5 Small UNDERDOG Brands You Need to Know About in 2022
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- Опубликовано: 6 июл 2024
- Check out Garage Grown Gear: geni.us/AlGAz A small Retailer supporting small brands.
FarPointe Alpha Cruiser Hoodie: geni.us/fdIA
@Stakes: geni.us/7sBFP
Vargo Dig Dig Tool: geni.us/BCN5
Vargo Bot 700: geni.us/b8eB9jx
Vargo EXoTI 50: geni.us/5vcB
Goosefeet Down Socks: geni.us/UCDvCj
Goosefeet Over Booties: geni.us/b0wJkb
Hilltop Packs Food Bag: geni.us/k9MNDBR
HIlltop Stuff Sacks: geni.us/CnXvsS
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Check out Garage Grown Gear: geni.us/m2tzeVo
FarPointe Alpha Cruiser Hoodie: geni.us/EGWb9nd
@Stakes: geni.us/qJUQJ
Vargo Dig Dig Trowl: geni.us/rErjc
Vargo Bot 700: geni.us/N46h92n
Vargo EXoTI 50: geni.us/rdVwT
Goosefeet Down Socks: geni.us/g2jh
Goosefeet Over Booties: geni.us/nFYlBR
Hilltop Packs Food Bag: geni.us/nh21IP
HIlltop Stuff Sacks: geni.us/HS4ae
Ironically, it's the smaller companies that are worth more of your dollar than big named brands. Usually because it's already a backpacker that's frustrated with existing products.
True across all categories. Clothes, skincare, gear, etc. It's when they get big and get bought out that you should move on cus the quality is going to go downhill. And they'll often sell out on original values like supporting charities or ethical manufacturing.
That's absolutely bs 🤣
It's an interesting paradox. Do I support this small brand that may not be here tomorrow to support my product? Or do I support the larger company who will be, thus ensuring that the small brand won't be around. It's a risk either way I suppose as the larger guy may not treat me right even if they are still around, the small brand needs to provide exceptional service in order to compete.
Love this video. You know I often opt for the budget option, but if I can find a home grown company with better gear for a little more, I'll always choose that option. Always love supporting small companies that make great gear!
The Alpha fleece looks great for something that’ll be carried instead of worn, but the largest they make is XL for a 48” chest. Quite a few large companies are now making clothes for people bigger than 160lb straight out of the Chinese buffet, cottage companies need to step up as well because a heavier jacket that fits is better than a nonexistent lighter one.
I agree. Everyone needs good gear that fits.
I just picked up a Farpointe Alpha Cruiser and I'm genuinely impressed. It's so light, breathable, packable and WARM! I'll admit I was skeptical at first seeing how see-thru the fabric is, but this stuff is legit.
Garage Grown Gear is my absolute favorite! Thanks so much for doing a video helping to spread the word about the awesome service they provide of promoting start up cottage gear brands all in one place. I'm starting a long distance thru hike next month and have ordered many items from them over the past year. I may even be stopping into their office to visit the GGG team since the trail head of the Ice Age Trail is only about 45 miles from St Paul, where they're headquartered. GGG ROCKS!
Love cottage industry, I'm in Australia and I've just got a sleeping mat from Alton Goods. Same sort of thing, just a guy who's wanting to make quality outdoor stuff. Often this means that they will back their products pretty heavily too. Love a lifetime guarantee!
Can recommend Neve Gear for the Aussies too. I had a custom quilt made from scratch and delivered within two weeks that I'm over the moon with. Very happy with the service from both them and Alton.
And “Tier Gear Tasmania”
Be careful with the Vargo Bot. If you are in a area where there is a variation in the altitude. The top of the Bot seals so good you might have trouble opening it if there is a decent difference in the altitude from where you used it last.
I used to have a lunch box that sealed really well and I live on top of a hill so I had always trouble opening my lunchbox at school🤣
Thanks for this! Supporting these cottage industries is the way to go. The good thing about hiking and UL stuff is there are quite a lot around too. As for the Alpha hoodies, the additional bonus is they make you look like a Knight of the Realm!
I was thinking the same thing. It looks like chainmail. Which looks awesome! Thanks for watching
Love the focus on cottage companies. Keep up the good work.
GGG is freaking awesome. Their customer service is incredible too. Legit love that site.
Great video brother! Really love this one!
