Women-owned Ultralight Gear Brands 2024
Ultralight Brands Founded and Run by Women
Treeline Review is a women-founded, women-owned outdoor gear review website – and that is why we're using our platform to amplify other women-owned and women-founded brands during International Women's Day.
Cottage outdoor brands are hand-sewn, often in the garage of the founder. For Women's History Month, we partnered with Garage Grown Gear to highlight these smaller brands that are owned by women. By supporting these women-owned brands, you get access to outdoor gear made in the US and keep dollars in the hands of women.
Our hope is that by sharing their stories, they can grow as companies and empower even more women to get involved in the outdoors.
Learn more in our comprehensive list of women-owned and women-founded outdoor brands.
This article was written in partnership with Garage Grown Gear.
We create reader-supported, objective gear reviews independently selected by our editors. This story may contain affiliate links, which help fund our website. When you click on the links to purchase gear, we may get a commission – without costing you an extra cent. Thank you for supporting our work and mission of outdoor coverage for every body! Learn more.
Garage Grown Gear
Amy Hatch founded Garage Grown Gear in 2012 to highlight small, cottage outdoor industry brands focused on ultralight thru-hiking. Since then, the company has grown with the goal of being the "REI of Ultralight Gear." Their dedication to giving a platform to women-owned brands is how we learned of all these new smaller brands and want to share them with you.
Alpine Fit
Treeline co-founder Liz Thomas and writer Kate Hoch with Alpine Fit Founder Jen (center) at PCT Days in Cascade Locks, OR.
Jen Loofbourrow founded Alpine Fit by combining a few of her passions: versatile outdoor apparel, using quality fabrics, and creating a good, creative work environment for her employees. The products are inspired by her favorite outdoor activities, and the company works to design clothing for every body. Alpine Fit makes the Bushwhacking Leggings, which are winners in our Best Hiking Tights guides, offered in XS-2X and in straight and curvy sizing.
Alt Route Meals
Alt Route Meals seeks to fill a void in the dehydrated food market: access to nutritious, plant-based meals. Founder Hope Westall hiked over 6,000 miles and summited over 100 peaks before beginning this company, and uses her outdoors experiences as the foundation, along with the core values of family, sustainability, and conservation.
Bushka's Kitchen
Founded by Deana Del Vecchio, Bushka’s Kitchen sells freeze-dried meals that prioritize nutrition, taste, and affordability. The nutrition profile of the meals are created with backcountry adventurers in mind, to keep folks fueled and full in a lightweight package.
Elavi
Michelle Razavi and Nikki Elliott founded LA-based company ELAVI, which makes nutritious snacks free of most common allergens. From collagen protein bars to superfood nut butters, everything is gluten free, dairy free, soy free, non-gmo, free from refined sugars, and tasty. Their nutrient-dense snacks are intended to provide energy and promote recovery.
Farm to Summit
Louise and Jane, a Durango-based couple, used their experiences in farming, fine dining, and ecology to start Farm to Summit. Not only does the company aim to produce delicious, nutritious meals for the backcountry, but they also aim to mend broken links in the food system to improve sustainability. Farm to Summit uses “seconds” (produce that doesn’t fit the strict aesthetic standards of the market) along with surplus product from farmers to craft their dehydrated meals.
Gnara
Outdoor enthusiasts and classmates Georgia Grace, Bianca Gonzalez, and Charlotte Massey launched Gnara (formerly SheFly) in 2018 out of their college dorm rooms in Vermont. Gnara’s Go There™ pants went viral for their innovative design that bucks the status quo. Today they remain an all-female team seeking to continue challenging the outdoor apparel industry and crafting products that make the outdoors accessible to all.
Good To-Go
Jennifer Scism was a restaurant owner and chef who trained at the French Culinary Institute in New York City before using her culinary expertise to start Good To-Go. This Maine-based company makes nutritious dehydrated backpacking meals that prioritizes taste for those sick of bland, boring dehydrated meals in the backcountry.
GREEN GOO
Green Goo is a women-owned, family-operated business – founded by Jodi, Jen, and Kathy Scott.
They make potent, portable first aid and body care products using only plant-based ingredients infused in enriching oils. They started small, making products for friends, family, and the local farmers market. Green Goo now aims to make organic more available and more affordable, while educating the world on sustainable business and healthcare practices.
Hartford Gear Co.
Founded by Georgia Wetmore, Hartford Gear Company produces gear that is simple and durable. The products are designed with an ultralight mindset of minimalism. And aside from the gear sold on the website, Wetmore also takes custom orders for fanny packs and other accessories for the user’s specific applications.
Heather's choice
Certified nutritionist psychology of eating coach Heather Kelly was tired of backpacking meals that weren’t as good as what she could make at home. She started Heather’s Choice to change that. The company’s lightweight, dehydrated food is made in Alaska from organic, wild caught, sustainably-raised ingredients with the goal of deliciousness in mind.
