08/25/2026
Photo credit: Steve C**n,
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We’re back from Overland Expo Mtn West, and after a few days surrounded by some of the best people, products, and ideas in the outdoor industry, here are a few knee-jerk takeaways:
The positive:
1. The outdoor community is generally an amazing group of people. We met a lotof great folks, had some great conversations, and genuinely enjoyed hanging out with people who love getting outside.
2. There are a TON of great products out there. It’s pretty incredible to see how many companies are creating products to solve just about any need, want, inconvenience, or problem an outdoor enthusiast might have.
3. If you make a great product, are friendly, personable, helpful, and keep your pricing sensible, there are customers who will notice.
And then there’s the real:
4. Growth can be a funny thing. Sometimes, in the pursuit of getting bigger, companies can lose some of the personal touch, customer listening, and genuine connection that helped make them successful in the first place.
Our takeaway on this point: Remember where you came from and why people liked you in the first place.
We’re big enough to build campers efficiently and continually improve what we do, but still small enough to know our customers, listen to them, pay attention to what’s changing in the industry, and sweat the details. That's never changing.
Safe to say, we’re pretty excited about where Cedar Ridge is headed, and thankful for where we've been and who we've met along the way.
