The Badlands: The story behind our newest smoky scent

It started with the original idea behind the company...

An idea that was so simple, but as elusive as an attempt to clutch at a wisp of smoke: The smell of campfire ... but not just the smell of campfire... more like the impression of campfire.

And we got it. We really did. With Fire in the Hole, we got the impression of campfire in the context of a wild weekend camping - of shooting fireworks and swigging whiskey right out of the bottle, of yelling to your friend across the bonfire and waking up early to (mostly) safely do stupid things.

But it's a different campfire than the one you're sitting close to on a stump, having a cup of hot coffee or maybe roasting a marshmallow. We wanted the impression of that campfire - of the quiet campfire, of the campfire you stare into quietly, maybe by yourself, maybe with other people, but a quiet campfire.

We wanted that campfire.

But Fire in the Hole is a loud campfire, and we are loud people. Like a big campfire, it sucked the air out of the room. Did we really need another campfire? This one is pretty fricken' rockin', right?

But still, there was this other thing

We tried a couple variations in our Clean Getaway Subscription Box, and people sent feedback that it REALLY was something special - something needed.

We realized that if we wanted to stay true to the vision for our business -- to the full vision -- that we should expand our product line to include the quiet, solitary campfire.

We started experimenting with the new spray cologne, and the first scent we made was an experiment of what would ultimately become Badlands. I wore it every day, and even took it backpacking with me on my trip up Mt. Whitney. I wanted to get a real feeling for how the cologne smells out in the field, how it changes during the day, and if people had a response (or worse, a reaction) to it.

It smelled great in the field. It wasn't the rugged and bold smell of Blazing Saddles, and it was sweet, but not as sweet and bourbon-esque as The Gambler. It was a softer scent. I felt like I wasn't wearing a "Manly" scent (as several people have called our products), but that it was truly appropriate for men and women.

We launched the first batch of solid cologne yesterday, September 15. You can see about grabbing the remaining available solid colognes here (I think there's one left).

I look forward to hearing what you think, since we're really proud of what we've done.

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