GearTrust is a verification and audit framework that evaluates the trustworthiness of product reviews based on clearly defined editorial and ethical standards.
Developed to address growing concerns about undisclosed sponsorships, affiliate bias, and superficial product testing, GearTrust provides a structured rubric for assessing reviews across key core trust domains — disclosure transparency, editorial independence, testing rigor, reviewer expertise, and market context.
GearTrust enables consumers to identify product reviews they can rely on — and offers publishers a clear path to building and signaling credibility in a commercialized media landscape.
Background: The GearTrust framework was developed by Backpacking Light founder and publisher Ryan Jordan to provide institutional internal accountability to maintain editorial integrity through bias awareness, financial and relationship transparency, rigorous product evaluation standards, and independent review processes.
GearTrust addresses the growing concerns about the erosion of trust in outdoor gear reviews. As affiliate marketing, sponsored content, and commercial pressures increasingly shape gear coverage across the outdoor industry, there’s an emerging critical need for a transparent, structured, and objective standard that could distinguish independent, experience-driven evaluations from marketing-influenced promotions.
Drawing on more than 25 years of experience leading editorial operations, conducting field testing, and advocating for ethical outdoor journalism, Jordan designed the GearTrust framework to formalize the best practices that credible reviewers have historically upheld — but that are now often overlooked or obscured. GearTrust establishes clear, actionable criteria for disclosure transparency, editorial independence, testing rigor, reviewer expertise, and the responsible use of affiliate and sponsorship revenue streams.
GearTrust is rooted in the values that define authentic outdoor gear storytelling: integrity, transparency, critical inquiry, and respect for the consumer. By offering a verifiable set of trust standards, GearTrust empowers publishers and reviewers to elevate the credibility of their work, and gives consumers a trustworthy signal when navigating an increasingly commercialized landscape of product recommendations.