The handmade history behind Kluane Mountaineering

If you’ve recently had your head turned by an insta account displaying a treasure trove of jaw-droppingly beautiful down products from a mysterious but clearly well established brand called Kluane Mountaineering then you are not alone. After a couple of hours spent gazing lovingly at their dreamy inner/outer parkas and stunning hunter/hiker vests I decided to investigate further and find out just exactly who Kluane are. Like a lot of the best outdoor brand origin stories the story starts in 1970, with two Canadian students John Faulkner and Jim Brown, who not being ableto afford high quality sleeping bags decided to set about sewing their own. A real learning process, John and Jim refined their bags as they went along, improving the quality and style each time until they found that they were onto something really good and so set about starting their own sleeping bag business. Which is when they hired  Lucy (a former production manager at Levi’s in Edmonton) as head seamstress and rented a commercial building in which to begin Kluane Mountaineering. As their products gained popularity, Lucy, knowing they were onto a good thing, decided to buy into the business and so became a co-owner. Clearly a smart cookie, Kluane Mountaineering now make some of the best down sleeping bags in the world.

Expanding their range John, Jim and Lucy used their sleeping bag expertise to design products based on a need for warm and practical clothing. Just like their first forays into sleeping bags, their early garments were created through a process of trial and error before perfecting their crafte and creating garments where quality is of the utmost importance. Using only the very best Canadian goose and duck down due to its superior warmth and very light weight, each Kluane Mountaineering item is individually hot cut (to seal the nylon) and then hand made (never mass produced). Kluane Mountaineering garments are made with the utmost care and quality to ensure customer satisfaction every time Kluane jackets’ warmth to weight ratio allows superior comfort in the harshest conditions. Thanks in no small part to their use of supreme high loft 100% white Canadian duck down, one ounce of which will fill 850 cubic inches.

Tested in the harshest and most unfiorgiving palces on the planet, Kluane Mountaineering products have been used on almost every mountaintop, including Mt. Everest and Mt. Kilimanjaro, spanning every continent including the North Pole and Australia. With everyone from government agencies and oil patch workers to lawyers, doctors, ranchers and dog sledders making up the list of Kluane’s most loyal customers. Their technical know how has also been called upon by the Canadian Mountain Ranger Service as well as several Expedition teams fo whom they have manufactured special tactical garment designs for. Providing a bespoke, customised service where every garment is handmade and cut to order with a personal touch that no large corporation can match.

Despite demands from the great and the good for them to go global, Kluane Mountaineering have stuck to their guns. Rejecting the world of ecommerce and seasonal drops in favour of making their exceptional down products specifically to the demands of the customer, which means that these are the guys who can make the down parka/vest/sweater of your dreams, made exactly to your size and specifications. Think Savile Row meets Nanga with some OG North American outdoor magic thrown in for good luck and you’ve got Kluane Mountaineering, a brand who perfected their art and then decided to stay perfect rather than selling out.

Click HERE to order the down jacket of your dreams from Kluane Mountaineering.