Some companies have short names, some have long names. Some go by their long names, and others use acronyms or initials. While this is by no means a phenomenon that is isolated to the outdoor industry, there are an abundance of brands that rock 2, 3, or even 4 letter abbreviations. Lets see if you can guess what these brand’s names actually stand for! Last time we did this with 2 options… this time there are 3 (bum bum bum)!! All options are made with nothing but love for all the brands in this list.
Want to win $50 to Garage Grown Gear? Comment with the number you got correct for a chance to win (we'll pick winners later this week). Getting a better score doesn’t increase your chances (so be honest), but it does supply you a temporary feeling of superiority. Good luck!
1. SWD
Slow midWestern Drawl
Superior Wilderness Designs
Stop Worshiping Dyneema
2. HMG
Hippy Maine Gear
Holds My Growler
Hyperlite Mountain Gear
3. MLD
Mountain Laurel Designs
Minimal to Long Delays
Mountain Lions! Duh!
4. ULA
ULtimately Alright
UltraLight Adventure equipment
Unusually Lite Af
5. GGG
Garage Grown Gear
Glory, Guts, and Gummy bears
Good Glamping Gear
6. EE
European E-union
Everything’s Exceptional
Enlightened Equipment
7. REI
Really Eager Individuals
Recreational Equipment, Inc.
Rebellion! Extraterrestrials! Igloos!
8. MEC
Many Excited Canadians
Minnesota’s Eye Candy
Mountain Equipment Co-op
9. EMS
Everything’s Made Somewhere-else
Eastern Mountain Sports
Everyone’s Marmot Supply
10. NRS
Not Really Safe
North is Really South
Northwest River Supply
11. MSR
My Summer Reading
Mystery Stove Ranch
Mountain Safety Research
Answers:
1. Superior Wilderness Designs
2. Hyperlite Mountain Gear
3. Mountain Laurel Designs
4. UltraLight Adventure equipment
5. Garage Grown Gear
6. Enlightened Equipment
7. Recreational Equipment, Inc.
8. Mountain Equipment Co-op
9. Eastern Mountain Sports
10. Northwest River Supply
11. Mountain Safety Research
For a chance at the $50 giftcard, comment below with the number you got correct!
35 comments
Lloyd - Garage Grown Gear
And the winner of the $50 gift card is… Hannah! Congrats!
Eric
11/11. I love the other options you came up with!
Donna Monson
Got 11 out of 11 after laughing hysterically at the names 😂
Helen L.
Got them all. Pretty tough.
Geoff
11/11 studying sure paid off
Michael
11 for 11. IMBAG. I must be a genius.
Christopher
11/11. And I will throw in a bonus. The ‘L’ in MLD should be spelled as ‘Laurel’, not ‘Lorel’.
Francis Dufour
11/11, you’re even throwing an easy one for us up here in Canada!!
timothy mcphillips
got them all, but loved “not really safe”
Ron
11 for 11, and done business with 6 of them.
Hannah Brotherton
11/11. Although Hippy Maine Gear should totally be a brand!
Stephanie
11/11. I can only attribute this to all the gear reaserch I have been doing lately.
Janice
11/11! VICTORY!
Stephanie Harper
Got all 11! Also LOL “Unusually Light AF”
Donna Tozer
11/11 Gear Geek!
Allison
Got 10 of 11. Number 4’s answer wasn’t an option :/
Lauren
10/10 correct! Though I wish that MEC was short for Minnesota’s Eye Candy
David Newlun
got all 11 … yess!!!
Lloyd - Garage Grown Gear
I goofed! It is Ultralight Adventure. Not sure why I flubbed that up, but its been fixed on the post!
Kat
Got all 11! Though even after using a Catalyst for the last year, I was surprised by the A in ULA (especially because they manufacture in Utah, far from Appalachia…)
Shawn
Got all 11. I must read too many backpacking blogs.
Angela
Got all 11. Truly a gear nerd.
Joshua
Got all 11.
Tim
11 for 11!
Phillip Wisehart
10 our of 10!!!
Carolyn Caufman
Uh, you made them easy, tho the 3Gs were a bit tricky. NOT!
Dave
Got them All!!
Chris Rice
Got all correct the first time.
Collin
Got them all too, but like many I was surprised by the A in ULA
Janet
Guessed them all.
Debra Gagner
11 for 11 ! And some good laughs :-)
Mark
Got them all. #4 didn’t realize the “A” Appalachian.
Mojicka
Doorag
Got them all as it was an easy-peezy one!!! Total gear junkie Iam so everything was very familiar to me.
Logan Wilder
I got them all but tbh I thought ula was ultralight adventure not ultralight Appalachian