Split Reed Spotlight: Ryan Yarnell and VOORMI

Ryan Barnes for Split Reed 

Cover Photo: Drew Stoecklein

From duck hunting the Arkansas timber to guiding white water rafting trips, there isn’t a whole lot Ryan Yarnell hasn’t done in the outdoors. While duck hunting may be his passion, Yarnell has been all over the United States doing just about everything that gets him outdoors. Whether that’s hunting, rafting, skiing, or just about anything else, he’s found a way to make it happen.  Currently residing in Montana, the Texas native has found himself working as a “field professional” for VOORMI ®. VOORMI ® is a US-based company that is making strides in using unique wool textiles to create better clothing to use on the hunt. Split Reed had the chance to talk to Yarnell,  to get more of his story, and to see what VOORMI ® is all about.

Yarnell was born and raised in Texarkana, Texas, into a family that was deeply rooted in the waterfowl world. Duck hunting was a passion of his father, which was quickly passed along to him. “My dad was a huge duck hunter. We didn’t really deer hunt, we squirrel hunted, we dove hunted, and we duck hunted. That was our thing,” says Yarnell. Even though Ryan’s dad didn’t pursue a career in the waterfowl hunting industry, he still was (and is) a well-respected and highly regarded duck hunter in the East Texas area.

Making an effort to kill ducks wherever they could be found. That same passion and desire were rooted in Ryan. He went to school in College Station, where he says he spent more time hunting and having fun than actually going to school. Something that most hunters can probably relate to. Following that, in 1999, Yarnell found himself as a white water rafting guide in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. “For about  17 seasons that’s what I did. I guided white water rafting all over the country. Even a little bit in  South America, but from West Virginia to California and back, I ran rivers. Class 4 rivers, class 5  rivers, anything high water. That really became my career choice, but I never missed a duck season”. Between the years spent guiding rafting trips, to spend as much time as he could skiing in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Yarnell says he’s only missed one whole ducks season since he’s been 10 years old- he’s 42 now.

On top of working as a rafting guide, Ryan also worked in the firearms industry for a number of years and has now moved into his position with VOORMI ®. Yarnell has the gift that is needed by anyone who wishes to succeed in this industry; the ability to communicate and make friends,  and network with people to seek out opportunities to grow. Hence why he has been able to find work all over the country working as a guide for all sorts of different outdoor activities. Whether it be rafting, hunting, or skiing. “I’ve always done a little bit of this and a little bit of that. I’ve guided duck hunts, I’ve guided hog hunts. I’ve helped with big game hunts but overall my passion is waterfowl,” says Yarnell. He does admit, though, that he loves any and all types of hunting. He especially has become fond of turkey hunting since he has gotten back into chasing big toms over the past few years.

Running rivers took up Ryan’s time from April to November, but by the time December hit, he made sure he was back in the woods and in the swamps of East Texas and Arkansas chasing ducks with good friends and family. Once duck season wrapped up, he would make his way to  Jackson Hole, and ski the rest of the winter. In the Spring of 2007, Yarnell made his way to  Montana. “I moved to Montana in 2007, but it wasn’t until 6 or 7 years ago that I really started  staying home more. I’m married now, with my little boy who’s almost a year old, and my lovely wife who’s the most patient woman in the world who allows me to go out and hunt and fish and guide hunting trips and fly fishing trips. I get to pretend like it’s all work,” Ryan notes. While guiding may not be his full-time gig, he does say that guiding for ducks is his favorite thing to take clients out after. Whether it’s on private ranches or with other outfits, Yarnell holds a special place in his heart for taking people out to kill ducks and an even bigger place in his heart for going out and killing ducks with friends and family. “I love hunting public lands,” says Ryan, “I  have an 18-foot jet boat, and I burn up the rivers in Montana and I really love hunting the public land. I have access to some really amazing private waters, but I just like the competition, I like the challenge; by no means am I the best duck hunter in the world, but at the end of the day I like the challenge of hunting public land”. Something that most hunters can appreciate and respect.  Yarnell finds satisfaction in finding and killing birds in high pressured areas that present more of a challenge. “I think I have a pretty good track record, but I also don’t try to take 10 people on public land hunting for ducks. Maybe for geese, but not for ducks”.

