It’s been a few years since I had a dog, but I still love dogs and we definitely have a very pet friendly household. Like most dog lovers, I don’t have a huge bias regarding breed and understand the attraction of a lapdog like a Chihuahua or Teacup Poodle and the fun of a bigger dog. I also learned long ago that if you think of a dog as being roughly the equivalent of a 3-4 year old child, you’ll have a much easier time understanding their emotions and reactions to different situations.

As a result, I sometimes am offered the chance to dog sit a friend’s pup when they’re busy or have to head out of town for a short trip. My standard answer is an enthusiastic yes, and doubly so if the dog’s a larger breed, my personal preference with canines. The latest dog to make my short list is my friend's Pit Bull mix, Amber.

This is where the Nite Ize pet line proves invaluable, from reflective leashes and illuminated safety necklaces to play toys. Here’s what I have in my dog sitting kit to ensure things go smoothly: The Huck ‘n Tuck® GlowStreak®, a rechargeable NiteHowl® LED Safety Necklace and an S-Biner® TagLock™ to ensure their ID tag stays attached to their collar.

HUCK ‘N TUCK GLOWSTREAK

Big or little, young or old, every dog loves to have fun, run around and chase things! Whether they bring the tossed toy back is another story, but regardless, this is where the GlowStreak is a true standout. Imagine a tough ball that lights up and glows as you launch it far into the dog park or along the trail. What dog wouldn’t be transfixed, eager to run and grab it?

The Huck 'N Tuck GlowStreak includes a collapsible ball thrower that easily fits in your pocket or a drawer, then extends to 24" for maximum ball launching power. From the dog’s perspective, they'll be stoked that fetch doesn't have to end when the sun goes down since the GlowStreak lights up with a color-changing LED!

NITEHOWL LED SAFETY NECKLACE

Just as we humans forget what we’re wearing during a busy day, dogs don’t pay much attention when you tie a bandana around their neck or slip on a collar with an ID tag. Useful, but boring when compared to the super cool NiteHowl LED Safety Necklace. It’s an illuminated, battery powered safety necklace that will help everyone else see them and help you find the pup if she decides to bolt after a nocturnal squirrel.

What’s really cool about the NiteHowl, though, is that it’s made with a flexible polymer material that lets you easily cut it to size. Whether your howler has a tiny Chihuahua-sized neck or is a big dog like my buddy’s Pit Bull, the NiteHowl fits perfectly. This is also a great accessory for dogs who join their guardians camping and on backpacking adventures, ensuring they don’t just vanish into the dark chasing after a strange noise.

S-BINER TAGLOCK

Any dog I’m going to dogsit must have a collar and ID tag, even though it’s a nightmare to work with those annoying split ring devices to attach the ID tag to the collar. Enter the terrific S-Biner TagLock. It’s a really simple idea: The S-Biner has already proven itself invaluable for camping, backpacking, skiing and all sorts of other uses. Why not use it for pet ID tags? The TagLock is the perfect size for attaching a pet ID to a collar. It’s safe, it’s rugged and weatherproof. And it’s easy. Why make it hard on yourself attaching that ID tag when you can use an S-Biner?

Bonus: This works great for cats who have ID tags on their collars too.

WE LOVE DOGS

There’s something really delightful about spending time with dogs, whether they’re shy or rambunctious. It’s why we humans have such a close affinity to dogs in just about every culture around the world. A happy dog is also a source of joy for every dog lover and happy dogs are safe, busy and active dogs. 

As for me, Amber looks like she needs to go for a walk so it's time to slip a NiteHowl LED Safety Necklace on her and go for a stroll around the neighborhood.

From catching venomous snakes as a child to searching the wild for animals thought to be extinct, Animal Planet  star Forrest Galante has a story (or ten) to tell.

Q: Hi Forrest! Tell us about yourself and how you got into wildlife adventuring?

I grew up in the Southern African Bush of Zimbabwe Africa. When I wasn't on safari with my family, which is what they did, I was living on a farm so I’ve been surrounded by wildlife my entire life. In fact, I’ve been involved with wildlife from a very young age when I used to catch and sneak venomous snakes into the house without my parents knowing. Now I do it professionally!

Q: What is wildlife adventuring? How does it differ from people just encountering wild animals?

