The compliance guy
with too much gear.

Outkitted started in an overstuffed closet. I'm Kevin — by day I work in compliance, which mostly means I'm the person who reads the whole thing and notices when the numbers don't add up. Turns out that's a personality trait, not a job. I pointed it at my gear.

I had a jacket for the trail, another for town, a third for the rain — each used a handful of times a year. A fly rod worth more than my first car. A pile of "ultralight" things that, added together, were not light at all. I wanted one honest number: what do I actually own, what does it weigh, and what does it cost me every time it leaves the house?

So I built the tool I wanted. One closet, every pursuit — backpacking, fly fishing, one-bag travel — and a loadout for every trip drawn from that one library. It counts every ounce and every dollar, flags the gear that never leaves the shelf, and shows you the cost-per-use of the things you love. Then I started writing down what I learned.

The two pillars

The Loop is how we learn. The Intersections are where we learn it.

The Loop is the method: closet → loadout → trip → field note → shakedown → improved loadout, around again, better every time. The Intersections are the territory — the places where two pursuits meet (backpacking × fly fishing, one-bag travel × EDC) and where the most useful outdoor knowledge actually lives. Everything on this site, and everything in the app, is one of those two ideas wearing different clothes.

The free-forever promise

The app is free, and it works with no account and no signup wall. Your data lives in your browser. That's not a trial or a loss-leader — it's the deal. Later, if you want to sync across devices or share a loadout with a clean link, there'll be an optional account for that. Local-first users lose nothing, ever.

How the labels work

Every post on Outkitted carries a transparency label that says exactly how its claims were earned — because "trust me, I tested it" is the cheapest sentence on the gear internet, and I'd rather show my work:

• Field Report — used on real, logged trips. Every number comes from the field. This is the earned tier: nothing wears it until there's a trip log behind it.
• At-Home Test — gear I own and use daily or around home. Real ownership, honest impressions, but not yet proven on a logged trip.
• Gear Lab — built from the closet, the scale, and the spec sheet. Analysis and research, clearly marked as such — the trip log for that item starts at zero.
• Trip Plan — a plan, not a report. The research and the kit are real; the trip hasn't happened yet. The field report comes after the miles.
• Build Log — notes from building Outkitted itself.

The rule the labels enforce is simple: no post may claim field use that hasn't happened. As trips get logged, pieces graduate — a Trip Plan becomes a Field Report, a Gear Lab write-up earns its trip counts — and the label changes with it.

The link policy (read: there isn't a catch)

Every gear link on Outkitted is a plain manufacturer link — no affiliate codes, no tracking parameters, no commissions, no sponsorships. A link exists so you can find the thing, not so I get paid when you click it. If that ever changes, this page and the note above every gear post will change first, loudly, on the same day — a disclosure that lags reality is just a lie with a delay. Until then: no deals pages, no urgency, no "BUY NOW", and negative write-ups run, because recommendations are worthless from someone who never pans anything.

The one-sentence version

Every gear site wants your clicks; Outkitted wants your closet — and the site is built so the closet, the writing, and the community all pay each other's way.

Questions, corrections, or a shakedown request? hello@outkitted.com. I read everything.