Belly up to the bar with... Bob Keller

1. What is your happy place? RV trips with the family.

2. Which is your most extravagant purchase to date?  A Class-A motor home.

POV: @youngbuckdave

With summer winding down and fall right around the corner it’s that perfect time of year – not too hot and not too cold, just right for adventure.  Preparing for these adventures means selecting your best gear that is not only reliable and time tested, but also really sharp looking.  Getting disorganized, overpacking, or not packing enough are an adventurer’s enemy.  And nothing will make you more frustrated than getting to the range or campsite ripping through all your gear looking for that one thing (you know that ONE necessary piece of gear that you absolutely needed) only to realize that you left back on your kitchen counter next to the note that says “DO NOT FORGET!” OTTE Gear has developed packing systems to help make sure you stay calm, cool and organized so that you can focus on the fun and adventure.

Belly up to the bar with….Dave Young

For this month's GAB, we probed the soul of Dave Young aka @youngbuckdave. He is a true friend, an artist, and frankly a sub-par shooter...more of a spray and pray kinda guy. Just Kidding. His encyclopedic knowledge about guns informs his tactical photography which captures the people and products he is so passionate about. When you meet him ask him about his dad, the old school lawman. Read on.

Be Tactical

OTTE Gear sent our very best Zach Stone to the The Tactical Games last week which took place at the epically cool GTI facility in Barnwell, SC, a decommissioned nuclear processing facility that really puts the athletes in the mood. Price of entry was being an endurance athlete with tremendous shooting precision, also known as ass-kickers, door-kickers and Tier 1 operators.  Besides participating in the competition, OTTE Gear is also a sponsor of the games and proudly outfits the TG staff with our DK Jackets.  At the end of the day, Zach hosted an impromptu party at our tent for all of the worn-out athletes.

 

Belly up to the Bar with @robomurray

An uncommon day (February 29) seemed like a fitting time to feature an uncommon dude, Robo Murray, as our Grab a Beer With OTTE Gear interviewee. We learned about Robo from our Canadian friends at Parabellum Prime who said we should definitely check him out. While his day job is in the Information Security space focused on OSINT, his passions are Firearms, Firearms training, Airsoft, and Milsim which led him to his pursuits working for WGT Consulting on the side. Somehow he also finds the time to create rad combat-inspired casual clothing (http://www.robo-apparel.com/).  You can learn a lot more about him in our interview below, or by visiting his various social media platforms.

January 2020 – William Todd Fairbairn, Founder & CEO of OTTE Gear

Climbing is a sport where no matter how hard you train and prepare there are always elements that are out of your control, not least of which are the weather and your DNA.  These was front and center as I attempted to climb Aconcagua last month, Argentina’s and South America’s tallest mountain.  The mountain reaches 23,000 feet. The air gets thin and hard to breath the higher you climb.  It is not considered tall enough to require bottled oxygen and while there are drugs you can take to help mask the physical pain of the high altitude, only your DNA will predict how you perform up high.  Needless to say, my DNA did not help me.  I woke up gasping for air and moved extremely slowly above 14,000’.  

OTTE Gear Multicam Gaiters (shown in photo)

 

One lucky person will win over $4000 in prizes from OTTE Gear and our sponsors. All you have to do is start following on Instagram.  

1). Follow OTTE Gear

2). Follow as many of our other sponsors that you want

( the more you follow, the more chances you are entered to win! )

Click here for how to enter!

December 2019 – William Todd Fairbairn, Founder & CEO of OTTE Gear

It has been 15 years since I entered this industry with the 2004 SHOT Show debut of my brand, OTTE Gear and I think it’s about time I let folks know a little about me and the brand. The whole idea for the brand was born after hearing from our friends that were deployed to Afghanistan. They told us that the clothing they were using did not work well in the Himalayan environment nor did it hold up to their use and abuse. Many opted to use their civilian clothing in the most subdued colors available and black out the logos with a Sharpie marker. They knew that my partners and I had worked for The North Face so they reached out and asked for help designing better clothing systems.

Our first beer with our fellow New Yorker, Joe Fasanella (@grayfighter1 / Condition Gray) took place at the 2012 SHOT Show. There is a lot to say about this guy – not only is he a counterterrorism expert, trainer and educator, he is also an entrepreneur who “had us at hello” with his Sling Retainer Catch available here.

Thanks to its long-standing team up with Andrew Bawidimann, we think of Otte Gear as the original purveyor of tactical artwork. Its Poppies of War print is an almost subtle mash-up of toes-in-the-warm-sand comfort and Taliban-era sentiment. At first glance, it’s a broad, vaguely organic pattern; but a focused gaze reveals a smattering of weapons that are familiar to anyone who’s spent some time in Afghanistan.

Check out our Aloha design.

This month we are launching our new series, Grab a Beer with OTTE Gear, where we…well…grab a beer with some of our favorite characters who inhabit the OTTE world we live in and have them answer a series of questions meant to probe and expose their innermost thoughts and feelings. Or at least give us a good laugh. We start with our very own Zach Stone, heralded manager of our social media & marketing. Zach is a Kiwi who grew up in Australia. During a trip to Italy back in the free and easy days, he met the love of his life, followed her back to the USA, got hitched and some time later made 2 beautiful babies (not at the same time). Zach is passionate about what he does in our industry. He is an avid outdoorsman, adventurer, shooter and all around ridgy-didge guy. So let's not drink with the flies, crack open a cold one and get to know a little more about him.