Ryan jokingly says that even though he came from a family that was big into duck hunting, and was raised by a father that was great on a duck call, one of the hardest things he had to learn to do on his own was blow a duck call. He gives an example, “My father was an old school, blue-collar guy. We ate well, we were well-loved, and by no means were ever in dire straits, we were just a frugal family. My parents were frugal people, especially my father. He didn’t buy new stuff. We always had stuff we were working on and fixing. We ran old Remington pump shotguns forever, which are nice guns, but now everyone is using $2,000 semi-autos. My father just didn’t have a lot of patience. He never said ‘here they come, get ready. My dad just started shooting. When I heard his ducks calls and bands fall on his lanyard, that’s when I knew I had to be ready”. Yarnell recalls being in the green timber with his 870 Express 20 gauge when he was  10 years old, trudging the water in waders he refers to as “garbage, piece of crap trashbags”, that would leak each time he went hunting. “When I got water in my waders, my dad would set me on a stump, dump out the waders and set me back in them and say ‘we got ducks to kill’. That ain’t no shit either. My uncles would have made a fire for their kids, but not my dad. There’d be icicles hanging off his glasses and he’d still be loading up his shotgun”. That old school, passion-driven waterfowling spirit of Ryan’s father can largely be seen in his own success today, but  Yarnell does mention he hopes to take a bit more of a patient approach as he hunts with his own boy. “My dad taught me how to keep my head down and be still, that was about it,” Ryan jokes.

Yarnell mentions that as the waterfowling world began to progress, he had some catching up to do. As someone who was used to hiking in miles at a time to find good duck holes, he found himself a little behind the times when more technology began to give others the advantage. “I  used Google Earth, that was about it for me. Outside of that I was still a pretty old school as far as finding places to hunt”. However, the learning curve didn’t stop Ryan, who still has managed to be a part of successful hunting seasons year in and year out. “I was too lazy to use a computer to find somewhere to hunt, but I wasn’t too lazy to go walking for 900 miles. So that’s how I found my places to hunt”. Yarnell mentions that he had to teach himself how to use modern technology once he started getting beat to holes and spots he wanted to go by people that barely knew how to duck hunt. Soon, though, Ryan learned that in order to keep up with the competition, it was time to learn the new tools of the trade. Allowing him to continue having successful duck hunts on both public and private ground.

Yarnell is no stranger to the outdoor industry. Working in the world of guiding, to firearms, to now a Field Professional for VOORMI ®. Ryan somewhat laughs at his title of “Field  Professional”, mentioning that he’s by no means a pro, but he definitely has the experience in the industry to know how to sell and market quality outdoor products. In speaking on VOORMI ®,  Ryan says, “Our goal is to build the next generation premium outdoor brand – via a digital native, and vertically integrated business model. We’re differentiated by a broad proprietary  portfolio of the most advanced natural fiber-based textiles in the world”

We think and act like a technology company – but, I like to say, we have an outdoor pursuits  “problem” – hunting, skiing, climbing, fishing, rafting – you name it, our team does it. But seriously, we know if we can make the next generation of true performance gear – worthy of harsh conditions, then we know our everyday wear will also be superior too.

We love natural fibers – especially wool. Wool (or animal skins) has been around from the beginning of history. You know – nature has a lot to teach if we are willing to listen. One, wool keeps you warm, even if wet, resulting in crazy thermal regulating properties – much better than any synthetic materials. Two, natural fibers are easy on the environment. Meaning – natural fibers can decompose in 5 or 6 months vs. synthetic will last for 80 or 90 YEARS and release nasty bi-products leaking into our waterways (yes, even recycled). It’s always interesting to us when we hear so-called “environmentally friendly brands preach about recycled this or that – as they continue to make millions of pounds of synthetic polluting fabrics every year – recycled or not, it’s still pollution.

From a sportsman perspective – wool is the best fabric – period. Wool fabrics absorb light and synthetic fabrics reflect light. Meaning, when lowlight conditions exist (i.e. when birds and animals move the most) the wool fabric remains hidden due to light absorption Contrasted with synthetic fabric that reflects light – i.e. becoming more visible during low light. Just check this out on your own – have two of your hunting buddies sitting next to each other – one wearing wool and one wearing printed synthetic camo – look at who stands out and who is harder to see.  At VOORMI®, we enhance wool’s natural ability of light absorption with a unique way of color variegation within each wool fiber. This is an example of our commitment to innovation. Btw,  we take a similar but opposite approach to create high visibility wool fabric for road safety or orange hunting vest. Both are unique and proprietary processes for VOORMI®. Additionally,  wool has natural anti-microbial properties – which means, you can wear wool for days and days without stinking….try that with your favorite synthetic fabrics.

