Speaker 1: You're listening to the Sportsman's Nation podcast network, brought to
Speaker 1: you by Lacrosse Boots. So here's what Lacrosse has recently done.
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Speaker 1: go to Lacrosse Footwear dot com. My name is Clay Nucleman.
Speaker 1: I'm the host of the Bear Hunting Magazine podcast. I'll
Speaker 1: also be your host into the world of hunting the
Speaker 1: icon of North American wilderness to Bear. We'll talk about tactics, gear, conservation,
Speaker 1: but will also bring you into some of the wildest
Speaker 1: country on the planet chasing betterment. I was in Bozeman,
Speaker 1: Montana last week, and Kevin Harlander and I sat down
Speaker 1: and we had a great conversation. Kevin is the First
Speaker 1: Light community manager. We get into the nitty gritty of
Speaker 1: layering systems, Marino wool, and how to effectively use first
Speaker 1: light gear. So this is kind of a technical podcast
Speaker 1: with with with gear stuff, clothing stuff, but Kevin and
Speaker 1: I also have a great time. You'll get to learn
Speaker 1: about Kevin some of his hunting. He's a he's a
Speaker 1: super elk hunter. Grow up in Minnesota. You're gonna enjoy it.
Speaker 1: I want to bring your attention to a code, a
Speaker 1: code that we're gonna give out where you canna get
Speaker 1: five dollars off of subscription to Bear Hunting Magazine right now,
Speaker 1: we're working on September October issue. If you go to
Speaker 1: our new subscription section at Bear hyphen Hunting dot com,
Speaker 1: bear dash Hunting dot com, you can type in the
Speaker 1: code b h M twenty, So that's like Bear Hunting
Speaker 1: Magazine acronym be a GM twenty. Get five dollars off
Speaker 1: a new subscription. Lastly, I want to talk about our
Speaker 1: buddies at the Western Bear Foundation. Western Bear Foundation is
Speaker 1: a nonprofit hunting conservation organization that's situated right out there
Speaker 1: and uh in Cody, Wyoming, right amongst right in amongst
Speaker 1: all the the some of the difficulty that they're having
Speaker 1: with with with the grizzly bears, black bears, a lot
Speaker 1: of things going on out there that that we need
Speaker 1: a voice and The Western Bear Foundation is creating a
Speaker 1: new narrative for hunters out there by a lot of
Speaker 1: the stuff they're doing their membership based organization. So they're
Speaker 1: they're they're fueled by the funds brought in by members.
Speaker 1: So I want to encourage it. Joined the Western Bear Foundation.
Speaker 1: Check them out. Great organization fighting for the rights of
Speaker 1: hunters and the the good the black bears. Hey onto
Speaker 1: the podcast from Bozeman, Montana. Kevin Harlander all right, welcome
Speaker 1: to the Bear Hunting Magazine podcast. I am in Bozeman, Montana,
Speaker 1: also known as the Bozone. I've learned that Bozeman, Montana
Speaker 1: today and I've got I've got with me Kevin Harlander
Speaker 1: of First Light. Kevin is the community manager Community manager
Speaker 1: First Lights. Yeah, we are, man, this is really cool
Speaker 1: for me. We're at the Meat Eater Global Headquarters. Now, Kevin,
Speaker 1: you may not you may not know this about Bear
Speaker 1: Hunting Magazine, but we have we call the Bear Hunting
Speaker 1: Magazine where we're where we're at the global headquarters. I
Speaker 1: like that. That's what it says on a signed the
Speaker 1: global headquarters at first like two over and catch him yeah,
Speaker 1: first like global HQ. Yeah. Yeah, So man, we're at.
Speaker 1: We're actually in the podcasting studio of of Meat Eater,
Speaker 1: which is a cool thing. And to give a little
Speaker 1: context of why that we're here, is that First Light,
Speaker 1: as everybody would know, has recently been acquired by meat
Speaker 1: Eater and uh and so Kevin it was in First
Speaker 1: Like it's based out of Catchum, Idaho, about five hours
Speaker 1: from here, and you guys came down and our are
Speaker 1: are showing some of the new products, talking about some
Speaker 1: of the stuff with uh, with with the people here
Speaker 1: at meat Eater. Yeah, that's correct. So we've been working
Speaker 1: with meat Eater and Steve specifically for a long time.
Speaker 1: He's one of our our longest partners, and so yeah,
Speaker 1: we've been recently acquired and nothing's changing on our end,
Speaker 1: and UH, it's been really positive just to be able
Speaker 1: to collaborate with these guys on a closer level. So
Speaker 1: we're up here with Bridget and Forward in a bunch
Speaker 1: of our marketing team and I'm just kind of showcasing
Speaker 1: some of our product that we're putting in a gear
Speaker 1: testing for these guys help out a lot with that, um,
Speaker 1: since they're in the field so often. UM. And then yeah,
Speaker 1: I just kind of kind of seeing the home home
Speaker 1: turf for these guys. And it's always fun to come
Speaker 1: to Bozeman. It's a kind of the the heart and
Speaker 1: soul of of the outdoor industry. So it's gonna catch
Speaker 1: up with I don't know that people people outside the
Speaker 1: industry would necessarily know them, but in Bozeman, right here
Speaker 1: is you. You tell me the companies you know that
Speaker 1: are right here in Bozeman, Sick Gear on x Mry Ranch, Um,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna forget a bunch more. But obviously meat Eater, Stone, Glacier,
Speaker 1: Ums Boots is a town of about It's just not
Speaker 1: like this. It's not like a massive city. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: I'm not the best expert obviously on on Bosen, Montana.
Speaker 1: If used to roll through here on the way to
Speaker 1: fire season. I was in college a lot. But um,
Speaker 1: it's a great place, great place and a lot of
Speaker 1: good people too. It's fun to we're out at dinner
Speaker 1: last night and you run into olks from like the
Speaker 1: Wild Cheap Foundation, and then there's guys rolling in from
Speaker 1: two Percent for Conservation. It's kind of just this revolving
Speaker 1: door folks. It's fun here they are. Yeah, yeah, we're
Speaker 1: actually gonna go over there stephan un and trying some
Speaker 1: of their boots. So I've actually never worn SNAE boots.
Speaker 1: Uh yeah, so we'll check them out. Nice. Well. Bozeman
Speaker 1: is in neat town. I've never spent much time here
Speaker 1: on our way to where we hunted in Western Montana
Speaker 1: for Spring Bear. This year, we pulled in with our
Speaker 1: mules and our trailer and parked like directly in the
Speaker 1: alley behind says we were. We were like making blocks around,
Speaker 1: trying trying to we just wanted to pull in there
Speaker 1: just to say. We went to and right behind the store,
Speaker 1: it's like this downtown area, like a really nice downtown area,
Speaker 1: like old downtown with these small shops along main street,
Speaker 1: you know, just buzzing people. Yeah, yeah, just buzzing with people.
Speaker 1: And so we pull up like right behind their back door,
Speaker 1: and I was like, they're not gonna tow us. So
Speaker 1: we're in there for like fifteen minutes with mules. So man,
Speaker 1: we just put the flashers on, went in there. But
Speaker 1: that was my first time. It's a neat that's a
Speaker 1: neat store. Yeah, I'm excited. Excited. The Bozeman is uh,
Speaker 1: I mean, I guess for a western town. Maybe this
Speaker 1: is like standard, but I mean basically in any direction
Speaker 1: that you look, you're seeing these big snow cap mountains.
Speaker 1: I mean here it is July. I mean that's pretty spectacular.
Speaker 1: You guys out west are used to this kind of stuff,
Speaker 1: but we're pretty lucky that way. And it's, uh, it's
Speaker 1: a beautiful place. And especially as you get into sort
Speaker 1: of the inner mountain West and and uh in the
Speaker 1: Rocky Mountains. It's just it's rugged country and beautiful and
Speaker 1: we hold onto our snow. Although this year has been
Speaker 1: pretty hot, um midsummer, so we'll see it's uh, hopefully
Speaker 1: we won't get too many fires. Yeah, other's I mean
Speaker 1: it looked like a lot of snow to me, but
Speaker 1: any snow is a lot of snow. Rkanzas. But hey,
Speaker 1: before we jump into so what I want to do
Speaker 1: on the podcast, let's I want to talk about some
Speaker 1: of the First Light stuff. But but but before we
Speaker 1: do that, I wanna I want to learn some stuff
Speaker 1: about you. I just met Kevin like this morning. They
Speaker 1: basically this morning, and the only reason I recognized and
Speaker 1: because I watched, uh, I watched on Facebook First Light's Uh,
Speaker 1: you guys recorded a deal where you were cooking elk burgers. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we're doing this. It's called Fuel the Fundamentals, and it's uh,
Speaker 1: it's awesome. It's just guys from the office and uh,
Speaker 1: we're cooking up just just really simple basic recipes, but easy,
Speaker 1: easy recipes to kind of mess up. So yeah, but
Speaker 1: I learned something though. I mean, like really, when I
Speaker 1: went into a burger cooking video, I mean I really
Speaker 1: wasn't thinking I'm gonna learn something. But the butter, Yeah,
Speaker 1: that was that came out of lift for me. But
Speaker 1: I get it. Man. Yeah, but crispy, you know, crispy
Speaker 1: gun and then also right on the burger itself, right,
Speaker 1: you just kind of crisp up the exterior of that burger,
Speaker 1: and it just helps with We had, um, my girlfriend
Speaker 1: and I last summer raised some hogs, so we we
Speaker 1: mixed in the bacon ends into that into that elkrine
Speaker 1: and it just turned out really delicious. But the butter
Speaker 1: on top, right, and especially when you're putting on like
Speaker 1: a hot fire, like instantly crisps and it's just like
Speaker 1: a little I'm not crunchy, but just a little bit
Speaker 1: of crispiness on the outside. Yeah, I'm definitely gonna everything
Speaker 1: is better, definitely gonna do that. Yeah, I want to
Speaker 1: hear about your hogs too. We raised some pigs. Yeah, cool,
Speaker 1: but it's all. But I want to introduce you. I
Speaker 1: want to hear about your history and uh so, and
Speaker 1: it's cool that you work for first Light. I mean,
Speaker 1: that's my question. What I just personally wanted to ask
Speaker 1: you is how the heck did you start working for
Speaker 1: first Light. That's a lot, but it's kind of a
Speaker 1: long road, you know. Yeah, but give me kind of
Speaker 1: a I know you're a hunter. You know you're a
Speaker 1: good elk hunter. I know that if you were a firefighter,
Speaker 1: you're you're tough and mountain warn That's good. But now
Speaker 1: just give me a little history of just your personal
Speaker 1: history where you grew up. But yeah, that sounds great.
