Are they a good source for info when looking to purchase (insert product here)?
Let’s just get it out of the way right off the bat, I’m a gear junkie. I have no issues admitting that. I firmly believe in ”buy once, cry once”. I practice this in every situation that I can afford to, within reason. That being said, information is just as important as the cash required to purchase whatever product I have set out to acquire. I’d like to outline how I go about choosing gear, where I look for information, who I talk to, and when to question the information that is out there, etc. I have learned some lessons along the way and I hope that I can pass those lessons along to you.
Talk to friends-
What better source of information than friends that have purchased certain product brands? This has been a great source of information for me. From deciding which off-road app to use to what vendor sells that cool gizmo to what fridge brand has performed. The wealth of information from those who have been down the road of selecting certain products and/or vendors is endless. If I were to put a percentage on this info in regards to formulating a decision I would say it would be 65%.
Check online ratings and reviews-
This comes with it’s positives and negatives. When it comes to product ratings use this in addition to what your friends have shared about a product. There are keyboard warriors out there in every facet of the inter-web. Some of the less than favorable ratings should be taken with a grain of salt. The best advice when it comes to ratings is look at the number of people who took the time to write a review and average it out. Look at the over all “big picture” rating I’d say online ratings and reviews should make up maybe 15% of your decision process.
YouTube-
If your friends don’t have experience with a product or if it’s something totally new, search for product vlogs or reviews on YouTube. Unfortunately the trend for the last several years has been for manufacturers to go out and throw free product around to some of the larger YouTube and Instagram personalities. There are YouTubers out there that are upfront about manufacturers sending them products to review, Matt with Ozark Overland Adventures is one that comes to mind. Matt does an awesome job. He gives very honest reviews and has been a wealth of info for me on countless times over the last 2 or 3 years. Unfortunately, there are more who are focused on hawking product than giving an honest review to the consumer so beware. I’d put this source of info at 15%.
Product Ambassadors/Influencers –
This is where things can go off the rails a bit. I subscribe to a very select number of YouTube channels. There are channels I followed for a while but they lost my interest when I started noticing product after product strategically placed in their videos. There’s a product I have installed in my Jeep JLU that let’s say cost north of $2000.00. There was a week in 2020 that five, yes FIVE YouTube channels all had their ”star” wearing this particular product’s t-shirt. What are the chances right? Then I remembered there had been some vlogs where these 5 had just recently appeared on each other’s channels. Now don’t get me wrong I still love this product. It just made me realize the business side of our hobby and how it can skew one’s opinion about a product to the benefit of the manufacturer and not the consumer. Capitalism is great, I’m all for it. You go into business to make a buck for sure. However, sometimes the “upper crust”, big time social media types hawking products and possibly having a biased view because they are PAID to do so doesn’t pass the sniffer test with me. Influence factor……5% or less.
Tune into Episode 46 of the Highpoint Overland Podcast where I discuss my interaction with a Ford Team Bronco Ambassador. It got a little testy. I will go into more detail on how I select the products and vendors I use.
-Overland Curmudgeon