EP# 225: An Affordable Outdoor Gear Revolution: Breaking Down Barriers with Hellbender Outfitters

What makes Matthew Moore with Hellbender Outfitters a good neighbor?

Ready to experience the great outdoors without breaking the bank? Meet Matthew Moore, owner of Hellbender Outfitters, who's challenging everything you thought you knew about outdoor gear accessibility.

Drawing from his experience as a US Forest Service wilderness technician, Matthew recognized a crucial gap in the market. His colleagues—who as he puts it, "get paid in sunrises and sunsets"—struggled to afford quality equipment that could withstand demanding conditions. This inspired him to create Hellbenders Outfitters, a unique consignment-style outdoor shop in Elizabethton that's been serving the Tri-Cities community for two years.

What sets Hellbender apart isn't just their comprehensive selection of fishing gear, kayaking equipment, camping supplies, and even disc golf items—it's their unwavering commitment to local partnerships and affordability. The shop showcases hand-tied bass flies from Abingdon artisans, features Johnson City Soap Company products, and carries disc golf discs hand-dyed in Elizabethton. Matthew passionately challenges the misconception that fly fishing requires substantial investment or years of practice, offering guided trips on local waters like the Watauga, Doe, and South Fork rivers at accessible price points between $350-$550.

The heart of Matthew's message resonates beyond commerce: "Remember who's in your backyard." As Elizabethton's downtown continues to flourish, Hellbender Outfitters stands as a testament to the value of shopping local and exploring our region's natural treasures. Whether you're an experienced angler or a curious newcomer, stop by 547 East Elk Avenue, meet the shop dog, and discover how quality outdoor experiences can be accessible to everyone. Follow their journey on Instagram and Facebook, or better yet, visit during First Fridays for a true taste of community connection.

To learn more about Hellbender Outfitters go to:

https://www.hellbenderoutfitterstn.com/

Hellbender Outfitters

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Skip Monty.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
Well, everyone, and welcome to the Good Neighbor
Podcast of the Tri-Cities.
I am super excited todaybecause we've got a very special
guest in the studio with ustoday and, if you're like me,
you love nothing more than to beout in the water fishing and in
the outdoors.
So, if so, you'll be just asexcited as I am because today I
have the pleasure of introducingyour good neighbor, mr Matthew

(00:33):
Moore, who is the owner operatorof Hellbenders Outfitters.
Matthew, welcome to the show.

Speaker 3 (00:38):
Thanks for having me.

Speaker 2 (00:40):
Well, like I said, we're thrilled to have you.
I am an avid fisherman.
I fish my whole life, but I'vebeen a fly fisherman for about
20 some years, so I am superexcited to hear all about you
and your business.
So if you don't mind, why don'tyou kick us off by telling us
what you do?

Speaker 3 (00:56):
Yeah.
So we kind of got our startsdoing outdoor consignment gear.
We realized that not everybodyin the area you know has a
desire to want to go to REI orsome other big brand stores and
drop hundreds and hundreds ofdollars on quality gear.
Amen, brother, uh, to ourcommunity at a better price.

(01:28):
You know not sacrificing onquality, but really, you know
hitting that price point that'scomfortable for folks.

Speaker 2 (01:32):
I can't tell you how excited I am about that, because
I'm a, I'm a, I'm a, I'm afisherman, I'm an avid fisherman
, outdoorsman, loved to kayak,uh, backpack camp Uh, but man,
it is not cheap.
I mean it is not cheap, and soI am super psyched.
So how did you get into thisbusiness?

Speaker 3 (01:52):
So I previously worked for the US Forest Service
as a wilderness technician andI noticed a lot of my colleagues
.
You know there's a saying inthe Forest Service you get paid
in sunrises and sunsets.
So I noticed a lot of mycolleagues.
You know we didn't make much.
We're having to buy cheapergear that just did not last and

(02:14):
I thought to myself there has tobe a better way.
There just has to.
And here came Hellbenders.

Speaker 2 (02:22):
Very good, how long have you guys been in business?
Came hellbenders.
Very good, how long have youguys been in business?
About two years, two years,awesome.
Well, tell me what you know.
Um, what, what?
Tell me some stuff you got.