Speaker 1: I'm from St. Paul, Minnesota, so born and raised there
Speaker 1: and lived there until I went to school and to
Speaker 1: college in Northeastern Iowa. School called Worst College, kind of
Speaker 1: in the heart of white Tail Country. So I grew
Speaker 1: up white Tail Honey, and we had a family place
Speaker 1: up in northern Minnesota right on the headwaters in the
Speaker 1: Mississippi or near it Um. I spent a lot of
Speaker 1: time up there as a kid, and it was always
Speaker 1: interesting growing up in the city and and and then
Speaker 1: being outside all the time in our neighborhood and kind
Speaker 1: of in our in our area, and then going up north.
Speaker 1: We called it going up north. Every every time, every
Speaker 1: chance we get it seemed like every weekend, my mom
Speaker 1: would kind of get everything rolling and my dad would
Speaker 1: roll home from work and we just head for the hill.
Speaker 1: Is there a culture, I know in Michigan there's this
Speaker 1: culture of everybody wanted to go to the up vacation.
Speaker 1: Is it kind that everybody but yeah, and everybody other
Speaker 1: neighbor has a place on the lake, right and they
Speaker 1: call them cabins and just cabins on the lake. And
Speaker 1: that's really the heart and soul, I would say in
Speaker 1: Minnesota summer culture and winter culture. So it's everybody in
Speaker 1: the in the Midwest, specifically in St. Paul in Minneapolis
Speaker 1: and and the surrounding area seems to have a place
Speaker 1: up north and with a place up north. So there's
Speaker 1: like a my grace into the North country every every
Speaker 1: so most of the population would be further sound. Yeah, certainly,
Speaker 1: you know, Minnesota a long state right to the tail,
Speaker 1: but the heart of the population all resides sort of
Speaker 1: in that central to south central part of the states. Um. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we spent a lot of time going up north and
Speaker 1: learned to fish and hunt from my dad and my
Speaker 1: mom as well, and my grandfather and my brothers and
Speaker 1: so we we that was always a part of who
Speaker 1: we were growing up. And we we always ate a
Speaker 1: lot of fish, ate a lot of medicine, um and
Speaker 1: Grallison ducks and geese. So it was so grew up
Speaker 1: we did. Yeah, And it's totally different than any of
Speaker 1: the deer hunting I've ever done in the West end
Speaker 1: in Iowa too. So we were hunting in northern Minnesota
Speaker 1: with you know, basically I think my first, yeah, the
Speaker 1: first gun I ever shot a deer with, UM was
Speaker 1: that thirty thirty lever action. So everything's brushy, thick country. Um.
Speaker 1: All the deer are really big bodied white tales. But
Speaker 1: you wouldn't like if you shot at what would they
Speaker 1: would call in northern Minnesota eight point right four by
Speaker 1: four and in the west pointer don't get Okay, that's
Speaker 1: about this Western stuff, man, that's right. So the truth
Speaker 1: it's an eight point four if you shoot an eight
Speaker 1: pointer in in Minnesota. That in northern Minnesota. That is
Speaker 1: like a dandy in a small basket act. So small
Speaker 1: small rack deer, but tough northern deer. Yeah, because it's
Speaker 1: cold hunting up there. But now they do a lot
Speaker 1: of drives or a little bit terrain features and mostly
Speaker 1: just corridors. You're in the rut, so you're just hunting
Speaker 1: travel corridors for the most part, but thick country. We
Speaker 1: drive once in a while, usually like on a Sunday
Speaker 1: afternoon where you're heading out go home. Yeah we do. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's right. Um so yeah. And then so we spent
Speaker 1: a lot of time up there when I was a kid,
Speaker 1: and we're always enjoying sort of the the way to
Speaker 1: up north to there's a lot of great state parks
Speaker 1: and rack areas in Minnesota, and they do a good
Speaker 1: job of keeping those places wild, which is I'm really
Speaker 1: fortunate to have grown up there. Um So, then I
Speaker 1: went to college in Iowa, played baseball down there, and
Speaker 1: and uh and whitetail hunting quite a bit really and
Speaker 1: Iowa public land well, actually the the doozy about Iowa
Speaker 1: a little bit. There's a lot of public land, not
Speaker 1: compared to the wester or even parts of the Midwest.
Speaker 1: But what's interesting about Iowa is there's a real culture around,
Speaker 1: like agriculture mixed with wild land or watching is a
Speaker 1: wildlife habitat. So there's a lot of people, especially when
Speaker 1: I was coming up through some biology programs, they're trying
Speaker 1: to change the way they thought about land use. Rather
Speaker 1: than just a sort of um reap the land situation
Speaker 1: with pure agriculture, they're trying to work in sort of
Speaker 1: this regenerative, regenerative, healthy ecosystem management with um some hunting,
Speaker 1: and I think what was really cool is I got
Speaker 1: to be a part of a couple of different farms
Speaker 1: that were transitioning from strictly just agriculture to wildlife management
Speaker 1: as well. And I did kill some decent deer. Yeah,
Speaker 1: like I think, like a decent deer and I was
Speaker 1: probably like one, right, And then they talk about these
Speaker 1: seventy inch deer as you get farther into in the
Speaker 1: southern than Iowa, but we were just a little bit
Speaker 1: farther north from where the real like boomer Boomer bucks
Speaker 1: go down. So that was a great experience and it
Speaker 1: was cool because everybody, like my baseball coach in college
Speaker 1: was an avid deer hunter, so he took me out
Speaker 1: a few times and I sort of relearned how to
Speaker 1: how to white tail hunt. That it would be totally
Speaker 1: different than northern Minnesota certainly forced yeah, exactly. So you're
Speaker 1: hunting a lot of field edges, a lot of like
Speaker 1: travel corridors, UM, managing different chunks of ground. You know,
Speaker 1: I never really knew what a food plot was, UM
Speaker 1: until I until I went to Iowa. So then in
Speaker 1: the summertime when I was in college, I was heading
Speaker 1: out to Oregon to UH to fight wildland fire. So
Speaker 1: I did that's that was just like a summer job.
Speaker 1: It was. Yeah, it's the greatest summer job ever because
Speaker 1: you're you're on the road a lot, and you're working
Speaker 1: a lot of hours, can't spend any money. And then
Speaker 1: then in the summer we just hand to check over
Speaker 1: to school just like back to it UM. But met
Speaker 1: a lot of my greatest friends doing that UM. And
Speaker 1: then what's really interesting is that's how I introduced Alka.
Speaker 1: So I stayed a couple of seasons later into September
Speaker 1: and just started going with these guys and hunting with
Speaker 1: these guys, and the greatest part about that was I
Speaker 1: just had this real opportunity to learn from people that
Speaker 1: lived in this country all the time, and so we're
Speaker 1: out cutting and and that was a great gift and
Speaker 1: something I'm really grateful for. So just a phenomenal state.
Speaker 1: Oregans wonderful. I lived in Eastern Oregon for the better
Speaker 1: part of ten years on and off, UM and just
Speaker 1: really fell in love with that place. And um, yeah,
Speaker 1: now I'm now I'm over in Idaho. So the short
Speaker 1: of it is like, yes, I suppose we're gonna get this,
Speaker 1: but um, I was working after I was done fighting fire,
Speaker 1: I was managing the marketing and sales for a brewery
Speaker 1: in eastern Oregon. UM. And while I was doing that,
Speaker 1: I was guiding al khnts with my good friend James
Speaker 1: nash Um. He runs outfit called six Ranch Outfitters. So
Speaker 1: we worked together for a couple of years. And then
Speaker 1: I was also doing some film work um for Ben
Speaker 1: Potter at con Outdoor. So we did some waterfowl projects together,
Speaker 1: and I was kind of I was like dipping my
Speaker 1: toe into the outdoor industry because I was really scared
Speaker 1: about like, Okay, I love this so much. If I
Speaker 1: go in full on Um, you know, am I gonna
Speaker 1: ruin it? I'm gonna get burned out on this? Or
Speaker 1: is it not gonna be fun? And um, So I've
Speaker 1: always been kind of caution or cautious I should say,
Speaker 1: about mixing my passions in my work. So um, but
Speaker 1: it's been the best decision I've ever made. Man, this
Speaker 1: has been the greatest. I started like in beginning to
Speaker 1: May and I's s been a whirlwind, just been awesome.