I don't know that there is a specific difference for wildlife adventuring. I'm a scientist, a wildlife biologist by trade, and I've taken that biology to an extreme level where it's an adventure to do the type of surveys and studies that I do on an ongoing basis. A biologist may conduct a survey in one location for a short amount of time, but as a wildlife adventurer, I conduct lots of surveys in extremely remote places throughout the world. Oftentimes no other people have ever been there, let alone a western academic.

Q: Your Animal Planet TV show Extinct or Alive is fun and crazy. How did you come up with the show idea and what's the craziest experience you've had while filming the show?

You’re right, Extinct or Alive is fun and it’s crazy. The idea came when a producer approached me and said, "Hey, you're a crazy wildlife biologist and I love the stuff you do, I have this idea for tracking down supposedly extinct animals, do you think any of them could still be alive?" I turned to him and said, "As a matter of fact I know that some of these ostensibly extinct animals are still alive because my grandfather discovered a coelacanth that had been thought to have been extinct for 66 million years. If he can find that, I'm certain that we can find some of these other not-really-extinct animals." That's how the show came about.

The craziest experience I've had, well, it’s a long list, from climbing treetops in the Madagascan jungle canopy to chasing giant lemurs to repelling down thousand foot cliffs to seeing the grind at Wale Slaughter in the Faroe Islands. There have been a lot of ups and downs, high and low moments! If have to pick just one, though, the craziest experience was actually uncovering evidence of the Zanzibar leopard, a large 100 pound cat believed to be extinct for over a century. That was the pinnacle of my career, and was by far the craziest and best experience.

Q: You are known as the perfect combination of Steve Irwin, Bear Grylls and Jacques Cousteau. Can you tell us what inspires you about each of these three adventurers?

I think the names speak for themselves. Steve Irwin is my original hero, the king of wildlife media, the man who entertained us all by showing how incredible wildlife can be. He is just a legend.

Bear Grylls and his survival knowledge, his showmanship, his expertise in the outdoors and getting through tough situations is unparalleled and he's just the most entertaining guy that's been on television in a long time.

Jacques Cousteau, what a hero of underwater adventure. His discoveries beneath the surface are unparalleled, he is an incredible adventurer, incredible seaman, ocean explorer, a six-time world record holding freediver, spear fisherman, hundred-ton ship captain, and dive master.

I feel like all of my accomplishments just pale in comparison to anything Jacques Cousteau ever did. These are three truly inspirational men, and to be considered a combination of those three is tremendously flattering.

Q: What pets do you have? We expect that they're probably quite exotic and possibly numerous too.

Hang on to your hat! My wife calculated that I have 91 pets, though that includes our pond which has over 20 turtles. We also have a miniature horse, a miniature donkey, a miniature pig who is a rescue from Hurricane Katrina, a giant cicada, various tortoises, peacocks, guinea fowl, turkeys, chickens, giant Flemish rabbits, dogs and snakes. I have two snakes that I'm looking at right now on my computer desk. Oh! And a bunch of hermit crabs too.

It's a long list and they're almost all rescues, something that we love to do. We also love taking care of them too.

Q: If you could travel anywhere on the planet for your next adventure, where would you head?

The number one place on my bucket list right now is the Pantanal. It's in the Brazilian Amazon and is the largest wetland in South America. Clear water, giant caimans, fresh water turtles and huge anacondas, not to mention jaguars and all the crazy South American fauna. I've been to South America before but I've never made it to the Pantanal, so that is top of my list at the moment.

Q: When you're not wrestling dangerous and exotic creatures, what's your day job?

This is it! My day job is planning for the wrestling of dangerous and exotic creatures. I spent tons of time doing research, investigating stories of extinct creatures, looking at these critically endangered animals, and time-sensitive situations, and then I work towards funding, financing, filming and exploring them all. My day job when I'm not in the bush is planning how to get back into the bush.

Q: What’s your favorite Nite Ize product and why?

Oh man, this is such an easy one for me. It's the INOVA® T10R™. It is the greatest flashlight on earth. I mean it’s unbelievable how bright it is and how well it works. Mine's been underwater, through torrential downpours, dropped in the mud, dropped off cliffs, and it keeps going. It's absolutely bulletproof and that intense spotlight beam is the most essential tool that I have for spotting wildlife at night. If I walked through the jungle at night looking for things up in the canopy without that INOVA T10R, I would be unable to spot half the animals that I’ve identified in the last year.

People love the flashlight, too. Thanks to your team at Nite Ize, I've been able to share it with three or four different crew members and they all say it's now one of their most valued possessions. I cannot recommend that flashlight enough!

