I think it was around 2014 or 2015 when I first stumbled upon a nifty bushcraft-themed necklace with a tiny ferrocerium rod and a striker. They looked cool but were also very functional, which was surprising given the small size. I’ve been carrying and using Wazoo Gear products ever since.
Over the years, I’ve gotten to know the founders, Nick Blackman and Dustin Hogard, a bit. What has always impressed me is their passion for innovation. They are always looking for new ways to improve gear, making it even more functional and fun.
It took a little doing to get Dustin to sit still long enough for this profile article. He responded to these questions while in the middle of a lengthy bike trip through the southeastern United States, no doubt testing new gear prototypes along the way.
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How did Wazoo Gear get started?
Wazoo is the combination of two separate businesses that just happened to be doing the same thing in 2012.
A buddy sent me a link to a Facebook page of a company called Wazoo Survival Gear. At the time, I was living on my small sailboat in Kemah, Texas, and running my one-man company Thunderbird Adventure Equipment. When I checked out Wazoo Survival Gear, I was first surprised to find paracord bracelets with gear stashed inside. At that time, paracord bracelets were very popular, and it seemed like everybody had a brother, uncle, or friend making them.
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The barrier for entry was very low. You just needed to buy some $0.07/ft paracord, a $0.25 plastic buckle, and watch a YouTube video, and *poof* you were a business owner. But they were pretty much all the same: 7-8 ft of rope on your wrist. Not really a product that should be categorized as survival gear in my opinion, and apparently the only other person in the U.S. that shared that opinion, or at least was wanting to taken on the challenge to incorporate additional gear in the bracelet that would truly aid in a wilderness survival scenario, was Nick Blackman, owner of Wazoo Survival Gear, located only 15 minute drive from my boat.
When I saw that, I knew I had to reach out! I messaged him, and we scheduled a beer at a local tavern. After playing show and tell and having a few beers, a peculiar set of facts came to the surface. Nick, who had degrees in mechanical and aerospace engineering and had worked for NASA before starting Wazoo Survival Gear, had built a strong brand. Meanwhile, Dustin, who had Advertising and Business degrees, had focused on product design more than branding.
Our strengths overlapped perfectly. I think this part of the story has become very important to us now. Not necessarily because it is our founding story but because it created our culture, cooperation over competition, and has allowed us to serve the community. We’ve even gone so far as to found a separate organization with other businesses called The Campfire Co-op (CampfireCo-op.com), and many content creators, media, and business owners have told us it has changed their lives for the better.
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So far, what’s been your favorite Wazoo product?
Our Cache Belt + Adventure/Essentials Kit combos blew up on the crowdfunding site Kickstarter, becoming one of the most popular projects at the time and garnering coverage in some of the biggest magazines worldwide.
Unfortunately, since we’ve migrated it from that platform to our website, we apparently haven’t been able to communicate its awesomeness effectively.
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Nonetheless, I’m very proud and fond of it. I’m virtually never without it, and I’ve worn my Cache Belt with the full Adventure Kit hidden inside on 6 of the 7 continents multiple times over (haven’t nabbed Antarctica yet—assuming it’s not just a big ice wall, LOL), and have used it to get us out of pinches on many occasions. Like using the brass wire, cable ties, and Technora cord from my Cache Belt to secure our mismatched borrowed battery to the terminals for our Land Cruiser when we got stranded remotely in Uganda, because my guides had no tools to do the fix.
I’ve even done challenges where we only survived at 10,000 feet in the Colorado Rockies using the gear in our Cache Belt and a few other Wazoo products. Search “72 Hour Wazoo Challenge” on Jason Salyer’s YouTube channel titled On Three.
An honorable mention would be our FireCards, which have recently taken the EDC, outdoor, and travel communities by storm. The big brand REI even started selling them this year!
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How long does product development usually take?
This has varied tremendously over the years. At first, everything took months to years to develop. We perfected designs until we were confident it was the best we could possibly make it, with little consideration for margins and production.
We’ve since learned a lot about running a business, like, “If you’re not embarrassed by your first release, you’ve launched too late.” That’s a quote from Reid Hoffman, LinkedIn co-founder.
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We’ve since thrown a lot of products out there to the public to let the market respond honestly. Some surprisingly stuck, and others that we personally loved didn’t find enough traction to make it worth keeping in inventory, so we unfortunately have had to get good with killing our babies.
To this day, some of our products have been on the back burner for years.
When we launch now, so many other considerations go into the decision-making, such as costs, suppliers, scalable production, upfront time/financial commitment, marketing, and so on.
I’m still very excited about the products we designed many years ago, but we just didn’t have all the other boring business pieces in place yet.
What’s been one of your favorite experiences so far?
Hanging out with great people in the various communities we love to play in and the excuse to test our gear in all kinds of environments.
For instance, I’m currently in my hammock, stealth camping off the road with Jason Salyer (On Three—GoOn3.com), as we attempt to ride 75+ year-old beach cruiser bikes 350 miles across Georgia with a grueling deadline.
And yes, I’m wearing and packing lots of Wazoo gear.
Any upcoming products or plans you can discuss?
Yes, we’ve got a lot! I can’t reveal specifics, but I can say that we are leaning into the most popular products and introducing new variations that address exciting problems our customers have been sharing with us for years.
Hints: More badass bandanas, new ways to carry our patented whetstone, new styles of hats and belts out the Wazoo!
I also reached out to Nick with a question for this profile. Simply put, why Wazoo?
The short story is that “survival” is as serious as it gets. Truly life or death. Many people think it can never happen to them, so they won’t even consider it. With a background in SAR, I knew that was part of the problem. I wanted to soften that extreme reality with a bit of tongue-in-cheek humor and make it more approachable. The original tagline was “Products that can save your Wazoo.” Plus, there are enough downsides with the logistics and complexities of running your own business; purposely injecting a little silliness in everything we do makes it all more enjoyable. I chose to start my own business, and I wanted to try it my way, not the way it was supposed to be done.
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