Speaker 1: So you you're jump into full time outdoor industry. It's
Speaker 1: just been just this year. Yeah, just this year, and
Speaker 1: it's been just phenomenal. So my role, I get to
Speaker 1: work with so many different cool people and managed a
Speaker 1: team of the best pro team in the in the country.
Speaker 1: I think they're just awesome guys. We've got great guys
Speaker 1: and outfitters and just a really solid, solid team put
Speaker 1: together at First Light. And so so you were doing
Speaker 1: marketing and media and photography and some video and learning
Speaker 1: from some really good guys like this can Outdoors And
Speaker 1: so how the heck did that translate into I mean
Speaker 1: you just applied for a job at First Light or
Speaker 1: did you know some of the First Light folks? So um.
Speaker 1: Through James Nash My friend I just mentioned he uh,
Speaker 1: him and Cody Rich became pretty good friends. And Cody
Speaker 1: runs a podcast and a bunch of other businesses. That
Speaker 1: guy's a genius marketer and a and a really good dude. Um,
Speaker 1: So Cody and I have become pretty close and and
Speaker 1: Cody and I have worked together a little bit. And
Speaker 1: a job popped on First Letting and I've been trying
Speaker 1: to think about my girlfriend and I were like, we
Speaker 1: should We're gonna move, We're gonna do something new. Um,
Speaker 1: and we're actually in Norway, of isn't in her family
Speaker 1: and her families from from the country in Norway, and um,
Speaker 1: I just saw this job pop and I was kind
Speaker 1: of I was just laying in bed and I was like,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna apply for this thing. And so I called
Speaker 1: Cody and he's like, yeah, man, I'll talk to those guys.
Speaker 1: And we just set up a meeting and was able
Speaker 1: to kind of secure the deal and it's been just phenomenal. Yeah. Yeah,
Speaker 1: So you've been at First Light since May? Yeah, awesome,
Speaker 1: pretty quick, it's been quick. Well that's great. Um, now
Speaker 1: I know, so are you you're hunting public land Elk
Speaker 1: and I don't know. Yeah, I'll that's where you learned
Speaker 1: your Yeah, and I will say, like, you know, I've
Speaker 1: killed a few off with my bow, um and the
Speaker 1: majority of it's been on public land, but there are
Speaker 1: a lot of it's been on private too, just because um,
Speaker 1: I think one of the things that's interesting growing up
Speaker 1: in the Midwest, you know, we had a skill set
Speaker 1: that I developed from learning from other folks of how
Speaker 1: to ask for permission, you know, and not just coming
Speaker 1: and taking right. It's like, hey, I see mr, you've
Speaker 1: got some fence down, Can I rebuild that for you? Can?
Speaker 1: I can I get you a quarter? Will can rebuild fence? Trip? Yeah?
Speaker 1: And it. You know, the thing is, it's like those
Speaker 1: guys work their butts off on their ground, you know,
Speaker 1: they take a lot of pride in their in their
Speaker 1: property and things like that. So I wanted to try
Speaker 1: to figure out a way to uh utilize that skill
Speaker 1: set of talking with people and doing that to to
Speaker 1: gain some access. So I've learned and and sort of
Speaker 1: um facilitated some relationships through through that. So that's good. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's great. Yeah, Well maybe this is a good place
Speaker 1: to get into some of the first light. Well, I
Speaker 1: think we can we can say this is that the
Speaker 1: meat Eatier acquisition of First Light. For those in the industry,
Speaker 1: it was pretty I mean, I mean it was kind
Speaker 1: of like, wow, that that's surprising. Um. But then once
Speaker 1: it happened, maybe it wasn't surprising. But uh. Steve Ronnella
Speaker 1: obviously has been the kind of the main First Light
Speaker 1: media guy. For sure. He's not he's not had any
Speaker 1: he's not owned first I mean, he's just been somebody
Speaker 1: that has Warren first Light helped them build their brand,
Speaker 1: and I mean somebody that the outdoor industry. I mean,
Speaker 1: in my mind he's at the top of the heap. Yeah, certainly.
Speaker 1: I just his ability to just to bring people into
Speaker 1: the fold is just incredible. You know, we're talking about
Speaker 1: guys that maybe and women and men that have never
Speaker 1: picked up a rifle and never spent any time in
Speaker 1: the woods, and they're being they're attracted to this model
Speaker 1: that that Steve's built. Um. One of the things I
Speaker 1: talked about Ben O'Brien a little bit too, was just
Speaker 1: like how many how much opportunity Steve's brought for so
Speaker 1: many people in the industry to have a voice to
Speaker 1: talk about what they want to talk about um. So
Speaker 1: it's been awesome to get to know him a little
Speaker 1: bit as well. So did you start working for first
Speaker 1: Light It was before the acquisition, Yeah, just pretty quick
Speaker 1: before actually yeah cool. Yeah. Well, what I want to
Speaker 1: do is I kind of want to act like nobody
Speaker 1: knows anything about about Could we categorize first Light gear
Speaker 1: It's like technical hunting gear. That would be the most
Speaker 1: simple description of what it would be, because I think,
Speaker 1: I mean a lot of my listeners would be probably
Speaker 1: from the South and Midwest mainly, and I mean historically
Speaker 1: and still that those hunters are massively dominated by cotton yea, honestly,
Speaker 1: I mean but it but it's I mean, it's uh
Speaker 1: And when I say that, I mean just you know,
Speaker 1: kind of standard hunting gear that we've all used and
Speaker 1: survived on. It still works for people. That's what I
Speaker 1: grew up using here. Yeah I did too. We didn't
Speaker 1: know any different that week. In my mind when I
Speaker 1: was growing up, wool was like this itchy stuff that
Speaker 1: your dad would make you wear sometimes I didn't really
Speaker 1: want to. So it's so different. But so let's pretend
Speaker 1: like people don't understand what technical hunting gear is and
Speaker 1: how it can help them and and and what it's like. UM.
Speaker 1: But I also kind of want to talk about some
Speaker 1: of the new first Light stuff that some people would
Speaker 1: be but talk to me about, like a basic layering system. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and we call them our kids. So the way that
Speaker 1: UM people should think about first Light is it's a
Speaker 1: full service apparel company, right, And what the goal of
Speaker 1: everything we make and everything that we've tried to develop
Speaker 1: from my understanding in the last ten twelve years, has
Speaker 1: been UH to try to to try to allow the
Speaker 1: hunt to stay out on the field longer, UH to
Speaker 1: sit in that tree just a couple more hours, UM,
Speaker 1: to be dry, cool, UM warm when you need to be.
Speaker 1: That's right. And and so those sort of the ethos
Speaker 1: of this whole company has been started in the idea
Speaker 1: that we can make a piece of gear for every situation,
Speaker 1: for any climate, for any part of the world. UM.
Speaker 1: And it started with Marino wool. So they're the first
Speaker 1: company ever. We were the first company ever, I should say,
Speaker 1: to print a pattern on Marino wool. Historically, Marino will
Speaker 1: have been used in the ski industry and outdoor industry,
Speaker 1: but have been solid color because they couldn't figure out
Speaker 1: how to Yeah, for some reason. Um, so that that's
Speaker 1: kind of where it started, right, was we understood that
Speaker 1: there was this high quality material um that could be
Speaker 1: close to skin, next to skin, that could serve as
Speaker 1: sort of your base layer for all activity, whether it
Speaker 1: was ninety degrees in South Texas or twelve degrees in
Speaker 1: northern Minnesota. And understand, Um, so when you talk about
Speaker 1: a kid from first, let me stop right there. In
Speaker 1: both of those situations, that's what you want is a
Speaker 1: marino wool against your skin. Yeah. It keeps it cold
Speaker 1: when you're when you're in hot temperatures, and keeps it
Speaker 1: because it's quicking. And and maybe we could even just
Speaker 1: stop right there and talk about marino wool, which this
Speaker 1: is this is something that people typically in the southern
Speaker 1: hunting culture don't understand, but actually, what you want to
Speaker 1: be wearing when it's eighty five degrees and you're on
Speaker 1: an active hunt is marino wool. Yeah, that's exactly because
Speaker 1: you guys make all sorts of super light stuff that's
Speaker 1: gonna wick moisture away. Number one, It pulls moisture away
Speaker 1: from the skin, but it drives quickly number two, So
Speaker 1: it drives way quicker than cotton. I don't know that
Speaker 1: it would be interesting to actually hear the science of
Speaker 1: why or how, but it does. It drives much quicker.
