The Best Gear Company You’ve Never Heard Of
New Zealand-based outdoor brand Kathmandu is making a global name for itself by combining accessible adventure gear and apparel with forward-thinking environmental initiatives
Back in 2013, global explorer, environmental scientist, and Kathmandu brand ambassador Tim Jarvis thought it would be fun to retrace Sir Ernest Shackleton’s footsteps across the mountains of South Georgia while wearing the same gear that Shackleton did in 1916. “I was interested to see how I would handle doing things with the tools they had during the heroic era of polar exploration,” Jarvis says.
He did fine at the start, but the old gear eventually got in his way. “I was wearing animal pelts that got heavy and didn’t breathe and chafed. Honestly it was tough to cope with and I missed my Kathmandu down jacket.”