Love the video! Garage Grown Gear is the best!
Cool video. Thanks for shining ☀️ a light on some of these brands. I have been using the Vargo Ascent tent stakes, placed as a deadman, on snow climbs for years. They make great stuff.
Finally visited Melanzana last week! So cool to visit in person. lol (I know that's a side point). Really been eyeing those carbon stakes! Love GGG!! Excellent video man!
Thanks for the information! I definitely need to get me some of those down socks! Thanks again!
This is awesome! I'm just now getting into backpacking and it would be great to build my gear selection off of small companies. Will definitely be looking into some of these! Your videos are a huge help!
Thank you for the good information on the smaller brands. This is so useful
Last time you were supporting small retailers, now cottage companies - nice evolution.
Hell yea, so glad this video was recommended to me. This is the kind of content we need. Support homemade/cottage vendors!
GGG Is the place to get ur gear!!
You've been popping up on my feed lately. I love the fact that you show metrics for us outside USA.
Thank you so much for using Customary units.
Great job buddy...... My new favourite channel 👍 I am enjoying the content and picking up much needed advice and new ideas 💙
My hiking days are long behind me due to arthritis in my knees but I still wanted to enjoy the outdoors. I recently became the proud owner of a tandem SOT kayak and along with my son we are going to have some adventures on the water.
I LOVE my Hilltop Packs food bag! I've never had anything so lightweight and durable. I love it.
Thank you!
More of this! 🙌💯
Highlighting small buissness's is the best!!
It’s funny you included Hilltop Packs chair bag. I FINALLY ordered one last night after stalling for quite awhile. Haha
You got a subscription from me finally for wonderful cottage industry shout out, especially the group site. Thank you and keep on with the great work 👍 😃
This video is golden for small business. Thanks for helping me reach them 👍
I have some Hilltop Packs stuff and love it!
Excellent video as always. Those stakes are amazing! Crow✌️
Great video. I recommend everyone joining Garage Grown Gear.
Peleton 97 is my favorite mid fleece. 5oz, more windprof and very durable for a fleece. Not a snag machine like the Alpha material also.
Great collection of companies!
OOOUUUUUoooo! External frame backpacks. These are the best!
Awesome idea for a video. Hilltop rules! I lole my Goosefeet pillow and will check the others out!
I find myself wanting a bunch more hilltoptop stuff!
Great video. Signing up at GGG. Thank you.
Your videos are the best!
Really great to see someone advocate small niche outdoor manufacturers producing some fantastic gear, many thanks.
Yeah it's nice when they throw money at you to advertise for them lmao. Don't get me wrong I've bought a lot off GGG.
Love gear from cottage industry!
Been using Hilltop Packs Dyneema bags for a long time. Yet to have one leak and wet my gear. Also new material makes an even better and stronger food bag as well. I've had that Vargo Bot for some time now as well. I use it for breakfast cold soak and to heat water for my dinners, best of both worlds when you need to mix that oatmeal, protein powder, and powdered milk in the mornings.
I use my down booties as well for camera gear and water filter. Goosefeet also makes any custom down gear. They made Remy’s UL bed for me.
Great list!
Thank you!
I'm fortunate enough to have a pair of Goosefeet Gear down socks and over booties (with textured sole). The over booties are amazing. They serve as my go to camp shoe in cold weather
I've had the Goose Feet Gear down socks and over booties for about 4 years.....wouldn't do an overnighter in the mountains without them! The best..........
Whoa! How am I just seeing you!? Awesome stuff! Subbed!
Thanks. Glad you are here.
Hell yeah Backpacking is a sport!!!
great job bringing more cottage gear co.s into the light...
Cottage is good. However, usually limited inventory, long wait times for products, not significantly different in price point...
I like the ruta locura Ti shepards hooks. They are 7" rather than 6" and that small difference works surprisingly well.
The notches at the top of the Vargo Dig Dig trowel are there because you can also use it as a stake in case you break/lose one on a trip. Pretty neat feature!
I didn’t know. But makes sense. Thanks for sharing.
Something I had to do this weekend, and I was glad those notches were there!
Only RUclipsr shining light on smaller business that also make great products
1:21 also makes you look like a mediaeval knight. Cool!
I am not a lightweighter but a lightweight backpacking with an external titanium frame that sound like a great peace of kit.
