Tag: connections

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Karmik Blogs

Does Karmik Work? Real Use Case (Testimonial)

Overwhelmingly the biggest reservation we have to customer adoption is “does it work” but often phrased in a more pessimistic tone more like, “Sure, it’s a great idea but no one is going to return something they found. They will just keep it and I’ll never see my XYZ again.”

We struggle with trying to fight this stigma. We simply can not guarantee that you will get your lost Sawyer Kayak paddle back. We can only guarantee that if you completed the simple registration process on Karmikoutdoors.com then your gear is IDENTIFIABLE. Conversely,  we can guarantee that without any identification your gear is NOT returnable.

Sawyer x Karmik cobranded decal applied to a paddle.

Trying to convey that this program and our service works, and with it you have a 78-90% chance of a successful return is a difficult thing to convey. Here is a quick testimonial of a recent lost and found scenario from a lifelong fly fishermen named Rison. He purchased one of our MFC co-branded decals and activated his pre-paid decal.

Protect your flies and fly box with an MFC x Karmik prepaid decal.

Rison’s first sentence was this, “I received my fly box last week from Ian who wouldn’t even let me pay for the postage. A good man.” We believe that most people are good and want to do the right thing they just need the chance. Ian is not the exception to the rule, he is the massive average. Here is the rest of Rison’s story:

My name is Rison. I’m a  69 year old retiree and live in Chatham, in south central Virginia.
I attended the wedding of my nephew in Denver, Colorado in September which was my first time in Colorado. My brother-in-law and I managed to get a day free to fly fish. The day before, we went to the fly shop for some flies and advice. We got both and I also picked up a new fly box. That night, I was looking through all my flies accumulated in over 50 years of fishing. I decided to consolidate three smaller boxes into my new box. I saw the return service that came with the box and thought “what the hell” and registered it, doubting it would ever do any good.
The next day we headed out early and found the BLM campground area that was recommended to us. We suited up and my brother in law headed upstream while I tried the water near our car. I was using a borrowed four piece fiberglass rod. I fished for maybe an hour having no luck, I tried a weighted nymph. After awhile I decided to move. My fly was still in the water and when I tried to retrieve it, I was hung up. Not wanting to jerk on it with a borrowed rod, I reached for the line near the tip and broke about three inches off the tip! While fumbling around with that mess, I must have leaned over and the new fly box fell out of my vest! I was helpless and watched it float down the river thinking how smart I was to consolidate three boxes into one the previous night!
In my younger days, I would have cussed, fussed, stomped around, likely drowning. The older me smiled and thought how lucky I was to be standing in that beautiful part of the world. I retired to a picnic table and took in the fresh air and beautiful scenery. I never expected to see my fly box again.
I was absolutely floored when Karmik emailed me that my box was found much further downstream and the man, wanted to return it! I contacted Ian who refused any reward and mailed the box back to me! Unbelievable!
I want to publicly thank Ian and Karmik for this positive experience. I not only have my flies and box back but I have a renewed respect for mankind.
– Rison

Rison wanted to thank Ian with a reward and that is always appreciated and sometimes accepted by the finder. Karmik rewards the finder on behalf of all of our users to help ensure your gear comes back.

For businesses, Karmik service helps your product stand out. Rison stated that he is much more likely to purchase an item that has this service built in. If you are a business owner looking to help your product standout in a marketplace, here we are. At Outdoor Retailer (where we won Innovative Product of the Year) the two most common items were insulated bottles of some kind and backpacks or packs of some kind. They are all great products and have high quality construction or components so what makes them standout? Color, brand recognition and all the other marketing things, but what about outstanding and lasting service. Safety and security and standing behind your customer beyond the purchase. We can help with that.

