Cottage Gear Guide: Ultralight Hiking & Backpacking Gear from Small, Startup, and Cottage Brands

Is it me, or is Durston Gear conspicuously absent from the article? I get that you can’t include everyone all the time, but I’m not sure how you author an article about cottage industry players being nimble and creative and not include Durston Gear? Hell, how do you author an article on ultralight backpacking gear at all and exclude Durston Gear? It can’t be that they have some of their products built in factories outside the US because HMG does that, too, and their gear is all over the list.

Also, the list of framed backpacks seems woefully inadequate with just two brands represented: HMG and GG. HMG doesn’t make a pack with load lifters and GG refuses to catch up to post-90s designs and offer a belt that tightens with a Scherer cinch. Not even so much as a nod to well-received pack makers like Superior Wilderness Designs, Atom Packs, ULA, Durston, etc. That’s a headscratcher.

The article seems to be targeting newbies, or those just starting to embrace the UL concept, but it kinda feels a little more like a list of limited favorites than a fair and balanced guide to the universe of backpacking cottage gear and brands.

And just to balance my nit-pickiness with something positive, I do like that the article mentions some very small players: Ponds Edge; Suluk46; UltraLite Sacks; Hartford Gear Co., etc. I personally am a fan of Troy at Ponds Edge and use him for making custom products for me (pole caps, pods, pack liners, etc.). I also have products made by all of those brands and I’m happy they’re represented for anyone new to UL to discover.

(PS – I thought maybe none of the contributors have ever used, or have any familiarity with, any products from any of the brands that are missing, but YouTube proves that to be wrong.)

I think it’s all Garage Grown Gear stuff. Affiliate links.

Doh. Ugh.

Continuing a trend in the emails, it’s getting harder to discern recommendations from adverts

Yeah it is. I had no idea that was an advertisement for GGG. I didn’t expect that sort of underhanded, self-dealing behavior here. Bummer.

It seems GGG has been pushed incredibly hard here lately. I get sponsorships, but it’s getting to be a bit much IMO.

It’s business. They do highlight some of the lessor known brands. Most of it’s quality. Sometimes it’s cheaper than buying directly.  I’ve inquired with them about their inclusiveness as well as protection of our wildlands to which they replied and I like their policies. I will continue to support them as a business. They do have their downside in that they tend to take the spotlight off of lessor known cottage industries. Sort of monopolizing it all. I try not to use them exclusively. They have grown quite a bit and they do represent a lot small business and help them grow. Overall, they’ve been good for the community.

TT all true but that’s not the point

Those same smaller brands that I mentioned are on Etsy and I’ve bought from them all on that site before they were on GGG.

I like GGG and I visit their website often. The difference is that when I go there I know what I’m getting and I don’t have to deal with them making things appear to be something they’re not. The article here disguising a plug for them as a “guide” to UL gear wasn’t expected and it kinda stings.

I get your point. I’ve realized it for a long time. It even says it in the newsletters. It was REI for awhile. GGG is a bit better. In our discussion on influencers, GGG sponsors their share. BPL is an influencer in its own way. I take it for what it’s worth and don’t pay much attention to it. I’m here to get your advice and to learn from everybody’s experience. I learned about a good hand washing valve today. Six bucks from CNOC. Plus shipping. I don’t think I’d carry it, but for camping, it would be nice.

Well, I’m becoming more educated to the trappings and diversions here. Like you, I enjoy the banter, the interaction, and the expansion of knowledge on BPL. I’ll just keep my antennae more acutely dialed-in on what I’m reading.

Sectionhiker recently published an astonishingly long list of small/cottage/craft manufacturers, most of which I had never heard of.

I love the innovative products that the cottage industry produces.  However, many use USPS for reasonable delivery costs.  In my neighborhood, USPS is totally unreliable. Delayed or never delivered, delivered to wrong addresses, and tracking that is often a simple lie.  I refuse to order unless there are options for other delivery options that I am willing to pay for.

Tracking is independent of the carriers. Often it reports what was supposed to happen rather than real world conditions. It reminds me of underground work. They have the original plans as well as the “as built”record showing the actual location. S*** happens. We have excellent P.O. employees here locally. I have no complaints. I get my packages in a few days and often early, even in snowy conditions.

Most of these US cottage manufacturers are effectively inaccessible to buyers in Canada unless buying expensive items, due to excessive shipping costs even though geographically its no further than US domestic.  Two Durston tents ran me $48US to ship from Kaviso but that’s a steal when comparing to most cottage companies that charge a starting cost of ~ $35US ($50Can) to ship even a $1 item whether USPS DHL or other.

So it could be worse :)

The Canadian version of GGG is Geartrade.ca and they do a good job representing cottage brands up here.

Shipping from GGG is often cheaper or even free compared to shipping from the manufacturer. Plus a 15% discount for signing up.

Not to Canada.  $35US or so shipping cost to start (even $1 items)

“BPL is an influencer in its own way.”

the thing is…it’s impossible for any one article to cover the entirety of the market for any given piece of gear. Is it ‘influencing’ when any site chooses to focus on one or two manufacturers…or is it just a recognition that the subject at hand is vast and can’t be covered in anything less than a tome, that will be out of date next year?

One could claim that editors at the New Yorker are ‘influencers’ because they don’t publish every poem, cartoon, article and piece of fiction submitted to them.  Everyone reads the New Yorker, and so it could be claimed that their editors ‘influence’ the taste of the time. But what’s the alternative?

Answer: be a wise consumer. Recognize context and explore on your own. Simple. We’re not wallet zombies who buy what we’re told.

(political zombies? perhaps.)

The New Yorker can be an influencer. It pays to be a skeptic. Question everything. Question everybody. Question me. Question yourself.

I too appreciate GGG for what they offer, but this “gear guide” should have been presented with the caveat that they are recommended items that are available from GGG, like they do with their list of recommended items from REI (IIRC).  That would have acknowledged their bias and preserved much of the integrity and transparency that I hope BPL still represents.
I’m surprised that Ryan hasn’t weighed in on the comments, but I imagine he’s pretty busy right now with BPL trail days.

“The New Yorker can be an influencer. It pays to be a skeptic. Question everything. Question everybody. Question me. Question yourself.”

Well then every publication and forum is “an influencer”. But then, the term loses any meaning. any time I express an opinion or merely agree with another person, it could be claimed that I’m being “an influencer”. What a stupid term.

there’s a line between being an informed consumer who knows how to read ads and reviews–as we all are at this point in society, so big whup–a line between that and doubting everything anyone says. assuming that everyone is out for themselves and will lie with a straight face leads to living in a horror show. No thanks.

You sound doubtful.

Did I mention shipping from US was goofy? But I saved a buck!

That would peas me off. That’s crazy. Shipping here would be about $5.