Cool stuff
I've not seen a lot of Alpha fleece out on trail as yet. I have a Senchi and I have worn it (some) but I am somewhat concerned about durability as they can catch branches and such. Little Skittle IS wearing one @ present on the CDT. Outside of that, I've not seen any other RUclipsrs wearing them.
GGG is legit and always worth a look for stuff.
Vargo Hexagon Titanium is fantastic stove I bought recently and it is a great item.
Thank you. I have your video up and my gear list up so I can truely see the savings. The alpha hoodie in 60gsm in medium is 4oz. Im rocking a Fayetchill which I love and is great on its own yet in Oregon I always pack a rain jacket. But my hoodie is just shy of 16 ounces. Now a day hike or a weekend it may be the choice. But a week long or say a thru hike this switch is well 12 oz or there abouts as Im an XL. Between this and a lighter down jacket Im looking at around a pound
And I am a huge fan of GGG and is my go to company to start going down rabbit hole of gear
I love Goosefeet Gear!
p.s. I'm guessing Bot = Pot + Bottle
BOT - Bottle/Pot Combo!😎
Great video
Thanks
Another great small brand sold through Garage Grown Gear is Volpi Outdoor Gear. Their 40 and 35 liter ultralight packs are superb, and a great value.
There are a lot of good reasons to support small companies, usually because there's a lot of passion behind them when they are small. But I am not a fan of perceiving/casting companies as better/worse simply because of their size. Small companies that are great become large companies if they are well managed. Large companies are often able to provide better benefits to employees. So, I will support companies based upon the quality of the product and customer service and possibly where their gear is made. That might be a small company or that might be a large company that got that way because they are awesome. Small companies are not always the most responsible manufacturers. Many of them are under a great deal of fiscal pressure and have to find margin in the manufacturing. I'm sure you are aware of this, but you do tend to speak about small/large as if there is something intrinsically better about small and worse about large. I find you to be the absolute best on The Tube when it comes to analyzing the nuances of gear. But I think we disagree a little on the philosophy of this topic.
I make some of my own gear, modify existing gear and can only afford preloved things, rarely new. On principle, I avoid new things simply because there's a great deal of enjoyment in finding an alternative solution from my own resources or the secondhand market e.g. a Macpac down jacket in perfect condition for only $50, a thin wool cardigan that I wear next to my skin as a base layer and only cost $2 at a thrift shop, making a hand sewn water bottle holder from polyester strapping and shoelaces, velcroed side pockets from agricultural hail netting on my ancient Macpac Esprit backpack (canvas might be 'heavy' but it sure has lasted, about 30 years and is still in great condition, a pot koozy and a billy and bowl from cans. Double duty items also create less weight and when I have to buy I compromise on brand rather than weight which is usually less expensive like my tent, a budget 2 man weighing in at a respectable 1.4 kg if I take the whole kit, often less depending on season and weather conditions. I've decided that I'd rather carry an extra kilo of gear at the outset and shed that kilo in food, water and fuel, than dispense with warmth, safety and modest comfort.
So many home grown and garage gear makers start that way and get popular so they have to expand and then eventually get into a financial level that interests larger companies and get an offer that they can't refuse. The entire backpacking industry started out that way, Jansport, Kelty, and many others all sold out. Oh well.
Had my eyes on the vargo exoti for years, just bought it fifteen minutes before I watched this video. Strange coincidence!
The hoodie looks interesting. I found a budget alternative to the bot, it's made of stainless steel so not as light but a fraction of the price
Can use it at medieval recreation events as well .
35 second intro again. Very nice!!
I always prefer buying cottage products if it is an option, and Garage Grown Gear is my favorite outdoors retailer
I will never buy from them again. They sent the wrong item. Then they charged me a handling fee when I returned it. So they charged me for the mistake they made
An ultra light external frame? You have my interest!
Cruiser hoodie looks interesting. yabadaba doo
I like equipment that can do more than one thing.
I like your Videos 👍
Greetings from germany ✌️
I finally got my hilltop pack after 15 short months
i still use me old school Alice pack. so external packs are what i am used to.
I have noticed the Red Beard guys do outdoors pretty well.
Seems wonderful though I make do with my flannelette.
Plus, it's everywhere and just 8 bucks.
