I got my start reviewing gear as a category manager for Backpacker magazine’s annual gear guide, organizing sock testing with over a dozen individuals for several years. More recently, I’ve been testing and writing about outdoor products for Outdoor Life. You name it, I’ve done it: from pumping hundreds of liters of water through 20 different water filters to hauling five different satellite messengers deep into the backcountry to see which one got a message out the fastest. For the last three years, I’ve also organized an annual gear testing trip.