Outdoors Technologies was founded in 1999 for the purpose of providing an accurate, affordable, and uncomplicated device to warn outdoor enthusiasts of the presence of lightning.
In 1998, one of the founders of Outdoors was riding his bike near his home in Colorado when he felt his hairs prickling and had a metallic taste in his mouth. He hopped off his bike and went to a low place on the ground. Lightning struck nearby. He made it home and, being an engineer, started thinking about how to protect himself in the future. For someone outdoors so much, the presence of lightning is a common reality.
A group of us got together and brainstormed ideas. In addition to spending a lot of time outdoors ourselves, we’re also parents. Watching our kids on the soccer or baseball fields when there is a storm approaching is sobering. Coaches and referees didn’t know how or when to make the call to end the game or practice. The same was true for lifeguards, golf course supervisors, and the list goes on.
We put our combined 60 plus years of Hewlett Packard test and measurement design experience to work and designed the original StrikeAlert product. We chased storms all over the United States to test our prototypes. When we were convinced the design was ready, we attended trade shows and sent press releases to get the word out. We were grateful to receive a positive response. It turns out that almost everyone has a lightning story and is interested in StrikeAlert. Editors of newspapers and magazines along with television stations tested StrikeAlert and gave us good reviews.
We’re on our third version of StrikeAlert and have more new products in the works. We continue to be passionate about ways to improve our products but are most excited when one of our customers calls us to share their experience when they put them to use. Be sure to read some of these at customer reviews, and thank you for your interest in StrikeAlert and Outdoors Technologies.