December 22, 2021

This email is for the very small number of you that really want to know what we stand for as a company, and how we can actually help you, rather than hurt you (and your pocketbook).

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This month, we've been studying electronic devices in the backcountry.

This was the focus of long-time Backpacking Light Member (since 2004!) and regular contributor Rex Sanders' recent seminal contribution BatteryBench - our new testing protocol that evaluates the performance of portable battery packs and electronic devices.

And backcountry electronics were the focus of my latest livestreamed video Q&A - the recorded version is available here.

Backcountry electronics are also featured heavily in several of our online courses, including How to Use the Garmin inReach and the Trek Planning Masterclass.

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Electronic devices can enhance or inhibit backcountry travel.

They can inhibit it in the same way that an electronic device can inhibit your experience while living day-to-day in the frontcountry (your office, your dinner table, your car, a sporting event, a restaurant, your daughter's soccer game, a movie theater, a coffee shop).

Staring at a screen and scrolling are addictive.

They get in the way of relationships when you're hanging out with people. The tech companies who curate this experience for you are trying to get you to do things that probably aren't helping you grow into the person you want to be. Listen to this podcast from the American Psychology Association about the Dark Side of Screen Time.

In the backcountry, electronic devices can get in the way of your enjoyment of nature.

That doesn't mean that electronic devices in the backcountry are bad. It just means you have to be intentional about how you use them. Don't let them get in the way of your relationship with nature.

That said, the holiday shopping season is the golden goose of electronic device sales.

Right about here, I should put in a bunch of shopping links to get you to buy all the latest cool e-gadgets.

No thank you!

This is a good time to warn you about how stuff - including outdoor gear and electronic devices - is sold on the internet today.

Is anyone else but me exhausted from wading through blog posts about the "Best Backcountry Electronics" or "Best Cameras of 2021" or "Best Satellite Messengers" or "Best Portable Battery Packs" or ... the list goes on. And on. And on.

The problem with blog posts having titles like this is that they are stuffed with affiliate links (Google "link stuffing"), they are written by affiliate marketers or influencers who may have very little or no experience with this stuff in the backcountry, and they are written in a way to game search engines rather than help hikers like us looking for legitimate performance of our gear. Even the bloggers who have a lot of backcountry experience (and ego) - they are aware of the potential profits that affiliate marketing can bring to them, and game the system as much as they can in the name of $.

They make claims such as "you can trust us because..." or "my reviews express my own independent opinion..." or "I purchased this gear with my own money..." or "I have no financial affiliations with or interests in any brands or products...[but] this website is supported by affiliate marketing." 🙄

Don't get me wrong. Trust, independent opinion, and financial independence are really critical ingredients when it comes to writing gear reviews. But if the only way you make money is via affiliate marketing, then you're bias to promote products is real, and you absolutely have to acknowledge that bias. I've been Backpacking Light's Publisher for 21 years, and if I've learned anything about review bias, affiliate marketing, and creating revenue, it's this: transparency with your readers is non-negotiable, and you can't hide behind FTC disclosures and cute little sayings like "here's why you should trust us."

Trust is earned and the reader gets to decide who to trust. Transparency is a gift from the publisher, brand, ambassador, or influencer to their audience. If trust and transparency are missing, then all this (product reviews, and recommendations that tell you what to buy) are just more internet noise.

Product brands invest enormous amounts of energy (and money) into building armies of affiliate marketers, ambassadors, and influencers to promote their brand and products - so they can sell more and scale their company. Affiliate marketers and influencers get a kickback (commission) if you click one of their links and make a purchase. They are heavily invested into the system - their business models rely on you buying gear they recommend. So either they only review the really good stuff (a common affiliate strategy), or they tell little fibs about how good a product performs, thinking you won't fall for it (also common), or they just get free gear (or worse, a cash incentive) and in exchange - try to get you to "love" the gear as much as they do (a common influencer strategy) so you buy it.

