A word from the originator – Jack Stephenson

I started hiking in NH White Mtns in 1940, with parents. Introduced Joan to these pleasures in fall of 1954, she passed despite camping in Hurricane Carol, so we married & spent a great honeymoon in Colorado hiking & climbing, including Long’s Peak. Continued on to Ca where the aerospace job (to support hiking) was, and climbed Mt Whitney, with a serious awakening to need for comfortable backpacking equipment. Previous experience with sail making, and fabrics, led to a warm and light Down insulated sleeping bag, and a comfortable, hip carry, backpack. Tents? Not needed then, since a 9×12 polyethylene sheet would serve as temporary shelter, except when the wind blew.

Hiking buddy Bill Bleakney, tall and lean, always cold in his 17 lbs of 2 Dacron insulated bags (he thought he was allergic to down), was a challenge: how to keep him as warm as us in our 3 1/4lb down bags? So I made him a small tunnel tent with 7 layers of fabric stretched 3/4″ apart, calculated to match our down bags, which it did. BUT it weighed 4 ½ lbs, a failure to me, but ultimate comfort for Bill! Thus I tried a greatly “improved” tapered 2 person insulated tent. The fabric insulation was a failure, but the tent an ultimate storm proof success, leading to our full line of tents for all uses.

Materials have been greatly improved since then, and design process and accurate cutting, with precise sewing has made them ever better. Maybe the most important element of our production has been exceptionally skilled seamstresses, working in their homes, at their pace, with only goal to make the very best. They are true professionals, paid as such, and the results are well worthwhile. At 77 I can still sew, but never did as well as any of our excellent production crew.

None of this would be possible without the skills of Jane Fortin, our shop manager. She makes sure that materials are cut, packaged, and delivered to sewers, then checked for accuracy, and eventually sent to customers. Sounds simple, but gets complicated with all the options we offer to make sure every Sleeping Bag, Tent, or bit of clothing, matched specific needs of each customer. Makes me glad that my son William now owns and operates the business, and he has Jane to assure success.
This business is an excellent example of adaptive evolution: We adapt to every proven improvement in materials or design, as they come, and NEVER make changes just for sake of change or “new” image! What works stays! Those who buy only based on “new” or “changed” soon come to us to get what really works.

I expect that William and Jane will continue with only products that work, and make changes mostly on the Web site so customers can learn more and faster!