Local Gear for Local People
I’m confident that what I build is among the best in the world.
Z-Packs, Gossamer Gear, Mountain Laurel Designs—these names might be familiar to those who closely follow the evolution of outdoor equipment, but others more used to browsing their local outdoor store’s well-known brands may be left scratching their heads. Well, the times they are a-changin’. The last decade has seen a slew of independent, online-only US cottage manufacturers—like the trio mentioned above—producing a new wave of innovative ultralight gear. But while the trend may have started Stateside, Aussies have our own crop of homegrown sewing heroes.
In a one-room workshop above a carpenter’s studio on an industrial estate in Campbellfield, Melbourne, I enter the lair of Evan Howard, owner and sole employee of Terra Rosa Gear. His workspace is gleefully splashed with pot plants and quirky artwork, the walls decorated with maps of remote parts of Canada. Peering through the greenery I find the man himself wrapped in a battered canvas and leather apron, hairy and grinning, scissors poised above a large cutting table. Rolls of fabric line the walls and sewing machine benches are arranged haphazardly around the floor, ready for action. I can almost feel the momentum in the air, the buzz of success.
