BRAD MCCARTNEY
Sydney is eerily quiet when I meet Brad McCartney behind the counter at the Macpac store where he works. No hustle. No bustle. No people at all. And definitely no customers in need of outdoor adventure equipment. The locked-down city of skyscrapers is as desolate as the isolated North American pine forests Brad knows so well. Bushfires, severe flooding and COVID-19 have left many would-be adventurers cooped up in their houses during 2020 and 2021.
Brad’s shoulders droop as he talks of the painful missed opportunities of lockdown. “I’ve thought about putting my pack on and just going and finding somewhere to camp, but I know I’m not meant to,” he says.
Outwardly, Brad looks like an ordinary middle-aged Australian. His hair is in a neat, shoulder-length ponytail tracing the line of his spine down the back of his activewear t-shirt. He has well-kept stubble and wears hiking pants. He wouldn’t be out of place nodding cheerfully while passing you on the trail, except he is trapped in the city working—a salesman in a store with no customers. We chat briefly about the intricacies of down jackets. Brad’s ranked all the different brands’ models in order of his personal preference. By preference, I mean what works, when it’s tried in the most extreme conditions. Brad doesn’t do things halfway.
Gear talk alone isn’t satisfying. He asks about my own travels. He wants to hear stories and adventures. He spins adventurous yarns full of dry humour and camouflaged by a wry smirk; I
