Wechsel

Epic road trips have a way of inspiring big ideas. In 1987, Jörg Schulze set off from the North Cape for Cape Town in a VW Beetle, covering 37,000km in seven months. Famously, the Beetle’s air-cooled engine is in the back, which put luggage space at a premium – especially when it came to his tent and camping gear.

Frustrated by constantly playing packing Tetris, when he got back home Jörg decided it was time for change. His experience as an outdoor retailer and industry tent tester helped him come up with several prototypes for better, less bulky tents. An early success was the Pathfinder, a freestanding solo backpacking tent, followed by the innovative Outpost tunnel tent. Then came the Forum 42, developed with input from one of Germany’s biggest online outdoor communities. Most recently, Wechsel unveiled the Bella, the result of a co-creative design process with female adventurers. That tent won gold at the #sheisoutdoors awards, just one of several industry gongs the brand has claimed down the decades.

If there’s a secret to Wechsel’s success, it’s evolution: a focus on iterative, progressive design informed by constant input and feedback from genuine outdoor enthusiasts. The name Wechsel is German for ‘change’, which sums this ethos up perfectly: this is a brand with a restless thirst for innovation.