But, Do You Know Poler?

Words by Tom Fjord

Psst…y’know Poler yet? Y’noticed the warm ubiquity of that #campvibes hashtag swimming through your social media? If the answer ain’t yes, it will be.

Poler Stuff is a small US brand crafting gear for outdoor adventure — tents and packs, jackets and caps, etc. Simple enough, yes? Camping! Stab loves. Stab ain’t afraid to sleep on the ground for a wave.

But here’s the twist: while most outdoor gear is a bad dream of harsh technical fabrics and drab design, Poler says no. Instead, their styles are right. The vibe is young. It’s all over the right people — skaters like Alex Olson and Arto Saari, designers and art directors, photographers, surfers, bicycling ad execs and filmmakers and basically everyone fab in the great Pacific Northwest. (Poler is based appropriately in Portland, Oregon — part of the new urban triumvirate of American cool that includes Brooklyn and Austin, Texas. Nice little surf community, too.)

“Aesthetically we’re not trying to reinvent the wheel,” says co-founder Benji Wagner, extra bearded, wearing his brand’s Poler x Brixton collab cap (nearly sold out!). “It’s based on classic, less-is-more, simple design. But then in functionality, we’re trying to bring new ideas and new layers to something that may have already existed.”

Take, for example, the Poler Napsack — a hooded, wearable sleeping bag that works as well for couch-surf trips as real surf trips and is more or less a Poler invention. Original. Useful. Fly as.

“You know,” continues Benji, “there’s a lot of brands that just make cool T-shirts, cool shorts or jeans or whatever, and we’re trying to bring cool T-shirts too, but also hopefully some really pragmatic, functional stuff that we saw kind of lacking.”

Obviously Poler ain’t the first to pitch a tent, so to speak. But they may be first to do so with a mod design sense and an ear to the bumpy ground. They may be first to make it rad. Benji says, “When it comes down to it, hopefully Poler is an inspirational, aspirational thing where people relate to the culture and relate to the stories we’re telling, and they want to buy our tent because they’re down and it’s something they want to support.”

In this he describes precisely why the brand — just a couple years old and nearing 70k Instagram followers at press time (RVCA has 31k and Volcom has 95k for comparison) — boasts the type of cult following that ol’ Justin Biebs would drown a cat for. Collaborations with Brixton and Stance are already in the books. A joint with Nike is coming soon. Must be those aforementioned #campvibes — Poler’s why-so-serious philosophy of being outside, travel and fun.

Benji again: “The root is just the idea of the road trip and time spent traveling, camping, getting from place to place to do the things you love — whether it’s surfing or snowboarding or whatever. We’re just trying to start a culture that supports people’s passion for that, and creates unique products in a space that didn’t really exist.”

Road-trips with pals, ridin’ waves, slappin’ fives… turns out folks dig such things. Stab digs them, too.

Scope the latest and greatest from Poler Stuff right here. Then go outside, love, it’s gorgeous!