Making western hats by hand started as a hobby in his Airstream Trailer, the rest is history. As a Montana brand ourselves, we are always on the lookout for other creators doing rad stuff in our home state. And after meeting John and Gina we had no doubts about a the beginning of a partnership.

Horses + Mules are a lot of work. But the payoff is huge. There is nothing better, even in the world of internal combustion engines and battery powered Tesla’s, than a train of pack horses in the backcountry. We caught up with the Mills brothers at their home in Augusta, MT. It’s February and they are chipping away at the preparations for summer trips into the Bob Marshall Wilderness.

We headed out to the foothills of the Little Belt Mountains (Near Utica, MT) in search of a new climbing area. Trent did manage to find a route up to the anchors despite his first day climbing outdoors. Mia did her best, and even after admitting she was only doing it for the camera, ended up surprising herself and having bit of fun. At the bar, Cody and Cody were challenged at the pool table by two hunters scouting the area for the up-and-coming season. There was an abundance of beer, awkward dancing, and the occasional good shot.

Adventure itself is defined by the unknown elements of life. It always involves some headlong plunge into unpredictability, into the unknown. And if adventure were predictable and quantifiable, then well we wouldn't call it adventure. We'd just call it algebra or something. Experts can have a hard time with adventure, wanting things figured, anticipated, and calculated. An expert is a nice thing to have around when expertise is needed, but most times the fun is in overcoming the challenge of not knowing. The need to be an expert often inherently sucks the fun out like a leech sucking blood from its host.

There are only a few wild places left. Within the Rocky Mountain Front Range lies 1.5 million acres of designated "Wilderness" spanning from Glacier National Park to Rogers Pass in Western Montana. Lying in the foothills of the Front Range is a small town called Augusta, Montana. Maybe you have heard of some of these places like the Scapegoats, Blackleaf, The Chinese Wall, Benchmark, or "The Bob". These are some of the landmarks that lie within one of the last wild places in Montana. So when we got the call from Amy Mills that they had been wearing our jackets back in The Bob during the 2020 backcountry season, and want to partner with us on development and testing it was an easy yes.

THE SEARCH FOR THE BEST COTTON IN THE WORLDWithin 15 minutes of landing in Lima Peru's international airport I was standing in the streets, with our design team members Orlando and Sonia.  This was the beginning of our quest to find the best factory partner for building our line of Rogue + Pima tee shirts, tanks, and fleece products.  Orlando and Sonia are veterans to the Lima game.  They have been travelling to Lima for over 30 years with some of the biggest brands in the USA to help them develop the right relationships with factories in Peru.  Orlando being Cuban and Sonia being Puerto Rican rendered my broken Spanish unnecessary.  I have travelled to Latin America many times in the past, and went to school for a semester in Buenos Aires, Argentina.  The air smells like Latin America.  It’s slightly ...

NO, HIPSTERS DID NOT INVENT THE WATCH CAPAlthough the fact that it has been so heavily embraced by a new era of artisans and makers only adds to the timeless authenticity of this knit hat. The watch cap is just that, it’s a knit hat with a cuff that can be rolled up or down. It was traditionally made from wool yarns but now also out of acrylic and cotton. They can have a pom pom on top but the styles that are generally coined with the name “watch cap” generally do not.The term “watch cap” literally comes from members of the United States military who would “stand watch,” and the hat was such a symbol of that silhouette that we call the hat a “watch cap.”I think we can skip all the speculation from the 1500’s to 1800’s about how these hats came to be popular because most of...

UNCOVERING POTOMAC, MONTANAWe showed up at our Airbnb at 3PM. There is a Dragon and an Iguana in the living room, and I can throw a rock from the deck and hit the Blackfoot River. A weathering 1970’s Ford Maverick with a drum set filling all the seats is in the yard. A chicken coop is attached to the guest house, and old bamboo fly rods are hung above the Dragon tank. A large red deck overlooks “Dead Man’s Bend” of the Blackfoot. This is not the postcard you get from Glacier Park. This is today’s Montana, and this is where we made basecamp to test some upcoming products for Smith and Rogue. Product development isn’t just about how strong, waterproof, or lightweight the product is.We joined forces with our friend Alison Potts. Alison has grown up in the valley and lives in Bonner, Montana but kee...