Gear tests filmed where the gear gets used
Trailmix used to film jackets on a white table. Now we film them in the rain, and people watch to the end.
Client
Trailmix Co., outdoor gear
Format
Product
Platforms
TikTok, Reels, Shorts
Cadence
12 videos a month
The brief
Trailmix sells packs, shells and camp kitchens to people who hike most weekends. Their videos were studio product spins with music, and people scrolled past them in under ten seconds. They wanted proof the gear works, without paying for a production crew in the mountains every month.
The product team also wanted to know which features people cared about. Reviews mentioned weight and rain more than anything on the spec sheet, so those became the first tests.
What we made
One two-day trip a quarter, instead of a half-day shoot each month: a small crew of three, two Trailmix staff as the people on camera, and a list of tests written before we leave. Each test answers one question a customer has asked in a review: does the shell hold up in steady rain, does the stove light at altitude, can one person pitch the tent in under five minutes.
We cut 12 videos a month from each trip, so one trip covers a quarter. Every video starts with the question on screen and ends with the answer.
Every test is filmed twice: once wide, so you see the place and the weather, and once close on the gear. Captions carry the numbers, like minutes to pitch or degrees at the summit, so the videos work with the sound off.
A clip we’d show anyone
"40 minutes of rain" is one take, sped up, of someone sitting through a steady downpour in the Eastern Sierra in the Trailmix shell. The only cut is at the end: the shirt underneath, still dry.
What moved
Three months in, from TikTok and YouTube analytics. Past results, not a promise.
We stopped filming gear on a white table. Now it's on a ridge in the rain, and people actually watch.
Sam Whitaker
Marketing lead, Trailmix Co.
Next project ·
Northbrew