Climbing gear made by small independent businesses

Ross Ayer wrote: Cold Cold World

Hands down the best actual climbing packs on the market. 

Aren’t BD, Metolius and Petzl small companies?  FiveTen/Adidas seems to be the only company of real size. 

I think Misty Mountain might count. Fairly small, North Carolina based company. Excellent harnesses and other gear.

Live Perched wrote: Aren’t BD, Metolius and Petzl small companies?  FiveTen/Adidas seems to be the only company of real size. 

That is a fair point, Metolius employs like 40 people total? However in niche sport such as ours, I think relatively speaking Metolius, Petzl, Camp, Mammut, Black Diamond (which is a publicly traded company owned by a larger parent corporation that takes in $100 million in revenue/yr at this point: article), etc qualify as large compared to one man in his garage or a couple of guys in a rented workshop or 10 people in a cabin in the NC woods.

You might want to include Rock Empire. They make good harnesses.

Hey OP - can you include hyperlinks in your list?  Looking for foreign gear manufacturers websites isn’t as easy as I thought

Matt Castelli wrote: Hey OP - can you include hyperlinks in your list?  Looking for foreign gear manufacturers websites isn’t as easy as I thought

Done, also put in product categories.

NW Alpine makes some nice outerwear in PDX.

Feathered Friends still makes the majority (maybe all still?) of their down garments and all of their bags in Seattle.

Live Perched wrote: Aren’t BD, Metolius and Petzl small companies?  FiveTen/Adidas seems to be the only company of real size. 

For sure Metolius and Evolv. BD is on the NASDAQ and has over $100M annual revenue

Not necessarily "climbing" specific, but I love ALL my HIMALI layers. Denver based with philanthropic work in Nepal.

Pika - https://www.pikavo.com/pikamtn
Dammerr - http://dammerr.com/main.html
Skot Richards - https://www.skotswallgear.com/ 
Canadian Alpine Tools - https://www.instagram.com/canadianalpinetools/

Cilo Gear -- nice stuff.  cilogear.com

https://www.firstascentcoffee.com/collections/hand-crafted-instant-coffee

to get you brewed up before you head up. From roast to shipping all under one roof here in Crested Butte. and Outside just gave us "best all around instant" https://www.outsideonline.com/2397132/best-instant-coffees 

bearded sam wrote: https://www.firstascentcoffee.com/collections/hand-crafted-instant-coffee to get you brewed up before you head up. From roast to shipping all under one roof here in Crested Butte. and Outside just gave us "best all around instant" https://www.outsideonline.com/2397132/best-instant-coffees 

Just a couple comments - which I’m sure these folks have heard. The instant is a bit pricey at $19.99 for eight cups. I thought SBUX instant was expensive. I think you’ve really gotta be a coffee connoisseur to wanna pay that for a coffee while you’re out camping, climbing, etc. The market potential is limited. Having worked in the packaging industry - that packaging is pretty swank which adds cost. 

I think more important though is the packaging leaves out to me - not the coffee connoisseur - what type of roast each is (light, medium or dark). That info isn’t even on the web in the instant coffee section which lists each description the same and only found in the fresh roast section.

If they make it a easier to figure out what’s to my coffee tastes I’d still give First Ascent a try! 

http://www.valleygiant.com/

Mark NH wrote:

Just a couple comments - which I’m sure these folks have heard. The instant is a bit pricey at $19.99 for eight cups. I thought SBUX instant was expensive. I think you’ve really gotta be a coffee connoisseur to wanna pay that for a coffee while you’re out camping, climbing, etc. The market potential is limited. Having worked in the packaging industry - that packaging is pretty swank which adds cost. 

I think more important though is the packaging leaves out to me - not the coffee connoisseur - what type of roast each is (light, medium or dark). That info isn’t even on the web in the instant coffee section which lists each description the same and only found in the fresh roast section.

If they make it a easier to figure out what’s to my coffee tastes I’d still give First Ascent a try! 

Hi Mark, 

A few things about our coffee - we are sourcing current crop, specialty grade coffee. This alone makes the price at a point it will never be close to the Via. We would have to cut our green costs by the range of %80 to get there. We believe based on price and tasting coffee that part of how they get coffee so cheap is to use coffee that isn't fresh crop. Second we brew for best flavor - we could "extract" more liquid, thus increasing our yield but that gets us into negative (bitter) flavors. As to our roast "We roast it just like we roast all our coffees, striving to highlight natural flavors and sweetness." We are going to be in the medium range for all our roasts, though the Hero Day is enjoyed by those who say they like a darker roast as well.

Packaging is coming along, and changing but it's going to help us actually have a margin... Most of our cost is in raw beans and labor.
If you want to chat more feel free to email sam at firstascentcoffee.com 

bearded sam wrote:

Hi Mark, 

A few things about our coffee - we are sourcing current crop, specialty grade coffee. This alone makes the price at a point it will never be close to the Via. We would have to cut our green costs by the range of %80 to get there. We believe based on price and tasting coffee that part of how they get coffee so cheap is to use coffee that isn't fresh crop. Second we brew for best flavor - we could "extract" more liquid, thus increasing our yield but that gets us into negative (bitter) flavors. As to our roast "We roast it just like we roast all our coffees, striving to highlight natural flavors and sweetness." We are going to be in the medium range for all our roasts, though the Hero Day is enjoyed by those who say they like a darker roast as well.

Packaging is coming along, and changing but it's going to help us actually have a margin... Most of our cost is in raw beans and labor.
If you want to chat more feel free to email sam at firstascentcoffee.com 

Thanks for the clarity Sam! I wouldn’t expect you to be close to Via in price being a small business. That was a reference to where - while I like a decent cup of coffee at my tailgate - that I thought was near the limit I’d pay for instant coffee. You’ve done your homework and most likely understand your market opportunity. 

Hell, same could be said for what I pay for some speciality beers! Others would think it’s too expensive. It’s all in what your vice is!

With that you’ve a great Outside endorsement and I’m certain many loyal customers and wish you much success!

Can also vouch for NW Alpine. They make some great gear. Black spider hoodies and their softshell pants/jacket are especially awesome.

I just wish there were more options for chalk bags

https://www.recworx.com/

Awesome upcycled bags of all types. based in eastern Washington. Doesn't have any on the site right now but he makes high quality chalk bags and buckets too