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Review policy

Updated 2020-05-13

If you’re a reader

All of my opinions and reviews on this site, and elsewhere, are strictly impartial and unbiased. I do not accept cash in exchange for a good review. Paid advertorial content will always be labelled as such (and these are most definitely not reviews). However, you should assume that I have received the book or product being reviewed free of charge from the publisher or brand. Take that for what it’s worth – I am certainly not shy about giving an item a poor review if it’s justified.

If I’m promoting an item, or otherwise telling people it’s great, this is my genuine opinion based on my experience and expertise.

If you represent a publisher or brand

Writers, publishers and manufacturers often send me books and items of outdoor gear to review. If you’re thinking about sending me something, here’s what you need to know.

  1. Don’t send me something to review without asking me first. My time is limited and I always have a number of items on review at any given moment. Unsolicited review items will be ignored.
  2. Although I am now posting occasional book reviews on this website again, it’s rare that I will have time to accept review proposals. I usually have a pipeline of books to read and review from the publishers and magazines I work with.
  3. I’m on the reviewing team at The Great Outdoors magazine, which means impartiality is very important to me. I don’t do paid reviews or endorsements, and I will always mention negative points of the product I think the reader should be aware of. I strive to write realistic and balanced reviews.
  4. Here on this website, I only review items I have a personal interest in. In the vast majority of cases I won’t accept review requests for items of outdoor gear or other products.
  5. My reviews are primarily editorial pieces. That means there is no fixed structure, and the core focus is on my subjective opinions about the item, based on my relevant experience with competing products.
  6. I don’t do star ratings for my reviews on this website as I find them reductive and unhelpful.
  7. If I really like something then I’ll advocate it to others. I like to support products and writers I believe in. This is entirely at my discretion, however, and due to the nature of my work I have no plans to act as a brand ambassador for any company, publishing house or writer.