Innovation Award for creating something new and exciting in the outdoor area.
  • Robert, Owner of Karmik Outdoors and wannabe cultivator of our collective fait in humanity.
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Karmik Blogs

The Genesis of Karmik Outdoors

Genesis

On the first day I found a fly rod and it was bad. On the second day I lost a net and it was bad. This series of events lead to the genesis of Karmik Outdoors. As a person who has been hunting and fishing my entire life I have lost and found outdoor gear on many occasions. Maybe you have too. I believe that anyone who spends a significant time in the outdoors has encountered the same experience that I/we have. Personally, I’ve lost countless items ranging from fly boxes full of flies to multiple fishing nets. I think I’ve lost two life jackets while towing my boat and having them blow out. I can’t even imagine the amount of coffee mugs and water bottles I’ve lost. Honestly, if I keep a coffee mug for a year that is a major accomplishment for me! You’re probably thinking I’m a very irresponsible person who loses and misplaces stuff all the time. Shoot, when I type it and read it aloud I think the same thing. But – the fact is – you can’t keep your items safe and secure all the time. Inevitably, you will lose something, have it accidentally taken by a buddy, blown away, be rushed for time, let your son borrow it who then loses it, have something stolen, house burned down, be overcome by weather and elements, or a myriad of other situations that are out of your control. Karmik can help with these situations. 

At every expo or trade show I attend I have two marker boards that I use to record lost items and found items. They quickly fill up with items. I wrote a blog (here) about the most common lost items in the great outdoors. Sometimes I am surprised by some of the items people write because they are not things you might expect to see on the board. Things like guns and bows and backpacks (both day packs and packs filled with hunting gear), decoys, scuba gear etc. I’m always surprised when I see rangefinders with three tic marks next to it. Then I look at the found board and there are two tick marks. I always wonder if one of the found rangefinders is one of the lost rangefinders. Could be, we’ll never know. 

As I was thinking about this business I had to address the question: Do people really lose that much stuff? I looked at Craigslist, Facebook, outdoor chat forums, and even local sporting goods stores for data to see if people lose outdoor gear enough to warrant starting a business. “Is there a big enough problem to solve,” I asked myself. It didn’t take long to discover the answer is a resounding, YES! Even here in Boise, Idaho where our only claim to fame is that one line from the Lynyrd Skynyrd song; there are people losing and finding stuff at an alarming rate. Because of all the scenarios I mentioned above, it is highly likely you will lose something like the other 86% of us outdoorsmen who have. The scenarios I mentioned above are real and can happen to anyone.  

Story Time

A good friend of mine is type A. He does not lose things often. He is military, clean cut, organized and responsible. He keeps his positions in front of him so to speak and takes good care of them. The family purchased a nice fishing raft and all the accessories that go with a fishing raft. Enter his teenage son. He borrowed the boat and took his friend fishing. Well, while loading up all the equipment at the end of the day he left the anchor at the boat takeout. I guarantee you someone found that anchor. They even most likely wanted to return it but how could they? If you have a raft or drift boat or motorboat I bet you have an anchor. Do you have any contact information on it? How much did that anchor cost? If you lose it, it will cost you twice. The original purchase price and the replacement price. That’s the value of our decals, twice the price of the object you put them on. At almost no fault of his own my buddy had to buy another anchor. He did not buy the same kind or type and certainly did not spend the same money the second time (brands keep that in mind).

If you look at your local Craigslist lost and found right now you will see lots of phones, and keys and bags and dogs and cats, even llamas that have gone missing. If you look you will also see skis and ski poles, fishing rods and tackle boxes, drones like crazy, coolers, golf clubs, disk golf disks, tennis rackets, and pretty much anything that deals with water. These might be someone’s most prized possessions. They might have been expensive, or they might have been cheap but that’s not the point. They might have been hand-me-downs from Grandad and have sentimental value. The point is, it pains people to lose items. It causes stress and angst and even anger. The second you lose something the butterflies start flapping their wings in your belly. It simply SUCKS. I know that people are good. I know that people want to do the right thing if given the opportunity. If given the opportunity. That’s the key. I wanted to create a product that helps people and grants people the opportunity to do good. Karmic is the verb to Karma. It is the action or deed that bestows a person with good or bad Karma. Karmik decals or ID tags allow people to do the right thing and get good karma. If you search “found” in your local lost and found page or forum, you will see there are more posts for found gear than lost gear. There are more people trying to return gear than recover gear. Make it easy for them. 

