My beef with Outdoors NW

There are many reason why this former full time surf bum turned office Jockey could have a beef with the Outdoors NW crew.  Tromping around in the outdoors, all day! Come on, really?  Who gets to do that for a living? Is it that they get to tour with local recreation outfitters for ‘reviews’? Riiiiiight! Getting the inside scoop on all the hidden gems in the great Northwest before everyone else? It’s got to be miserable. I mean, what do they do all day, really?  Hug mother earth and succumb to her beauty? From the outside looking in, that is exactly what they do.  I cannot dream of a better ‘business plan’ so you can play all day.

So is that my beef?  The fact that that this surf bum didn’t think of it first?  Maybe….but that’s not my beef.

My beef is location.  The fact that Outdoor NW is based in the MECCA of most all great outdoor brands.  That’s my Beef.  From Cascade Designs and Outdoor Research to Ex Officio and many others including yours truly, TravelChair, maker of great camp chairs and other folding furniture, they’re all in the Northwest.  How does location play into my beef?  With so much great gear to test right in their/our own back yard for reviews how am I, a niche camp furniture manufacturer based in little old Gig Harbor, going to get any free press?

It makes me bitter and I am falling victim of the environment TravelChair grew up in.  What can I do about it?  Virtually nothing except, perhaps, write this eloquent blog in hopes of ruffling feathers at corporate of the best regional outdoor magazine on the face of the planet to tell editorial people to write a review.

To be honest, we are doing our part to provide trick new gear to review.  Take for example our new SleepRite Cot; a lightweight cot that sets up like a breeze and packs down to virtually nothing.  Or even our new Joey Chair that is light, portable and a more economical option to the newer generation of camp chairs.

SO, there is my beef.  We got the goods to review.  We have the perfect local magazine to review our goods. But this location is killing me!  Damn this Mecca!

Am I a whiner? Perhaps, but I like to think of myself as purely a victim of my environment and a crafty thinker. The latter is TBD.

Signed, all in good fun and a huge fan of the Outdoors NW crew,

dr