After the T10R,  Gear Ties® are a huge win too. Heck, Gear Ties hold my life together. From the cable that is currently attached to my iPhone with a microphone on it, to cords all around my house, to keeping spear guns together on my boat, to strapping things to the struts of helicopters, I use Gear Ties for everything. They are in every corner of my life!

Q: What else is happening in your world, Forrest?

My passions are deep and intense. I'm an avid rugby player, love the game and coach youth rugby. I do a lot of freediving and spearfishing. I harvest all of my own edible proteins sustainably from the ocean and do a ton of mushroom foraging too.

And I use Nite Ize products for all of it! Whether it is the INOVA flashlight or the headlamps or the Gear Ties to hold my dive gear together or the GearLine®, all of it is super valuable to me and I'm so grateful to have your support and innovations. Thank you guys!

Q: Great stuff, really fun to talk with you. How can people keep up with your adventures and find you on social media?

You can find me as @Forrest.Galante on Instagram, @ForrestGalante on Facebook and @ForrestGalante on Twitter. I do have a YouTube channel. It's mostly diving and spearfishing related, but I’m much more active on the other three channels.

And then there’s the TV show. Check out Extinct or Alive on Animal Planet. It's available on Animal Planet Go or Amazon at any time. It's a great show, it's family friendly, it's fun, it's an adventure show and it inspires hope and conservation. Kids love it, adults love it. If you're into wildlife, if you're into adventure, please check it out!

All Hallow’s Eve is coming up. Your kids know it as Halloween and they’ve probably already been excitedly discussing costumes, candy and treats with you and their friends. But walking around at night can also be dangerous because, while some communities have lots of street lights, there are plenty of roads where it’s quite dark between homes. 

We at Nite Ize have lots of fun solutions and tips to help you and your little ones stay safe while trick-or-treating -- and best of all, these light up products are all super bright and use replaceable batteries. Costumes may not make it through the night in one piece, but these fun light-up products can long after the candy is all eaten for night time walks, early morning runs, or family bike rides around the neighborhood.

Kids love hanging LED Mini Glowsticks™ from their trick-or-treat containers, which are perfect for keeping them visible and casting light into their treat bag to assess their booty. And since kids are more likely to lose their own shoes than their candy buckets on Halloween, parents get to rest assured that the kids will never be far from their light-up glowsticks.

Pets, parents, and kids all benefit from wearable illumination, and products like the NiteHowl™ LED Safety Necklace are a great addition for every family member. Young'uns get a kick out of the festive lighting, which can be set to glow or flash. For the furry family members, these can be cut down to size making them perfect for Pugs and Great Danes alike. And parents who don't necessary want to dress up in a costume, can still partake in a little extra fun while escorting kids.

Ditch the candle and add a little extra color to your Jack-O-Lanterns by putting a Disc-O Select NiteGem inside. This waterproof light means that a little rain (or snow) won't put a damper on your pumpkin fun, plus you can choose from one of six colors or leave it in color-changing Disc-O mode.

If you are trick-or-treating in a particularly dark area, another great addition that you can reuse for your night runs or winter biking is the LED TagLit™. With strong magnets built inside, these can be clipped to shirts, capes, or wolverine fur to ensure that drivers see your little ones well before anyone crosses the street.

One of my personal favorites is the BugLit®  LED Micro Flashlight because of its legs. These can easily be twisted to cling to various parts of a costume, and in the dark they look creepy. You can also get creative and glue glow-in-the-dark googly-eyes to ‘em for extra creepiness. And most kids love a little benign creepy!

Finally, we parents know the challenge of walking around with little ones excited about trick-or-treating and getting way more candy than is probably good for them. That’s why a hot beverage - or other brew of your choice - tucked into a Traveler™ Drink Holster might well make this one of the best family adventures you’ll have all year!

Happy Halloween from the team at Nite Ize!

Nite Ize Field Team member Colin Sanders accomplished a feat most would consider impossible when he rowed for 83 days straight to cross the Atlantic, alone, in a rowboat. We were able to talk to him about his adventures, struggles, and triumphs -- and about how this massive goal was fueled by wanting to help others.

Q: Hi Colin! First off, tell us a bit about yourself. How did you get into ultra long distance rowing?

