CASCADE WILD HAS CEASED OPERATIONS. Here is the legacy.

Jim Hamel was a retired businessman and lifelong backpacker when he and wife Joy Hamel started Cascade Wild as a small family business in 2016.  Cascade Wild was born in the rainy Northwest where anything you set on the ground in the backcountry is likely to get dirty.  Our mission was simple: provide an economical, lightweight backpacking table to get your canister stove and personal cooking gear up out of the dirt, mud, and forest duff.

The Cascade WIld table weighed 2.2 ounces and folded up into a compact bundle that was easily stored in a side water bottle pocket.

Our business really took off when the Cascade Wild table was featured in Backpacker Magazine's 2018 Annual Gear Guide.  Once we learned that some customers were using sharp knives to saw their food on a Cascade Wild table, we came out with an ultralight (0.5 oz) accessory cutting board made of hard HDPE plastic.

In early 2024, we made the decision to retire again to spend more time with family and grandchildren.  Once we completed the last production run, the last tables sold out quickly.  On reflection, our greatest source of pride was that Cascade Wild tables were always made locally in western Oregon using materials sourced from local suppliers and starting in 2017, all Cascade Wild tables were assembled and folded by hand at the vocational rehabilitation division of Oregon State Hospital.  Our partnership helped the hospital provide market-wage jobs to people with mental disabilities who were learning work and life skills to be applied in society at large.  Our association with Oregon State Hospital motivated us to keep Cascade Wild going, long after we knew it was time to wind down and re-retire.

Our final count was that we shipped 54,639 tables to customers in more than 40 countries around the world.  We formed warm relationships with retailers in distant locations and received pictures and notes of thanks and encouragement from people around the globe.  Cascade Wild provided a life-changing experience for us, and we appreciate each and every customer who ever purchased one of our tables.

Cascade Wild products were difficult to mass produce economically which is why they were not picked up by another gear company in the US.  Our long-time partner in South Korea, Moonrocket, has worked through 2024 to source materials and come out with a replica Cascade Wild table with our blessing and approval.  Moonrocket plans to continue our tradition of using an organization that employs people with disabilities to make Cascade Wild tables.  Moonrocket's website is at https://smartstore.naver.com/moonrocket.

There are many reviews of the Cascade Wild table on Youtube, thankfully most were very complimentary.  If you are a one-time Cascade Wild customer, thank you for your support and patronage over the years, it has been an honor and privilege to help you get your gear up out of the dirt and mud.  If you have any comments you can reach me by email at jim@cascadewild.com.

Jim and Joy Hamel -- Cascade Wild, LLC