About Adventure Alan & Co
Learn more about Adventure Alan & Co, past, present, and future. This website was founded by Alan Dixon in 1999 and is now owned by managing editor, Jaeger Shaw. Adventure Alan & Co offers gear lists, buyer’s guides, product reviews, trip reports, and how-to content with a focus on backpacking and hiking in ultralight style. We want to help you hike more efficiently and derive more joy on the trail by carrying less weight in your backpack. Happy trails!
Adventure Alan Is Now Adventure Alan & Co
Beginning today, May 7, 2023, the Adventure Alan brand will henceforth be known as Adventure Alan & Co. All of our content will still be hosted here at AdventureAlan.com. This article explains everything you need to know about the evolution taking place.
The History of Adventure Alan & Co
This website was created by Alan Dixon in 1999 to document and teach what he knew about ultralight backpacking. Ultralight techniques were new and relatively unknown at the time. Good information was siloed and difficult to come by. Ultralight gear as we know it today was widely unavailable. Alan set out to change all of that.
Adventure Alan & Co Gear Philosophy
When evaluating hiking gear, Adventure Alan & Co assessments are informed by decades of collective ultralight backpacking experience. We have been testing and reviewing outdoor equipment since 1999, and learned more than a few things along the way. In this article, we set out to explain our philosophy on why ultralight backpacking gear is superior, in order to help readers understand the editorial perspective that we bring to the trail.
Bio: Alan Dixon
Founder & Gear Editor
Ultralight gear savant Alan Dixon (AKA Adventure Alan) grew up in Northern California and spent his formative years mountaineering in the Sierra Nevada. He carried his first backpack into the Yosemite backcountry at the age of five. In the ensuing years, he’s hiked, climbed, and adventured all over the world. In 1999, he launched AdventureAlan.com to share what he knew about ultralight backpacking.
Bio: Jaeger Shaw
Owner & Managing Editor
Wilderness backpacking is life’s greatest passion for Jaeger Shaw, despite making every possible mistake on a fateful, life-trajectory-altering first trip in 2011. Shortly thereafter, he became obsessed with gear, optimized his kit, and began practicing ultralight techniques – with lots of help from Adventure Alan.