Solo rowing the Atlantic was different and definitely more unusual. Few have done it and it fit my personality better. When people ask me why I rowed across the Atlantic Ocean my answer is typically “ego and self-gratification”. Sometimes I wish there was a more profound motivation but at age 64 I think I had something to prove to myself, that I could take on something incredibly tough and succeed.

Q: How does a multi-week rowing journey work? Do you row for 8+ hours a day and rest the other 16? Heck, don’t you drift while you're not rowing? 

I rowed for 10-14 hours each day. At the beginning of the trip I had a routine where I rowed for three hours then took 15 minutes off. Again and again. As I got further across the ocean and started to wear down physically I had to shorten the shifts and take more frequent breaks.

I would usually start just as the sun was rising because rowing in the dark just isn’t fun, particularly when the seas are rough.

When I stowed the oars at night I just drifted. Depending on how big and steep the waves were that evening, I had to decide whether to drift free, put a warp off the stern or para anchor.

Note: A “warp” is a thick line that provides drag and some directional stability downwind and a para anchor, also called a drogue, is about the size of a bushel basket and gives the boat enough drag to produce excellent downwind stability.

It was always a fine line because I always wanted to pick up as much free distance as possible by drifting and the MRE drag I had, the less I would drift. Insufficient directional stability downwind could end up turning the boat sideways to the wind and waves and even end up with the boat capsizing.

And capsize it did. New Year’s Eve while the boat was on the warp. She got hit by a large wave as it broke and ended up rolling over and over several times. Anything not locked down flew everywhere, including a liter of olive oil!

The boat righted itself but after composing myself I had to go on deck in the pitch dark - in a really choppy sea with big waves - to pull the warp in and set the drogue. Setting the drogue isn’t easy even in the smoothest of waters because it uses a bridle attached to each side of the stern, but in big waves, high wind and darkness? It was very tough.

Q: How do you train for a rowing marathon like you did? You just rowed across the Atlantic Ocean! How on Earth did you prep for that?

I had a really great trainer. It was a partly strength in the upper body, but a lot more about core strength and flexibility. We spent a lot of time on stretching to ensure that my back and core were the strongest possible. I actually spent very little time with an indoor rowing machine because it has little in common with ocean rowing when you often only have one oar in the water at any given time. 

Q: Your Trans-Atlantic journey was from Puerto de Mogan in the Canary Islands to English Harbour in Antigua. How did you choose that route and did you ever run afoul of whales, sharks or enormous cargo ships en route?

Actually, that particular route is the classic course to get across the Atlantic Ocean. Originally, I was going to head for Barbados, but I just couldn’t get far enough south to make that a viable destination. Halfway across Stokey my UK-based navigator said, “You’re going to Antigua, mate!”.

I did see the odd cargo ship but really not that many ships at all. Part of that is the vastness of the ocean: They could have been passing within five miles and I would have never known. In terms of wildlife, I remember seeing one pilot whale, lots of dolphins and several swordfish but no sharks at all.

Q: What’s one aspect of the row that was the toughest?

The emotional and mental side of the journey was the most difficult. Being completely alone for 83 days was hard, especially in tough sea conditions. The loss of my music 28 days out was a real blow to my emotional state too: I had spent a year curating downloads on Spotify, never realizing that you have to sign in every 30 days to keep the downloads active. I didn’t know that and one month into the trip suddenly had no music at all. I ended up giving monologues and speeches on a wide variety of subjects that I knew something about, singing songs, coming up with thought experiments, and trying not to go crazy out there in the middle of the ocean. It wasn’t easy, but I made it! 

Q: What's your favorite Nite Ize product and why?

I started out with a lot of Nite Ize gear, but to be honest, it wasn’t until I was doing the actual row that I realized the excellent quality of all the products. The Gear Ties I used every single day. It was typically so rough at sea that it was critical that they quickly and easily secured equipment on the deck. I also used the S-Biner Marine to secure equipment that I viewed as “mission critical”, including my multitools and water bottles. They were on deck every single day and at the end of the journey none of them had a single spot of rust. I could hardly believe it, because so many other tools or pieces of my kit rusted or corroded with the constant salt water exposure. The Nite Ize equipment never, ever corroded!

Q: Are you ready to circumnavigate the entire Earth in your boat now? What is your next grand adventure?

Ummmm no. The Atlantic was enough at 4000 km (2485 miles). Not sure what my next adventure will be, but it’ll be something. I have lots of living to do yet!

Q: Can you tell us a bit about your charity A Million Possibilities?

