take care of it, and the more we will encourage other people to do the same. So that if you see someone littering or throwing crap in the water or on the ground or what have you, then you can say, hey, don't do that. We live here. You got to take care of it because it's not just going to eat it up and just disappear. And we're seeing the very negative ramifications of that thought process over the past 50, 100 years. So that is, that is our objective as well, is to encourage more people to get outdoors, spend more time, and to take care of Mother Nature and the landscape that we have, as well as helping to bring back some of those animal species that are going away either through extinction or because of some of the toxicities that we're seeing in the world and the pollution and urban sprawl and things like that that are Destroying natural habitats. And so protecting those things. So that's our mission, getting back to nature and becoming better versions of ourselves and protecting our landscape. And I talked about the conservation side and why we want to do that, which is so important. And our quality products, we want to create the best and highest quality products that we can, something that we would be proud to put our name behind. Because if you don't want to put your name behind it, then why are you doing it? You know, there's a lot of things we could do to make money. We could go and white label some products. Just have them shipped over from wherever and sell those. But who wants to do that if there's no originality to it, if it's not created better or stronger than the competitors? I've never wanted to do that. And so if I'm going to put my name behind something, I'm going to do my very best to make sure that it is the best quality that I can. And so the reason we decided to go with the suite of products that we did, which are our Gasper 4 knife— and I'll talk about each product in just a minute— but our Gasper 4 knife, our Granite Grill, Our Trailside Utensil, our Timber Ridge Ferro Rod, and our FireLite Bellows. Those are our initial starting products, and there's others that are in the works as well. But the reason we started with those is because those are the core things that everyone needs to spend time in nature. The knife was the first tool. With— when someone had a knife, you can create other tools and do other things. It's the most important tool that you can have, and in a survival situation, It is of utmost importance. So anytime you're in the woods or even day to day, having a knife is good to have. Secondly is fire. Fire changed civilization. It enabled us to cook. It enabled us to heat. It enabled us to sit around a campfire and tell stories, which was the original social media network. There's been countless stories and tales that have been passed on for generations and generations before the written word. Everything was passed down auditorily. But mouth to mouth and a campfire is where that started. So starting a fire, the grill, you got to cook food. So if you have— you've got your knife, you've got your fire, then you've got a grill to cook your food on. So with over the fire. So all of these products were very intentional in how we and what we decided to design and manufacture first. And there will be others that we'll be adding to down the road. So we're looking at doing a mini camping stove, like a twig stove. Our design is almost finished on that.

Nice.

