You may recently have heard about a new resource called Maine GearShare, and wondered what the organization is all about. Take a moment to read on, because this new gear library is uniquely positioned to support Registered Maine Guides and provide a variety of services to you and your business. Maine GearShare can provide a professional “basecamp” meeting space, access to a high quality fleet or rental equipment, and gear repair services, all while supporting equitable access to the outdoors for historically under-represented populations in outdoor recreation. Since it’s peak season and none of us have much time for our computer, you can skip to the bottom to find out what this organization can do for you as a guide! 

Maine GearShare launched its first season of gear rental in 2022 with a focus on serving large groups, outing clubs, and trip-leading organizations. Organizations sign up for an annual membership in order to borrow gear for their participants, allowing these organizations to refocus on their own programming and not on all the work that goes into sourcing, maintaining, repairing, and cleaning gear between trips. Maine GearShare’s mission is to provide access to outdoor gear and know-how through a collaborative, equity-centered approach, and their vision is that all people in Maine have access to the gear they need to enjoy time in nature. With the recognition that public land access, leadership and guides, and gear access are three key pillars of outdoor recreation, Maine GearShare sees itself as one piece of the ecosystem and is eager to partner with guides to break down barriers to the outdoors.  

Their inventory is designed to support hiking, camping, and backpacking trips, with apparel and footwear for youth and adults, backpacks, sleeping bags, tents, trekking poles, kitchen kits, stoves, water filtration, and many, many more items of high-quality equipment. Their inventory is large enough to support 100+ people in the field at any time. You can browse the entire inventory online here.

In 2023, Maine GearShare expanded to serve individuals on a per diem basis, so that anyone can walk through the door and rent gear. Additionally, they began offering professional gear repair services to the public. All rental and repair fees support their mission to break down barriers to the outdoors and continue to expand access to gear for outdoor recreation.

So what does this mean for guides?

Being a smaller guide service can come with the burden of up-front purchasing of large gear fleets and the challenge of finding the space and time to maintain that fleet. Additionally, meeting clients at your house, the put-in, or the trailhead parking lot comes with limitations and can often present a problem when customers arrive under-prepared. These problems can be especially challenging for new guides looking to enter the industry and build their guide services from the ground up.

Maine GearShare can partner with guides to help solve these problems. They store, maintain, and rent out much of the gear that clients need to bring with them for trips, without you having to own and maintain it. Maine GearShare also has a spacious facility on Route 1 in Brunswick, where guides can meet groups, have a pack-out space, hold pre-trip briefings, use the bathroom, grab any last-minute gear that was forgotten, and head out the door!

There are two levels of membership for guides. At the lower level, you can use the basecamp space, and offer a 15% discount to your clients for their per diem gear rental needs. At the higher level of membership, you are also granted rental days for group gear like tents, coolers, stoves, and kitchen boxes. By offering multiple tiers, Maine GearShare is aiming to be as flexible and receptive as possible to the different ways that guide services might use this resource to support their trips. Additionally, Maine GearShare is open to having guides pay their membership fees through volunteer time, helping maintain the gear fleet. 

Don’t need rentals, but do have broken gear from your fleet? We offer a wide variety of equipment and apparel repair services with a quick turnaround time right here in Brunswick! 

You can read more about Maine GearShare by visiting their website at www.mainegearshare.org, or reach out to info@mainegearshare.org with any questions. Because Maine GearShare is designed to meet the needs of its gear users, they are interested in hearing from guides specifically what is needed and how they might best support guide services statewide, so that the organization can intentionally and efficiently grow to fill that gap.

Perks of Maine GearShare Guide Membership:

• Professional “basecamp” to meet clients at and carpool from if desired.
  •  Access to “classroom” space with meeting table/chairs, projector, white board, etc. Perfect for map overviews, trip briefings, hybrid classroom/field trainings and certifications.
  • Access to a bathroom
  • Plenty of parking for clients
  • Storage space for items being left behind for the trip.

• Access to full fleet of high-quality rental gear
  •  No need to own/maintain your own fleet of gear.
  • Guides can rent group gear like tents, stoves, and kitchen boxes.
  • Customers can rent individual gear like apparel, sleeping bags, and headlamps. 

• Supporting equitable access to the outdoors with each rental that takes place.
  • All rentals are helping to subsidize the cost of equipment for groups who specifically serve historically under-represented populations in outdoor recreation.