I raised about $150K for Community Living Ontario. Community Living supports people like my son Jeff, who has intellectual disabilities. We came up with the name “A Million Possibilities” hoping to raise $1 for each stroke I took crossing the Atlantic. Ultimately, we didn’t raise a million dollars but we were still very happy with the results. 

Congrats on your remarkable achievement, Colin. We look forward to hearing about your next adventure!

Exploring all the flashlight options from Nite Ize? If so, it’s possible that you’ve become confused by all the specs and stats. What’s a lumen? How bright of a flashlight should you choose? How long will the flashlight last on fresh batteries or a full charge? What’s an ANSI or IP rating?

It’s okay. I get it. I love flashlights and believe it’s not only important to have reliable flashlights throughout your house, but to also have the right flashlight for the job in each case. But that’s also where us consumers can get a bit befuddled because bigger isn’t always better, brighter isn’t always the best for the job and not every flashlight is ready to take on the rugged outdoors.

To shed some light on the situation, let’s have a closer look at these important questions relating to the purchase of a flashlight using the popular Radiant® 3-in-1 LED Mini Flashlight as our example device. Check the specs and you’ll see that it’s rated at 80 lumens, has seven different modes, including both a high and low mode, and works off one AA battery.

But what does it all mean?

Lumens vs. Brightness?

Light output is measured in a unit called lumens, whether it’s your car headlights, a searchlight or the small LED on the back of your iPhone.

A lumen is “the amount of light emitted in a unit solid angle of one steradian from a uniform source of one candela.” Sounds complicated, but it just means that lumens measure the total amount of light output. People often assume that lumens measure brightness, however brightness is impacted significantly by beam width -- meaning that a light source will be brighter with a narrow beam and dimmer with a wider beam (or 360-degree illumination). That’s why pinpoint light is brighter than a wide angle beam from the very same flashlight.

Don’t just jump to the brightest possible device, however, because in the case of flashlights, bigger is not always better. One big reason is the trade-off of light output vs battery life: higher lumens require more power!

Brightness vs. Battery Life

The Radiant 3-in-1 LED Mini Flashlight has two brightness modes. In high mode, it puts out 80 lumens, while low mode is a more modest 15 lumens. That brightness has a definite consequence with battery life: the Radiant battery will give you almost 9.5 hours of low power light, but switch to the brighter mode and run time drops to 2 hours.

For some uses, high brightness and low run time is perfectly acceptable, of course. If you have a convenient power source to recharge a flashlight in your home, on the road, or in the wild, maximum lumens might be just what you need to scare off wild creatures or find your dog on a stormy night. In other scenarios, having a flashlight stop working prematurely can be downright dangerous, so a dimmer light that lasts a lot longer is a smart trade-off.

This is why just about every Nite Ize light offers both high and low modes, so you can decide in the moment whether run time or brightness is more important. And don't forget, a narrow beam at a given lumen level will always appear brighter than a wide beam.

Battery powered vs. Rechargeable

The Radiant 3-in-1 utilizes one AA battery as its power source. This means you can have extra batteries in your hunting bag, backpack or glove box and switch them out at any time. Easy enough, though you’ll still want to pack out the expired battery so you can recycle them.

A rechargeable flashlight offers a different cost/benefit experience. When the battery runs low, all you have to do is plug it in and wait until it's ready to go - no trips to the store necessary. However, rechargeable flashlights do require access to a power source and don't offer the immediate use you get when you pop in a new set of batteries.

The ANSI & IP rating systems?

Flashlights get a lot of abuse in woods, mountains and basements. That’s why there’s a standard measure of flashlight toughness known as ANSI / NEMA FL1. It also encapsulates light output, run time and other specifications in a single place, making it easy to comparison shop. By way of example, here are the ANSI specs for the Radiant 3-in-1 LED:

The four boxes on the left side indicate that the flashlight has two brightness levels: 80 lumens on high and 15 lumens on low. On full brightness and with fresh batteries, the flashlight will remain brightly illuminated for 2 hours. On the lower brightness, since less power is required, those same batteries will last 9 hours, 25 minutes.

The next set of icons indicate that the flashlight is weather proof, shock resistant to a 1-meter drop, and can illuminate objects up to 50 meters away.

There’s also an IP rating system that can be helpful too, specifying dust and water resistance detailing whether a product is water resistant or waterproof, and to what depth of water. The Radiant 3-in-1 Mini is weather resistant as indicated by the rain cloud.

