The Magazine of The Sierra Club
Top Gear
Five cool companies that let you customize your adventure apparatus
Baked Bean Surfboard | Photo courtesy of Disrupt
Outdoor and sports gear used to be bespoke and handmade—and then came mass production. So says Gary Elphick, CEO of Disrupt Sports, an Australia-based company that aims to challenge mass production with mass customization. “We accepted an 80-percent fit for the reduction in cost,” he says. “In sports, especially, everyone is different—their body, their performance, and their design taste. Now, we all get to have our cake and eat it.”
Disrupt offers thousands of custom designs for surfboards, skateboards, and snowboards, as well as sports balls and yoga mats. And, they’re not the only ones playing the personalization game. Design online or over the phone—and these five companies will handle the rest.
Disrupt Sports (photo above)
Headquartered in Bondi Beach, Disrupt (which operates factories in America, too) is tackling inefficiencies and waste in the manufacturing industry by using CAD (computer-assisted design) and 3D printing technology, combined with an online catalogue of more than 10,000 designs for surfboards, skateboards, snowboards, and yoga mats. Choose from among artists’ designs, or upload your own graphics—and then simply wait for your new toy to arrive at your door.
The limited-edition "Black Creek" line from Kindred Snowboards | Photo courtesy of Kindred Snowboards
In incorporating traditional marquetry, pine-based resins, and custom touches into Vancouver Island douglas fir, Kindred has become the new go-to brand for rootsy, one-of-a-kind skis, snowboards, split boards, and even snow kiteboards. Start with a brainstorm with Evan and Angie (the Canadian couple who work out of an old cabinet-making shop behind their house); add original artwork and wood veneers—in anything from walnut to tamo ash—and end up with a high-performance board that’s almost too beautiful to ride.
Kryptek Highlander camo binoculars | Photo courtesy of Maven
Look cool while you take a look or go birding with stylish binoculars tailored to your tastes. Offering a choice between four sizes, three magnification levels, seven styles of camo (including snakeskin), and myriad color combinations for every wheel, ring, cap, and plate, Maven’s build-your-own binos are catching the eyes of trampers, birdwatchers, and beyond.
Panel Loader Pack | Photo Courtesy of McHale & Company
Does your pack have scratchy straps? No side zippers? We’ll let you in on a little secret called McHale Alpine Packs. Dan McHale—a veteran climber whose claim to climbing fame is discovering the Needles region of California’s southern Sierra—allows fellow climbers to personalize his ultralight packs by fabric type and color, webbing, size, and accessories. Think added map pockets, or a tilted water bottle holster that barely calls on you to bend your elbow.
Limmer Custom Boots | Photo courtesy of Peter Limmer & Sons
This fourth-generation bootmaker has had an 18-month backlog for decades. The company, which launched in 1919, started in Tyrolean walking shoes, and went on to patent the first U.S. downhill ski boot. Limmer now offers Bavaria-made stock boots with Vibram soles at its retail store in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Hikers with two different-sized feet, precise depth requirements for insoles, or an obsession with the one-of-a-kind can order custom, too, but they must go to the shop for a proper fitting.
