Where Does Your Lost Gear Go? Hopefully, Back to You
Sad story: if you have ever lost outdoor gear, someone else probably found it. They might have even wanted to return it to you but couldn’t. How would they? Maybe your precious gear went to a thrift store, their gear stash or even a garbage can.
Let that sink in. If you own something expensive or sentimental and you lost it tomorrow, how would you get it back? Karmik Outdoors was started to make sure that you can.
Over 85 per cent of adventurers have lost something of value, and 76 per cent of outdoor folk have found outdoor gear. That means only about 10 per cent of “lost” items are really lost; 90 per cent of lost gear is found and has the potential to be returned if there was only identification on it.
As avid outdoors folk based out of Boise, Idaho, we understand how shitty it feels to lose and find expensive and sentimental outdoor gear. We’ve been there and experienced it. Personally, we have lost and found quite a bit of outdoor gear. That’s why we launched Karmik Outdoors—to help people get their gear back.
People lose equipment all the time, sometimes at no fault of their own. I spoke with a guy who had his skis taken from the local ski hill. The next day, the skis were returned to the lost and found counter at the mountain. The family returned the skis because their son accidentally grabbed the wrong skis. Luckily, he left his phone number at the office just in case. Had he not done that, he never would have gotten them back.
We tend to assume we misplaced our gear and if someone finds it, they want to keep it. That is not the case! If you look at any lost and found page or forum you will see more “Found” posts than “Lost” posts. People want to return gear but simply cannot. The outdoor community is full of caring, generous people who want to do good.
Karmik Outdoors exists to provide outdoorsmen and women with a reliable method of preventing the loss of outdoor recreation gear.
So, the question is, “Does it work?” Yes! We got our own gear returned at about a 75 per cent return rate within one day. Some items like fly boxes and GPS devices were returned at a much higher rate.
Next, “How does it work?” Our extremely durable decals ensure your gear is easily identifiable and returnable if lost. Each decal is unique with an ID that is specific to that decal. Once registered, a user can add their contact information then all decals on their account are linked to that contact information. If lost, a finder can simply scan the QR or enter the ID in our website. The Finder’s contact info is sent to the owner and communication between the finder and owner happens immediately. We even offer a return incentive to the finder on your behalf!
Additional benefits are: if you move or change phone numbers, you can update it and all decals are now updated (unlike that pesky permanent marker). If you want to sell your product, you can! Simply login and deregister the decal and now the Karmik ID decal is an enhanced selling feature allowing the new owner to register for our lost and found service. This is infinitely better than trying to sell a piece of gear with your name and phone number written all over it.
Head over to Karmikoutdoors.com to pick up some decals for your (or your spouse’s) outdoor gear. Use Code EXPL25 for 25 per cent off your order.
This article was sponsored by Karmik Outdoors
Karmik Outdoors believes in connections, community and conservation. The inherent goodness of those in our outdoor recreation communities is noble. We believe that getting your lost outdoor recreation gear back and building a trusting community of outdoors men and women ought to be as easy as scanning a QR code.
Learn more: karmikoutdoors.com
