Kokatat

About

In 1971 Kokatat began making paddling gear and paddle sports apparel in Arcata, CA. The founder and president, Steve O’Meara, recognized from the start that keeping production local was necessary in order to control quality and continually develop the finest and driest paddling apparel in the world. Today, over 90% of Kokatat’s annual revenue comes from the sales of products handmade in their Arcata factory and by their local and regional manufacturing partners. Kokatat does source items in Asia but only for products that do not have scalable infrastructure here in the US. All Kokatat products are manufactured to exacting quality standards developed by paddlers for paddlers for over 50 years. All Kokatat products are backed by a lifetime guarantee against defects in manufacturing or materials and their in-house repair service facility inside their Arcata factory is unsurpassed in the industry for customer satisfaction. Unlike many other manufacturers, each and every Kokatat drysuit they manufacture is pressure tested to validate that the suit will be completely dry on the first day of use and for many years to come. Much of this brand’s success has stemmed from its dry suit business, but they also have a Kokatat dry top collection as well as paddling jackets , splash pants , booties , and lifejackets . In the late 80’s, they introduced their first Kokatat drysuit and were an early adopter of GORE-TEX waterproof and breathable fabrics. Kokatat is one of the longest-standing GORE-TEX licensees in the world, and for many years they were the exclusive user of GORE-TEX fabrics in the paddle sports market. Kokatat has been working with W.L. Gore for four years on the development of the new GORE-TEX PRO laminate. It has been specifically engineered to improve its environmental footprint by incorporating recycled face textiles that reduce water usage and CO2 emissions in production. In late 2021, they moved each GORE-TEX Kokatat drysuit to this new PRO laminate. All of the