Outdoor Element Featured in Shop Eat Surf Outdoor!

January 24, 2025 Outdoor Element

We’re thrilled to be featured in Shop Eat Surf Outdoor, highlighting how we doubled our sales in 2024 while staying true to our mission of creating innovative, high-quality, and affordable adventure gear. From launching new products like The Scout and Flicker Feather knives to our first acquisition of Fiber Light, it's been an exciting year of growth. Plus, we’ve officially moved out of the garage and Joe's basement, and are now in our own space within a warehouse!

👉 Check out the full story to learn how Outdoor Element continues to innovate and inspire.

Special thanks to Kate Robertson for the great article, and to REI and the amazing team at Path Ahead Ventures (Kelli Marks, Keenan Corrigan, and Dan Kihanya) for supporting, investing, and sharing their kind words in this article.

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Good Starter and Igniter for a Survival / Bug Out Kit

There's lots to like about this tin of starter. The starter material itself is quite good. I'm a bit apprehensive about small, particle "shavings" blowing away on a windy day, but this waxy stuff can be squished together to make a ragged lump. How I use it, however, is in conjunction with big cotton balls with a small squirt of petroleum jelly into the center, which leaves the exterior dry to catch a spark. To further extend the burn of this starter, I sprinkle this waxed material into the Zip Lock to cling to the cotton balls. Now I have two flame extenders and still an easy to spark ignite starter.
Besides the waxed shavings inside the tin, there is also one of their combo plastic whistle / striker (scraper) / thin ferro rod tools (with lanyard hole). Each of the features of this tool work very well; the whistle is loud, the striker works well, and the ferro rod throws sparks - perfectly adequate if you know how to build a fire lay, ignite a starter, and place it properly.
Then there's the tin itself, a well made "Altoid Tin" with a plus, a nice fat Ranger Band tight enough to insure the tin stays closed.
All in all, a good product, suitable to salt away in a kit or pack in your pack at a reasonable price. The mini EDC kit is good as well, with the same stuff, just with the combo tool banded outside the small tin; it's suitable and small enough for "just in case" in a Day Pack or Waist Pack.

Good Cord, Good Value

Good paracord is useful in so many ways for simple cordage uses to more decorative uses. This paracord adds a couple of "survival" benefits in 20# fishing line and waxed jute. This specific cordage is a manufacturing quality fail, but is fully capable 550 cord inside and out. The fail is that the jute is too heavily waxed, which for 550 cord use, is not an issue, and for most emergency ignition of that jute, that wax isn't an issue either. So for $1 more than 100ft of "regular" 550 cord in coyote brown you get that 100ft of waxed jute fire starter and, in mine, two 20# fishing lines to use if you ever need them. I'm a happy camper.

Great Knife

Compact, yet versatile, this knife is ready right out of the box to handle most every survival requirement you can ask of it as a knife. However, it's distinction doesn't stop there... the on-board accessories each stand on their own merit of value. If you're looking for a good holster for this carry knife, you're covered. It even has a built-in blade sharpener. What else can you ask for? How about a detachable on-board ferro rod? Yep, 'got that, too. Have an emergency where you need to garner some attention? Well, look not further than the attached pea-less whistle. This little gem will have you asking yourself why you don't already have one. Highly recommend.

Knife is great…Customer Service is OFF THE CHARTS!

Ordered a Contour Feather as a little neck knife. Shipping was really fast and I was excited when the package arrived. Had a hand written note from Shannon thanking me for my service and business. The only problem was, that the knife in the package was the Flicker vice the Contour. Contacted Shannon and she replied w/in minutes apologizing for the mix up. Told me to keep the Flicker and a Contour would be shipped ASAP. Sure enough, w/in a couple hours a Contour was in route and now that I have it in hand…it is awesome!! Will certainly be my new EDC and as for the Flicker you ask…just as awesome and tied up as a neck knife to swap out with the Contour. Awesome products, better customer service…and as far as this crusty ole Sailor is concerned, customer service is what makes and breaks a company!!

Scout Feather - Initial Thoughts

I haven't been able to use my new Scout Feather yet, but here my initial impressions, as someone who is into fly fishing, paddle-boarding (and paddle-board fishing), hiking, camping, and knives. Over all, every element of this tool (knife, sheath, ferro rod, sharpener, and whistle) is well thought out and executed. The fit and finish are solid. I'm a form follows function person, and this tool is a shining example of that motto, but I want to give a special shout out to the handle on this knife. I don't think it could fit my hand any better than it does. I have one minor issue with this tool, and that is the belt clip. It holds the sheath a little *too* well, meaning it's not easy to remove the sheath when I want to. This has implications for using the ferro rod and sharper. In addition, with all my outdoor pursuits, I have 3 packs and a PFD that I would need to carry the knife on. I think time and use will provide a solution to that problem. All in all, I would definitely recommend the Scout Feather.

Thank you for taking the time to leave such a detailed review for the Scout Feather Adventure Survival Knife. We are glad to hear that you are satisfied with the fit and finish of the tool, as well as the well-thought-out features such as the ferro rod, sharpener, and whistle. We appreciate your feedback on the belt clip. Improvements to the clip are in the works. We will keep you updated when they become available. We hope you enjoy using the knife on your outdoor adventures and thank you for recommending it to others. Happy exploring!

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Outdoor Element Featured in Shop Eat Surf Outdoor!

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