Speaker 3 (02:33):
I looked at your website and you do have rods,
right and real, yeah, yeah uh,so we carry everything from fly
rods to spinning rods, tokayaking gear, to paddle
boarding gear, to clothing, tocamping gear.
Um, we even have a set of discgolf, or we have disc golf stuff
in this shop uh and you knowit's kind of our motto, at least

(02:55):
my internal motto I want tosupport local in any way that we
can.
So if we have a look like, forexample, we have a local
gentleman who, uh, we're excitedto have, we'll have him in the
shop at the end of the week buthe specializes in bass, uh, bass
, smallmouth, largemouth andstriper and hybrid on the fly.
So he hand ties uh fly luresand rods specifically oriented

(03:20):
towards bass and he's up inabingdon, um, we're getting his
stuff in there.
We got a couple other localbait manufacturers we're
bringing in there.
Uh, we got you know JohnsonCity Soap Company, which my wife
absolutely loves.
Uh, we got you know some discgolf discs that are dyed locally
, uh, by a gentleman inElizabethton, and we're just,

(03:45):
we're all the time looking forlocal gear to stock our stuff
very cool.

Speaker 2 (03:51):
Now I have been known to to fish, fly fish for bass
with trout flies and and and andkill it with a woolly booger
man.
Uh, do you offer trout flies aswell?

Speaker 3 (04:06):
Yep, we absolutely do so.
We're very fortunate we have anin-house fly tire.
Who has probably forgotten moreabout fly fishing than I'll
ever learn in my lifetime?

Speaker 2 (04:17):
Wow, wow.
Now that's pretty affordabletoo, because flies can be super
expensive.

Speaker 3 (04:21):
Yeah, absolutely so.
Once again, we're trying ourhardest to meet that price point
that best serves our community.

Speaker 2 (04:29):
Awesome, awesome.
Well, I am, I for one.
I'm going to check you out,please, for sure, for sure,
because I've, you know, evengear bags.
I've had for 25 years, you know, and the handles are rotten and
falling off of them and youknow I really need to upgrade.
I'm sure there's a lot of folkslike me, because it's a, it's a
, it's a wonderful, uh, uhexperience to fly fish, but, man

(04:52):
, it can get expensive.
I mean, even just with leaders.
Do you, do you have supplieslike leaders and taper, uh, oh,
gosh, tip it, and that sort ofthing yeah, so we're a one-stop
shop.

Speaker 3 (05:03):
Uh, if we can get you set up with waders, boots, fly
rod, fly rod, fly line, strikeindicators, flies anything you
may need for a day out on thewater and be successful.

Speaker 2 (05:14):
Very nice, Very nice.
Well, Matthew, what are somemyths or misconceptions in your
industry?
I know it's, you know there'snot a lot of you guys running
around here, Uh, so uh, arethere any myths about outfitters
?

Speaker 3 (05:28):
Yeah.
So I think the biggest myth,especially in the fly fishing
industry, is you have to have alot of money to go do it or it
takes years and years to developthis technique where you can
actually catch fish, and that'sjust simply not true.
Um, you know, and and we'retrying really hard to break that
stigma For example, we, uh, weoffer a guided trip or guided

(05:50):
trips with local guides who knowthe area very, very well, and
most people think that, you know, guided trips cost thousands of
dollars.
They don't.
They're extremely affordable.
You know, and I think thatstigma comes a lot from the
saltwater community, where it'sthe elite of the elite paying

(06:10):
for big boats and reallyhigh-end gear, and that's just
simply not true.

Speaker 2 (06:19):
Now, where do they guide the Watauga?

Speaker 3 (06:21):
So we do.
Watauga Doe, south Fork, we'restarting to get into a little
bit of the lake stuff.
We're researching that andfiguring out our market there,
um, but yeah, so pretty much anylocal tailwater that's around
here we can do very cool, very,very cool price range.
If you don't mind me asking fora so we're looking at about

(06:46):
$350 to about $550, depending onwhat you're doing, where you're
going, if you're waiting or ifyou're floating.
There's some variables in there.

Speaker 2 (06:59):
That's not bad.
Is that for one person, or isthat if you had two guys or
three?

Speaker 3 (07:04):
That's per person.
Yeah, with a guide.

Speaker 2 (07:07):
With a guide guide gotcha very cool, very cool.
Like I said, I've been at.
I was at the doe river a coupleof weekends ago but I was right
at the gorge where that uh campis and uh, they've been doing a
lot of construction, busting uprocks and stuff around the
river, so I didn't see a lot offish but I didn't get to fish.
So you know, if I saw some Iprobably would have have made,

(07:27):
made some time.
But anyway, well, we knowmarketing is key to any business
success.
How do you market yourOutfitters business?

Speaker 3 (07:36):
So we're learning that the fishing community is
evolving, just like every othercommunity in the world, and
we're increasing our digitalpresence and our brand awareness
.
So follow us on Instagram,follow us on Facebook.
We're working on our TikTokthat's hopefully going to launch

(07:56):
here in the next week or two,and I think that's the biggest
way you know.

