Alpkit do everything in-house. The product design team sit next to merchandising who sit next to the finance team. Develop posts are the design team’s section of the website, aimed at sharing insights into the development of new products and technology and explaining design decisions.
I ghostwrote Develop posts on behalf of the designers, thoroughly researching technologies, finding angles for the development stories and adapting to their voices.
Light, strong, simple: the Oryx backpack
It was a conversation with one of the UK’s gnarliest climbers that inspired us to make this pack. The Oryx backpack was to be extremely lightweight, simple, and strong – with a decent capacity to boot. Perfect for fast, minimalist alpinism.
New UK made bikepacking range
Strapping stuff to bikes and taking them into the outdoors was by no means a new concept back when we started. But when it came to making our own purpose-designed rackless range to meet our every bikepacking need, we were at the forefront.
UK-made climbing packs
When you start looking for a new climbing pack, it doesn’t take long to realise that there’s a huge crevasse in the market where good quality, affordable climbing packs should be.
Branching out with the Rando bikepacking range
Our UK-made products are pretty good (if we do say so ourselves): we tweak them constantly, the range is comprehensive, and demand is so high that we just can’t make them fast enough…
Our new gaiter range
Happy feet: one of the biggest factors to get right for a simply great day in the hills. Of course, happy feet start with well-selected socks and footwear, but in many conditions a pair of gaiters do wonders for your comfort levels (especially in the UK!).
Gripping developments in gloves
Standing before Tower Gap, nearing the top of Tower Ridge, absolutely freezing cold, and all I could think was “why oh why don’t we make gloves at Alpkit?”.
A Blank Canvas for our Tent Range
Tents have got expensive, it’s official.
There’s only one solution: a blank canvas. We swept aside everything we’d created before and discovered that making nice things on a budget is much harder than just making nice things. It was time to go back to basics…
The low-down on Polygiene
It almost goes without saying, but none of us want to be smelly – even when we’re out on an adventure!
Our new bouldering pads
Bouldering pads were one of the first things we designed. We have more experience than we’d care to disclose in falling off boulder problems. In fact, we’ve fallen off boulders all over the world, so it was only natural that we’d want to make things that we could fall onto.
Hati Whiteley 