My Journey to VSSL Camp

My dad died when I was 10. We lived on the outskirts of a small town in Northern Saskatchewan, so we were fully immersed in the outdoors: Hunting, fishing, hiking and camping. When he died, the woods beyond our town became my refuge. We were young (and small) so my best friend and I would take whatever outdoor gear we could find, and make it as small and as practical as possible. Efficiency in preparation became a challenge for us, and very crude versions of VSSL were conceived.

Flash forward 30 years and I’m living in a log cabin in the mountains with my wife and 2 children (plus horses, goats, chickens, dogs and cats). My 2 young kids start heading off on treks behind our house. I had never forgotten our early attempts at making compact outdoor gear, but it wasn’t until I spotted my kids heading into the woods (totally unprepared) that I decided VSSL, in a more advanced form, could be useful for many others.

4 years ago I launched VSSL through Kickstarter. At the time knowing nothing really about digital marketing. Fortunately, those early (and rough) versions of VSSL were well received, and despite me tripping over myself – we had a fairly successful product launch!

Over these last 4 years I’ve learned so much, and have surrounded myself with a team of the finest folks I could imagine to help pull the wagon. Because of them, VSSL has come a long way from its roots. We’ve made many improvements over the last few years and the product quality and contents have been upgraded substantially.

While the original VSSL was the distillation of my experience from youth and as an outdoorsman, we’re about to launch an incredible NEW VSSL that’s the bi-product of the original VSSL plus everything we’ve learned along the way PLUS invaluable feedback from customers, experts and brand partners.

I’m so EXCITED to share this next part of my journey with you! If we’re doing things right, you’ll start seeing some of our promotions for our new VSSL CAMP! If you’re already a member of our VSSL Crew, I really can’t thank you enough! If you’re not yet a member – now’s the perfect chance to become one. We’re launching VSSL Camp on Kickstarter soon, and it’ll give you the opportunity to be the first to grab our new VSSL at a discounted price.

Thanks so much for following along with me on this journey of helping people better prepare for outdoor adventure.  

 - Todd Weimer, VSSL Founder