Speaker 2 (08:02):
Do social media and you do have a website right.

Speaker 3 (08:06):
Correct, yes, hellbender Outfitters Tennessee
or TNcom.

Speaker 2 (08:12):
Very cool.
Well, outside of work, Iprobably know what do you do for
fun.

Speaker 3 (08:17):
So I mean, that's one of the reasons I do what I do.
Right is you do what you love.
You'll never work a day in yourlife, um, just like you skip.
I'm an avid fisherman.
Uh, fly, spin all that goodstuff.
Uh, I love taking our dog onhikes.
We've got a australian shepherdwho is just a ball of energy

(08:39):
that never ceases to end.

Speaker 2 (08:42):
I'm sure that'll keep you busy.

Speaker 3 (08:44):
It does yeah absolutely.

Speaker 2 (08:47):
Well, let's switch gears.
Can you describe a hardship ora life challenge that you've
overcome and how it's made youstronger in the end?
Anything come to mind.

Speaker 3 (08:56):
Yeah, so right before we got into Hellbender, I was
working with AmericanConservation Experience, which
is an AmeriCorps program thattakes young adults and places
them in conservation-mindedprojects.
An insane hardship to leave,because it was such a incredible

(09:23):
program to witness from thesidelines, especially watching
these young adults who have maynever been to a national park or
a national forest and watchingthem complete conservation
minded projects in these areas.
It was nothing short oftransformative.
Um, but yeah, that wasdefinitely a recent hardship
that I had to, uh, leave behindto focus on ACE or focus on

(09:44):
hellbenders.

Speaker 2 (09:46):
Well, I know what's totally understandable, but it
sounds like you're doing wellwith hellbenders.
Uh, so in the end you're you'redoing what you love, man.

Speaker 3 (09:56):
There we go, there we go.

Speaker 2 (09:57):
There we go.
Well, if, uh, Matthew, if youcould think of one thing you
would like our listeners toremember about Hellbenders
Outfitters, what would that be?

Speaker 3 (10:08):
You know it's not necessarily just about
Hellbender Outfitters, it'sabout remembering who's in your
backyard.
A lot of folks, especiallysince the bridge has been out in
Elizabethton, a lot of folksare getting to discover our
downtown area more and more andmore and I just hope folks
remember that image once thebridge gets fixed.

(10:30):
And you know, shop local.
There's so many things downtownthat are constantly being added
, that is constantly growing and, you know, oftentimes for a
better price in big box stores.

Speaker 2 (10:46):
Well, and especially in your case, good stuff for a
good price, man.
I love it A fishing consignmentstore.
I love it.
Well, if any of our listenersare interested in learning more,
come and check out a guide orsome waiters, whatever.
How can they learn more?

Speaker 3 (11:06):
So you can follow us on Facebook or Instagram.
We're always welcome to youstopping by.
We'll sit and talk as long asyou want.
Come say hey to the shop dogand just come talk with us.
You, we're we're very socialpeople.
Our ideas, you know.

(11:26):
We want you to obviously getset up with best gear, but we
also want you to be set up withbest local knowledge and what's
that address of your brick andmortar?
So it's 547 east elk avenueeast elk avenue.

Speaker 2 (11:43):
Very cool, all right.
Well, I will definitely checkyou guys out.
Uh, no doubt, because I'mheading back to the dough, so I
will.
Uh, I'll definitely be comingyour way, and you know your
watauga.
I love fishing on the watauga.
That's's great.
Some good fishing can be.
Well, matthew, I reallyappreciate you being on the show

(12:05):
.
Can't tell you how much I Iappreciate you taking time out
of your busy schedule to talkwith with me and with our
listeners and moving forward,wish you and your family, and
including your dog andhellbenders outfitters, all the
best thank you thank you, andmaybe we can have you back on
the show sometime in the futurewhen you got some event going on

(12:27):
I'd love that.

Speaker 3 (12:29):
So another selfless plug to throw out for the city.
So first fridays, come check usout.
There's music, there's food, ummusicians on every corner
playing it.
It's just a greatfamily-friendly, fun atmosphere.

Speaker 2 (12:45):
We will check that out.
All right, okay, man.
Thank you so much, matthew, andwe'll see you on the next one.

Speaker 3 (12:52):
Sounds good.
Thank you so much.

Speaker 2 (12:54):
All right, thank you.

Speaker 1 (12:55):
Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor
Podcast.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on
the show, go to gnptry-citiescom.
That's gnptry-citiescom, orcall 423-719-5873.
Thank you.