Story Time

Allow me to tell you another story I heard while attending an expo. A lady noticed my booth and the product. We started chatting about lost and found items. She began to get emotional, even shed a tear. She went on to tell me about a net that was lost by her dear friend. The owner of the net recently lost it. Although this was an ordinary net it held great sentimental value to her. It was her brothers. He died of cancer. They used to fish together a lot. Fishing was their connection. That net was the physical tangible memory to her brother and symbolic of their time spent in hobbies and interests together. He was gone but his memory lived through the net. I can only imagine that every time she netted a fish with it, she was reminded of her late brother. Whoever found the net, found a net, but she lost a memory. One of the two individuals valued that net a whole lot more. 

Karmik Outdoors is a lost and found outdoor gear company. But, we are more than that to some people and more than that to any finder of gear. We’re here to protect your gear and give people the opportunity to return it if found. Because I’ve been there, I wanted to help. I felt the pain and stress and anger and stupidity caused from losing gear. I don’t want you to experience the same. Plus, I don’t want you to look at your spouse and to explain how you lost an expensive item! Karmik is all about connections: connection to your gear – connections to each other – connection to brands – that’s who we are and what we do. 

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Karmik Blogs

The most common lost and found items in the great outdoors

Bag Tag

People think if they lose something they cant get it back. All hope is lost, that’s it. It’s gone. That is just simply not the case. Go to any outdoor forum (mountainbuzz, Duck Hunting chat, Moab gear, Go4awalk.com, MountianProject.com etc) there are literally thousands of people posting trying to get gear returned.

Have some faith in humanity and know that most people who find something want to get it back to the owner. Wouldn’t you? Even a wallet full of cash can find its way home without a single missing dollar if you give people a chance. Don’t believe me, watch this youtube video. The key to getting your stuff back is providing people with the opportunity to return your stuff.

After doing a search of lost and found items we compiled a list of the most frequently lost items. Use this list as an idea of what you should protect with Karmik Outdoors decals.

Parameters of the search! I looked at Craigslist in a variety of outdoorsy cities In the Northwest including (Boise, Yakima, Spokane, Bozeman, Denver, Bend, Salt Lake, Reno). I avoided niche forums because those will bias the types of finds. I feel like Craigslist is an unbiased lost and found forum whereas mountianbuzz.com will be heavily biased in rafting and whitewater sports thus skewing the data. Also, No pets. Even though you could put Karmik Decals on a dog collar, and we do have them, I decided to not include pets. Please, please, please protect your pets. ON TO THE LIST!

The top three are overwhelmingly the highest frequency lost items. Also, Maybe overwhelmingly, the most expensive and inconvenient things to lose. And as outdoor folks we all have these. Karmik Outdoors is your lost and found outdoor gear solution, but we can also be your solution to other necessary items in your life.  If you lose your skis, oh well that sucks, but life goes on. If you lose the top 3 items you’re in for a world of hurt.

1. Phones Sure, you can track your phone. What if it’s dead? Wouldn’t it be easier and faster for the finder to just scan and contact you as soon as it’s found? We’re talking about seconds after finding your phone you can get an email from someone. Your phone or phone case is perfect real estate for one Karmik Decal.

2. Keys If you have a key FOB you should put a Karmik decal on there. Period. You can get your car, house, storage, bike lock, gun lock and any other keys back within minutes. If you lost your keys right now, could anyone get them back to you? How long would you look for them, how far would you retrace your steps? How long would it take you to make another set of keys? These modern car keys are expensive to replace! Karmik has an Anywhere Tag that fits on most key fobs or our Bag Tag works well on key chains.