Speaker 1: So all of us have been wearing a cotton shirt
Speaker 1: and just drenched it and then it stays wet and
Speaker 1: damp the whole day, certainly, And I'm familiar with that humidity. Girl,
Speaker 1: And I said it was brutally hot. And I actually
Speaker 1: just got back from a hunt in Texas. Um. We're
Speaker 1: down there twice this spring, and we're in deep like
Speaker 1: South Texas, right on the border, and it was hot,
Speaker 1: like a hundred degrees not even sent human any brutal,
Speaker 1: And I'm wearing that. We make a piece called a
Speaker 1: wick hoodie and it's it's a hooded shirt and you
Speaker 1: wouldn't really think man of hood and that hot of
Speaker 1: temperature would be brutal, but it's the hundred fifty weight.
Speaker 1: It's called our wick. Um and I was reasonably comfortable.
Speaker 1: And I think the biggest part is, yeah, you're gonna
Speaker 1: sweat even if you're you know, wearing nothing, You're gonna sweat, right,
Speaker 1: But the ability for that garment to take your sweat
Speaker 1: and pull it off your skin hold on it and
Speaker 1: then get rid of it. It's pretty incredible, and you
Speaker 1: know you're drying pretty quickly, set and quick, Yeah, certainly.
Speaker 1: And then and then the third thing is that it
Speaker 1: holds much less odor. I mean, certainly, and you don't
Speaker 1: even realize it until you begin to compare the two
Speaker 1: fabrics after you've wore them. But I mean, like you
Speaker 1: take a cotton shirt and you sweat in it all
Speaker 1: day that night, whether you're back at your tin or
Speaker 1: back at your house or wherever, you pick up that
Speaker 1: shirt the next day, it smells terrible. Yeah, I mean,
Speaker 1: you're getting a friend of mine. We're just talking about
Speaker 1: James now. She wrote his motorcycle in a wicked T
Speaker 1: shirt for a thout, like I think, in the same
Speaker 1: T shirt ten days, and that dude stinks usually and
Speaker 1: he didn't smell at all. He's really impressed. So there's
Speaker 1: examples like that right where if you did that in
Speaker 1: the cotton shirt, you'd be it would be pretty brutal.
Speaker 1: So those two, those three things are there are the
Speaker 1: fundamental things that you gotta understand if you're gonna wear Marino.
Speaker 1: That that's why you do it versus cotton. Now, cotton
Speaker 1: is comfortable. I mean that's probably the primary Cotton is
Speaker 1: comfortable and cheap and comfortable when it's dry anyway. But
Speaker 1: the thing about this Marino that to fill in the
Speaker 1: gaps from somebody like me who grew up in the
Speaker 1: in the wool that my dad used to make me
Speaker 1: wear sometimes was like prickly. This Marino wool is Um,
Speaker 1: it's basically comparable to cotton, and its softness in the
Speaker 1: way it feels against the skin softer too, yeah, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: yeah for sure. And the reason there is so the
Speaker 1: Marino wool comes from obviously a different sheep, the Marino sheep. Um,
Speaker 1: it's just a softer wool, and it feels good on
Speaker 1: your skin. You know, it's not agitating at all. Um.
Speaker 1: The nice part about Marino as well as in our garments,
Speaker 1: we mix out with just a little bit of stretch
Speaker 1: material so um. You know, classic marino or any sort
Speaker 1: of wool, over time sort of wears down. But if
Speaker 1: you implement these these little bit of synthetic and just
Speaker 1: a little bit of stretch, I mean, that thing holds
Speaker 1: up for for a good lifetime. So you know, I
Speaker 1: heard this is interesting to me thinking about the biology
Speaker 1: of it. But I heard I think I heard Scott
Speaker 1: Robinson say that, but the marino sheep. The reason that
Speaker 1: marino wool on a human is good to wear when
Speaker 1: it's hot and also good to wear when it's cold
Speaker 1: is because the temperature where these sheep are can get
Speaker 1: ultra hot but also ultra cold. So this animal can't
Speaker 1: molt and shed to this degree of actually what it needs,
Speaker 1: so it had to it formed this this covering that
Speaker 1: would thermal regulate. When it was hot, they it would
Speaker 1: draw heat away and draw moisture away, but when it
Speaker 1: was cold and insult So it's kind of cool to
Speaker 1: think you're taking this natural resource that was designed to
Speaker 1: do this very thing and spin it into yarn and
Speaker 1: making garments. And I think probably the biggest complain, if
Speaker 1: if we're just being honest about it, is that the
Speaker 1: durability of just a hundred percent marino will which I've had,
Speaker 1: and I want to go back to just educating people,
Speaker 1: because I think if people are educated, there there more
Speaker 1: they understand. And I heard Scott say this is that, Um,
Speaker 1: you know, I've had I've had some hund percent marino
Speaker 1: wool stuff that started to get some holes in it
Speaker 1: after time and stuff um, but when you spin in
Speaker 1: the synthetics, it does make it stronger. But Scott was
Speaker 1: saying about how you're really dealing with a natural commodity
Speaker 1: that has differences. I mean, like it's like it's like
Speaker 1: being a logger and you're cutting down a forest that
Speaker 1: like had really fast growth and wide tree rings, and
Speaker 1: the lumber is just a little bit different than like
Speaker 1: this old slow growth stuff. Maybe it's the same kind
Speaker 1: of tree. And so he's saying that there's even variations
Speaker 1: in wool from different years and different suppliers, and I
Speaker 1: mean think you'll get it off from the same supplier,
Speaker 1: but yeah, certainly, And I mean those sheep if you
Speaker 1: think about it, like the um, the difference in cheap
Speaker 1: one versus sheep three is probably the bit of a
Speaker 1: difference because they're different individuals. But that's a pretty cool
Speaker 1: process too, to be using natural fiber um, you know,
Speaker 1: to to create these garments, for sure. Yeah, but it
Speaker 1: helps me to think that, like you know, we just
Speaker 1: we just buy clothing and put it on and you
Speaker 1: don't ever think about like this is actually it's almost
Speaker 1: like a an art as much as it's a science.
Speaker 1: And making this, making this gear and Scott was also
Speaker 1: talking about how they've gone too. I'm pretty sure he
Speaker 1: said they've gone to New Zealand and met these farmers
Speaker 1: and and uh and the commodity it's a it's it's
Speaker 1: a commodity that can become scarce and so they have
Speaker 1: to have relationships with these guys so that if if
Speaker 1: it is scarce, that they'll sell to you guys rather
Speaker 1: than to sell to someone else anyway, and it was yeah,
Speaker 1: and it's an interesting world, you know. I'm just kind
Speaker 1: of diving in where, like we mentioned, we're getting into
Speaker 1: sort of our testing cycle for our years down the
Speaker 1: roads gear. Um, so I've been learning a little bit
Speaker 1: more about that process and it is interesting because it
Speaker 1: comes down to relationships and especially on the gear test side,
Speaker 1: all the way down to the raw materials. You know.
Speaker 1: That's what's cool about a small company. Um. We have
Speaker 1: the ability to go and meet those people you know,
Speaker 1: on the ground, which well anything else too. Well. So
Speaker 1: the foundation at first slide is this is Marino. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so we've yeah, we've expanded past that way past, but
Speaker 1: that is sort of that is the foundation, and I
Speaker 1: think that's the most important component any kit, right, Um,
Speaker 1: you start what's actually touching your skin. Yeah, you start
Speaker 1: the skin and you work your way out. Arguably, I
Speaker 1: would say that the most the two most important pieces
Speaker 1: early in your kid are your boots and your bass layer. Um,
Speaker 1: just because it spends the most time on your body. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: for sure. So what about what about talk to me
Speaker 1: about just some of the other outerwear and gear. And
Speaker 1: I mean, like, so you were talking about the kids,
Speaker 1: So walk me through a kit there which I stopped.
Speaker 1: I interrupted you, Kevin, I'm just talking nerd and out
Speaker 1: about Marino will no, I I hear you. So, um, well,
Speaker 1: we'll probably do like a let's let's just go through
Speaker 1: like my everyday ultimate kid right there we go. So,
Speaker 1: I think the biggest thing to start with in any
Speaker 1: kit is, like we mentioned that sort of that bass layer, um,
Speaker 1: and the main component of my base layer it starts
Speaker 1: with those wick long boxer briefs, um, just because that
Speaker 1: is something that's next to my game all the time.
Speaker 1: It's wicking that moisture away from arguably probably one of
Speaker 1: the hottest regions of your body, your upper legs and
Speaker 1: your crotch. UM. So I usually mix that in with
Speaker 1: a men's wick hoodie which is our our basse layer.
Speaker 1: I was talking about that a little bit. I've been
Speaker 1: wearing that down in Texas. UM, that's a great piece.
Speaker 1: I like the hood feature too, because that hood feature
Speaker 1: allows you to conceal and also keep some sun off
Speaker 1: your neck as well. UM and I can wear that
Speaker 1: all the way through. With the base layer, it's not
Speaker 1: it's not even uh temperature control as much as the
Speaker 1: shade yea in some places, which I guess would end
Speaker 1: up being temperature control, but in the wrong way. Usually
Speaker 1: think of a hood is trying to keep you warm,
Speaker 1: but man, sometimes glass and when it's seventy degrees you
Speaker 1: just want to get away from the sun. And I'm
Speaker 1: sure we're talking you know this. This base layer stuff
Speaker 1: is some is a piece that I would wear, whether
Speaker 1: it's you know, ninety degrees in Texas from my start
Speaker 1: all the way to five degrees in Minnesota or whatever. UM,
Speaker 1: and I would exchange certain pieces obviously with different temperature ranges.
