2015 American Made Outdoor Gear Award Finalists Announced

The American Made Outdoor Gear Award, which annually celebrates the stories of companies with a commitment to American manufacturing and sourcing in the outdoor market, announces the finalists for the 2015 American Made Outdoor Gear Awards.  The winners will be announced at a ceremony on Thursday, January 22, 2015, in Salt Lake City, Utah, during the Outdoor Retailer Winter Market.

Under 10 Employees:

The American Mountain Company, Clarkston, Mich.

Topo Designs, Denver, Colo.

Vedavoo, Lancaster, Mass.

Voormi, Pagosa Springs, Colo.

Zootility, Sommerville, Mass.

10 to 50 Employees:

Hyperlite Mountain Gear, Biddeford, Maine

Misty Mountain, Banner Elk, N.C.

United by Blue, Philadelphia, Pa.

Sylvan Sport, Brevard, N.C.

Dahlgren Footwear, West Linn, Wash.

50-100 Employees:

Duluth Pack, Duluth, Minn.

Polar Bottle, Boulder, Colo.

Sterling Rope, Biddeford, Maine

Stormy Kromer, Ironwood, Mich.

Timbuk2, San Francisco, Calif.

100+ Employees:

Cascade Designs, Seattle, Wash.

Jackson Kayak, Sparta, Tenn.

L.L. Bean, Freeport, Maine

Lifetime Products, Clearfield, Utah

Princeton Tec, Trenton, N.J.

The Grand Prize winner, selected from the category finalists, receives one-year ownership of ‘Sassy,’ a hand carved, 3-foot-tall, redwood Sasquatch from Humboldt County, Calif. Category winners receive miniature versions of the award, and all entrants receive a certificate of participation.

Over 110 domestic manufacturers in the outdoor market participated in the third-annual “Sassy” award program.

“With each award cycle the number of participants has grown steadily as has the quality of the applications,” said Jeff Turner, Kokatat sales and design manager. “These 20 companies have such amazing and inspiring stories to share it will be a difficult decision to select for each category let alone one overall winner.”

The American Made Outdoor Gear Award was founded in 2013 by Kokatat, the paddlesports apparel and gear company known for its longstanding commitment to American manufacturing, to recognize the leaders in American made quality, craftsmanship and creativity in the outdoor world. Judged by a group of outdoor industry peers, the American Made Outdoor Gear Award application includes more than 30 questions regarding the size, scope and success stories of domestic production.

Past grand prize winners include Liberty Bottleworks in 2013 and Benchmade Knife Company in 2014.

Kokatat’s creation of the awards is rooted in its own history, as the brand’s founder and president, Steve O’Meara, recognized from the start that keeping production local was necessary in order to control quality and continually develop the finest and driest paddling apparel in the world.

“I began Kokatat at a time when there was no such thing as domestic manufacturing; all manufacturing was domestic,” O’Meara said.  “In today’s global economy, companies have many choices for suppliers and manufacturers and it’s fantastic to see so many of them choosing American first and keeping manufacturing from becoming a myth like our friend Sassy.”