How It All Began

Trek Light was officially founded by Seth Haber in 2003, but the seeds were planted much earlier along dirt roads, summers spent camping in New England, and some sleepless nights in the American West.

Over the years we've focused on a simple, but grand, mission of spreading happiness and changing the world one customer at a time.

We make products for people who live their lives with passion. For people who believe in following their dreams and in the power of a smile to change the world.

In our years of press, both Martha Stewart's magazine and Penthouse have raved about what we do - and that's gotta count for something. 

Well, that's the short story. 

Here's the campfire version in Seth's words:

My love of the outdoors brought me from Rhode Island to Boulder, Colorado (via Australia) in the fall of 2001. I instantly fell in love with the American West and I became a tireless weekend warrior obsessed with seeing as much of the new landscape around me as possible.

Every Monday when I was back at work from a mini-adventure, I realized that there were moments and feelings from the weekend that stayed with me even when my less-exciting cubicle replaced the open road.

If you've ever sat at your desk after a vacation and closed your eyes to feel yourself back on the beach or back at your campsite listening to the wind in the trees, then you know the feeling.

It always comes in those brief moments when life finally slows down just enough for you to become aware of how beautiful it all is.

I knew two things at that moment in my life: It was these incredible memories of contentment and relaxation that were the key to creating a healthy balance in my busy life. And, if I did it right, I knew I could find that 'vacation feeling' with nothing more than a weekend and the desire to get out and explore. I could even find it in my own backyard.

So I made it my mission to go out to search for those vivid experiences every chance I could. Friday night to Sunday night I explored, got lost, and felt alive. A weekend of camping and seeing new places felt like a week's vacation every time, and I soaked it in every chance I got.

But it was during one of these weekend adventures that I realized something: I wasn't actually sleeping all that well.

No matter how much I love camping, the reality is that it's not an easy thing to find a perfectly soft, level spot to set up your tent every time. 

The altitude in Colorado also means that it often still gets cold at night even in the middle of summer. So I’d find myself bundling up in layers and tossing and turning on the hard ground until I fell asleep (whiskey often helped with that). And then the sun would rise, the tent would turn into an oven, and I’d be up at 6 am tearing off layers of clothes and grumbling unhappily (the whiskey is no longer my friend at this point).

Something had to change.

I was going into the wilderness to recharge and relax yet I was coming back exhausted and couldn’t wait to sleep in my bed when I got home.

It was a night spent sleeping in a hammock under the stars that changed everything.

The hammock I slept in wasn't actually that comfortable, it left little rope marks all over my back and felt like I woke up in a fishing net (I did). But I also woke up feeling like I had the best night's sleep I had had in years, even at home.

I knew right away that I had found the answer I was looking for and I began to research everything I could about hammocks.

I realized that people have been sleeping in hammocks around the world for centuries, yet for some reason, I had never considered them to be anything more than a backyard accessory. So I made it my mission to find a hammock that was lightweight, portable, durable like the rest of my gear, and comfortable enough to create that blissful feeling every time I used it.

My quest for the perfect hammock began with a camping need, but the more time I spent in a hammock the more it became a life-changing item for me. A mantra began repeating in my head: Life is better in a hammock. Everything is better in a hammock.

The Trek Light Hammock was born.

By the summer of 2003, I was traveling all over the state of Colorado selling hammocks at local festivals and shows and spreading my philosophy that no matter what your passion and hobbies are or how crazy your life is, you are never too busy to take a few moments and relax along the way.

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It's hard to believe that almost 20 years have passed since I first fell asleep in a hammock and my life changed forever.

What began as a grassroots passion project (ah, those early days of selling hammocks at music festivals, street fairs, and literally from the back of my car) eventually would grow to become a cultural phenomenon and lightweight hammocks morphed into an entirely new product segment of the outdoor industry. Walk through any college quad, campsite, park, or outdoor store today and it’s nearly impossible to not see a portable hammock being used or being sold.

By dedicating our business to a 1-For-1 give back model from the start, together we’ve planted tens of thousands of trees all over the globe, given essential school supplies to children around the world, and raised much-needed funds to help eradicate cancer. (You can read more about all that here)

I also met Heather in 2013 (here's our story) - who would quickly become an integral part of shaping Trek Light into the amazing lifestyle brand it is today. And now that we've added children to our party it's incredible that I can say that Trek Light is now a Family Business working to bring you happiness every step of the way.

From blankets to apparel and everywhere in between, our product line continues to expand and our mission is to always make products that allow you to trek lightly, and find those 'life is beautiful' moments wherever you are.

Thank you for joining me (and all of us) on this mission, supporting our small business, and being part of the ongoing Trek Light story.

The best is yet to come.

 

 

Seth Haber

Trek Light | Founder, CEO