Speaker 1: We make some heavier duty have your weight UM long
Speaker 1: sleep pieces to specifically the fuse and things like that.
Speaker 1: The Men's fews crew. So I start, you know, with
Speaker 1: the with the basic long Johns, the Men's Wick Long
Speaker 1: Boxer brief and then the men's Wick Hoodie. UM. On
Speaker 1: the pants side, we make this these pants called the
Speaker 1: corey At Guide Pants, which I think are just bomber.
Speaker 1: They're they're tough pants. They're they're four way stretch d
Speaker 1: w R, which means they're a little bit water resistant.
Speaker 1: It's kind of my go to. UM. However, we just
Speaker 1: released a pair of pants called the Guide Light Pants,
Speaker 1: which UM I wore down in Texas last two weeks ago. UM.
Speaker 1: It's a really light but durable material and it almost
Speaker 1: feels like you're not wearing pants at all. UM, But
Speaker 1: they're tough, so they held up in that kind of
Speaker 1: Mesquite country. Um. That's a great pair of pants as well.
Speaker 1: So those are the two that I'll probably cycle through.
Speaker 1: Um and then um, you know, as we as we
Speaker 1: build our way through that stuff. And let me let
Speaker 1: me say something about the Corean Guy pants. Yeah, the
Speaker 1: U I don't want to well, okay, I'm gonna take
Speaker 1: this into the third person here. Let's say that there
Speaker 1: was a man and his wife had a pair of
Speaker 1: yoga pants. Yeah, okay, you're with me, Like the stretchy
Speaker 1: yoga pants that that are that women like, they're so comfortable.
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna say that anybody has ever any man
Speaker 1: has ever put those on, but if they had, they
Speaker 1: would recognize why women like to wear those so much,
Speaker 1: because they're very comfortable. Yeah, basically I'll paralong underwear right long, right, right,
Speaker 1: But but the stretchy material mainly what I'm talking about
Speaker 1: is a stretchy, lightweight material that fits fairly close to skin. Okay,
Speaker 1: to me, the core Guide pants are like hunting and
Speaker 1: I don't want to brand these wrong ways. They're comfortable.
Speaker 1: I don't want to say hunting yoga pants because we're
Speaker 1: gonna all of a sudden, man cards strong enough that
Speaker 1: I'm I'm I'm okay with saying that. But no, they
Speaker 1: they're just comfortable. What I'm saying, they're just very comfortable.
Speaker 1: You don't you feel like you're not wearing a pant? Yeah,
Speaker 1: And that's why I think those Corey Guide pants. They
Speaker 1: satisfy so many different terrains elements parts of the country
Speaker 1: as well. Um, it's a great pair of pants for sure.
Speaker 1: A lot of guys like the cidity of Marino pants
Speaker 1: for for all purposes. Um, and I think those are
Speaker 1: great pair of pants too. So really the core lineup
Speaker 1: that we've introduced is the Corey Guide pant and the
Speaker 1: Marino wool pants. Um, we've got our guidelights, and then
Speaker 1: the ones that I'm really excited about are called the Sawbucks.
Speaker 1: So that's basically a core Gate Guide pant, but it's
Speaker 1: got reinforced almost looks just like an upland pant. Would
Speaker 1: we call this briar Bridges? Briar Bridges, that would be
Speaker 1: that's a great name. Should have called you, should have
Speaker 1: called you? I mean, that's that's what I I mean,
Speaker 1: I would say would be a pretty common name in
Speaker 1: the South for a pant like that. I mean, they've
Speaker 1: got a briar quote unquote briar resistant front. It's different
Speaker 1: than the back. I was crawling around and those things
Speaker 1: in South Texas in this like Mesquite and this cat
Speaker 1: Claud just nasty stuff and they held up real well.
Speaker 1: So I'm stoked about those things. And they're actually doing
Speaker 1: in Texas. Man, well here doing a lot of things.
Speaker 1: But I was with Cable Smith and we're hunting nil guy,
Speaker 1: which is crazy animal. Just be familiar with those things. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: the little horns, big African animal introduced into South Texas
Speaker 1: crazy looking animals. Um, they're huge, Like when were you there?
Speaker 1: I was there and with Cable in May, I believe,
Speaker 1: And then I was just back in the hill country
Speaker 1: hunting access here with a couple of dudes. So did
Speaker 1: y'all kill a naga? Oh we did? Yeah, Cable didn't.
Speaker 1: I hear there. It's really good meat, delicious, buddy, actually
Speaker 1: coolby Colby moorehead the Bear Tech, as he's known, works
Speaker 1: works for with me the Global Headquarters HQ. He he's
Speaker 1: from Texas originally, and he wants to go on a
Speaker 1: now Guy hunt because he he thinks it's a financial decision.
Speaker 1: He thinks for the amount that you pay to go
Speaker 1: on one of these hunts, that you get that much.
Speaker 1: I see they meet and return. Yeah, I would agree.
Speaker 1: It's delicious. I've been really fortunate. The last two animals
Speaker 1: we we got to kill in Texas are both delicious
Speaker 1: access here and Nil Guy. I mean, how big was
Speaker 1: the Neil guy you killed? It was big, you know,
Speaker 1: on the hoof. I don't know. They must be between
Speaker 1: like five and six hundred pounds. They're a giant. It's
Speaker 1: like a elk basically a little bit bigger than it
Speaker 1: alk at times, and this is a good bowl. So
Speaker 1: they must be upwards of you know, between five and
Speaker 1: seven hundred pounds. I'd imagine big beasts. Yeah, I've never
Speaker 1: seen I've never been around them, but I've familiar with them. Yeah,
Speaker 1: they're crazy, but that was a good trip for sure.
Speaker 1: So yeah, I guess on on the kits side, those
Speaker 1: those pants out, they held up really well. Um those
Speaker 1: will I'll be available now too. That's new for twenty nineteen.
Speaker 1: The sawbucks are They've become my new go to pant
Speaker 1: for just I'm not necessarily incorporated into well let's let
Speaker 1: me think about that for a minute. That I wasn't
Speaker 1: able to use them for some reason when I was
Speaker 1: in Montana this spring. But I like the toughness of them.
Speaker 1: You feel like you can work. I mean, sometimes hunting
Speaker 1: trip is more than just about slipping through stocking an animal.
Speaker 1: The whole backside of it is actual work. Like you're
Speaker 1: moving stuff, you're you're getting dirty, you're you know, And
Speaker 1: so I like that that sawbuck has that rough front
Speaker 1: that you can just it feels more kind of like
Speaker 1: a work pant, even though it's not. That's not a
Speaker 1: good description of it. Yeah, but I think it trends
Speaker 1: that way right, Whereas like the Guidelight is an ultra
Speaker 1: light pant made for spot and stocking hot weather early season.
Speaker 1: The Sawbuck, you know, you could you could stack wood
Speaker 1: in those things, you could split wood, you could do
Speaker 1: some work around your ranch, but you can also go
Speaker 1: through the briars and your briar bitches. Yeah, that's awesome.
Speaker 1: I love that name. Um. And then I guess the
Speaker 1: next piece when we keep going up top right, um,
Speaker 1: I usually I love the Klamath hoodie. It's a great piece.
Speaker 1: It's a good fleece product, just really awesome. It's durable,
Speaker 1: keeps me warm. Um. And then we just came out
Speaker 1: with the Men's brook brooks Down sweater, which is ben phenomena.
Speaker 1: I was wearing that this morning and um, it's a
Speaker 1: super lightweight, puffy, puffy peace puffy jacket. Um fits in
Speaker 1: like a water bottle, super tiny, but carry some great warmth.
Speaker 1: I love that, um. And then you know, to round
Speaker 1: it off, I really have been enjoying, like in the springtime,
Speaker 1: especially before it gets the summer, that Sawtooth hybrid Jacket's
Speaker 1: pretty awesome, kind of a lightweight. I think you've borrowed
Speaker 1: that one a little bit too. Um. And then when
Speaker 1: it gets super cold, when we're talking like and this
Speaker 1: is one of the things we've sort of delved into,
Speaker 1: I guess the last few years is is into our
Speaker 1: our down jacket program. And um, the men's chamberling down
Speaker 1: jacket is just absolutely proof. And I'm sure you probably
Speaker 1: wore that bear hunting this this a little bit. No,
Speaker 1: I took it up. There wasn't cold enough, you know.
Speaker 1: I wore it like while I was traveling. I find
Speaker 1: those jackets to be really comfortable. Oh man, It's it's
Speaker 1: almost like you're wearing a sleeping bag. And while we
Speaker 1: were traveling it was super cold going through South Dakota.
Speaker 1: When South Dakota and and eastern Montana we're driving through,
Speaker 1: like the snow and stuff like getting out to get
Speaker 1: gas and check on the wheeles. I would slip that
Speaker 1: on because the smooth I like that down stuff with
Speaker 1: the with the smooth. I don't know what synthetic water
Speaker 1: shell it is, but just you just put it on easy,
Speaker 1: take it off easy. Yeah, just like that that Brooks
Speaker 1: jack And I've got one of those two Brooks or Brooks.
