About Nemo
Posted by Mark Richardson on Jun 27, 2022
Nemo's History
The idea for NEMO was born one turbulent night in 2002 on the side of Mount Washington, where founder Cam Brensinger spent five sleepless hours in a poorly designed bivy. That night, he realized how much opportunity there was for thoughtful design as part of the equation for enjoying adventure. Coming down the mountain the next day, he resolved to tackle that challenge. Cam founded NEMO Equipment in the spring of his senior year at the Rhode Island School of Design and, three days after graduation, opened its first office in Nashua, New Hampshire.
The name NEMO was inspired by both the idea of “New England Mountain Outfitters” and Jules Verne’s Captain Nemo. (New England… A spirit of adventure… Pretty fitting, huh?)
Cam set up operations in a restored textile mill with some fellow designers and engineers, where he worked for two years patterning and building prototypes of his first proprietary airbeam-supported tents.
In 2004, he launched the brand, and it quickly began winning awards for design and innovation. NEMO was the overall winner of the ISPO Brand New award in 2005 and its designs were among the 100 best inventions of the year awarded by TIME and Popular Science. These kicked off a string of awards and accolades that have only continued since then.
For two decades, as our team has grown, we have actively lived out the belief that intelligently designed gear enables the adventures that make us all our best selves — humans who are conscious, inspired, connected, and mindful. The sticker in our conference room captures our ethos: “Design Like You Give a Damn.”
And we do just that.
How We Design
Our Inspiration: How can you design a great solution if you don’t understand the problem? Our process starts with our passion – getting outside, getting dirty, climbing high, travelling far, and sleeping outside as much as we possibly can. A prerequisite for joining NEMO is a love of the outdoors, and this is also where our best ideas come from.
Focus on the Experience: Our driving motivation is to improve your experience of adventure. Every day we ask ourselves, “how can we use smart design to keep you dryer, warmer, more comfortable?” Instead of simply setting out to “make a tent”, we focus on what you’ll be doing in that tent, how it will be used.
Design and Engineering: The best ideas come from a combination of design and engineering, and our team is made of a mix of designers and engineers who bring different perspectives to the design table. Our solutions are evolved in fits and starts through a committed and enduring evolution including dead-ends, happy accidents, and thoughtful iteration.
Design and Engineering: The best ideas come from a combination of design and engineering, and our team is made of a mix of designers and engineers who bring different perspectives to the design table.
Our solutions are evolved in fits and starts through a committed and enduring evolution including dead-ends, happy accidents, and thoughtful iteration.
Own Every Detail: Unlike so many brands today, everything creative at NEMO is done in-house. We don’t let an idea leave our studio until we have laboured over and owned every detail, down to the smallest screw and tiniest zipper. And this idea infiltrates our entire business.
Lessen our Impact: Sustainability is baked into our approach to design, driven from a core belief to conserve our valuable resources and minimize the impact our adventures and our gear have on this planet.
Be proud of everything you do: Our goal is not just to make great equipment for adventure, but to master the process. We believe in pushing past the first idea – fixing on an idea too early is sacrificing the possibility that something greater will emerge along the way. Determination and grit are essential to our process, and at the end, so is pride.
Put it to the test: Testing is an essential part of our process. Many brands rely on their manufacturing partners to make sure their gear meets minimum specs, but we take the process more seriously. Through a combination of lab testing and field-testing, we cover our bases. Our own lab is armed with a rain chamber, tensile tester, heat chamber, and a variety of other rigorous (and fun) tools. But there is nothing like the trails that a product encounters in the real world. We have an extensive network of field testers who take our products to the corners of the earth to be tested under the most strenuous circumstances.
Founder Owned
Founder & CEO Cam Brensinger’s goal is to build the best business, not simply the biggest. That mindset has supported the company for 20 years and led to strategic growth, giving NEMO a reputation as a major player in the outdoor industry while maintaining strong values and a small, tight-knit work culture.
New England Proud
NEMO is proudly headquartered in Dover, New Hampshire, with beaches, forests, and mountains all within easy reach. While the Northeast is home to top-tier universities and leaders in the technology space, it’s also the backyard for many established outdoor lifestyle brands, making it a go-to place for big ideas and big adventures.
Spirit of Adventure
At NEMO, we truly believe adventure can be found anywhere, from the top of Mount Washington to that hidden beach spot... to your own backyard. We build gear that makes it easy for anyone to take that first step in exploring the outdoors, and we want to help transform that first step into a lifelong love.
In this post we tell you all about about the company Nemo Equipment, we were the first in the UK to sell their products and the relationship is as good as ever.