As we eagerly wait for our outdoor recreation spaces to open back up so that we can enjoy them under the social-distancing, mask-wearing, hand-washing, no-face-touching new normal, so too do our favorite small businesses serving the outdoor community. There’s no way to overstate the impact COVID-19 has had, and as insulated as you may have once thought “being a backpacking hermit in the mountains” may have been from the ills of the world, this world too has been impacted.
Small businesses catering to thru-hikers and doing-thing-outdoors enthusiasts are oftentimes less an abstract and faceless entity providing us with gear and are more like (or even literally) our friends and company on the trail. These businesses are oftentimes bootstrapped (i.e. completely self-supported and in a precarious financial position), but they never fail to take care of the people who depend on them. These are the companies headed up by your fellow backpackers – the ones that when you call, you are oftentimes talking to that company’s owner, and the ones that you might even know someone who knows someone who started “so-and-so”.
Garage Grown Gear, perhaps the largest proponent of the brands propping up our favorite small backpacking businesses, has put together a sale – from Thursday, May 21 thru (see what I did there?) Wednesday, May 27 – with some awesome brands offering some great discounts on our favorite backpacking gear.
Here’s a look at what you can (and should) get your hands on this week.
Rawlogy: 15% off ball sets
Rawlogy cork massage balls are an ultralight and ultra awesome to take care of your aching feet and body on the trail. For the next week, get 15% off all ball sets – all which include at least one 1.9″, a 2.5″, and a 4″ cork massage ball. Check them out here.
SlingFin: 15% off SplitWing Tent Bundle
SlingFin makes ultralight shelters (and some not-so-ultralight shelters) and the SplitWing Tent is chief among them. I used the SplitWing Tarp on the Lowest to Highest Route last year and loved it. Best of all? They’re affordable. Check out the SplitWing here.
Thrupack: 15% off + Free Shipping
Since getting my Thrupack Summit Bum, my hiking style has been revolutionized and days spent on the trail (and in town) have been much more enjoyable. The fanny pack should be a default part of your hiking kit. Seriously, get yourself one. Check out Thrupack here.
Kula Cloth: 10% off sitewide
So, disclaimer, I do not have any personal experience with Kula Cloth as they were originally designed with women in mind, but the women I know who use Kula Cloth products absolutely love them. Haven’t heard of Kula Cloth and don’t know what I’m walking about? Probably just check them out.
$65 for all standard size skirts and kilts + free shipping
20% off of all accessories
Up to 30% off the Camp at Home Collection
15% off site-wide
20% off site-wide
10% off some products (see site for details)
You can find (most) these deals (and more!) over at Garage Grown Gear as well.
If you haven’t already checked them out, you should. Garage Grown Gear is the champion of small business in the backpacking world. Discovering new outdoor brands via Garage Grown Gear today will have you talking like a backpacker hipster in no time. Once the companies featured there blow up and make it into the stock of the major retailers, you can browse the shelves with your friends and say things like, “Oh yeah, this company is great, I’ve been using their stuff since they were small. The owner is awesome!”
Questions? Comments? Favorite small backpacking brands? Throw them out in the comments below!
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