The Honest Truth About How We Make Money
Here’s the deal: running this site costs money (hosting, domain, time), and we cover those costs through affiliate links and ads.
What that means for you:
When you click a link to a product we recommend (like hiking boots on Amazon or a backpack from REI) and buy it, we earn a small commission. It doesn’t cost you anything extra—the price is exactly the same whether you use our link or find the product yourself.
We only recommend gear we’ve actually tested or would buy ourselves. We’re not going to tell you to buy a $200 jacket just because it has a higher commission. If we say something is good, it’s because we genuinely think it’s good.
Affiliate Disclosure for Fama
Effective Date: February 14, 2026
Last Updated: February 14, 2026
A Few Specific Details:
Amazon Associates:
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
What this means: If you click our Amazon links and buy something (even if it’s not the exact product we linked to), we earn a small percentage of the sale. This doesn’t increase your price—Amazon pays us out of their profit margin.
Other Affiliate Programs:
We also participate in affiliate programs with:
- REI Co-op
- Backcountry.com
- Moosejaw
- Other outdoor retailers
Same deal—if you buy through our links, we earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Display Ads:
You might see banner ads on the site served by Google AdSense or Mediavine (once we meet their traffic requirements). We earn money based on ad views and clicks. We don’t control which ads appear, but we’ve blocked categories we find inappropriate or irrelevant.
What We Don’t Do:
We don’t accept payment for positive reviews.
If a brand sends us free gear to test, we’ll disclose that in the post (“Brand X sent us this backpack to review”), and we’ll still be 100% honest. If it sucks, we’ll say so.
We don’t recommend gear just because it pays more.
Some products have higher commission rates than others. We ignore that when making recommendations. If we think the $60 jacket is better for beginners than the $150 one, we’ll recommend the cheaper option—even if it pays us less.
We don’t inflate prices or hide alternatives.
We’ll always mention budget options and tell you when expensive gear isn’t necessary. Our goal is to help beginners save money, not spend it unnecessarily.
We don’t track you across the internet.
Our affiliate links go directly to retailers. We don’t use creepy tracking pixels or third-party data brokers to follow you around the web.
Why We Use Affiliate Links
The simple truth: creating detailed gear reviews, testing products, and maintaining this site takes time and money. Affiliate commissions help us:
- Cover hosting and domain costs
- Buy gear to test and review
- Keep the site free for readers (no paywalls or subscriptions)
- Spend time writing helpful content instead of working extra hours at our day jobs
Your clicks keep Fama running. We genuinely appreciate it when you use our links.
Our Promise
Your trust matters more to us than affiliate revenue.
If you ever think we’ve recommended something just to make money, or if you feel misled by any of our content, please email us at [email protected] and call us out.
We’re not perfect, but we’re committed to being honest. That’s the whole point of this site.
How to Support Us (If You Want To)
If you find our content helpful and want to support the site:
- Use our affiliate links when shopping for gear. It costs you nothing and helps us a lot.
- Share our posts with friends who are getting into hiking.
- Leave a comment on posts you found useful—it helps us know what content to create more of.
- Whitelist us in your ad blocker (if you use one) so we can earn from display ads.
But honestly, the best support is just reading the site and finding it useful. That’s why we do this.
Required FTC Compliance Statement
In accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR Part 255 (Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising), we disclose that we receive compensation for purchases made through affiliate links on this site.
We are committed to providing honest, unbiased reviews and recommendations. All opinions expressed are our own and are not influenced by compensation we may receive.
Questions?
If you have questions about our affiliate relationships or how we make money, email us: [email protected]
Last updated: February 14, 2026