Now, full disclosure: Backpacking Light is an affiliate publisher and we do get that kickback if you happen to click an affiliate link on our site and purchase something. However, affiliate marketing is not our business model. Neither is selling advertising or sponsorships or search engine optimization. Our business model is simple: relationships and memberships. It's far and away our dominant revenue stream, and if affiliate marketing, advertising, sponsorships, Google, Facebook, and Instagram dried up tomorrow, it's no salt off our back: we're still going to move forward serving our members, telling the truth, and not being fearful that one of our advertisers or affiliate merchants makes the decision to cancel our contract with us because of something we say about their product (yep, this happens to us, quite a bit!).

And here's a chance for me to be transparent about how we balance editorial content and affiliate marketing.

I'm Backpacking Light's Publisher. I make business decisions. Andrew Marshall is Backpacking Light's Editor. He makes content decisions. I give Andrew VETO power over every word of content that's published at Backpackinglight.com. Including what I write about gear, my gear recommendations, and my gear performance claims. Andrew is my check and balance to our business model. If he says no, then no means no. Here's the best part: Andrew plays no part whatsoever in our affiliate marketing strategy. He's too important for that. He's tasked with helping our members achieve their goals in the backcountry. Period. By providing them with trusted expertise about gear and skills, and inspiration to get out and enjoy nature.

As Backpacking Light's Publisher, I create our operations budget based exclusively on Membership fees and online course sales rather than advertising, sponsorships, or affiliate marketing.

So why do we engage in affiliate marketing?

Revenues from affiliate marketing increase our opportunity to support causes we believe in (primarily: public lands access and stewardship). So when you buy a product via an affiliate link at our website, you are supporting the initiatives that reflect our values and desire to do good in the world.

But we're committed to those causes regardless of whether or not you buy gear through our affiliate links.

And this brings me to the real point of this email: don't buy what you don't need.

Today, as we go roaring through the consumer holiday season, I want to encourage you to:
 

• Use the gear you have.
• Don't buy anything you don't really need, even if it's something we recommend.
• Repurpose the gear you're getting rid of, by donating it or selling it (check out our Gear Swap).
• Spend your money on trips and experiences, not on gear.
• Don't go into debt to buy gear.

These calls to action puts us in a position of consumer advocacy rather than gear sales and marketing - the latter of which is actually the core strategy of just about every other publisher, blogger, affiliate marketer, and influencer in the outdoor industry.

Our company's core values are advocacy, expertise, and generosity. We advocate for consumers and public land access and stewardship. We create trusted expertise (information and education) that isn't tainted by conflicts of interest. We give generously to our members and aim to add immense value to their lives.

That's a whole lot simpler than trying to persuade or manipulate people into buying gear they don't need.

So instead of giving you a list of shopping links, I'll provide links to resources that will help you decide if you do - or more importantly, don't - need new gear to enhance your backcountry experience. Here are some of our more popular and recent ways we are living one of our core company values - advocating for consumers:
 

1. Here's a link to all of our gear reviews.
2. This is the gear I actually use and this is the gear our staff loves.
3. Here's a gear guide that compares 17 models of ultralight rain mitts. Hikers *love* rain mitts but we can't make a lot of money selling rain mitts through affiliate channels. Instead, we focus on the fact that hikers love rain mitts, so we tested a whole bunch of them so we could help hikers make good buying decisions about them.
4. We actually test a lot of stuff, and generate a lot of original research that makes brands cringe and consumers smarter. Check out our archive of gear testing and research.

OK, so now we're to the bottom of the email.

Here's my *ask* (an ask is the part of a sales pitch where a marketer asks you to make a big "investment" - usually your money and it's never an investment - to buy their stuff).

My ask is this:

Don't buy gear you don't need this holiday season.

Make a commitment to spend more time in nature in 2022.

Consider supporting us and joining our community so we can spread consumer advocacy messages to a wider audience.

And most important:

Reply to this email and share with me how nature has made a positive impact on your life. That's the fuel that has kept us going for 21 years, and the fuel that we hope will keep us going for (at least) 21 more!

Happy Trails,
Ryan Jordan
owner/founder