Meet Sawyer: A T-Shirt Brand Dedicated to Getting Kids Outside

On average, kids spend only half the amount of time outside as their parents did when they were kids. That’s pretty tragic, considering that so many happy childhood memories are made outdoors. Human beings were designed to be outside, running around and exploring their environment – not inside in front of a screen all day, as cliche as it sounds.

Well, one clothing brand has decided to do something about it. Fueled by their own realization that their best childhood memories were made outdoors, they created Sawyer: a high-quality outdoor lifestyle brand for kids. They specialize in t-shirts, tanks, and awesome hats – all designed to withstand rough-and-tumble adventures in the great outdoors. Oh, and they look pretty cool, too.

I spent a good deal of time outside as a kid myself. My family took regular camping trips to a national park near our home. There’s something about these t-shirts that makes me think of those memories, and just how happy they were. These days, I still love camping, but these tees remind me of the super-functional, awesome shirts I’d wear while I was hanging out with my family and friends in the Oregon national forests.

We’d go hiking and purposefully get lost, explore shipwrecks along the Oregon coast (they’re more than a few!), and tell ghost stories around flickering campfires. Good times.

This tee, man. This tee reminds me of a story:

One of my favorite activities to do with my best friend was to explore all of the off-road hiking trails that snaked through that national park. As a kid, I was fairly afraid of heights, but my best friend wasn’t. She was as bold as bold could be. We were hiking one day when we came across a huge ditch. If you’ve ever been to the Northwest, you know that most ditches in Oregon forests are filled with a good deal of mud, these annoying weeds most people called “horsetails”, and a lot of wild blackberry bushes. Ouch.

There seemed to be no way around it. Thankfully, though, there was one fallen log that bridged the cap between us and the other side of the trail.

Being the impetuous ten-year-olds we were, we decided that we were going to cross on the log. My best friend channeled her inner Legolas and easily crossed. Me? I’m not that graceful. I crawled across the log, clinging on to it for dear life as I tried really hard not to pay attention to the gaping pit of blackberry bushes below me. My best friend, like all best friends, probably really wanted to see me fall. She cheered me on nonetheless.

About halfway through, I grabbed on to part of the log for support and it snapped.

It was a heartstopping moment. I screamed; my friend screamed – ear piercing ten-year-old girl screams. The kind of screams that could kill every cat in a ten-mile radius, if there had been any cats anywhere nearby.

I grabbed onto the log so hard that I actually bit it.

Yup. I ate moss that day.

I didn’t fall, though. I scrambled across the rest of the log like lightning and we finished the rest of the trail and never went back to that ditch again. We both swore a solemn oath to never tell our moms.

I think we all have stories from our childhood that fall into the “don’t tell my mom” category. Most of those are the best memories. Aren’t they? That’s the great thing about Sawyer. They create clothing that really reflects the best parts of being a kid.

What else makes Sawyer so awesome? Well, they have a series of tees that sport original artwork created by a local Utah artist. As an artist myself, this might be my favorite part of their entire brand. The artwork features an abstract look at the natural world, a perfect fit for Sawyer’s message about getting outside and enjoying being human.

The tees in the artist series are, from an artistic standpoint, absolutely stunning. The colors used are gorgeous, and the subject matter is whimsical and evocative.

I love this tee. I mean it’s a cool art piece featuring a whale. I love whales. I may order one for myself. I’m a 4’10” female and I shamelessly wear kids’ clothing all the time.

From the very beginning, Sawyer was always about the natural environment. Their team is constantly looking to lower their environmental impact, encourage creativity and balance, and support and serve their local community. They’ve partnered with a local school to fundraise for educational resources, and strive to be a trusted resource for parents.

Above all, they want to instill the spirit of adventure in future generations of kids.

In their words:

I think #besawyer is something we can all get behind.

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