Itacate
Martha Y. Díaz uses her Mexican roots to create comforting meals for folks who might be intimidated by the lack of representation of folks who look like them in backpacking spaces. Itacate comes from the Nahuatl word Itacatl, which is the food that you take on a journey, as well as the bundle of food given to you to take home after a family gathering. These meals are inspired by folks like Díaz who may not see themselves represented in the outdoors, especially on the menu.
Karen’s Naturals
The fruits and vegetables sold by Karen’s Naturals are freeze-dried and dehydrated in such a way to retain as much color, nutrition, and flavor as possible. They are prepared in small batches and everything is free from added salt, sulfur, fat, artificial flavorings, sweeteners, and preservatives.
Kate's Real Food
Founder Kate Schade was making snack bars for ski days well before starting Kate’s Real Food. Now, her company makes six bar flavors with wholesome ingredients that come from responsible, organic farms. The bars blend carbohydrates and protein for lasting energy.
Kula Cloth
After witnessing an unsightly pile of toilet paper during a sunset hike in Washington, Anastasia Allison studied Leave No Trace ethics and began using a microfiber pee cloth in the backcountry. After realizing she wanted a prettier pee cloth, one she could be proud to tote on her pack as an actual piece of gear and not an afterthought, she founded Kula Cloth. Now the company makes pee cloths with many cool designs.
LokSak
Linda Kennedy is CEO and founder of LOKSAK, maker of the OpSak odor-proof sacks popular with backpackers and thru-hikers aiming to keep rodents and other wildlife away from their food bags. They also make aLokSak waterproof bags for electronics.
PR Adventure Skirts
PR Adventure Skirts was founded by Mandy Bland after her thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail. When she began her Pacific Crest Trail thru-hike in the skirt she designed, she knew she was onto something with the increased airflow and easier time peeing. Today, Bland makes each skirt herself with a yoga-style waistband, large pockets, and comfortable, durable, quick-dry material.
pStyle
The pStyle was founded by Krista Eickmann and produces stand-to-pee devices aimed at making it easier for folks to urinate in the outdoors. The company’s mission includes promoting the comfort, health and safety of women, non-binary, and trans people, reducing waste with reusable products, and conducting business in ways informed by intersectional feminist ethics and sustainability.
RightOnTrek
Victoria Livschitz is the Founding Chairman of the Board and Principal Investor of RightOnTrek, a company built “on the premise that creating and eating good food can enhance the experience of a backcountry trip.” RightOnTrek aims to help folks enjoy the outdoors to the fullest and build a greater connection to the wilderness through their meals.
Salsa Queen
Salsa Queen is a family-owned business that sells freeze-dried salsa for backcountry meals. Maharba Zapata, who legally changed her name to SalsaQueen upon obtaining her U.S. citizenship, founded the company as a means of providing for her seven children. The Day of the Dead-inspired logo honors her first son, who passed away from leukemia at 19 months old.
Salty Britches
Salty Britches is a soothing, long-lasting barrier against skin irritation for any occasion, though it was initially created to withstand saltwater chafing. Founder Amy Tucker started making the product for her young son, who couldn’t enjoy playing in the ocean without experiencing badly irritated, chafed skin. Salty Britches donates a tube to US Armed Forces or First Responders for every tube sold.
Toaks
Julie Shang (right) with Jennifer Pharr Davis (left) and hiker friends at Appalachian Trail Days in Damascus, VA.
TOAKS specializes in titanium cookware, cutlery, stoves, flasks, tent stakes, and windscreens, ideal for ultralight backpackers. Along with manufacturing, the company innovates, designs, engineers, and produces their own products. Julie Shang co-founded TOAKS in 2011 in Thousand Oaks, California.
ToughCutie
ToughCutie Founder and CEO Brittany Coleman started the business to support women, literally and figuratively. Working to dismantle the sexism often present at the table when designing outdoor clothing for women, ToughCutie produces socks unapologetically for women. The company is committed to inclusivity, with women in leadership roles throughout the chain.
Ultra Gam
Ultra Gam makes gaiters and sunsleeves from fun fabrics. Ultrarunner Theresa started the shop in 2013 with the goal of using design to protect hands and feet on the trail.
WEBO Gear
Westbound (WEBO) gear is a small operated shop run by Eliza with help from her partner, Shannon. As outdoor enthusiasts, they make affordable outdoor gear accessories designed for ultralight backpackers. All of their gear is handmade in the Bay Area, CA.
Wool-it
Katey Lane started Wool-it as a means of blister prevention and hot spot management. These small piles of wool you stick between your toes or slide into your socks are a simple, lightweight, and naturally moisture-wicking remedy to the common blister concerns of long-distance hikers.
Yumbini
The Oakland-based dehydrated food company, Yumbini, was founded by Jan Matsuno. Yumbini’s mission is to provide convenient, healthful foods while being mindful of the earth’s resources. The food is intended to be accessible to everyone, as many cultures around the world utilize rice and beans in their cuisine, which is the foundation of Yumbini.
