Gear Ads

[outdoor_lover]

From a Gear Outfitter...You certainly don't see commercials like this everyday....

[The_Eagle]

Some real nice photography.....

[Alston_Neal]

That was inspiring.

[chumley]

A little too much nudity for the HAZ family filter ;) , but otherwise pretty cool. I'd venture why you don't see more of that kind of thing is that profitable (roi) commercials are generally only 30-seconds long. All kinds of marketing studies on people's attention spans, blah, blah, blah...

[Alston_Neal]

A little nudity..... attention spans, blah, blah, blah...

I'm sorry you were saying?

[Jim]

Why are they showing people climbing in Monument Valley Tribal Park? That is a blatant lie, because the tribe "bans" climbing by outsiders, unless they pay the tribe a very large sum of money to film there and then they can do what they want. Well, maybe that isn't the park, it's hard to tell in 1.239 seconds, but it looks like it is the park.

The guy in C-spine precautions with sirens in the back ground isn't very backcountry. But him lying at the bottom of a cliff slowly dying, while his partner hikes out for 2 days, that IS backcountry. Glorify it!

and since when has something as slow and passive as fishing been equal to 80 degree slope skiing, high couloir snow climbing, 5.10 rock climbing, or even road biking, which is far more strenuous even if not in the backcountry.

[----]

3 minutes before announcing what they're trying to sell? I hate marketing people.....and all ads for that matter.

[outdoor_lover]

unless they pay the tribe a very large sum of money to film there

I'm sure this costs them a pretty penny to make...If you look at the other posts, they show some Videos of "The Making of This is Backcountry" Those shots weren't in Monument Valley, they were in Moab....

and since when has something as slow and passive as fishing been equal to 80 degree slope skiing, high couloir snow climbing, 5.10 rock climbing, or even road biking, which is far more strenuous even if not in the backcountry.

It's not all about strenous...It's about Adrenalin...And Backcountry... And being in Tune with Nature....And River/Creek Fishing is not at all slow and passive...Surely you've waded Creeks and Rivers...Try doing that all day, keeping your footing, and not "spooking" the Fish....When you hook into a Big Fish , your heart just about stops....And then, to Fight it and Land it like the Guy did in the Video...It might have taken him 10 - 15 Minutes or more to bring that Fish in and it's a Challenge...It's a frickin' awesome feeling....I could totally relate to that guy's exhilaration.....

[chumley]

something as slow and passive as fishing

You should probably go fishing sometime before making that comment. And no, dropping a bobber off the dock at camp isn't fishing.

[Alston_Neal]

taken him 10 - 15 Minutes or more to bring that Fish in and it's a Challenge...It's a frickin' awesome feeling....I could totally relate to that guy's exhilaration.....

Yeah anyone can fall off a mountain on a board, but fishing takes finesse.

[Jim]

Ah yes, the fishing crowd.

[azbackpackr]

Ah yes, the fishing crowd.

I am not too interested in extreme sports, although I absolutely LOVE Danny MacAskill's mountain bike videos, they are more like watching ballet.

I have an issue, which could actually bring on the first intellectual discussion in some time on HAZ (ahem, because I have been absent? Or why?).

The issue is this: I believe there is a difference, sometimes obvious, sometimes subtle, between USING nature and natural geological features for thrill sports, and EXPERIENCING them on, shall we say, a more spiritual plane, NOT involving a lot of adrenaline.

Now, I have to say, I love whitewater rafting, and some moderate single-track mountain biking, so I am not immune to the thrill/adrenaline factor.

But, I first started going to the wilderness to seek solitude and some kind of spiritual experience, not to seek thrills. I sought to learn skills and acquire gear which would allow me to safely travel on foot in the wilderness for many days. Okay, so, to me, this is very different from what is being promoted in this ad. This is not the Colin Fletcher (The Complete Walker) or the Ed Abbey (Desert Solitaire) of my youth--the two books/people which influenced me most before I was 20 years old. These kinds of extreme sports are, to me, similar to dirt biking--they are thrill sports. They are not the seeker of the Light going to the woods to find God, or find herself. It's an entirely different mindset.

I first learned about this when I took up mountain biking with a lot of younger local guys, here in the White Mountains. It is not that they don't appreciate natural beauty--they do. But it is just a different mindset. And I don't want to be solo backpacking, looking for myself and GOD out there, and have some skier or base jumper or mountain biker landing on my head!

And I still feel that for the most part, hiking is not USING Nature for thrill-seeking. To a hiker, Nature is not some rollercoaster ride. To a hiker, Nature offers peace and quiet, the opposite of an adrenaline rush.

Ok, your turn...

[CannondaleKid]

this is very different from what is being promoted in this ad

Maybe because the thrill seekers break more stuff than us run-of-the-mill hikers and Backcountry.com wants to sell them tons of replacement stuff??

The advertisement aside, while I mountain bike as well as hike, I do neither for an adrenaline rush or the like. However, I do get my share of thrills in the way of viewing awesome scenery, especially when I can experience it up close and personal. The greatest enjoyment comes when the only sounds are either animal or something like wind rushing through the pines, etc.

In a way I see this issue of using vs experiencing similar to people and 'stuff'...
All too many folks get it the wrong way, using people and loving stuff rather than the much healthier using stuff and loving people.

[outdoor_lover]

I guess, Thrill Seeking aside, these people get to see Country and experience it in a way that many Hikers and Backpackers ever will....Canyoneering, by many, is considered "Thrill Seeking", so is Climbing...And yes, is there some adrenalin and "rush" involved? Absolutely! Will you ever get some of those Views and see some of those Canyons without doing it? Nope! And some of it is about challenging yourself, taking yourself "out of the box" and stretching your limits...The Sense of Accomplishment when you're done? Priceless... So is there something inherently "wrong" with experiencing the Beauty of Nature while you're doing it? If they are using LNT type Ethics, I don't see a problem...

And for the Record, I go both ways...Going out, Hiking, Backpacking, Birding, Camping...It's about Solitude and soaking in all that Nature has to offer and about finding Peace...But I also want to see places that are not that common, see a different view of a familiar place...Experience it in different ways...And sometimes the only way to do that, is to do it a little differently....Are some of these people "adrenalin junkies"? Yep, but as long as they respect the Environment, and don't ruin it for everyone else, I don't have a problem with it....

In a Nutshell? To each their own as long as Nature is respected....

[toddak]

Watch about a minute of "The Making of...." this commercial and you'll see its nothing but a corporate cash grab, peddling superhyped image and artificial thrills. IMHO, if there's a rigging crew, multiple cameras, helicopters, wardrobe, etc, it's no longer backcountry or even nature. But such is the state of our Facebook, GoPro, "look at me" culture I guess. Just . And I gotta go with Jim on this one - extreme fishing? C'mon man!

[Jim]

Seems my fishing comment was noticed as I may have offended some, but the one about the guy dying at the bottom of a cliff, which is really far more realistic than being rescued when actually in backcountry, was ignored. It is, an advertisement.