Speaker 1: I like those because They're just easy to put on off,
Speaker 1: you know, extremely paccable too, you know, and they throw
Speaker 1: them in the bottom of your pack. And the nice
Speaker 1: part about that Chamberlain, it is bigger, it's very warm,
Speaker 1: very but I wore it in Canada's where I put
Speaker 1: it to the tests last year Manitoba on some all
Speaker 1: day sits when when when noise wasn't an issue, I
Speaker 1: was rifle muzloader hunting, so it wasn't like I was
Speaker 1: trying to get within twenty yards because it is you know,
Speaker 1: it's not made for to be quiet necessary. It's a
Speaker 1: lasting jacket, right or col Weather that I truly love
Speaker 1: that jacket. Yeah. It's got more down to than than
Speaker 1: the than most of the jackets on the treated down. Yeah.
Speaker 1: So the way that I understand it, like this one
Speaker 1: is is truly the down jackets that eight hundred phil
Speaker 1: power down. So it's it's coated for sure, so if
Speaker 1: it gets wet, it doesn't come flatten. Yeah. And we're
Speaker 1: coming off a great video on how that synthetic down works,
Speaker 1: um and and that should be out pretty soon. But
Speaker 1: it's it's pretty pretty remarkable how that stuff can take
Speaker 1: some water and still perform. Um yeah, it's an incredible
Speaker 1: piece for sure. Yeah. Yeah, um, you know. And then
Speaker 1: on the other thing too, is that I was gonna
Speaker 1: mention really quick because we just have and just an
Speaker 1: outstanding um lineup of of gloves this year. Um. Specifically,
Speaker 1: there's these We've got those um down mittens that are
Speaker 1: really cool. That is like sleeping bags for your hands
Speaker 1: really and uh, those are great for just what do
Speaker 1: they do they call those? Let's yeah, I think I
Speaker 1: think we're calling them if I pull these up correctly, Um,
Speaker 1: I think we're calling them the brooks Yeah, the brooks
Speaker 1: down glassy mit. So they're great. What was it before,
Speaker 1: the big like three fingers. Yeah, so we have those
Speaker 1: are the grizzly triggerments and we re up we updated
Speaker 1: those again this year. Um and those are sweet too.
Speaker 1: Those are like extreme yeah yeah, there you go. So
Speaker 1: they're right here. And see when I was in Ottaho
Speaker 1: uh in tw it was like we would get on
Speaker 1: snowmobiles in the morning. It would be like below freezing
Speaker 1: zero and uh man, I wore those snowmobile because you
Speaker 1: can actually punch a trigger. Yeah, it was they were perfect. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's a good piece. I've been pretty impressed with those.
Speaker 1: I haven't actually worn them in super cold weather yet
Speaker 1: I can tell they're going to be bomb proof. The
Speaker 1: ones I have worn are those shale touch hybrid gloves, which, um,
Speaker 1: they gotta reinforce knuckle patch. Those are great for crawling around,
Speaker 1: like if you're doing some dipping in dodging, there's they're
Speaker 1: just a bomb proof glove of And then of course
Speaker 1: just some updated Marino Marino gloves which incorporate sort of
Speaker 1: the ability to touch your phone and sort of navigate
Speaker 1: with your phone if you're using on Actually, so those
Speaker 1: be really great too. You know what I find most
Speaker 1: of the time when I'm hunting in Arkansas, with the
Speaker 1: temperatures we have, even tree stand hunting, I don't like
Speaker 1: to wear gloves. I would rather keep hands in pockets
Speaker 1: and feel like I'm just nimble with my hands. That
Speaker 1: being said, my go to glove most of the time
Speaker 1: is those lightweight like Marino wool ultra thin. Yeah. What
Speaker 1: do they call those? They call those the the touch
Speaker 1: liner glove. Probably yeah, certainly not something you'd want to
Speaker 1: you know, they don't they don't take a lot of wear.
Speaker 1: I mean, you don't want to like load firewood in
Speaker 1: your truck with them. But they're just enough, just enough
Speaker 1: warmth that they take the sting off the cold if
Speaker 1: your hands are out or if your hands on a boat,
Speaker 1: like you know, when you're a hunting a lot of
Speaker 1: times you're holding your boat, one hand has to be
Speaker 1: out of a pocket and so you're like rotating between
Speaker 1: hands and it kind of takes this thing off, but
Speaker 1: it feels like you're not wearing a glove. You're still
Speaker 1: really have a lot of dexterity and come move around.
Speaker 1: So I just find I go to those a lot.
Speaker 1: I'm with you, and I never was a glove guy
Speaker 1: myself either, but I've been wearing those, the fingerless Marino gloves,
Speaker 1: and they're pretty awesome. That just cuts right off above
Speaker 1: kind of I can say I don't have I don't
Speaker 1: have those to get you down there, sweet. It's nice
Speaker 1: to have just some feeling. I seem to like lose
Speaker 1: feeling in my fingers pretty quickly when it's cold. But
Speaker 1: these things help because they keep that warmth sort of
Speaker 1: the core of your hand, and it's it's a great
Speaker 1: piece for sure. Yeah, for sure. I think that's about
Speaker 1: all for this for the for the new gear that
Speaker 1: I wanted to highlight with you. So what about what
Speaker 1: about the bibbs that are coming out? Yeah, so I'm
Speaker 1: let me pull those up because they're they're really awesome.
Speaker 1: Want to show you a picture. We've been trying on
Speaker 1: some of that stuff now. But so you guys are
Speaker 1: producing some new white tail more White Tailed Trees stand
Speaker 1: branded stuff, and last year it was some of the
Speaker 1: catalysts stuff, which the catalyst would have been a soft shell,
Speaker 1: so it would have been quiet for bow hunters. A
Speaker 1: lot of the I mean, any white tail guy I
Speaker 1: was just telling, uh, I was just telling some of
Speaker 1: the guys earlier, Like I think that's the on the
Speaker 1: forefront of most white tail tree stand bow hunters minds
Speaker 1: is quietness. Yea, well, which is I think sometimes people
Speaker 1: use the wrong stuff, like because the ultra light like
Speaker 1: Western hunting stuff like you guys would have that would
Speaker 1: have these synthetic shells, like it doesn't matter if that's
Speaker 1: quiet or not. And to get that ultra light, you've
Speaker 1: got to have this kind of stuff that's a little
Speaker 1: bit louder correct And so I think sometimes people have
Speaker 1: I've seen it, Kevin, where guys have bought like a
Speaker 1: puffy jacket and wanted to bow hunt with it, you
Speaker 1: know in Missouri and be like, oh man, that stuff
Speaker 1: is loud. It's like it's wrong application exactly. Everything's got it.
Speaker 1: There's a certain tool, right and every kid that makes
Speaker 1: it work. And the nice part about the stuff we've
Speaker 1: been doing in the white Tail world is we've addressed the,
Speaker 1: like I mentioned before, the core components of how am
Speaker 1: I going to stay in that tree longer? And how
Speaker 1: because the buck of the lifetime might walk by one
Speaker 1: thirty four pm and you you might be freezing. So
Speaker 1: what we've tried to do is adjust our program to
Speaker 1: to identify and try to solve those problems. And one
Speaker 1: of the things that comes from that research is the
Speaker 1: ability to stay quiet and stay out there longer. So
Speaker 1: the system that we're coming out with now that should
Speaker 1: launch pretty soon. It's gonna probably early August. It's called
Speaker 1: the Men's Solitude Kit Solitude Yeah. And that Solitude Kit
Speaker 1: is made with the same fabric, the brushed two layer fabric,
Speaker 1: which is silent. I mean, you can swish your legs
Speaker 1: together all you want, it's not gonna make a sound. Um.
