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Partner Profile: CampRents

Partner Profile: CampRents

I'd like to introduce you to Jenny Owens of CampRents, another totally badass female-owned midwest adventure company based in Cleveland, Ohio.

CampRents is a new online gear rental company designed to equip people who are just getting started in backpacking with all the equipment they'll need for their first adventure. You rent it, use it, and ship it back. Jenny even cleans it for you.

And... you guessed it... Redbudsuds will be included in their kit!

Meet Jenny, the founder. She's full of spunk, knowledgable as heck and totally in love with the outdoors.

I asked Jenny if she could share with you little more about her story and why she's so passionate about what she does.

Jenny's Story

I’m a latecomer to the outdoors - although I grew up playing quite a bit outside in north central Ohio, I had actually never been backpacking until just a few years ago. In graduate school in Charlottesville, I fell in with a group of outdoorsy types and completely fell in love with hiking after hiking Old Rag Mountain on a whim one weekend. Day hiking gave way to car camping, and car camping led to curiosity about multi-day backpacking trips...and now here we are.

There’s not much wrong that a good walk in the woods (or desert) can’t fix, for me. Although I wasn’t particularly outdoorsy as a kid, I always loved reading the survival/run away to the woods books (Hatchet and My Side of the Mountain were particular favorites) and loved the self-sufficiency that came with being capable in the wilderness. As I built my own skills, I found a new sense of confidence and joy in being outside, and a new way to be engaged with the sights, sounds, smells, and textures of the world around me.

While backpacking with my husband, we discussed the amount of time and effort we’d put into getting our kit together. We were building our entire outfit from scratch, and every purchase was meticulously researched. I wondered if there were an easier way. What if we’d bought all this stuff and then discovered that actually we hated sleeping outside? What if we couldn’t afford to buy any of it in the first place? I have gotten so much peace and joy out of my outdoor adventures, and I hated the idea of lack of gear and lack of knowledge keeping other people indoors.

Enter CampRents. We fill exactly that niche - full service rental camping gear, shipped right to your door, so you have zero excuses keeping you from your adventure. We’ve got backpacks, fully packed, with tents, sleeping bags, sleeping pads, food, water filters, and everything else you need to get outside. Except clothes and shoes, and stove fuel.

And I couldn’t stop thinking about other kids like me - kids without the benefit of friends or family to get them outside. So we partner with local charities to get kids in the outdoors. One kid for every bag rental.

I’ve had a strong environmental streak since first grade, when I organized a secondhand toy sale to sponsor a panda, and hassled all my classmates about saving the whales. I firmly believe that the best way to convince people to care for our earth is to get them out to see more of it - the beautiful, fragile ecosystems that will be destroyed by pollution or climate change. It’s my dream that someday we all love our deserts, mountains, waterfalls, and wetlands, because we all have memories there.

Enough reading. Let’s get outside and play.

Share Your Story

So if you know of anyone who's interested in getting started, or if that someone is you, be sure to check out CampRents.

Do you remember your first backpacking adventure? Or do you have one planned this summer? Share your pics with us for the chance to be featured on our customer spotlight blog.

  • Email your story with a photo
  • Tag us on Facebook or Instagram (@camprents @redbudsuds) #thoughtfullycleancamper #RBSintheWild
  • Or share in the comments below.

Thanks as always for helping us spread the love of getting outside.

Cheers,

Lisa


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