Now You Know All About Flashlights

Truth is, there’s a lot involved in choosing the best flashlight for a specific application or task. It’s not just about how many batteries are required and the desired brightness level! That’s why it makes sense to do a bit of homework to ensure that the next flashlight you buy is going to be a perfect fit for your needs, whether you’re poised to ascend Kilimanjaro, take on organizing your attic, RV through Mexico or just look for lost earrings in the backyard.

I was searching for the end of the Internet the other day when I stumbled upon an article I've been waiting to read since discovering the fake pockets on my jeggings in 3rd grade.

Women have known since the dawn of jeans that our pockets are barely big enough to hold a Reese's Cup, let alone a phone, wallet, or anything useful (like multiple Reese's Cups, but we're going to ignore the author's disturbing preoccupation with keeping peanut butter cups in her pockets for the sake of this argument.) This article by The Pudding collected data on more than 80 pairs of blue jeans to create what might be the most well-researched article about tiny useless pockets ever created. 

Read the full article here: https://pudding.cool/2018/08/pockets/

The result? Yes, women's pockets are generally useless, especially when it comes to holding the phones that are a ubiquitous part of our everyday lives. Pockets on women's jeans are on average almost 50% shorter than comparable pockets on men's pants, which is why I'm practically giddy about the Nite Ize Hitch™ Phone Anchor + Tether. 

This simple design of the Hitch has been a game changer for me, creating a built in wrist-strap, handle, or tether for my phone.After inserting the ultra-thin pad between the phone and case, a small ring slips through the charging port and connects to a stretchy tether via two MicroLocks. These MicroLocks allow you to connect one end to belt loops, backpacks, and more for convenience and drop protection, but I prefer to connect them together so that I always have handy dandy wristband and grab-and-go handle right on my phone.

Between managing two kids, a job, and lots of outdoor adventures, it seems that I'm always carrying something. And usually I'm always carrying lots of somethings. It doesn't matter whether I'm wearing a skirt or pocket-plentiful cargo pants, it's so quick and convenient to slip the tether around my wrist while I rush off to a meeting while juggling a computer, notebook, and an obligatory cup of coffee. 

Ever since Nite Ize introduced The Hitch Phone Anchor + Tether, I've been showing off my fancy new wrist strap, which I've now blinged out with colorful aluminum S-Biner MicroLocks. When I showed my friend who was holding her 1-year-old daughter on her hip, she got visibly excited and then disappointed. "Where was that six months ago when I dropped my phone and shattered the screen?" she asked.

Although we developed this product for drop protection, I've found that the Hitch is my solution to carrying my phone while my hands are full or while donning jeans with tiny pockets, leggings, or skirts. As an added bonus, I can hand my phone over to my kid and let him take pictures without having to worry about him dropping it. And when I go for a bike ride and take that obligatory mid-ride selfie, I slip the strap around my wrist and snap away knowing a little bump won't send my phone tumbling to the dirt. I finally have a handle on my phone, both figuratively and literally.

Plus, now I know what I'm getting every parent and multi-tasker I know for Christmas. To purchase your Hitch, click here.

Q: Tell us all about yourself, first off. How did you get into hunting and fishing and what are your earliest hunting memories?

Although I grew up in central Kentucky, I wasn’t a hunter as a kid. My parents and I had cattle and horses. The first time I even saw a deer near my home was when I was 16. I didn’t start actually hunting until I was in my early 20s. A buddy of mine at the police department where I worked came up with the idea. We didn’t have a clue what we were doing and a camera crew should’ve been with to film a comedy show.

I stuck with it and after I had harvested a few deer, I decided to switch exclusively to archery equipment. I couldn’t imagine doing anything else in the fall now!

I did grow up fishing in farm ponds, mostly catfish and bluegill. Quite frankly, that was a little slow for me or maybe the reward isn’t as big? But in the end, I don’t have the time to take on another hobby, because anything I do, it's FULL TILT, and I simply can’t do anything half-cocked. It’s gotta be all or nothing!

Q: What's your favorite weapon for a hunt?

100% - just a bow. Although I did start out hunting with rifles and muzzleloaders, I have gone to exclusively archery gear for the last decade. It’s more of a challenge because typically your shots are within 30 yards. Part of the fun of the hunt is also me seeing how close I can get to the deer while remaining undetected.