Speaker 1: What's really cool about this kit? Um, there's a few
Speaker 1: things when it comes into You have a jacket and
Speaker 1: a and a in a bib um and it's got
Speaker 1: this kit link system where you can basically get from
Speaker 1: It's sort of hard to explain without seeing it, but
Speaker 1: you can get from the external side of your jacket
Speaker 1: into that bib front pocket, which is sweet for white
Speaker 1: tail white tail guys because you can essentially utilize your
Speaker 1: whole system without having to take a jacket off or
Speaker 1: zip a pocket or whatever like that. So the idea
Speaker 1: would be you could have a jet, well, you could
Speaker 1: have bib bib overalls underneath you, and there's pockets on
Speaker 1: the on the chest part of that bib that you're
Speaker 1: gonna want to have important stuff inside of. And you
Speaker 1: put this solitude jacket on. I just saw it this morning,
Speaker 1: and you zip it all the way up. Historically you
Speaker 1: would have had to zip it all the way down
Speaker 1: to get back into the chest bib. But what you
Speaker 1: guys have is these little zippers over here about mid rib,
Speaker 1: Like if you're split from the chin to your navel,
Speaker 1: it would be about yeah, halfway, you have zippers so
Speaker 1: that you can get into that chest pocket. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: that's it. We're just talking about like the worst thing
Speaker 1: ever when you're in the tree is like kind of
Speaker 1: bending over, you're looking around and something falls out of
Speaker 1: your pocket because I'm not going to climb down and
Speaker 1: get it. There's no way. So yeah, this is a
Speaker 1: great way to be able to keep everything sort of
Speaker 1: internal and also manage your heat too. So what happens
Speaker 1: is with with a lot of this stuff is when
Speaker 1: you open a pocket, you're releasing heat or letting you know,
Speaker 1: hot air in or whatever. So this this is going
Speaker 1: to allow you to sort of manage that. So the
Speaker 1: zipper fits around your hand really nicely, and it's a
Speaker 1: good system for sure, And I'm excited. I'm excited to
Speaker 1: wear this in the tree this year. We're gonna try
Speaker 1: this out. And it's a it's a it's a mid
Speaker 1: level between. So for a couple of years, you guys
Speaker 1: have had the Sanctuary stuff to white, which I would
Speaker 1: describe as a very much so cold weather gear, which
Speaker 1: is awesome. It really is that it's it's thick, heavy stuff,
Speaker 1: But you're not gonna want to wear that unless it's
Speaker 1: below thirty degrees. I would say, I think that's right
Speaker 1: in there. And yeah, what the Solitude does is mesh
Speaker 1: year early season, of year, late season, so the heart
Speaker 1: of the rut in the Midwest anyways, you know, November
Speaker 1: six then maybe so you can get some pretty variable temperatures.
Speaker 1: The nice part about the solitude it could be warm,
Speaker 1: it could be freezing. You can get twenty below um.
Speaker 1: So the nice part about the solitude is it allows
Speaker 1: you to layer underneath and still be silent on the
Speaker 1: top layer, which I think is probably in the scheme
Speaker 1: of of trying to identify like what works the best
Speaker 1: in the tree stand, you know, being quiet, staying warm,
Speaker 1: I'm staying out there longer. Three components that are pretty
Speaker 1: essential because if it doesn't matter if you're uh, you know,
Speaker 1: toasty warm all the way to like we said, one
Speaker 1: thirty four pm and you draw back your bow and
Speaker 1: it goes cook that buck of a lifetime skirts off
Speaker 1: into the timber. It's like, well, glad I was warm,
Speaker 1: but I wish I was cold and quiet. So he
Speaker 1: was trying to address all those problems in one piece,
Speaker 1: and I think we did a pretty good job. Let
Speaker 1: me say something about that. The solitude bibbs, which I
Speaker 1: saw him and put them on just this morning. I
Speaker 1: wouldn't expecting it was. So let me just describe so everybody,
Speaker 1: we're all on the same page. Historically, a bib would
Speaker 1: have had zippers from the ankles to the hip basically,
Speaker 1: and so like if you're putting on it, like the Sanctuary,
Speaker 1: you know you would so you could have you would
Speaker 1: have clothes on and your boots on when you put
Speaker 1: this bib over it, so you open it up as
Speaker 1: wide as possible so that your boots don't get clogged
Speaker 1: up and you kind of jump into them. Well, the
Speaker 1: Solitude has zippers that it's got. It's got a double
Speaker 1: zipper and I don't know the term. It's got a
Speaker 1: it's got a zipper that goes basically from almost like
Speaker 1: your armpit the highest part of the bib that goes
Speaker 1: down and the zipper that also comes back up, and
Speaker 1: so you can really open up the top of that
Speaker 1: bib to easily get into them, right. I mean, that
Speaker 1: was That was my favorite part of the That's great
Speaker 1: to hear because I think that Ben and Greg spent
Speaker 1: a lot of time working through that and and excuse me,
Speaker 1: figuring that out. And I think the biggest the other
Speaker 1: thing that we think about in the white tail world
Speaker 1: is maximizing your time. Right, A lot of guys are
Speaker 1: ripping out after work trying to get to the tree
Speaker 1: or whatever it may be. Um So trying to ease
Speaker 1: that you used to make it really compatible throughout. We
Speaker 1: don't want to have to take your boots off to
Speaker 1: put that on, because that's gonna be the last thing
Speaker 1: you want to put on, like you're gonna you know,
Speaker 1: you're gonna be wearing. I mean, you just don't want
Speaker 1: to put that on because it is insulation and you're
Speaker 1: gonna be moving, like maybe even want to put it
Speaker 1: on at the tree stand. That's what I do a
Speaker 1: lot with my insulated bibbs, is I'll carry them to
Speaker 1: the stand because I might have a little bit of
Speaker 1: a walk and don't want to break a sweat, and man,
Speaker 1: if you can not have to do like, you know,
Speaker 1: a circus act getting into them. So I thought that
Speaker 1: was really innovative to have the zippers on the top
Speaker 1: of that bib. And I love bibbs. You heard me
Speaker 1: with you. I like bibbs. I appreciate that. That's awesome. Well, yeah,
Speaker 1: and those those pieces, like I said, will be available
Speaker 1: probably early August or so. Wait none, but I think
Speaker 1: that's gonna gonna do good. And all the all the
Speaker 1: white tail pieces have the holes in the top upper
Speaker 1: back for for safety straps to that's right through yep,
Speaker 1: and that that's gonna be sort of a mainstay and
Speaker 1: all the white tail stuff going forward just for that
Speaker 1: safety element because we don't want anybody falling out of
Speaker 1: a tree. So yeah, and it works great for for
Speaker 1: all harness types. So yeah, you know, again, somebody who's
Speaker 1: never heard anything about first light or or to me,
Speaker 1: what when you put it on and you don't understand
Speaker 1: this until you put it on, is the is the
Speaker 1: shooters cut, which is like a typical jacket. And and
Speaker 1: when I was growing up, my dad was always putting
Speaker 1: me in his old stuff. None of it ever fit,
Speaker 1: you know, and it was always real bulky and I
Speaker 1: could hardly shoot my bow out of it. So that
Speaker 1: would be like the worst case scenarios that you got
Speaker 1: this super bulky stuff that when you get the bow drawn,
Speaker 1: there's fabric sticking out in between the line of where
Speaker 1: the bow is gonna drop, you know. So with all
Speaker 1: of these garments, first, like just the design of it,
Speaker 1: and I think this gets into like a high end,
Speaker 1: custom designed clothing like has a shooters cut, which means
Speaker 1: and I don't know the mechanics of it. I mean,
Speaker 1: there's gotta be mechanics, like there's more fabric here and
Speaker 1: less fabric here, But I don't know what it is.
Speaker 1: But I just know that it works. Like you have
Speaker 1: no restriction when you when you make the move to
Speaker 1: either draw a bow or shoulder or rifle. No, no restriction.
Speaker 1: You don't feel it, you know, and it's and when
Speaker 1: you draw back, everything is just in line with your
Speaker 1: body and not sticking out on on clothing that fits you.
Speaker 1: I mean, obviously had something that didn't fit, you wouldn't
Speaker 1: do that. But that when I hand a jacket to
Speaker 1: a buddy mine that's never put it on, put on
Speaker 1: something for like that, I'm like, you're gonna notice the
Speaker 1: shooters cut. And then every time they go, wow, it doesn't.
Speaker 1: There's no there's no drag, there's no resistance when I
Speaker 1: and I'm I'm doing my hand like I'm shooting a boat.
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, but yeah, I agree. And I think that
Speaker 1: the coolest part is, you know, the first and foremost first,
Speaker 1: I was founded by guys that hunt and I think
Speaker 1: that's the coolest part of it is, you know, they're
Speaker 1: actively involved in the development of each piece and that
Speaker 1: that's a perfect example, is a slenderness. That's even I
Speaker 1: think that's a word. But the sleeve sort of tapers
Speaker 1: so you don't have that bulk, you don't have that
Speaker 1: like um, sort of sinching up of material. Um. And uh. Yeah,
Speaker 1: they've they've done a great job of addressing problems that
Speaker 1: you know, have been found so to speak, um while hunting, right,
Speaker 1: trying to correct problems that they've experienced. That goes from
Speaker 1: western elk hunting to bear hunting in the BC to
Speaker 1: to um deer hunting in South Texas. Right, they're addressing
Speaker 1: all these issues through first and foremost the sort of
Speaker 1: the foundation of the company, and then all the people
Speaker 1: we work with two to gear test this stuff through
Speaker 1: and through. H Yeah, exactly. Well I think I'm I
Speaker 1: think I'm really gonna like the solitude stuff. I mean,
Speaker 1: this is a Barony Magazine podcast, but everybody knows white
Speaker 1: tail hunt and and most bear hunters are going to
Speaker 1: be white tail hunting, tree stand white tail hunting and
Speaker 1: U and so this is good stuff. You know, I
Speaker 1: think probably the biggest, the hardest thing maybe a barrier
Speaker 1: to entry if you could say from getting some of
Speaker 1: this stuff is just the cost of it and then
Speaker 1: not knowing the fit of it. And I hope that
Speaker 1: maybe even people listening to stuff like this, maybe it'll
Speaker 1: give them a little more insight, a little more confidence
Speaker 1: when they go and buy. What I usually tell people
Speaker 1: is a and I've had people directly directly asked me
Speaker 1: to say, Clay, if you were going to spend X
Speaker 1: number of dollars on First like here, what would you buy.
