Gift Giving Season

With the holidays rapidly approaching, I thought I would highlight some great places to get gear for your favorite hiker (even if that hiker is you). I recently got my permit for PCT 2022, so naturally I go looking at gear!

One site I have run across is Garage Grown Gear and I’m absolutely in love with it! Their main focus is on products that are made by small, startup, and cottage outdoor brands. As someone who is trying to sell my own special items (book and soon stickers!), I definitely appreciate having so many small businesses in one place that I can support. I can compare and contrast gear that interests me, and I get to have the piece of mind that I'm helping out people that had an amazing idea and made it happen, and not just support larger companies. So if shopping small is something you are keeping in mind this winter, this is a perfect site to check out!

I found out about this website thanks to Jollygear on Instagram. He has made this incredible sun hoodie/ button up, which I think so clever and ingenious, I preorder one before I even knew I was going to be hiking the PCT again! I’m so excited to be able to support a small business and have such a fantastic niche product to help me do what I love.

I am all for small business, I’d rather shop small and make a bigger impact to people working hard to make their dreams become reality, than give my money to big business. Studies show that shopping small helps economic growth and if it’s local, strengthens the local network and makes communities more interesting.

-Taogoi