Spend just a few minutes perusing the internet and you will no doubt come across advertisements for dozens of supplement companies all peddling products that promise to provide you with superior performance from the mountain top to the bedroom. Like most of today’s hip hop artists, these brands’ seem to blow up over night with a lot of hype and fan fair and after one or two hits they quickly fall out of relevance as soon as the next company with a cool logo and well known ambassador emerges. Two common reasons for this is that most supplement companies are built around brands rather than products. There are a few factories overseas pumping out the same exact products and just slapping different labels on them. Even the best marketing can’t overcompensate for a garbage product indefinitely and over time these supplements get revealed for what they are and turns out they are mostly fillers...
The other common scenario is a company comes out with a legitimately great product but becomes a victim of their own success. Overwhelming demand forces compromises on quality or the company is bought out by a larger umbrella organizations who then takes their name, ditches the actual product and starts slapping their logo on the same garbage supplements coming out of the factories I talked about earlier. It’s really similar to what happens to a lot of arrow and broad-head companies. Once they make it big they get bought out by private equity companies who then move production overseas to keep up with demand and cut down on costs. Materials and quality suffer and these company’s reputations implode.
But when a company is able to grow as fast as MTN Ops has and maintain its status at the top of the outdoor/hunting supplement food chain there is something to be said. MTN Ops produces some legitimately great products. Supplements are a tricky thing in that their effectiveness is completely subjective. Everyone’s body is different and even something as simple as protein powder can either do wonders for you or give you farts so bad they should be outlawed under the Geneva Convention. I come from a family of professional body builders and personal trainers and grew up around some of the fitness industry’s apex athletes (shout out to Bev’s Gym in Syosset, NY A.K.A. THE East Coast Mecca) so I know how to distinguish the Chicken Francese from the chicken crap. One of MTN Ops product I have fallen in love with is their Slumber Tea. Available in Chai, Cider, or Cocoa flavors (Cocoa is my favorite) this product is made with salt from the Utah’s Great Salt Lake and includes Melatonin among other active ingredients to help promote a faster and deeper sleep.
I have often found after a hard leg workout or run I build up a lot of lactic acid in my leg muscles which in turn makes me restless and leads to trouble sleeping. A cup of Sleepy Cocoa mixed in a cup of warm almond milk about 30 minutes before bed remedies this. A lot of western hunters and backpackers have echoed that they bring some Slumber with them into the back woods for the very same reason. But be forewarned overdosing will leave you feeling groggy, so if you are not used to taking Melatonin or similar supplements I would advise starting with a little less than a full scoop and work your way to a full portion. I made the mistake of taking a heaping scoop my first time drinking it and not even two cups of Black Rifle Coffee AK47 espresso roast could cure that level of tired feeling.
On top of producing my favorite sleepy tea and graphic Tees (props to their marketing department and making a kick ass logo) MTN Ops contributes a mind blowing amount of time and money to both hunting and conservation and the greater community. I had the pleasure of corresponding with MTN Ops Strategic Partnership Manager Rihana Cary who informed me that on top of being a 2% for conservation company (which means they donate at least 1% of their time and 1% of their income to fish and wildlife conservation) MTN Ops has also donated over a million meals to children in need. Through their initiative Operation Conquer Hunger, MTN Ops works with charity partners to manufacture nutritious meals and partners with validated organizations and local governments to transport and distribute meals to children in need. For every purchase made on MtnOps.com a child in need receives a nutritious meal. So it doesn’t matter if you buy a tub of Cam Hanes Keep Hammering Signature Blend or a Nalgene bottle, your purchase is going towards some solid gear and a good cause.
Beyond their great products and marketing efforts it is clear that Mtn Ops has stayed true to their core principals. They list their values as recognizing God, interdependence on their team, opportunity for others, service to the community, gratitude for their success and challenges alike, trustworthiness, promotion of family values, and the desire to succeed through temperance and kindness. These guiding morals have undoubtedly played a very tangible role in their success and I look forward to their continued growth and trying more of their products in the future.
Check out their products on their website: