About GVP Gear

How it All Started

  Glen Van Peski had done some backpacking as a youth, but didn’t get involved again until his eldest son Brian joined the Boy Scouts. Glen went down to the local REI and loaded up on the standard backpacking gear. After a year or two of backpacking with the troop, his friend Read Miller, then the Scoutmaster, read Ray Jardine’s book on ultralight backpacking, and started to implement some of the ideas. With Read’s example, Glen also started to pare down his pack weight. He figured out fairly quickly that a pack weighing seven pounds empty represented a great opportunity. Glen made his first pack, dubbed the “G1” based loosely on the Alpine Rucksack that Jardine mentions. Glen ended up using this pack for the next several years. His second attempt, the “G2” (nobody ever accuses Glen of being creative when it comes to names) was made entirely out of 1.1 oz. silicon-coated nylon. His son Brian had the misfortune to use this pack on a Muir Trail trip where it shredded. It was later reconditioned and traveled the California sections of the Pacific Crest Trail.

As they hiked along, Glen and Read kept thinking up ways to improve the packs and make them lighter. This led to the, you guessed it, “G3” and finally the “G4”. Glen provided directions for making the pack on a website. Periodically he would get emails asking if he ever sewed packs for others. Periodically he would return emails saying “no”. For some reason, the emails kept coming, and Glen finally started to feel bad about telling people “no”. So he invested the time in generating a real pattern and detailed directions, and lined up people to sew.

Glen started by having the packs made locally, real locally, by his wife Francie, and other women in the neighborhood. The packs were custom orders, with the customer choosing fabric color and options. Then Glen pursued a manufacturer to make the packs commercially so that people wouldn't have to wait, and could have a more affordable option than a custom pack.

Other Gear

  Future products under development include the Spinnshelter, an 9-oz. tarp constructed of 0.4 oz. ripstop used in the production of spinnaker sails. There is no timetable for the introduction of this product. Pictures of prototypes can be found on the Photos page of this website.

GVP Structure

  GVP Gear is a family enterprise. Glen is a consulting civil engineer in northern San Diego County, working hard to support his family and his backpacking habit. Francie, Glen’s wife of 20 years, has done custom production. His son Brian, was the GVP Gear webmaster before he got too busy with high school, a paying job and music. His son Grant has been involved in production and testing, but is currently tied up with paintballing and bmx riding. Glen's sister Brooke, who lives in Seattle, is the webmaster, responsible for the enhanced website. The packs offered by GVP Gear are offered direct to minimize cost.

An Important Note

  Backpacking involves serious dangers or injury, death, impairment of one's self to others, or damage or destruction of property. Buyer assumes all risk of loss and injury and warrants that he or she will defend, indemnify, and hold seller harmless. Buyer represents that no reliance is made upon any act or conduct of the seller.