About Hilltop Packs

I started Hilltop Packs in my basement in 2019. But the real story is much older than that. The experiences I've gained over the years were like ingredients for the perfect recipe to build Hilltop Packs.

I've been sewing since 1990-1992 (high school). My wife and I have owned a photography studio that has been in operation since 2004 that also includes a print shop. Printing on vinyl, canvas, wood, glass, photo paper, and more... this gave us the know-how that would later serve us very well. I have never had a "real job," owning and operating several businesses since the age of 15. I don't claim to be the best business person, however, along the way I've developed a high tolerance for risk while I figure things out.

I got into backpacking around 2017. What I couldn't find back then was ultralight backpacking gear with any personality. Everything on the market was technically excellent and visually identical, same shade of blue, green & gray. I wanted my gear to actually be mine. So around 2019 I tried printing on Dyneema, sewed a food bag with a printed bear on the fabric, posted it on social media, and the response was wild enough that I knew I had an opportunity to explore.

That was the moment Hilltop Packs started.

A perfect storm

Running businesses was already deeply engrained into our family. Hilltop happened because all the skills our family learned over the years came together at once, graphic design, photography, sewing machines, a print shop, some business sense, and a stubborn belief that backpacking gear could visually and uniquely represent the person carrying it.

Why we make custom gear

When I started, I was just making bags for friends. Every one of them came back with the same kind of feedback, "It felt like I had a piece of my life with me on trail." and that the gear felt like it "inspired them."

That stopped me in my tracks. They weren't talking about the gear. They were talking about how the gear made them feel. Talked about what was on the gear, a photo of a kid on a dry bag, a print of a dog on a stuff sack, a trail name or a past trail memory on a food bag. The gear stopped being a thing they carried and became part of the trip and the experience itself.

That's when I knew Hilltop wasn't really a gear company. It's closer to a small-batch print shop, printing memories, that happens to sew backpacking gear. Every piece we make is a chance to put something meaningful on something useful.

What "handmade in Pennsylvania" actually means

We make every single piece by hand in our shop at 1006 E Greene Street in Waynesburg, PA. Not just designed here. Not just assembled here. Made here. Cut, sewn, printed, packed, and shipped, all by someone whose face is on our team page below.

If you send us a photo, custom pattern, your trail name, a logo, your kid's finger paint drawing, anything, we can print it on D50T fabric, Dyneema, or Ecopak fabric and turn it into a piece of motivation, or the very least a conversation piece. Most ultralight brands can't do this. We can.

Hilltop Packs costs a little more than a mass-produced equivalent. We're not pretending otherwise. What you get for the difference is a piece of gear made by a real person in a real shop in Pennsylvania, a print or pattern nobody else has, and a warranty backed by the same crew who built it.

You won't pass another hiker on trail with the same gear as yours. Blaze your own path instead of following someone else's.

The team

These are the people whose hands actually make your gear. Most of them have been with us since the early years.