  1. 3. Wallets  Forget the money, you can make more money, you will never get the time you waste back! If you lose your wallet you have to call all your banks, all your credit cards, and the Department of Motor Vehicles to cancel and get new ones. What a pain in the A$$. Save your time, stress, anxiety and maybe money and just put a Karmik decal on, or in, your wallet.

You need at least 3 Karmik Decals for these items.

And now- onto our beloved outdoor gear.

4. Backpacks (Motorcycle gear, Fishing, Hunting, Computer, Mountain biking, Camlebak, Hiking, Photography, Disk Golf). I know I’m cheating here and putting lots of  items into one category but hey, they get lost VERY often. Whatever your poison, you probably have a pack for it of some kind. And fortunately/unfortunately we fill these packs with all kinds of gear and gadgets. So if it gets lost, you just lost tons of stuff. Put one Karmik Bag Tag on your packs and protect everything in it.

Bag Tag5. Drones. These things fly! When the wind blows or a less than professional person is flying one, they tend to fall out of the sky in places where they can’t be found. Some have built in GPS, some don’t. You shouldn’t rely on a battery powered thing in the out-of-doors. That’s like rule #1. Put a non-battery powered, no bluetooth needed, weatherproof Karmik decal on your gear. Two is one, one is none as the military saying goes. If you have a drone, you need one Karmik decal.

6. Cameras. Of all the groups of hobbyists in the world the most passionate and expensive can be photography. It’s also a popular crossover hobby. I know tons of avid fly fishermen who also love photography. Same with skiing. Same with hunting. Same with climbing. Rarely do people only engage in one outdoor recreation activity and photography seems to be the activity that lots of various groups all engage in. You need one Karmik decal (skinny decals) on your camera and your lenses; also, see #4 above.

Anywhere Decal7. Sun glasses. These things pop up a lot on Craigslist lost and found. Some shades are spendy. When you get a set of name brand high quality sunglasses that have polarized lenses or interchangeable lenses or prescription lenses these can be really expensive. Our decals will absolutely fit in, or on, sunglass cases. Maybe also, our skinny Anywhere Tag  can fit on the glasses if they are at least 8mm wide.

8. Skis/Snowboards. Ya, did it again with two things in one category, so what. Chances are you ski or snowboard but probably not both unless you’re really cool. You might have a mixed family of ski and snowboarding folk. Either way skis and snowboards are “lost” a lot. I think a majority of the time there is a mistake in identity and your stuff gets taken by accident. If you check with your local ski hill they have a huge pile of lost and found items. Some are skis and snowboards that have been returned. Here is an additional benefit to Karmik decals… when you or your kids outgrow their gear and you sell it, your Karmik decals are now a selling feature. Our QR codes can be deregistered in your account and the new owner can register them! Your resale value is much higher with our decal vs your name and phone number carved or written all over. You should have one Karmik decal on per ski or board.

9. Gloves. In the same breath as skis and snowboards the frequency of lost gloves is really high. Probably higher than skis and snowboards. Under every ski lift across the land lay a lonely missing glove. Of all things on the planet these should be the one thing everyone wants to give back. What good is one glove to anyone? Our service can be used in so many different ways but our decals probably won’t work with gloves. We do however have options to incorporate our service into your favorite gloves. Do us a solid and tell your favorite ski or hunting glove manufacturer to work with us so we can protect gloves too!

10. Poles. I know. Now it’s getting annoying grouping so many things into the same category. Skiing poles, Trekking Poles, bi-pods, whatever kind of pole you’re using, we can help. These poles are not to be confused with #11 poles. You need one Karmik decal per pole, so usually 2.

