Our goal here at Daily Hiker is to get people outside. We love hiking, but as long as you’re outside doing some human powered activity, we’re happy. We’re also a bit concerned about the massive amount of gear going around the industry for reviews. So, with that goal in mind, we’re making a few changes around here.
As we mentioned back in June, we’re a bit concerned with some of the recent changes in outdoor blogging. We made our thoughts on the issue pretty clear, and an email chain with another blogger got me thinking. We have lots of gear, and we want to get people outside. There’s a way we can merge those two goals.
With that in mind, we gave away a backpack in our Gear Closet Giveaway last month. There weren’t a ton of entries (which means those that entered had a pretty good chance of getting the backpack), but the concept worked.
So, here’s what we’re doing. Our gear review policy is now officially changing. In the past, we’d either keep the product for ourselves, give it to a friend, or donate it somewhere. Now, once we’re done reviewing a product, we’re going to give away our gear to you guys. This is assuming that we get a product that the manufacturer doesn’t want back, is a production item (samples aren’t that durable), and not something that is sized specifically to us (used footwear, ew).
So, we’ll try out a product and write a review. Now instead of the gear sitting in the massive pile of gear in our gear closet, you guys are going to get a chance to get it.
As a bonus, we have some smaller items lined up that we should be able to give away with our review gear, and some footwear companies that want to give away some hiking boots along with our review. We can’t say exactly who right now as nothing has been completely finalized, but it’s happening.
What do you need to do to get our gear? Well, we want you to get outside, and we want our gear to go to a good home. So, we’re going to make you go outside and do your human powered activity of choice (hiking, biking, kayaking, skiing, unicycling, or whatever you want to do). To show that you’re actually doing this to get some gear, you’ll need to have something that says Daily Hiker somewhere in the photo (not added in via Photoshop/MS Paint).
We’re going to start with a sleeping bag next week. So, keep your eyes open for an article announcing the giveaway soon.
We hope you guys like this idea, and we have quite a few things lined up to give away in the future. The vast majority of the companies we met with at Outdoor Retailer were psyched to get involved with something to encourage people to get outside.
So, what are your thoughts? Let us know on Facebook or on the comments here. We’re here to encourage people to get outside and think this is a pretty cool way to do it.
Awesome idea! My personal stash of gear is woefully small. Free stuff is always good!
Great Idea! Stephen will find Daily Hiker Gear works well for all seasons on Mt. Washington and surrounding peaks.
He could have used it for 2010 “Seek The Peak” when he raised almost $1K for Mt Washington Observatory. The place of unbelievable winds! Thanks Carol Bellows
I love this idea!!!!!!
As a reader of outdoor blogs and gear reviews I often find myself trying out gear simply because someone else said they liked it…and not always with good results. I would like to see more bloggers/reviewers opining their thoughts via video rather than solely the written word. Show me the product in use, how it fits, different options or configurations, etc. With the success social media networking and the explosion of personal HD POV cameras into the mainstream this concept can go far beyond the ‘guy in a garage’ talking about backpacks. Put some gear in the hands of readers that will go out and do adventurous things, video the product being used and do an on camera review, and then edit the content to a 5-8 minute comprehensive review. I could not think of a more exciting and entertaining outdoor gear review website (or job!!).