Ryan got started with VOORMI® through a friend of his whose father was the owner of the company. VOORMI’s main base is out of Pagosa Springs, Colorado, but when they decided to open up a store in Bozeman, Montana, the stars aligned for both VOORMI® and Yarnell. “The owner of VOORMI® is an avid hunter. He’s a big waterfowl hunter, big game hunter, turkey hunter, everything; and I helped them out with their store in Montana. With the renovating and everything, and they offered me a job”. Ryan says that even though he’s grown up hunting and working in the outdoors, this is the first job he’s had of this particular nature. “It was a dream job,” Ryan says, “I had just made a move to leave the firearms industry. I was a manager of a  firearms ranch called the High Bar Homestead in Weston, Wyoming. It was an incredible job and  I learned a lot. I had an incredible boss and I really enjoyed it, but it was 6 hours from home one way, and it had just kind of run its course”. That’s when VOORMI® entered the picture.

VOORMI® – derived from bi-ped beasty creatures that lived in harsh conditions who survived and lived life to the fullest (yes, think hunting guides)…was founded 10 years ago, but focused on developing breakthrough technologies for the first 4 years without trying to sell a product.  Our products and focus were on professionals who “followed the water” – frozen water – snow,  was our first focus. Then as the snow melts – the run-off begins which brings rafting, then flyfishing and camping – then finally fall and hunting. The professionals from ski patrolling,  mountaineering, whitewater, fishing, and hunting guides have been our targeted audience from the beginning and remain our key audience.

Another element of VOORMI® that Yarnell was drawn to be the fact that nearly everything is made in the US. It is almost all done on US soil. “That’s not easy to do, but as a company,  VOORMI® has invested in US manufacturing. There’s a lot of companies out there that talk about it, but we are one of the companies that do it,” Ryan says. Something that he takes a lot of pride in and that he thinks that we, as a country, should pay more attention to and focus more on.  “It’s not easy being American-made. It’s difficult, and takes more time and money”. But being an  American-made product is one of the major draws to VOORMI’s product line. Instead of buying a product that has been mass-produced overseas, you’re buying a product that has been made here in the States – we like to say, “join us – as we journey beyond the sea of sameness”.

Yarnell continues on by saying, “Our newest invention is what we call “CORE Construction ™.  A brand new patented process of inserting functional layers inside a textile without the use of  Stiff/Non-Breathable Glue. Wired magazine wrote an article – saying this “NEW FABRIC  TECHNOLOGY COULD BE OUTERWEAR’S BIGGEST ADVANCE IN 40 YEARS”. Imagine,  fleece-like comfort with wind/water protection – it’s true! Our Sportsman 2-pocket hoodie is THE BEST hoodie in the market. 

When asked which jackets would be best to use for waterfowling, Ryan listed his personal favorites. Which happened to be pretty much the entire VOORMI® hunting line. The top contenders seemed to be the Two-Pocket Sportsman’s hoodie, the Treeline hoodie. “The base layers are all great, but the Two-Pocket hoodie and the Treeline hoodie are must-have pieces of gear,” Ryan notes. He also adds that a High-E hoodie is a fantastic option. Coming from a  mountaineering background and the sheep guides in Denali, Alaska (Split Reed’s own Nick Costas uses one). Designed for extreme weather conditions, it will more than suffice for the cold, late-season waterfowl hunts.

It’s clear that Ryan Yarnell is someone with an absolute passion for the outdoors. Especially when it comes to chasing ducks. Having been successful all over the country on public grounds,  he’s been able to enjoy many seasons of bringing ducks to the spread and putting them in the straps. Now, he gets to do it in some of the best hunting gear on the market with VOORMI®.  Ryan also notes that he understands that it’s easy to give a glowing review of a company that you work for, but he says that after wearing and using all the camo and all the gear on the market, he truly does swear by the VOORMI® brand. “It really is the best stuff I’ve ever put on”.

He jokes that he’s not really a “field professional”, but after so long of doing what you love and being top-caliber at it, that sounds pretty professional to us.