Personal Hiking Gear Chat:
What Are You Wondering About?

By Diane Spicer

UPDATE: This service is no longer available.

What's a personal hiking gear chat?

And why would you want one? 

It's one on one time with me, an experienced hiker.

A personalized hiking gear chat may be just the ticket if:

• You have a question about several types of gear: boots AND socks AND rain jacket.
  
• You have a unique need: gluten free backpacking food, or large size hiking boots for a narrow foot.

Another example:

• You're going to hike in a unique place in a particular season, and want to know what you should purchase for the trip.
  

What I recommend will depend on whether you want to use the gear again (the long view), or will be donating it to a second hand store when you get back from your trip (the short view).

We' can also talk about your comfort set points, and how much money you're willing to invest in the gear.

And if you have questions that range beyond picking the best gear, we can chat about that, too! Recently, I've "met" hikers who were wondering about these topics:

• how to hike solo;
• which gluten free trail food is best;
• what to do about incompatible trail partners;
• how to prepare mentally for a "stretch" hiking trip.

Advantages
of a gear chat

The advantages of a gear chat before you purchase hiking gear:

1. I show up to each gear chat with 45+ years of trail experience, laser focused upon your unique gear needs.
2. I am not paid by any manufacturer to push a particular brand. I buy gear with my own hard earned money, and if I don't like it, I won't be shy about telling you why I don't like it! Once in awhile a company sends me a piece of gear to test out, and you will know that right up front in my gear reviews.
3. I keep up to date on gear trends and challenges, and read every gear review I can get my hands on. I spot the good stuff, and will steer you safely away from the hype.
4. Your questions will be answered in one hour or less! You choose how much time to spend on talking about the hiking gear you need.
5. You save money on your gear purchases! Armed with facts, you'll drastically reduce your "gear learning curve". It's smart to invest a little to save a lot, don't you think?
   

Stupid questions?
No such thing!!

I've had female hikers apologize for asking "stupid" or "basic" questions.

Please!

There's no such thing!

If unanswered questions are holding you back from hiking, ASK!!!

Don't waste any more trail time sitting on the sidelines, especially with boots that don't' fit.

And please don't throw your hard earned money at gear that just won't work for you.

Give up "hope" shopping ("I hope this works!") and replace it with facts.

Let's set up a hiking gear chat to get your questions answered and the best gear into your trail time.

It's easy!

You select the date and the length of the conversation, and I'll do the leg work (small hiking joke) to get ready for you.

Here's exactly how it works

• Contact me, using this link.
  
• I'll send you my custom designed "hiker personality inventory" - my chance to get to know your hiking needs and plans.
  
• Fill out the inventory, email it back to me, and pay for the chat via PayPal. We'll figure out the price based on how long you want to chat.
  
• I'll devote time to investigating the gear which best suits your needs & preferences, based on my own knowledge base and published trustworthy gear reviews.
  
• I'll select some websites and send you the links ahead of time, so you can be all ready when I call you.
• You select the date, time and length of the call.
  
• During the call, we will visit the websites together and I'll show you my suggestions for the gear that's best for you.
  
• If you'd rather not look at websites together, we'll devote our time together to examining the recommended gear, feature by feature.
  
• After the call, I'll email you all of my recommendations, with links to sites which sell the gear.
  
• And of course, I'll answer your questions. Even a few follow up questions via email!

End result
of a gear chat?

By the end of our time together, you'll be ready to make a selection based on facts, not just guess work or wishful thinking.

And you can follow up the phone call with additional questions via email, if you run into trouble making a final selection.

One more option: If you live in the Seattle area, you and I could have our hiking gear chat in the outdoor gear store of your choice.

• Nothing beats picking up the gear and giving it a thorough going over together, right?

Great hiking gear can make or break your dayhikes, so it makes sense to invest a little time into getting it just right.

Sounds like just what you need to do before your next (or first) backpacking trip?

Or when you're just getting started as a dayhiker?

Then what are you waiting for?

Let's chat!

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Hiking Gear Chat