Not quite, but it's coming right along. And we're also looking at doing some cookware because when you're in nature, and especially if you have frozen or dehydrated meals, if you're on, on a deep country backpacking trip, then having those is really easy and lightweight. Or if you're hunting and you kill a venison or maybe duck or squirrel or what have you, then being able to cook up a stew or put it on the grill, all these things are important. And boiling water as well. So if you don't have a water filter with you, but you have a cup, Then you can boil water and it's most likely going to be potable. So all these products were designed very intentionally in the order that we're, we're releasing them. So I'll talk just a little bit more about each product individually so you can learn a little bit about the background, the history of it. So the Gasper 4 knife, this is our signature product. This is the first product that we wanted to create, and we were very intentional about the design and how we were going to the features that it was going to have, the functionality, etc. We decided to use S35VN steel, which is a super steel. It's one of the very best on the market. It marries a great balance of strength, of corrosion resistance, of ease of sharpenability, and also it'll hold an edge. And so we knew that we wanted to use S35VN after much research, just because it is probably the best all-around knife steel on the market. The TeroTuff handle that we created for the Gasper is It's like Micarta, except it gets tacky when wet. And it's also a little bit less toxic to work with than Micarta is. So it's just a better all-around material. So we're very, very impressed with the way that turned out. The name, the Gasper 4, is really important. Growing up in Kentucky, the Gasper River was a waterway that myself and my brother spent a lot of time on as junior high and high school, and even in college. We grew up fishing and kayaking and canoeing. A couple of us almost have died on the river a few times. And the hunting area where we hunt every year backs onto the Gasper. So it means a lot. The 4— there's 4 brothers that are involved with the company, and it has a 4-inch blade. So the name the Gasper 4 just felt like the perfect, the perfect idea to use for the knife. And that is by far our favorite product and the one we're most proud of because we designed this and have seen it come to fruition. Our Granite Grill is our second product. There's nothing like cooking meat over a grill over an open flame. And there's not very many good ones that are portable and lightweight on the market. There's a couple, but they all had limitations. So we designed the Granite Grill to be very light, strong, can go anywhere with you and will take a beating. It's made of titanium. It's 18 inches long by 7 inches wide, and it has crosspieces both vertical and horizontal. So there's a lot of surface area, yet it's very lightweight. It's under a pound. And the name Granite Grill comes from Granite Creek near Yellowstone National Park, where myself and Adam have spent some time backpacking and hiking. And it's a beautiful, beautiful area, one of our favorite areas around. And the Granite Grill, I think, is going to be very much a favorite of fishermen going on canoe fishing trips and ultralight backpackers and hunters. Because if you take a deer or an elk or something like that and you want to cook it up right there, You harvest it, cut out the cuts of meat that you want and throw them on the grill and you're ready to go. So it is a great product. Our Trailside Utensil is our all-around titanium utensil that's used for everything for cooking. There are a lot of sporks out there. There's a lot of utensils, but none of them seem to work that well or do what we wanted them to do. So how we differentiated this, it's made of titanium and on one end is a spoon and the other end is a fork. And in the middle it has a little screw, so it will fold in half. So it'll fit down in your cookware if you're backpacking or in your glove compartment as a survival piece. And so it serves dual purposes. Got a spoon on one end, a fork on the other. So you don't have to carry multiple pieces. And when it folds up, there is also a bottle opener. So if you want to crack open a couple of ice cold ones, easy to do right there. And the Trailside Utensil is designed for hiking, backpacking, thru-hiking, and it's ultra lightweight just because it's made of titanium and super strong. Our Tinder Ridge ferro rod. Starting a fire is obviously incredibly important when you're in the outdoors, and I've never been a fan of matches or a lighter just because it seems like it's cheating. But I don't necessarily want to use a bow drill because that just takes a lot of work and effort. A ferro rod kind of splits the difference between those options because it's, it's an old-school method, very much kind of a bushcrafting type of way to start a fire. It's lightweight, it sparks very hot, something like 5,000 degrees, and a ferro rod will last you for years and years. Because you're going to get 10,000, 12,000 sparks out of it. It's a great material. It'll go right in your pack. You can start a fire very easily with it. So you can get your fire going, throw the grill on, and cook your meat. Our FireLite bellows. If you don't know what a bellows is, it, it's like a collapsible and expandable straw that is 22 inches long and collapses down to under 5 inches. And so what it does, it enables you to blow oxygen onto your fire once you've gotten some sparks going. So you got your ferro rod and you get— you spark up some tinder and kindling and the flames are starting to go, but they're just not catching yet. So you blow onto the fire and get a lot more oxygen concentrated on it using the bellows, and it makes it go a lot faster. It definitely speeds up the process, is a lot more efficient to starting a fire. And so adding this into your kit Makes things a lot easier. Once you use one, you'll never go back. It's a great, great tool. Those are our primary products. Then we also have our Mountain Trucker Hat. I'm a big fan of hats, especially when you're hiking or camping and just, you know, protect your head from ticks or falling sticks or leaves or whatever. And so we decided to create some high-quality hats with our logo in multiple different colors. And it's a great mesh-style back trucker hat, very much a relaxed fit that is reminiscent of some of like your college or NFL baseball caps. We also have what we're calling Pyro Balls coming out very soon, and those are a way to help start fire. It's basically cotton dipped in an accelerant that you would spark with your ferro rod and to help you get a fire started. And that's the next product that's coming out very soon. So those are the main products and the reason we started with those, and we feel like we have hit the suite of products that Will work for most people in most situations. And there is no one-size-fits-all, and there is no perfect product because every tool is different. Everyone's activity level and their needs are different. But we feel like with Rewire Gear, the ones that we've come up with are great for us and hopefully great for you too. So I would love to get feedback on what you guys think about the products that we have, and also you know, the ones that we have in stock, the ones that are coming in stock. And I want to touch on that a little bit briefly as well. The— we currently have our Gasper 4 knives and our Mountain Trucker hats in stock at rewildgear.com. However, the other products are— have not made it from our manufacturers yet. As many other companies are, we are dealing with supply chain issues. Some of the products coming from Asia due to a lot of things— power rationing, national holidays, understaffed, and the boats that ship everything over not having enough there, and a lot of them that are stuck off the coast of California. So because of that, it's taking a lot longer than expected. We were originally hoping to have these in by August 1st. So that's obviously not the case. And so we're looking at more like the middle of November. And so the goal is to have them in before Black Friday and Cyber Monday, definitely before Christmas. But there are no guarantees right now. So we're, we're hopeful though. And doing our very best to get those over here as quickly as possible. So that's it for our products and where we're going and what we're doing. And with the podcast, with the Adventure Made podcast, the goal with it is to bring on experts in the outdoor space so that they can come on and tell their stories so that we can be an inspiration to others to get outdoors. And whether that's camping, hiking, backpacking, through hiking, adventure racing, Uh, Just getting in nature. Maybe that's birdwatching, whatever that means to you. We want to inspire as many people as possible to get out in nature and to spend time and to reconnect with family and friends and just with yourself, just with your soul in nature, and reconnect there and do whatever you can to help with conservation and environmental protection, because this is the only Earth that we have. And so that's going to be it for today. As I said, this is going to be a shorter podcast and just a solo cast with me, Seth, and I hope you guys have enjoyed it. And if you have any questions about our products, about the podcast, feel free to shoot us an email, support@rewildgear.com, or go over to rewildgear.com and there's a live chat feature as well. So we're happy to answer any questions that you might have about our products, about the podcast, about guests, or if you have a guest recommendation, please send them our way as well. And connect with us on social media, whether that's Instagram or Facebook or Twitter. We're on all the main channels at Rewild Gear. Thanks as always for listening, and I hope you have a great day and stay wild.

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