Affiliate disclosure

01The short version

That is the whole arrangement. The rest of this page explains exactly how it works, because you deserve to know who is paying for what you are reading.

02What an affiliate link actually is

An affiliate link is a normal link to a retailer with a code attached that tells them I sent you. If you buy within a set window, the retailer pays me a percentage of the sale — usually somewhere between two and ten per cent.

The retailer pays it out of their own margin. It is not added to your price, and using my link never makes something more expensive than going direct. If you would rather not use one, search for the product yourself; I will not mind and the review says the same thing either way.

Most links on this site are routed through affiliate networks used by outdoor retailers — Geniuslink, AvantLink and YouTube Shopping among them — which also send you to the right regional store rather than a US site that will not ship to you.

Not every link here is an affiliate link. Some brands have no programme, and some I link directly because that is the best place to buy. If you ever want to know whether a particular link earns me anything, email me and I will tell you straight.

03How I decide what to recommend

The rule is simple: I have to have used it. Not held it in a shop, not read the spec sheet — carried it, slept in it, cooked on it, or walked a long way with it on my back.

• Most of the gear on this site I bought with my own money.
• If a piece of gear is not good enough, it does not go on the list — regardless of whether it has an affiliate programme or how generous the rate is.
• Where something has a real weakness, I say so on the same page where I recommend it. A recommendation that hides the downsides is worthless to you and it is worthless to me.
• Commission rates are never a factor in ranking. Where I have a favourite, it is because it is the one I keep taking out.

04Gifted, loaned and discounted gear

Sometimes a brand sends me a product to test, or lends me one, or offers a pro discount. That happens, and pretending otherwise would be dishonest.

When it does:

• It is labelled on the page or in the video where I talk about it.
• The brand gets no approval over what I say, no early look at the script, and no right to have anything changed or removed. That is a condition of me accepting anything, and if a brand will not agree to it, I do not accept the product.
• Free gear does not get an easier review than gear I paid for. Several products I was sent have never appeared on this site, because they were not good enough.

05Paid partnerships and sponsorship

I do work with brands on paid campaigns — that is part of how this is funded, and the work with me page sets out what those look like.

When something is paid:

• It is disclosed clearly and up front, in the content itself, not buried at the bottom of a description.
• On YouTube it also carries the platform’s paid-promotion disclosure, so the label shows on the video.
• I only take paid work for gear I would recommend anyway. I have turned down campaigns for products I did not rate, and I will keep doing that.
• Sponsorship never buys a rating, a ranking or a place on the gear list.

06What I will not do

• Review gear I have not used.
• Take payment to say something I do not believe, or to leave out something you would want to know.
• Let a brand approve, edit or veto a review before it goes out.
• Run a paid placement without labelling it.
• Invent scarcity, fake a deadline, or dress up an ordinary price as a discount.
• Sell or share your email address with a brand or sponsor. Ever. See the privacy policy.

07Where you will see this disclosed

Under Australian Consumer Law, commercial relationships behind a recommendation have to be clear to you rather than buried, and the ACCC has been explicit that this applies to creators and affiliate marketers. I would want to know as a reader anyway.

So disclosure appears in all of these places:

• On the gear page and anywhere else affiliate links appear, near the links themselves.
• In the footer of every page on this site, linking here.
• In the description and on-screen label of any YouTube video containing paid promotion.
• On this page, in full.

08Why this exists at all

Affiliate commission and brand partnerships are what let me spend weeks on trail, buy gear to test properly and put the films out free. The alternative is a paywall or worse, and I would rather keep everything open and just tell you plainly how it is paid for.

The whole thing only works if you trust the recommendations. A commission on one pack is worth nothing next to that, which is the practical reason — on top of the obvious one — that I will not sell you something I would not carry myself.

This page is written in plain English and describes how this website actually works. It is general information about my own site, not legal advice for anyone else. If anything here is unclear or looks wrong, email hello@jackbrookes.co and I will fix it.