Summer is rolling and my favorite time of year is right around the corner.

     Hard to believe it is halfway through July already.  The summer has been busy and productive.  My wife and I recently took a few days and headed out west to Colorado to do some hiking, scouting and product testing in the mountains where I Elk hunt every fall.

     We spent a total of 4 nights roughing it with just our packs, gear and tents.  We covered around 26 miles hiking and saw a lot of new country.  I ran the Fox Outdoor Rio Grande 75L and my wife used the same but in the 45L.  I had used both before but never tested at this level.  Both packs held up great with over 40 pounds of gear in each pack.  We had our bedroll/tent system on the bottom of the packs leaving room on the inside of the main compartment for extra clothes and gear.  The best feature I liked about both packs is the top compartment where we stored snacks and items we needed to get at easily.  This can in very handy vs having to dig all the time in the pack.  

     Other gear that we ran was our Base Layer Hoodie which proved not only to be good in the cooler mornings, but a great protection against the sun and mosquitoes, they were quite bad this year.  

     Our Chest pack was also put through the paces and proved to be a handy piece of gear for Binos of course but I also used it as a fishing pack when we trout fished, and my wife also packed it when we climbed Park View Mountain and used it as a day pack.  

     We also used our Pocket knives daily around camp along with our Headlamps that we carry.  They made it through the four nights on one charge and were handy to have by the tent.  

     We did some work on some new product photos for the website and did a couple review videos for our YouTube channel.  Looking forward to getting back in the field this fall with Deer hunting and of course calling coyotes.  We already are booking some road shows with the first one being the Mason City, IA Gun Show on Nov. 18th and 19th. We will also be going to the Iowa Deer Classic | Iowa Deer Classic on March 1-3rd 2024.  

     Hope everyone is having a great summer and we would like to thank you all for your support.  We look forward to bringing you more in the future.  

Nathan Owen

Life is Now- Live it