Getting Veterans Outside

Public land is where most of our pouches get opened. A hunter glassing a basin before first light. A backpacker four days into a five-day loop. A veteran walking a ridgeline for the first time since coming home. None of it happens without wild places that stay open to everyone.

That is why RecPak connected with Backcountry Hunters & Anglers (BHA). BHA works to protect public lands, waters and wildlife, and to keep access in the hands of the people who use them. We exist to get more people outside and keep them out longer. Backing the people who keep those places open was the obvious place to start.

Public Land and What We Believe

We are a small company, and we choose partners carefully. BHA earned our attention the way good gear does: it does a job really well. Its members pack out trash, restore habitat, show up at public meetings and speak for places that cannot speak for themselves. That is the same practical kind of work we try to do at RecPak.

Finding the Armed Forces Initiative

In our first conversations with the BHA team, one program kept coming up: the Armed Forces Initiative, or AFI. AFI introduces active duty service members and veterans to public lands and waters, both during their service and after it.

For our founder, Deed Ziegler, that landed close to home. Deed is a veteran, and he knows what the transition out of uniform can look like. Many service members leave with a skill set built for the field and no clear place to use it. Time outside, with a team and a purpose, fills that gap. AFI builds exactly that.

"We live in an age where it can be really tough to find community and a sense of purpose. This often hits vets especially hard. AFI gives people both back, and points them at something worth protecting. We're grateful to be a small part of that." - Deed Ziegler, Founder, RecPak

What AFI Focuses On

The more we learned, the more we respected how practical AFI is. BHA frames it simply: give veterans and service members a new mission, and make that mission conservation. The work is organized around three pillars, active duty, veteran engagement and legislation, and it shows up on the ground in a few ways:

• Clubs on military installations. AFI clubs operate on bases across the country, from Fort Bragg to Camp Pendleton to Fort Wainwright in Alaska, so active duty members can get outside while they are still serving.
• Veteran engagement. Hunting, fishing and dual skills camps help veterans build new skills and rebuild the camaraderie many lose after leaving the military.
• Mentorship for new hunters and anglers. Clinics pair first-timers with experienced members who teach them the skills to hunt and fish on their own.
• Habitat and stewardship projects. Members put in real work: installing wildlife water guzzlers, building fence to protect streams and restoring habitat alongside state and federal land managers.
• A voice on public land policy. AFI helps service members speak up on the access and conservation issues that affect the places they hunt and fish.
• Real reach. Since its first event for 18 veterans on the plains of eastern Montana in 2020, AFI has introduced more than 5,000 service members to the backcountry.

Why the Fit Matters

Veterans and public land have a long history together. BHA itself started around a campfire in 2004, and two of its founders were veterans. AFI carries that forward, and it gives the next generation of veterans outdoors a reason to stay engaged with the places they helped defend.

For RecPak, the fit is also practical. Our pouch was built for long days where a stove is one more thing to carry. Whether you are hunting, backpacking or building fence on a habitat project, a meal you mix with water and drink means you can eat without stopping to cook. Supporting the people doing that work is a natural extension of what we make.

"Public land doesn't care what you did before you got there. What matters is that you show up prepared and leave it better than you found it. That's what this community does every season, and we're grateful to support it." - Deed Ziegler, Founder, RecPak

What Comes Next

This is the start of a long-term relationship, not a one-time campaign. We will share stories from the field as we spend time with AFI members this season.

If you are a veteran or service member looking for your next mission outside, start with BHA's Armed Forces Initiative. Find a chapter or installation club near you, sign up for a camp and get out on the land that belongs to all of us.