Cody Rich on Building Bridger Watch: Hunter-First Maps, Ballistics, and a New Wearable OS

In this podcast episode, Trent and Matt interview Cody Rich, founder of Bridger Watch, about why he built a hunting-focused smartwatch and how it evolved from wanting usable offline maps and hunting features on a watch. Rich shares his background from Perrydale, Oregon, moving to Montana, early work in Marine Corps training using Hollywood-style special effects, then entrepreneurship through Powder River Cartridge and learning marketing/SEO before starting The Rich Outdoors podcast and building Backcountry Fuel Box. Seeking a larger legacy business, he pursued a Garmin-adjacent niche, raised money, and assembled teams including former Fossil talent and connections to Google leadership and a CTO with Garmin dog-collar experience, ultimately building custom hardware and a new operating system. He describes key features: offline topo maps with panning/zooming, onX waypoint/track/markup syncing, integrated ballistics via Sierra True Data, redshift mode, frequent over-the-air updates, and ongoing battery-life improvements, with purchasing available at bridgerwatch.com, GuideFitter, GovX, and via HSA through TrueMed.