1 rich Libsyn https://www.libsyn.com 90 600 Pete Utschig spent 22 years with the New York City Fire Department before retiring to chase fish full-time. Today he's the founder of Phase Gear — a technical apparel company built specifically for surf casters, by a surf caster. In this conversation, Peter from The Saltwater Edge talks with Pete about: - Why his snowboarding business partner kept asking &quot;why is all your fishing gear so heavy?&quot; — and what they did about it - The list of grievances every surf caster will recognize (hoods that blow off, soaked cuffs, gasketed necks, pockets that fill with water) and how Phase Gear engineered them out - What it's like to fund a company out of your pension and keep inventory on the shelf one retirement check at a time - Why Pete has turned down investor offers - The single hardest skill to learn — in fishing and in business — and how it's the same answer twice - What's next for Phase Gear as it expands beyond the surf Show notes and the full conversation at saltwateredge.com/blogs/saltwater-edge&amp;nbsp;Shop Phase Gear:&amp;nbsp;https://www.saltwateredge.com/search?q=phase+gear&amp;nbsp;Learn more about the brand:&amp;nbsp;https://phase-gear.com Saltwater Edge Podcast - Sharing Our Passion For Saltwater Fishing http://www.saltwateredge.com <iframe title="Libsyn Player" style="border: none" src="//html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/41398690/height/90/theme/custom/thumbnail/yes/direction/forward/render-playlist/no/custom-color/88AA3C/" height="90" width="600" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen></iframe> https://assets.libsyn.com/secure/content/202238760