The Local newsletter is your free, daily guide to life in Colorado. For locals, by locals. Sign up today!
Mike Mojica’s Native American name, Bodaway, means Fire Maker. So, it’s fitting that the Pueblo of Laguna tribe member has spent the past 13 years inventing multipurpose outdoor tools, many of which incorporate fire starters.
The idea for Mojica’s survival gear company, Outdoor Element, was sparked while he was trekking his first fourteener in 2012 and encountered a passerby limping down Mt. Yale. He pulled out a first-aid kit, wrapped the injured hiker’s ankle, and continued his journey to the summit. At the top, Mojica was overcome by the views. “I wasn’t ready for that emotion to hit,” he says. “I felt like we all need to be outdoors more to experience that peace and revelation—and we need to be prepared just in case something goes amiss.”
- Meet the Seriously Silly Monsters Invading the Denver Art Museum
- How Social Fabric Brings Denver’s Asian Community Together
- The True Story Behind the BolderBoulder’s Famous Slip-and-Slide
- A Perfect Day in Edgewater
- Boulder County’s Black Cat Brings the Table to the Farm
- Odie B’s Second Sandwich Shop Delivers the Hits
- How Local Organizations Are Helping Combat Postpartum Depression
Today, Outdoor Element specializes in multifunctional tools that serve utilitarian and potentially lifesaving purposes while in the wild: The flagship Firebiner, for example, is a carabiner equipped with a spark wheel, utility blade, bottle opener, and screwdriver. The Fire Flute is a Sharpie-size fire-starting kit with an emergency whistle. And the Scout Feather Adventure survival knife features a sheath that doubles as a ferro rod (a metal cylinder that can create sparks). Mojica has been awarded 10 U.S. patents for his inventions, with several more pending.
A side hustle turned full-time success, Outdoor Element had its best year ever in 2024, doubling its revenue and outgrowing its home base—the overflowing garages of Mojica and his business partner, Joe Brown. Last fall, the company moved to a 1,600-square-foot warehouse in Englewood. It happens to be the same building where Mojica worked as an aerospace engineer for more than three years before quitting in 2017 to go all-in on his creative gadgets. “I love that I left this place to chase a dream,” Mojica says, “and my dream is growing in the same location.”
