Our Mission...Our mission is to help people build a foundation of basic outdoor and bushcraft skills, so that they can connect/reconnect with nature, allowing them to explore with confidence and greater safety.
We want to foster the spirit of adventure, to go out and explore the woods, the river valley, anywhere nature's beauty calls to you. Many people today are intimidated at going off the beaten path, or feel going into the woods is unsafe. Nature can certainly be unsafe, but it is also beautiful, majestic and spectacular. We feel people should thrive in the great outdoors, not just survive. We want to help you obtain knowledge, skills and basic gear to do exactly that. About our Gear Shop - the revenue from the shop helps us to continue our mission, and to expand it to offering local classes for kids and their parents. We have setup the shop to offer lower than industry pricing on the few select products we carry or produce ourselves. This compliments our mission by making some essential gear more affordable for the people who can use it. It's all about getting out there and immersing yourself in the natural world. |
About us, and why we got started...Located in upstate NY in the heart of the Finger Lakes, we are a Native American family with extensive experience in the backcountry and an outdoor focused lifestyle. As our daughter entered public school, we began interacting more closely with other children and their families. We walked our daughter to and from school, not down the road but through the woods and fields, in weather from gorgeous days to full on blizzards using skiis or snowshoes. This brought out some surprising reactions, comments that we'd get lost in the woods, drown, get bitten by a snake, or bat, get poison ivy (ok, that one was true), get eaten by a wolf, get hypothermia, even be attacked by a bear. The list goes on and on. Many of the comments were understandably from children, but more surprising was that many were from parents and even teachers. What we realized is that many people today have become disconnected with the natural world around us - and that realization was the seed that started Green Leaf Gear.
Today's media portrays a trip to the wilderness as a 'survival situation', with shows like Dual Survival, Man Vs Wild, Survivor Man and others. These shows do teach some valuable skills, but they also give a skewed view of the outdoors as a scary place not to venture unless you've got skills like Cody Lundin. Nature can be dangerous and must be respected, but a trip to the woods is usually is not a survival situation. If it was, we wouldn't be taking our family there at every opportunity. So, we decided to try and help people to connect/reconnect with the Natural World around us. With some basic knowledge, skills and simple gear, that trip to the wilderness can be filled with adventure, serenity and a lifetime of family memories. That's why we're here. |