How to support Outdoor Gearzine and the new Outdoor Gearzine Membership

To all outdoor enthusiasts who regularly read our newsletter,

Outdoor Gearzine was launched in September 2014, when there wasn't much information about mountain climbing and outdoor gear available online in Japan

For about 10 years since then, we have been a small team consisting of myself (the organizer) and a few writers who have helped us from time to time.While pursuing the cutting edge, we have never been swayed by trends, and have always loved the outdoors in general and never forgotten our respect for all those involved in the outdoors.We have written, however clumsy, about honest and truly practical information about outdoor products, as well as the richness of nature and the appeal of outdoor activities

Thanks to you, over the past 10 years we have been able to grow into a media outlet that is viewed by an enormous number of people, with a cumulative total of over 8 million users

Furthermore, we have expanded our reach to new media and social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter (X), Instagram, YouTube, and Discord, and the messages of support we receive through these platforms continue to encourage us more than anything else. I have nothing but words of gratitude for all of you who support us. Thank you so much

However, recently, this situation has been changing rapidly

Outdoor Gearzine has not received any subscription fees up until now, and has managed to operate through affiliate links in review articles, Google AdSense ads, and tie-up articles with manufacturers who agree with the idea of ​​unbiased criticism (plus work unrelated to Outdoor Gearzine). This is because we believe that Outdoor Gearzine's role (especially now, when we are overwhelmed with all sorts of information) is to create an environment where anyone can easily access great tools and information that have been overlooked by the times, as well as valuable information that will help you discover a deeper appeal of the outdoors that you never knew existed, and to deliver the richness of the outdoors to as many people as possible

However, these revenue sources, which have been the minimum pillar of our business since the beginning, have been declining in recent times, and the situation is becoming increasingly severe

The costs of procuring various gear for reviews, travel expenses for field trials, and equipment costs such as cameras and PCs. We also need operational costs to continue our activities stably, from maintaining our website to paying external writers for their articles. Until now, we've managed to keep going thanks to a strict focus on quality and efficiency, as well as sheer determination and good fortune, but we may be reaching our limit

Therefore, for all Outdoor Gearzine readers who would like to continue reading Outdoor Gearzine articles and support Outdoor Gearzine's activities, we have prepared a system to support you through fan letters , as well as a new monthly membership plan that allows you to support Outdoor Gearzine while also enjoying even more in-depth outdoor experiences .

Part 1. Support through "Outdoor Gearzine Membership" and new services

Outdoor Gearzine is a participant of OFUSE, a web service for supporting creators. The first way to support us is through the Outdoor Gearzine Membership (hereinafter referred to as Membership), which utilizes OFUSE's monthly membership function

With Membership, we don't just want you to support us; we want to provide our supporters with new content and services that are unique to Outdoor Gearzine, allowing them to enjoy the outdoors even more than ever before

*To use OFUSE, you must first register a new account (Sozi ID). Please follow the instructions to create an account and then join the membership

Join a membership

There are two types of membership: "Light Plan" and "Standard Plan"

is available Light Plan that provides only operational support and access to exclusive content Standard Plan that also provides free participation in various events, including offline events

Various events are planned to be held at least once a month from now (scheduled to start in late May), and in addition to talk events like those held last year, we are considering inviting speakers to hold workshops, study sessions, screenings, etc. We also plan to provide live online broadcasts and archived content for those who are too far away to travel or who were unable to attend on the day, so we would appreciate support from people all over the country

In addition to these offline events in Tokyo, we also plan to hold meetup events for camping, hiking, running, and other outdoor activities about once a month. We will decide how to proceed together with those who have actually become members in the future

Join a membership

Part 2. "Support through fan letters" using OFUSE

The second way to support is by using OFUSE's "fan letter function."

In this case, we would appreciate it if you could log in to OFUSE using the 2D barcode above or the link below, and send us a message to support us. We will carefully read all messages and send you a reply

We welcome both individuals and corporations, so we would appreciate your consideration and support

Support with OFUSE

Welcome to the new Outdoor Gearzine

This concludes our announcement regarding support for Outdoor Gearzine

In particular, our new membership service is a major initiative that Outdoor Gearzine has launched, based on lessons learned from holding several offline events last year, in order to free itself from constraints such as advertising revenue and provide a more free and unique service to our readers and users

However, there are still many uncertainties, such as what kind of people will join and how many people will join, and (as always) we are still feeling our way around. Going forward, we will continue to listen to the opinions of our members and try and make it a more satisfying and meaningful community, so please be patient and consider joining