My thinking is that if I use a rifle and shoot a deer at 200-400 yards, that animal will never even know I existed. But at 30 yards, stand placement, sounds and scent all come into play. Obviously, there are some hunts that are extremely tough with a bow, but it has just become my style of hunting.

Q: What specific things are on your list when you're preparing for hunting season?

Preparation is key for hunting. Scouting and looking for sign in the woods is a lot of fun. I study the topography of the areas where I will be hunting and the surrounding areas. I plant food plots (beans, turnips, oats, wheat, corn) for the deer and other wildlife. Trail cameras have come a long way in the last 10 years and do a fantastic job of letting you track what’s moving through and at what times.

Shooting my bow is really important to me. The goal is to always make an ethical shot. It’s hunting and it’s violent, there is no way around that. So, the practice I do ensures that when I take that shot, every effort has been put into making sure its the best shot I can take, the placement is accurate and the animal dies quickly.

Q: Where's the most exotic place you've gone hunting or fishing?

Montana! For a Midwest boy, going out west was awesome! The mountains and terrain are absolutely gorgeous. I have been hunting there twice for antelope with archery equipment. I was able to harvest a solid antelope on public land this past fall and spread awareness about state and BLM (Bureau of Land Management) ground too. BLM land in recent years has become subject to debate with the government trying to take away some public lands. I believe we are all public land owners, whether we are hiking, camping, fishing, hunting, or enjoying national/state parks. In a nutshell, public lands should stay in public hands.

Q: What's Arrow Wild TV and who would want to watch it?

Arrow Wild TV is a photography/media content company that has a web show. Instead of the traditional hunting shows that are on cable networks, we do more “real time” as the season unfolds. We show the shed season.

Note: Deer shed, or drop, their antlers each year and it’s like an Easter egg hunt to try and find them. It’s especially cool when it’s a deer you’re familiar with or with whom you’ve had some history.

Then we go into turkey hunting season, planting food plots, scouting, hanging tree stands or blinds, setting trail cameras, then finally the actual hunt. Its all 100% bow hunting only.

We try to educate a little, show the ups/downs, the effort and the conservation side of hunting in lieu of just the harvesting side of hunting. The entire year as a whole is much more involved and intimate than most people who are unfamiliar with hunting would expect.

Q: If you could travel anywhere on Earth for your next adventure, where would you head?

I would have to say Alaska, New Zealand, Russia! Moose, Bear, Red Stag! I could go on and on. But there is so much of North America that I want to see and experience, I think I will stick to that for a while. Finances also keep me in the lower 48. So much of where/what I do is driven by this… I don’t have a fear of dying, that part went away during my 15 years as a police officer. I only have a genuine fear of dying before I accomplish everything I want to see and do.

Q: What's your favorite Nite Ize product and why?

My favorite Nite Ize products are the flashlights, mainly headlamps, the Steelie line, and CamJam straps. I’m very active and always on the go, so to see where I’m going when it’s dark, and with social media work/maps on my phone, a Steelie to throw my phone onto and keep rolling, it’s all really important. Cinching down equipment and camera tripods so they aren’t rattling around is a plus too, and I think that’s the Nite Ize secret sauce, solving problems, one small gadget at a time.

Q: “Solving problems, one gadget at a time.” Very nice. What else do you want to share?

I have gained so much from hunting and met so many great, passionate people that I wanted to give back. I reached out to my local DNR (Department of Natural Resources) officer and became an Iowa Hunter Safety Instructor. It has been so awesome to teach safety to new hunters and, to steal a line from my DNR buddy, we are staying to teach about incidents too.

Accidents happen and can’t be avoided. But incidents can! So, if we can teach the importance of wearing a harness when climbing into trees and teaching gun safety to hunters young and old, then maybe we can prevent these incidents from happening.

I also have organized some donations to Quality Deer Management Association by designing a shirt I sold through Arrow Wild TV. The shirt said “#conservation / because simply buying a license isn’t enough” I gave 100% of the profits of the sales to the QDMA. What’s the old saying? Leave it better than you found it. That’s what I try to do every day, even if it’s just walking the public lands and picking up trash, or teaching hunter safety to groups.

Q: Great stuff. Thanks. How do people find you online if they want to follow your adventures?

My personal Instagram is @johnny.utah.hunt and Arrow Wild TV is @arrowwildtv I do have some short films and episodes on YouTube under Arrow Wild TV as well.