11. Fishing Poles. Karmik was actually started because the founder was fly fishing and found a lost fly rod. He had the idea to start a company so people can return found fly rods and other outdoor paraphernalia. Both fresh and saltwater and conventional and fly fishing should have a Karmik decal. Karmik’s Anywhere Tag goes perfect on a fishing rod. Some fly rods cost over $1000. Could you imagine losing that? Give someone the opportunity to return it by making sure it’s identifiable. You need one Karmik decal per rod. If I was going to Belize/Alaska/Bahamas/Jackson Hole and my rods got lost somewhere…. my trip is “ruined”. With Karmik’s decals, communication happens immediately and you can have the finder send your gear to your destination.

Anywhere Decal12. Optics. Both spotting scopes and binoculars. I don’t know how people lose these, don’t ask me that. I have mine strapped to my chest ALWAYS. But if I did have a momentary lapse in judgement, maybe during a high stress – high excitement moment – like when an elk walks up on you at 20 yards and you arrow the beast. During your excitement you forget your binos were sitting next to you. Hey, it can happen, and clearly it does happen enough that people post about losing and finding optics regularly. I can’t imagine trying to tell my wife I lost a four figure piece of gear that I need to replace. You need one Karmik decal per optic you run.

13. Waterfowl decoys. More decoys are probably lost every year than ducks are harvested! Not really, but some days I feel like I see more lost decoys than I see ducks. We hunt rivers a lot. Sometimes the anchor isn’t long enough, or a big clump of weeds or a big chunk of ice floats down and takes your decoys with it. Another reason why you might need Karmik decals is if you hunt with a big group of hunters. If you’re setting up a big mallard spread in a corn field you might want to keep track of whos is whos. A Karmik decal is perfect for that. Our decals are too expensive to protect your entire flock. Maybe just put one Karmik decal on the bottom of your fully flocked full body mallard or goose decoys.

14. Fishing nets. Having lost and found more nets than I feel comfortable admitting, to say a net NEEDS a Karmik decal is an understatement. Almost guaranteed if you lost a net someone found it. It might have even been me. With no identification on it there is absolutely no chance it will return to you. Now you need to go buy another net. Now you’re out $360 and for only $9.98 you could have gotten yours back. Our decals would have saved you $170. But you don’t need one right, you don’t lose anything. FALSE. You need one Karmik decal per net.

15. Fishing lure boxes. As a fly tier myself I intimately know the value of hooks with feathers and string wrapped around them. I know the time investment behind a vice that is required to fill a fly box. I also know the passion of bass anglers who will paint their own crankbaits. Or those who take the time to attach upgraded hooks or attach trailer hooks. Literally, for the price of one fly or one lure you could protect the hundreds of dollars in lures or flies in the box. You need one Karmik decal per box. Now, if we could only make our decals small enough to attach to your flies and lures, hmmmm.

Anywhere Decal16. Watersports. For the sake of brevity I just threw all water items in the same category. This list could literally be 15 watersports items. Anything used near water will probably get lost. Lifejackets, SUP boards, kayak paddles, rafting oars, anchors, dry bags, boat bags and other paraphernalia that we need as water-loving-outdoor-folk. You could buy a 25 pack of Karmik decals for everything needed in a boat or raft.

17. Bikes. My first two vehicles cost less than some modern bikes. Honestly. The chances of you losing your road bike or mountain bike are admittedly very small. But not zero. Stuff happens and bikes fall out of trucks, or the carriers fail. I have seen a few bikes on Craigslist. Why not buy a decal for a few bucks to protect your thousands of dollars two wheeler.

Other items that are lost way too often:

Ear pods – Power tools – Laptops – Luggage – Guns

Some items might not be reported as lost or found because of perceived value. Some water bottles like Yeti or Hydroflask are expensive, but the finder might not know that. Same with Disk Golf disks and Flies. The finder might not know what those cost. It is also impossible to represent the sentimental value of items.

If you own anything on this list. If you value your items, your money, your time, your mental health, and you want some semblance of sanity and assurance, you need a Karmik decal on your gear. Please protect the things that bring you joy.

– Robert Gillingham, Founder and Owner of Karmik Outdoors. Also, frequent loser of things.