The week wears me out.
The outdoors fixes that.

My name’s Jim Richards. I’ve been a CEO and business owner for 25 years — a handful of companies, some local, some national. It’s a good life, and I’m grateful for it. But I won’t pretend the work weeks are easy. Some of them flat-out wear you down.

So I go outside

My reset button is out the door. Sometimes that’s a campsite and a fire. Sometimes it’s a trail. Plenty of times it’s nothing fancier than sitting next to my wife watching the sun drop into the water. And when I can get on the water, I’m in the kayak chasing inshore saltwater fish, out on the boat, or camping straight off it for a night or two.

And I don’t spend a fortune doing it

Here’s where I’m different from a lot of outdoor sites. No $$$ gear for me. I shop Walmart and Amazon like everybody else, and I only open the wallet wider when it’s specialized stuff that actually earns it. You don’t need top-shelf everything to get outside.

Why I started Paddlefire Outdoors

Since I’m buying this gear with my own money and actually using it — not running it around a parking lot for a sponsor — I figured other folks might want to see how it really holds up before they spend their own cash. So that’s what this is: honest reviews of affordable gear, from a guy who uses it.

You’re one of us

And I know I’m not the only one. There’s a whole crowd of outdoor guys and gals who don’t have piles of cash to throw at this stuff but still want the escape. If that’s you, you’re a Thrift Adventurer, like me. Pull up a chair — the fire’s already going.