New Short Film 'Memory Collector' Chronicles the Journey of an Alaskan Hunter

Do you eat, sleep and breath the outdoors? Do the experiences of scouting and prepping for the adventure and the long hours spent on the journey to your destination fuel your passion and the memories created?

For one Alaskan hunter, that is exactly what he lives for: the memories.

Tom "Crusty" Cruickshank is an avid hunter and outdoorsman and, like many of us, caught the outdoor bug at a young age. Cruickshank made the move to Alaska more than 20 years ago to fulfill his childhood dream and the happiness gap that was missing from his life.

The same dream many avid outdoorsmen experience.

Real Avid, a mission specific tools and gear company, set out to chronicle Cruickshank's compelling story in a new short film, "Memory Collector," produced by Hallowed Ground Outdoors in association with Risen Media and the EverFire Group. Conceived when Co-producer Nick Grzechowiak met Cruickshank through social media, the project was a natural fit with Real Avid's mantra: No trophies, only rewards.

Memory Collector recently received a "Top 10 Official Selection" award at the Outdoor Film Festival.

"Crusty had such a compelling story to tell. Like most boys, I had dreams of moving to Alaska and living off the land. And here's Crusty who just jumped on a plane and did it," explained Grzechowiak. "After each hunt Crusty begins planning and preparing his equipment for the next year."

To Cruickshank, nothing speaks Alaska and the outdoors more than the 1,000 mile journey he makes each year to hunt barren ground caribou on the North Slope of Alaska's Brooks Range.

---

The Real Avid crew captures the scenery and imagery Cruikshank experiences everyday, providing an inside look at what it means to be a true spirit of the wild.

If you live for the outdoors and have ever had the dream of making it to the last frontier, this short film is one to see.

For Cruickshank, it's not just the meat that he is necessarily after, but sharing the memories that follow the adventures of his hunts.

That, in the end, is all we have anyway.