Quick-dry cargo shorts. Paracord belts. Those all-terrain fanny packs with the water-bottle holsters.
Nobody said dressing to impress in the outdoors was sexy. But when you’re huddled under a lean-to in a sideways downpour 20 miles from the nearest cell tower, sexy doesn’t matter.
Performance does.
And no one knows performance better than Kokatat’s American Made Outdoor Gear Awards, who just named Hyperlite Mountain Gear the best outdoor outfitter of 2016 at the Outdoor Retailer Winter Market in Salt Lake City.
Hyperlite creates ultralight packs, shelters, bags and overlanding accessories from its own blend of Dyneema Cuben Fiber — a non-woven composite laminate developed by a nuclear weapons physicist and an aerospace engineer that we profiled earlier this year. In addition to Cuben, which is 100% waterproof, has a high chemical resistance and is four times stronger than Kevlar, Hyperlite’s focus on domestic manufacturing as a method to drive innovation and growth made the company stand out.
Kokatat, the company that organizes the awards, felt that the people behind Hyperlite had the best “made in America” story (they run production out of a decommissioned mill in Maine), and thus made them the fourth recipients of the “Sassy” — a three-foot wooden Sasquatch bestowed upon the annual winner.
You can check out some of our favorite gear from Hyperlite below.
Dyneema Duffel Bag | $595
Echo II Ultralight Shelter System | $675
Stuff Pack | $105
4400 Windrider Pack | $355
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