Hardwear Sessions

View More Pictures from the Designers' Rainier Trip

About a month ago, the Mountain Hardwear design team headed to Mt. Rainier. Here, our materialogist Gaston McMillan describes the trip's impact upon his design philosophy. Gaston first delivered this piece as a presentation at the Industrial Fabrics Association International's annual conference in Las Vegas. Gaston gave his presentation the day after the team returned from Rainier.

By Gaston McMillan

I've just come from a climb on Mount Rainier in Washington. The peak is at 14,400 ft and is a wonderful place to spend time as well as the premier training ground for anyone going to greater, more difficult places like the high ranges in Alaska or any of the 8,000M peaks around the world including Aconcagua, K2, or Everest. Rainier is a big powerful mountain with beautiful glaciers, laid on the shoulders of a sleeping volcano. I was there with the Mountain Hardwear product managers, several of our designers, and the Rainier Mountain Institute guides with whom we work. Our intention was to first; be able to spend time with and get meaningful feedback from the guides -- unfiltered -- on our gear and the means of communicating more effectively in the future; 2nd, to have a meaningful, shared experience among all of us and 3rd, to attempt to ring that bell at the top, or more plainly, to try for the summit.

Our athletes and field testers have long wished for a lightweight softshell designed for high-impact aerobic activities, something that could stand up to inclement weather, feel good next to the skin, and accommodate a wide range of movements. When Gore-Tex introduced a new generation of WINDSTOPPER fabrics, including a stretch knit, our designers realized that they had found the perfect starting point.

By Alex Baires

Pull out your camping gear one more time before the weather changes. Or, if you need to upgrade, consider treating yourself to a Mountain Hardwear Light Wedge tent, Foray pack, or award-winning UltraLamina bag. These, among with a few select other Mountain Hardwear equipment styles sold in the U.S. come with a "Leave No Trace" outdoor ethics tag. This is our way of asking you to take a minute to think about your impact on the outdoors during your trips.

In a joint effort with Leave No Trace, Mountain Hardwear included outdoor ethics tags with approximately 7,000 packs, bags, and tents sold in the U.S. this Spring/Summer. We plan to continue this program next Spring/Summer and in the meantime, feel free to use this PDF file to print your own Leave No Trace outdoor ethics tag (on recycled paper, of course). Or, we would be happy to send you a tag if you send a self-addressed stamped envelope to:

Mountain Hardwear Gives Back LNT Outdoor Ethics Tag, ATTN. Alex 4911 Central Ave. Richmond, CA 94804

Looking forward to a good winter with lots of good snow in the mountains...

By Sean McDevitt
Mountain Hardwear Design

When we started the Viperine tent project, we set out to make the most efficiently designed, 2 person tent that was actually livable but light enough for backpacking. We wanted it to be strong enough for most conditions but competitive on weight and price. We build a lot into our tents, such as welded zipper flaps and full taped perimeter seams — features that our competitors often skip. These features add weight and cost but also add functionality. In a world where customers shop on weight per square foot, we are challenged to deliver tents that live up to our standards of quality and still deliver on weight. Eventually, after much work, our lead tent Designer Martin Zemitis came up with what we think is a ground breaking design.