A couple of weeks ago, a wonderful thread popped up on Reddit. It was named: "A thread for sharing obscure UL gear designers and makers." One of the criteria for this thread was that the seller couldn't be found on Garage Grown Gear because those brands "are already getting great visibility." Awesome! We are honored to now be considered a place where small cottage brands are becoming known to a larger audience!
While a couple of the brands found on this list will be coming onto GGG shortly, there are a number of brands we'd never heard of!
While you should 100% look at the full list of obscure brands HERE, below are five of the most obscure and interesting cottage brands not currently found on GGG. Note, this list focuses mostly on makers in the U.S.A.
1. MooseTrack Packs
"Backpacking built different - we make what the people want. I started out making my own ultralight rucksack bags to go on thru-hikes in between my years at college, and since then I've tried my hand at making everything from rain jackets to tarps. If there's a piece of outdoor equipment you need made, Moosetrack Packs wants to make it! If we're not selling what you need, even if the design is wild, don't hesitate to reach out here or on my Instagram, and we'll draw up a design."
2. Justin's UL Backpacking Gear
"Justin's UL Backpacking Gear has been designed around simple trail born ideas that were then put into action for the last few years to come up with the lightest, simplest, and most functional backpacking accessories to ease your hike.
The counterbalancing characteristics of the UL water bottle carriers makes them beneficial in more ways than just easing access to your drinking water as you take 2.2 lbs per liter off of your back and relocate it up front."
3. HikeLight
What do we know about HikeLight? Just about nothing other than the fact that they make a wide range of DCF ultralight accessories from stuff sacks to tent footprints to pack liners. Also, they are based in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Like many fairly obscure ultralight brands, they are even off of Google's radar!
4. Virginia Foothill Designs
“I specialize in ultralight gear that is custom made based on conversations I have with hikers. I have over 125 UL fabrics to dream up funky fanny packs, packs, stuff sacks, and more!”
5. Rex Creations (Coming Soon to GGG)
"The Pad-Pal is a bare bones minimalist electric sleeping pad inflator designed to do about 95% of the work, leaving the last 1-2 puffs for the user to adjust to their desired firmness. The main demographic I had in mind when making these was a UL hiker who wouldn't otherwise consider carrying an electric inflator because the next lightest thing on the market is the Flextail Zero Pump at about 6x the weight. I think the type of hikers who are already happy carrying the weight of existing inflators (and love them) may be disappointed by the compromises taken to get the Pad-Pal to sub 10 grams for most pad valves."
Now head on over and support these super cool small ultralight brands! Know any other up-and-coming brands making sweet gear? Let us know in the comments below!
Lloyd is the Co-Founder and CEO of Garage Grown Gear. An avid backpacker and paddler, Lloyd first entered into the outdoor industry through trip-leading and outdoor education. Based in Minneapolis, MN, Lloyd is a huge fan of small brands, light packs, and large meals.
3 comments
David Lagesse
USEABLE FLOOR SPACE IN TENTS
Backpacking tent manufacturers and sellers want to sell their products online, but if you are over 6 feet tall, getting one that fits you can be a problem. They give the floor-space and the height, but this is not enough information. We know that weight and bulk is an important consideration, so we need a tent that is not too big, nor too small!
Many tent walls are angled and the tighter the angle, the less USEABLE floor space there is.
You don’t want your face or feet touching the wall of the tent or trying to poke through the wall of the tent. Imagine trying to sleep in a high wind with the tent end-wall bouncing off your face all night! Sure, you can sleep all curled up, but you just might not like doing that all night.
Will a tent with the floor length that is 8 inches longer than you are, fit better than one that is 12 inches longer? You cannot crawl into a tent online to see! It all depends on the angle of the tent wall.
USEABLE floor space can be measured inside the tent at one foot off the ground. If the manufacturer-sellers gave the tent’s useable floor space it would benefit all of us 6-foot and over backpackers.
Because tent manufacturers make many of their tent sales ONLINE, I have a suggestion I wish for them to consider. An alternate “Usable Tent Floor Space Measurement”.
(1.) Because many tents have acute angles between the walls and the floor, that makes that area near the tent walls useless for sleeping.
(2.) Tall people have a difficult time purchasing tents that are long enough for them to stretch out and be comfortable. Will a 6 ft. tall person have enough usable room in a particular 7 ft. long tent, or would a certain 7 ft.-6 in. long tent be better? Perhaps not! There is no way to tell until you crawl in. You can’t do that online.
(3.) Current floor space-only measurements is an unreliable guesstimate for suitability, for people taller than six feet. Measure tents for USABLE floor space, one foot above the ground. No one likes to have the tent walls draping on them all night long, especially in the wind (tent flapping in the face) or in high condensation conditions.
Goofy Manufacturing! I almost bought a one-person tent that had the mesh gear pockets on either end of the tent right where your face and feet would be. The pocket at your feet would be subject to damage by getting your feet tangled in the pocket and tearing out the end of the tent. The pocket at your head would be draped on your head and in high wind conditions would be banging against you.
duncan shepherd
Priceless.
I literally bought the pad pal direct from Rex Designs last night after watching his charming and delightful YouTube video.
incidentally, you might be interested to know that the requirements of an ultralight hiker appear to map directly to the requirements of someone camping off a small dirtbike.
We have zero capacity for wasted space or weight.
I’ve been a happy customer of yours and other micro brand ambassadors for years now, and I’ve never been disappointed with the engineering and design ethos of the lightweight hiking community.
Sandra
Hello! Love your support for all these obscure brands! A well known name in the outdoors community already, Durston gear. When will you guys carry his products??