Happy Pride 🏳️‍🌈 Today we’re highlighting 3 kickass backpacking brands with LGBTQIA+ founders. It’s a tip of our sun hat to their creativity, perseverance and vision to make the outdoors a more inspired and inclusive experience. 

WEBO Gear

WEBO is a small cottage company created by a BIPOC queer woman, Eliza Bui, who specializes in backpacking accessories like fanny packs, wallets, and a shoulder pouch.

Eliza was inspired to start making lightweight backpacking accessories after a trip to the Grand Canyon with her partner, Shannon. In the off-season from hiking, Eliza became involved in the ultralight community and started looking for ways to improve upon existing designs.

WEBO is a nod to thru-hiker slang for westbound, and is characterized by a graphic designer’s eye for clean lines and bold colors.

Farm to Summit

Founded in 2020 by life, business and adventure partners, Louise (Lou) and Jane Barden, the Durango, Colorado based business is on a mission to reinvent the way we nourish ourselves in the wild; and re-examine the impact that food has on our bodies, our food systems and our environment.

Farm to Summit produces delicious, healthy, dehydrated meals — minimizing food waste at the farm level by capturing their surplus and ‘seconds’ produce.

The collaborative couple didn’t stop at adventure meals though; they also offer a great range of hand- and heart-warming beverages, like turmeric lattes, chile mochas, and a variety of organic lattes for dairy drinkers and nut milk lovers alike.

Rawlogy

While training for a marathon, Marek Bowers began to experience excruciating pain on the bottom of his foot. He could barely put on shoes and walk around the house. Plantar fasciitis threatened to completely derail him from further training and running. 

So he started rolling out with a lacrosse ball — using it to massage his feet — and within a couple of weeks the pain completely went away.

Marek studied mechanical engineering in college, and it occurred to him that he could probably create something lighter weight (i.e. easier to carry in a pack) that would accomplish the same thing. Cork jumped to mind as an obvious materials choice.

In 2018, Rawlogy launched with a 2.5-inch lightweight cork massage ball called the Classic. A 1.9-inch Mini for the ultralight backpacking and thru-hiking crowd soon followed. 

“I look at self-care from a holistic point of view,” said Marek, who is a trans entrepreneur, athlete and dad. “It’s not just your physical health, it’s also your emotional and mental health.”

Marek publishes a newsletter called the Daily Self. It’s filled with wisdom, reflection, humor, warmth and tips for taking action. Subscribe here.  

Do you have gear or food from one of these queer-owned outdoor brands? Know of another LGBTQIA+ brand we ought to know about? Leave a comment below! 

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