About Us
Built for the trail. Honest about it.
Alpine Folk is an independent ultralight outdoor gear brand based in New York City, founded in 2026. We make gear for trail runners, fastpackers, and alpine enthusiasts who count grams and expect their equipment to actually perform.
Alpine Folk exists because most outdoor gear companies have gotten away with mediocre products for too long. You've seen it: a rain jacket that's technically waterproof but breathes like a garbage bag. Hiking socks that pill after three washes. Tent stakes that bend in soft soil. Gear that works fine in the product photo and disappoints on mile 15 when the weather turns and your "waterproof" shell starts wicking inward.
We started Alpine Folk in New York City in 2026. The core team — Jake, Sara, Tom, and Kenji — had between us roughly 40 years of combined trail running, fastpacking, and alpine experience. We'd all spent real money on gear from brands we respected and been let down in the field. We decided to fix that for ourselves, and then for anyone else paying attention. We're now a team of nine.
The operating principle is simple: would we carry it in our own pack? If the answer is no, it doesn't make the cut. That standard forces us to be honest in ways that most outdoor brands aren't. A rain jacket should weigh under 200 grams and still block a real storm, not just a drizzle. Merino wool hiking socks need to survive 50+ miles before we put our name on them — because we've tested what happens when they don't, and blisters at altitude are not a minor inconvenience. Titanium tent stakes should weigh 7 grams each and actually hold a tarp in wind on exposed ground. Gear tested across 47 trail systems in 12 states.
We write specs with real numbers, not marketing approximations. When we say a dry bag is IPX7 rated, we mean it went in a bucket of water for 30 minutes and the contents stayed dry, not that we ran the DWR spec sheet by a copywriter and called it good.
We don't do influencer partnerships. We don't run seasonal hype drops. We don't have a loyalty points program. We have gear that works, honest descriptions of how it works, and a 30-day return policy — defective or not, original condition, free prepaid return label, no restocking fees. Our product line is deliberately small because we'd rather stake our name on 10 things we'd carry up a mountain than 200 things that are fine. We're stocked by four independent outdoor specialty shops in Portland and Seattle, and we ship to the United States and Taiwan.
Our gear has been tested on trails from the Cascades and Olympics to the Whites, the Sierra, and the Wind Rivers. It performs there because it's built to.
Alpine Folk. Built for the trail. Honest about it.
Our most popular gear: Trail Running Hydration Vest (5L), Packable Puffy Vest (Women's), and Ultralight Packable Rain Jacket.