About Us

WHY AN ULTRALIGHT BACKPACKING TABLE?

Cascade Wild was born in the rainy Pacific Northwest where anything you set on the ground is likely to get wet, dirty, muddy, dusty with volcanic ash, or sticky with fir or pine needles. It's rare in the Northwest to find a campsite with a flat rock, and setting your stove or coffee mug on a log is an invitation for disaster.  Jim Hamel bought several backpacking tables over the years that never made it out on the trail due to excessive weight.  An engineering acquaintance suggested trying corrugated plastic, and Jim made almost 20 prototypes before settling on the design you see on these pages. Friends and family encouraged Jim to make the table available to other backpackers and Cascade Wild was born.

ASSEMBLED BY HAND IN OREGON, THE USA

Cascade Wild tables are made in western Oregon.  We order corrugated plastic from a local plastics supplier, then the table blanks are cut out by a local die cutter.  From there the table blanks go to a non-profit organization which assembles each table:  putting in the folds with a jig supplied by Cascade Wild, installing the side snaps, and attaching the reflective tape and hook-and-loop dots.  Nothing is mass-produced overseas, and every dollar of revenue goes to support the local, state, and USA economies.  We are proud to work with our non-profit organization (Oregon State Hospital), which provides market-wage jobs to mentally challenged individuals who are learning work and life skills they can apply to become functioning members of society.