Buying Guide / Product Review Standards

At The Traveling Outdoorsman, we take our buying guides and product reviews seriously, with those who enjoy the outdoors as much as us in mind. Every product we recommend in our buying guides is selected through thorough research and by evaluating how the product has worked for us or reviews from others who have used the product. Product Review articles on the other hand, are specific to gear that we have actually had our hands on, providing you with our honest, unbiased opinion of the gear. We understand that when it comes to spending your hard earned money, you want to feel confident in your purchase.

No matter the gear, our guides and reviews follow the same consistent standards built around honesty, experience, and performance.

How We Choose Products for Buying Guides

When choosing products for our Buying Guides, we start our research by looking for products trusted by real outdoorsmen/women and proven in the field. We look at:

  • Performance: How well does it work in real hunting situations and conditions?
  • Durability: Will it hold up season after season?
  • Design and Comfort: Does it fit or function as intended?
  • Ease of Use: Can you rely on it without frustration in the field?
  • Value: Does the price match the performance?

If a product doesn’t meet our quality standards, we don’t include it.

Our Gear Review Process

Each product that makes it to the Gear Review section of our site have been field tested specifically by our team. These articles will go into more detail on a single product than our buying guides, letting you know what we like / dislike and who we think it would be a good fit for. Our goal with these articles is to help you answer any specific questions you may have about a particular piece of gear before hitting the buy button.

Independence and Integrity

Here at The Traveling Outdoorsman, we can proudly say that we never accept payment to rank or promote specific products that we do not have 100% confidence in and wouldn’t use during our time in the field.

Some of our pages include affiliate links, which means we may earn a small commission if you buy through those links – at no extra cost to you. Those commissions help support this site, but they never influence our ratings, rankings, or recommendations. If we wouldn’t use it ourselves, we won’t recommend it to you.

Staying Current

Technology is evolving at a rapid pace and hunting gear is no different. We update our buying guides regularly to reflect new gear with design improvements.

You can trust that every “Best of” list or buying guide on The Traveling Outdoorsman represents current, reliable, and practical information for today’s hunter.

Our Goal

We want you to buy once and buy right. By following these standards, we aim to cut through marketing noise, highlight the gear that actually works, and help you spend more time enjoying your time in the field.