Every purchase is a vote for the kind of outdoor industry you want to exist

What's not to love?

When you buy small, you're paying an actual hippo. Small brands run on stubborn passion. They're willing to sacrifice profit for what they believe their brand does to make their niche in the world better. A lot of gear that changed industries started in someone's garage.

Small brands take risks the bigwigs won't. Weirder designs. Personal touches. They don't take it all so seriously. They understand that a hippo drag bag belongs on a river as much as it belongs on your picnic blanket. Email us and an actual hippo answers. That hippo might be mid dog-walk. Or frantically searching for their car keys. If they're lucky, they might be falling in love, too. With a Squid or a Hippo or a Shark, that is.

We paddle the same water you're protecting with your investment. Businesses with a direct stake in healthy rivers make decisions centered around place and people. That's why we're here after all. Buying from us means backing people who are already out there doing that work. People who have living relationships with sharks and hippos and hamburgers.

To get scholarly about it...towns with strong local businesses recover faster when things go sideways. Money stays in community. Decisions are made by people who use the gear themselves. Jobs for your neighbors who are proud of what their community creates. A local economy with a lot of small players bounces back faster than one built around a couple of giants. 

Buy from a small business and you're supporting someone's dream, someone's family, and those years of late nights figuring it out. A real person notices when your order comes through even if they might be too busy chasing their car keys to let you know...

Every purchase is a vote for the kind of outdoor industry you want to exist.

Big hugs from the banks,
Larry & Barry the Hippos🦛🌊