Just have to say it, carbon fiber is much stronger than aluminum, just not in all directions, so when it’s pulled on by the corner of your tent: very strong. But when it’s hammered down into soil it can split along the layers/fibers
Whichever works the best.
Use a bread bag for your Helinox Chair.....it's basically free
#MyLifeOutdoors going back to your great sleep outdoors video. Any chance you could do like a budget version of that?
Let me see what I can do
After my camping buddy laughed at my Goose Feet Gear down socks, what did sport on the next trip? You guessed it, his own pair. Any night dipping below 55 F or so and I break these out, don't even feel them, unlike wool socks. So cozy and weigh nothing, just leave them in your sleeping bag.
Great video! Do you know which size stuff sack is best for the Helinox chair zero with the ground mat?
On Hilltop Packs website, they give you three chairs to choose from: Helinox, Flexlite, and one more. Just choose the one for the Helinox if that's one of the three options
timmermade makes an alpha 4004 hoodie, i carry it a lot
no idea who made it first, farpoint or timmermade
the thing i went backpacking it was ounces make pounds.
I like small shops, and think we should support them. However, my wife works for Osprey (your not so subtle dig at the "big guy's) They are a phenomenal company that supports over a 100 good jobs in our town of 7500 people. They have an excellent warranty and a good product. I get a little tiered of hearing about the big bad corporations. They started as a small garage company, the owners sold it last year and still live in the area and now are working on a eco nonprofit. So please support the mom and pops but don't tear down good people and brands because they are successful.
Thanks for your video. Question: alpha fleece looks great, except that it looks so flimsy it looks like it would be hard to make it through a season intact, especially if you are like me (and i would think most people) that wear the fleece while walking with a backpack. What is your experience with this fabric? How long has it lasted for you? Is it practical for hiking, or maybe just good for running?
I have a hoodie from Senchi Designs, been using it for a year now. No problem at all with any wear points yet. It only weighs 4 oz, so you have to be a bit careful, especially hiking in brushy areas, but I would highly recommend getting one!
"Is it a sport?!" I don't know, but it's d@mmm goooooood! 🤣😂
Now seriously answering I do consider a sport, specially depending on how you hike (walking fast, climbing, running, walking but for longer miles), how intense are the workout the person practice to get prepare to be stronger and resistant to the outdoor activities...
I wouldn't consider a sport for those who just don't exercise at all, and only get at camp by car 🤔🤷🏼
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Love the alpha cruiser , sold out even though they say made to order.
I don’t think they know what made to order means !
Those light merinos from JosABanks 😂
Can you directly compare the different Alpha hoodies?
Seems like a niche product, but there are a few makers (Senchi plus the others you have).
Hi Steve. a bit off topic but I need help. I'm an old veteran attempting the 2023 AT, and although I am a seasoned backpacker with too much gear I need to upgrade. Im trying to find a tent with 3 critical elements. So far, and after extensive search, I can find 2 elements easy but all 3 together may not be in existence. Im looking for a Dyneme tent for 2 people that is double walled .I'm assuming it will be trekking poll dependent. thank you in advance and thank you for the endless info.
Tarptent StratoSpire Li is a double wall dynemma two person tent. They also have a non-dynemma version so make sure you get the Li.
5:01
BOT=bottle+pot 👍
What fabric weight have you tested? Thanks
Regarding the smart vented hoodie, it's more or less like the Lowe Alpine I've used for years. Vents really well, and super lightweight.
While the tent stakes are extremely light, do they hold on? Or do they slide up and away like other round stakes?
Kind regards.
The stakes seem to hold well. I had the 3 inch pull out this week on a trip but they are REALLY small. The 6 inch seem to do just fine.
Question isn't who I wanna support, it's who's got the product I need at a fair enough price
I like the cup, and I like the hoodie(as long as it's got a zipper, but even then, kinda dope).... Misc bags aren't a bad thing, but I usually use the privios item's bag for what I need as I upgraded... Replacements come a about the same place usually....
Good video. I want gear that doesn't shed microplastics. From tent to underwear we are shedding micro plastics into pristine places.
my fleece midlayers weigh around 200 grams
I really wanted to try the FarPointe Alpaha, but to me, the price FarExceeds the need/value. When watching the segment about the FarPointe I can see how the hoodie would fit specific niche in my gear, but....for $80? My value for the gear is around half their retail price.