COTTAGE COTERIE

7 BACKPACKING BRANDS FLYING UNDER YOUR RADAR

- HILARY WHITE

Some of the best brands out there for outdoor gear are ones of which most people have never heard.

These are the cottage companies, small businesses and start-ups with low-to-zero overhead who started out making their own gear in garages or basements (or possibly still do) because what they wanted wasn't already on the market.

Most of these companies are ultralight-minded; the gear that the big brands were selling simply didn't cut it for them, so they set out to do it better. Their costs are low (small teams, no massive inventories) and their quality is high because ultralight is their aim and everything is hand-stitched in-house right here in America (though of course, there are cottage industries all over the world). Unlike the big brands, many of these guys will customize your order, and you may even be speaking to the founder himself when you call in.

Most cottage companies were founded out of basements or garages, their founders driven to fine-tune a product that wasn't up to snuff on his or her adventures. Pictured here is a scene from Enlightened Equipment founder Tim Marshall's early basement setup.

Today, America is overly dependent on foreign workers and resources, but we have what it takes right here to design and fabricate the best products on the planet. Sure, it may cost a little more and take longer to make. But you get what you pay for, and isn't it more meaningful to support your fellow outdoor enthusiasts while also getting gear made especially for you? Before you go for that name brand, consider one of the little guys; you might be surprised just how much better the product's quality is, despite the unknown brand. Here's a look at a handful of cottage companies to get behind.

1 ENLIGHTENED EQUIPMENT