Website rab.equipment Founded 1981 | Founder Rab Carrington | |
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Industry mountaineering clothing, sleeping bags Headquarters Somercotes, Derbyshire, UK Parent Equip Outdoor Technologies | ||
Rab is a United Kingdom mountaineering clothing and camping equipment manufacturer and supplier.
The company was founded in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, by mountaineer Rab Carrington (born 1947 in Glasgow, Scotland). After studying at the University of Glasgow he became a full-time mountaineer and a climbing partner of the distinguished mountaineer Alan Rouse. He learnt how to make sleeping bags during an aborted expedition in Argentina in 1973 and started his own business in 1981, sewing the first sleeping bags himself in his attic.
Carrington sold the company in 2003 and the majority of production switched to the Far East with only sleeping bags being filled at the UK factory. The brand is now owned by Equip Outdoor Technologies UK Ltd which has its headquarters in Somercotes, Alfreton, Derbyshire, and products include insulated down jackets, waterproof jackets, overtrousers, gloves, T-shirts, baselayers, sleeping bags, and tents.