Hey! I’m Paul, and GearTest Outdoors is my backpacking-focused YouTube channel. My passion for the outdoors started when I went on my first kayaking day trip in 2008. I was hooked! I found a used kayak on craigslist that very night and was back on the water the next weekend. Kayak day trips soon turned to overnight trips, and not long after that, I was dragging my buddies into taking 3 and 4-day long kayaking excursions. After logging about 350 miles on our kayaks, we decided it was time give our arms a break and try backpacking instead. Backpacking has been my go-to escape from the chaos of daily life ever since.