Influencers

[Chad “Stick” Poindexter]

Thank you Matthew. It’s good to hear that I wasn’t too far off point! :)

And good to hear from you Jon! Working with folks like you was what I really enjoyed! I love how much you thought about cooking gear and how you constantly thought outside the box and strived to improve it. I still have the Snow Leopard system, and my favorite, the Epicurean stove! It amazes people when I showed them pictures of the muffins I have baked on the trail and then tell them about your stove!

And wow, it has been a minute since I have heard those names! I was able to connect to most of them, and got to even hike with Brian. That does bring back some memories. I also remember Sarah, but IIRC, I think I knew her more from the Backpacker.com forums. It took me a bit to make it over to the BPL site…

I agree with you though Jon, there are influencers, and then there are influencers, and they are not the same! Fortunately, they can often times be somewhat easy to distinguish, especially now days since there is so much focus put on them.

Anyway, glad to see you still around! I figure with the bug I have now (again) I will be lurking around here more often. I have spoke with a couple of friends about possibly doing a loop in the Sawtooths next summer, but I don’t want to get ahead of myself!

[Terran Terran]

I like gear. I like gear reviews. I buy gear. I don’t buy personalities or image. Unless it’s Wildbeare. I make an exception. I search out videos that demonstrate products that I’m interested in. I look for details that exemplify my intended use. I find what does influence me are the algorithms. While they also can be useful, I get bombarded with ads, all for the same product. A precursor to YouTube and the Internet was a publication from Consumer Reports. It was many years before I realized they mostly only represented the major brands. Outdoor Gear Review is limited as well. BPL is a good source. In many ways, we are all influencers here. The trap is we all gush over our own gear, often with little exposure to other gear. It’s the influencers that have the exposure. They become a valuable tool in making decisions. You have to look everywhere. Trust some sources more than others, then use your brain. I appreciate the influencers. They have a job to do. As with every job, there is a downside. There’s good people and bad people in every profession. What works in our favor is that the good outweighs the bad. Most people want to do good.

[Nick Gatel]

There can be no influencers unless there are those who are willing to be influenced.

[Jerry Adams]

Nick has a great website with good info.

We could call him a influencer :)

[Terran Terran]

I believe Nick had a small aluminized tyvek tarp.  Now I have a small tarp.

[Sarah Kirkconnell]

Good to see you back, Chad.

[Sarah Kirkconnell]

Phillip Werner is definitely one of the writers that didn’t stop. He often was a reason I didn’t quit writing, even when I was not feeling it (when I was knee-deep in raising babies and toddlers).

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