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Did you know that some of your favorite outdoor brands also make stuff for the Military? There's some not so well kept secrets when it comes to some of your favorite brands that you'd find at REI. For years United States Special Operations Command USASOC/SOCOM has bought a lot of items Commercial Off The Shelf or COTS for short. COTS procurement is not a new thing and dates back to the founding of our country with certain units buying stuff that is not a standard issue item. Most everything the US Military buys needs to be Berry Compliant which means everything from the material, manufacturing and the company must be United States owned, made and sourced; sometimes it doesn't always work that way.
COTS procurement allows units to buy whatever they may need by most any company. During the early 80s warfare was changing faster than the gear and Special Forces units started needing more specialized equipment that the Government was not yet getting contracts to make. One of these items was the Gore-Tex jacket. Gore-Tex was breaking the commercial outdoors industry by offering a lightweight and breathable water proof garment for outdoorsmen like hikers and fishermen. Many SF types were buying these jackets from REI, L.L. Bean and other outfitters but they had one problem, they were often brightly colored. It's a bit unknown but it is believed that Natick Labs approached The North Face to make a jacket for Special Forces in the then current camouflage M81 woodland. The North Face made an unknown small amount of these jackets and they were bought by a few of these specialized units for wear. These jackets were later copied and produced in mass quantities by various contractors and issued to every branch of the US Military.
An example that we recently had of a The North Face produced Gore-Tex Jacket in M81 Woodland. Often noted as the prototype Gore-Tex.
As the Global War On Terror (GWOT) began there was a larger demand for specialized gear to be made for each branch's specialized units. It was common for operators to deploy with items procured from REI such as gloves from Outdoor Research, fleece jackets from Patagonia and pants from L.L. Bean. Eventually the U.S. Army began the Special Operations Forces Personal Equipment Advance Requirements or S.P.E.A.R. project. Initially this included packs and bags made by Gregory; a popular hiking pack manufacturer and a specialized Load Bearing System designed by Safariland. S.P.E.A.R. later began approaching brands like Patagonia to make specialized equipment for this effort.
A Patagonia Military Advanced Regulator System or MARS Slingshot Regulator Jacket (Era 2004).
Our friend Erick at Soldier Systems wrote a great article years ago doing a deep dive on Patagonia's "Lost Arrow Project" that outlines the details of Patagonia's involvement in the S.P.E.A.R. program extremely well. Read his article here. To summarize his article, Patagonia made a plethora of items for US Special Forces (SF) and Naval Special Warfare (NSW) for the majority of the GWOT. Patagonia was very secretive about it with many of their own executives blissfully unaware that they made garments for our Nation's operators. Patagonia built their brand on a lot of socially liberal ideology to include an anti-war stance. In 2020 (estimated) Patagonia ended it's services to USASOC and stopped production of their MARS offerings. Shortly after that another company called Forgeline Solutions picked up their designs and are still supplying garments to Uncle Sam. Forgeline Solutions is owned and operated by Eric Neuron, a former Patagonia executive who was in charge of the Lost Arrow project.
Arc'Teryx Gore-Tex Bibs in the NSW exclusive AOR-1 Desert Digital Pattern.
Arc'Teryx is known as one of the highest quality manufacturers of outdoor goods in the world. The brand is synonymous with rock climbers and pictures of guys on the side of a mountain. Arc'Teryx also has a rather exclusive and not so secretive line of clothing called Law Enforcement & Armed Forces or LEAF (Now named Pro as of 2025). Arc'Teryx LEAF takes many of their commercial offerings and makes them in patterns like Multicam and dull earth colorways. LEAF has been restricted for purchase for only people in those career paths and not available to the civilian LARPER. Similar to Patagonia, Arc'Teryx was approached by American and Canadian SAF to make some of their designs to fit their roles. Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DEVGRU) was one of the first to get items made by the Canadian outdoor company. Arc'Teryx ran into some issues during that request as all of their items were made in Canada at the time and therefore not Berry Compliant. Arc'Teryx had contracted a US manufacturer named K-L Manufacturing make some parkas for DEVGRU early on before they were green lighted to sell to the unit.
A USMC ILBE Pack Lid, Note the label stating "Design by Arc'Teryx, Manufactured by Propper".
More interestingly, the Marine Corps had adopted the Arc'Teryx designed Improved Load Bearing Equipment or ILBE bag before that even happened. Arc'Teryx entered the Marine Corps trial in 2002 for a new Ruck to replace the hated CFP-90 designed by Lowe Alpine; another popular hiking bag manufacturer. Even though Arc'Teryx could not technically produce the bags for the Government under the Berry Compliance guidelines the company went on to win the contract beating the others. Every ILBE bag produced by Propper is stamped with that in the lid. The procurement wasn't just limited to SF units but there has always been a large crossover between our favorite outdoor brands and the US Government's procurement. The North Face, Arc'Teryx, Patagonia, Outdoor Research, Marmot and plenty other companies have all contributed to the Military Industrial Complex's needs over the years. Some have been shrouded in controversy while others have proudly made it known. Regardless, all of them have been very cool to see over the years.
