Affiliate disclosure

What we earn from

We participate in affiliate programs run by retailers (Amazon Associates, Best Buy, Backcountry, REI, manufacturer storefronts, and others). When you click a link tagged as a retailer link on one of our guides and complete a purchase within the retailer's cookie window, the retailer pays GearScout a percentage of the sale. You pay the same price either way.

Editorial references (like a manufacturer's spec page, a standards-body document, or a third-party publication's review) are not affiliate links. We mark them as nofollow and they earn us nothing.

What we do not do

• We do not accept payment from brands to be included in or ranked on a guide.
• We do not give brands advance review of, edits to, or veto over our coverage.
• We do not weight rankings by which retailer or program pays the best commission.
• We do not let affiliate availability change our pick — if the right answer for the reader is “buy directly from the manufacturer at full price,” that's the answer.

How outbound links are tagged

Retailer / affiliate links carry rel="sponsored nofollow noopener noreferrer" to comply with Google's link attribution guidance and the FTC's endorsement rules. Editorial references carry rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer".

Inline disclosure on every guide

In addition to this page, every guide on GearScout carries an inline disclosure near the top of the page reading: “GearScoutmay earn a commission when you buy through links on this page.” This satisfies the FTC's requirement that affiliate relationships be disclosed clearly and conspicuously, in proximity to the recommendation.

Questions

If anything on this page is unclear, please get in touch.