Speaker 1: My first answer is always bass layer stuff. Get that.
Speaker 1: Start start with start with the marino wool bass layers,
Speaker 1: start using that, utilizing that, and then from there you
Speaker 1: can go any direction of your needs from all the
Speaker 1: way from rain gear, I mean, we hadn't talked about stuff,
Speaker 1: you know, like the full scale like really breathable, good
Speaker 1: rain gear, all the way to the sanctuary, super thick,
Speaker 1: super cool weather true stand white to hunting stuff. But anyway,
Speaker 1: I just say, that's like the that's like the the gateway,
Speaker 1: the gateway piece. Certainly. Yeah, And I think the coolest
Speaker 1: part about well, one of the coolest parts about First
Speaker 1: Letter is our customer service team is die hard hunters.
Speaker 1: I mean, those guys are as soon as five oh
Speaker 1: one hits, they are out the door and in the
Speaker 1: hills testing our gear. They know our gear tip to tail.
Speaker 1: They can offer you the sort of the best rendition,
Speaker 1: so to speak of of real life anecdotal um information
Speaker 1: about how a piece performs for your specific area. And
Speaker 1: so those guys are really helpful and and figuring out,
Speaker 1: you know, what is the first piece I should get,
Speaker 1: what's the fourth piece I should get. I'm going on
Speaker 1: this hunt in the Northwest Territories. What what rain jackets
Speaker 1: should I take? Um? So those guys are around all
Speaker 1: the time. I'm ready to answer your questions, and I think, um,
Speaker 1: that's one of the coolest components of first Light as
Speaker 1: those guys are just dialed really and they're able to
Speaker 1: help those anybody out really Okay, Now, let's let's pretend
Speaker 1: like nobody at first Lights listening to this podcast, which
Speaker 1: maybe they won't. They probably I don't know, maybe they will,
Speaker 1: maybe they will, maybe they won't. If you could give
Speaker 1: a hot tip to somebody wanting to get in on
Speaker 1: some first light gear, like on some historic sales, because
Speaker 1: I've noticed some trends with first light of wind stuff
Speaker 1: goes on sale. What would you say, Oh, man, that's
Speaker 1: a good question. I think you should always peek around,
Speaker 1: like we just did a pretty big flash sale. Um,
Speaker 1: and that's what you're asking, like when it's a hot tip, man,
Speaker 1: I think just keep keep watching these flash sales where
Speaker 1: just randomly you'll put a percentage off. Yeah. Yeah, And
Speaker 1: I think the best thing to do is just keep
Speaker 1: keep track on social. You know, we're always like we
Speaker 1: do all these incredible giveaways to partnering with go Wild.
Speaker 1: Right now we're giving away a hunt with cables f
Speaker 1: and Jordan Bud, which is crazy. I mean that's just
Speaker 1: a really easy way to engage with First Light for sure. Um.
Speaker 1: So yeah, I follow al on on social for those giveaways,
Speaker 1: and then um just fall along the on the individual
Speaker 1: folks too. You know, a bunch of people on Instagram
Speaker 1: and they'll they'll be breaking that down. You know. Then
Speaker 1: in what I'm alluding to it, I'm I'm joking. So
Speaker 1: you guys want people to know this stuff. I'm not.
Speaker 1: It's not like a secret, But don't you usually have
Speaker 1: like the new stuff is usually coming out in June, July, August.
Speaker 1: I mean like that's like when the like the new
Speaker 1: lines come out, so you have some of the older
Speaker 1: stuff and often goes on sale, Yeah for sure, and
Speaker 1: that's usually happening, like all the new stuffs out by
Speaker 1: August typically August. Yeah, so you've seen we've we just
Speaker 1: did our big flash sale. But it'll it'll come. You
Speaker 1: call it then, you call it something. It's just a
Speaker 1: summer flash sale, you know. Okay, maybe that's what I'm
Speaker 1: telling We did a bunch of like we have a
Speaker 1: bunch of new logo wear coming out and wearing on
Speaker 1: their right. Now, that's a good bunch of hats. Thanks
Speaker 1: um and uh yeah, so they'll be And like I said,
Speaker 1: I think the best way to get in on that
Speaker 1: info is like we'll we'll sort of sneak peek that
Speaker 1: stuff on on Instagram for sure. And and again going
Speaker 1: back to the idea that you just can't get away
Speaker 1: from it. I mean, the stuff's not cheap. You can
Speaker 1: go buy stuff at Hunting Gear at other places for cheaper.
Speaker 1: That's just that's just like with anything though, everything we do,
Speaker 1: there's always like higher and stuff that's better materials, it's more,
Speaker 1: it's better designed, that's gonna last longer. So it's like
Speaker 1: one of those things. But I find, you know, sometimes
Speaker 1: it's hard for people to to bite the bullet and
Speaker 1: try something. Um but if they could get in, you know,
Speaker 1: maybe may they get it and they say, yeah, I
Speaker 1: like that piece for sure. And I think I think
Speaker 1: one of the coolest parts too, is we we try
Speaker 1: really hard as a company to you know, be in
Speaker 1: the UH. We're obviously like making very expensive, high high
Speaker 1: apparel or high level apparel, um but it's still at
Speaker 1: a at a price point that I would say is
Speaker 1: a little less than the competitors out there. For sure,
Speaker 1: try to we try to in the arena. Anything I'll
Speaker 1: say too is like for folks that are on the
Speaker 1: guiding outfitters side, first responders, we offer great discounts for
Speaker 1: people for their service and for their their line of work.
Speaker 1: Um So I feel free to to hit us up
Speaker 1: if you're in if you're in those categories, and we
Speaker 1: want to try to respect those folks and and make
Speaker 1: their jobs easier for sure. So that's good stuff. That's
Speaker 1: good stuff, um Man. I think we've we've we are
Speaker 1: almost two our hour man. We've build nerd and out
Speaker 1: on the gear stuff. You know, Kevin, I I would
Speaker 1: historically have called myself such a minimalist that I didn't
Speaker 1: I don't like gear, if I could say it that way,
Speaker 1: like like gear to me is like a necessary evil,
Speaker 1: if I could put it that way, Because I do
Speaker 1: meet guys that just nerd out of and but I'm
Speaker 1: becoming more But I find that maybe like at some
Speaker 1: subconscious level, I identify with that. But I'm a serious
Speaker 1: hunter when I get into these places, I want gear.
Speaker 1: So I find that I'm having to be more conscious
Speaker 1: because of of of why I do what I do,
Speaker 1: if I could say it that way, And I'm finding
Speaker 1: that I'm more of a gear guy than I thought. Yeah,
Speaker 1: there you go. I appreciate that. And I think that
Speaker 1: there's all types of gear guys, right. You got like
Speaker 1: trinky guys that have every little thing from you know,
Speaker 1: super cool pocket knives all the way to like the
Speaker 1: latest head lamp. And there's people that get by with
Speaker 1: killing elk and flannels and jeans every year in Oregon.
Speaker 1: You know, there's a whole spectrum, right. But I think
Speaker 1: that for the amount of days guys like you spend
Speaker 1: in the field, and and for guys that really want
Speaker 1: to stay in that tree stand longer or whatever it
Speaker 1: may be. Uh, first lights of the way to go
Speaker 1: for sure. Well it's it's when you find that guy
Speaker 1: that really is just a minimalist and wanting to use
Speaker 1: the gear that helps him get the job done. And
Speaker 1: then but you that guy can really tell a pretty
Speaker 1: good story a lot of times, because I mean, I
Speaker 1: mean give you insight, because this is what I've learned.
Speaker 1: So I think sometimes people they enjoy gear so much
Speaker 1: that it becomes a big part of the of their
Speaker 1: hunting experience because they can't they're not in the field
Speaker 1: every day, but they're thinking about gear like I see
Speaker 1: people and uh, and and maybe I'm that way sometimes too.
Speaker 1: But but I'm becoming a lot more conscious about my
Speaker 1: gear because the older I get, the more I do
Speaker 1: have stronger opinions. The more I realized that, you know,
Speaker 1: there are kind of these nuances inside of gear that
Speaker 1: can really make a They can't make a difference inside
Speaker 1: of your success. Ultimately, that's what we're after is to
Speaker 1: be in the field and be successful. So if you
Speaker 1: can go further and stay longer, then uh, that's a
Speaker 1: good thing. It is a good thing. Yeah. Well, hey,
Speaker 1: closing closing thoughts anything you wanna. Yeah, it's exciting to
Speaker 1: be on here. Man, I'm excited what we have to do. Uh.
Speaker 1: And you know I've never killed a bear, right, We
Speaker 1: talked about this and you've killed an Oh no, So
Speaker 1: I think what we probably trade hunts. I'll take you
Speaker 1: all kind of you take me bear hunt. Let's do
Speaker 1: it deal, do it spring, spring, and then fall. It's
Speaker 1: a good idea. I like it. It's a good trade.
Speaker 1: That'd be a sweet trade. I'll take it. Appreciate I
Speaker 1: appreciate you having me on. Yeah, right on. Else we
Speaker 1: we always said the same thing at the end of
Speaker 1: the podcast. Keep the wild places wild because that's where
Speaker 1: the bears live. That's awesome, all right,