PMCI - October 2014

Iamongst American colleagues
for their love
of body warmers and
insulated vests. He and
his wife believed that this would be
something that would also catch on
in the UK and taking a leap of faith,
they decided to start making similar
garments themselves. Bryony Harris,
Director and Co-founder of Snugpak,
taught husband Brett Harris, Company
Chairman to sew. Together they
produced some experimental body
warmers and jackets.
The couple both had full-time
jobs so every spare minute of their
downtime was spent making as many
garments as possible. With the help
of outworkers a cottage industry was
born. In those early days production
stood at just 15 jackets per week, but in
1977 the couple decided to invest what
money they had into G & H Products
f you want a British… No, make that a Global success
story, then you really have to look no further than Snugpak.
Relied upon by civilians and military personnel
around the world for their technically advanced sleeping
systems and clothing the Yorkshire based manufacturer
continues to innovate in their specialist fields.
Where did this story begin you may ask? In the
late 1970s a deep-sea diver working on the oil rigs
took note of the trend
Ltd (which later became Craghoppers) to gain more outdoor business
experience. Two years later they made the decision to branch out on
their own with Snugpak. Although still making insulated clothing they
realised that if the new company was going to be successful they would
need to manufacture products with year round appeal, rather than the
seasonal body warmer. Sleeping bags were the logical choice.
By 1984 the company had grown and the number of
machinists had increased to seven; by 1986 sales had grown
so strong the company had to move to larger premises. The
company moved down the road to a Grade II listed old woollen
mill in Silsden where they remain to this day.
Brett knew that the way forward for the company was
through innovation. Man-made sleeping bags using synthetic
fill rather than traditional
down were large, heavy
and bulky. Down though
loses most of its insulative
properties once wet - not an
ideal product for the ends
envisaged - so a synthetic
alternative had to be found.
Brett wanted to produce a
cheaper, man-made equivalent
to the expensive down
filled sleeping bag and in
1987 Snugpak launched
their Softie 6 and Softie
12 sleeping bags into the
market. I recall seeing one
of the original models and
being amazed at the tiny
pack size and light weight
in comparison to their
competition. The two bags
were the smallest synthetic
sleeping bags on the market
and sales rocketed. Today
the Softie range consists of many different models all based on
this initial idea but they have been constantly upgraded as new
insulation and fabric technologies have emerged.
Now firmly established in the camping and outdoor market,
word started to spread within the military about the superior
Now firmly established in
the camping and outdoor
market, word started
to spread within the
military about the superior
performance of Snugpak
sleeping bags and insulated
clothing and it was not long
before olive green options
of the products were widely
available.