How Trippy Outdoor Began

How Trippy Outdoor Began

Humans have been sitting outdoors since the first person sat on a rock thousands of years ago. Safe to say, we’ve come a long way from sitting on whatever’s available to the Trippy Chair. So how did we get here?

A road on California's coast

The adventures that started it all

Looking back, 2020 was a year of being inside. We were ready to head outside again and take in a deep breath of fresh air. It was a time for us to reconnect with friends, family and the outdoors. So we went out. 

Our journeys took us everywhere. We marveled at the epic peaks of the San Juans in Colorado while mountain biking. Under the big, endless skies of Montana we spent time in the water, on the trails and in the mountains. We journeyed down to the soaring sand dunes and rugged coasts of Oregon, experiencing the van-life during a 5-day trip up the coast from Newport to Cannon Beach.

Before we set off, we had no idea that these adventures would kick off a whole new adventure – creating a brand to spark rad experiences in mother nature. 

Two young women camping with Tripsters

Out in Big Sur, enjoying the sunset

Inspirations behind the chair

If you can’t already tell, we love, LOVE, being outside. Aside from that, we love inspiring others to do the same. We saw that existing outdoor products were all pretty much the same. It was boring. Mundane. So we thought, “How can we make this cooler, better and more creative?”

Ideas were bouncing off the walls, but one stuck hard. Dony, our Chief Product Officer, presented the ancient X chair—also known as a Viking chair, African birthing chair, stargazer, or palaver chair. We saw its simplicity, comfort, and natural construction, and started wondering if we could make a premium version for modern adventurers.

Early Tripster prototype

An early version of the Dreamer; note the funky bracket

The Trippy Chair was born from that moment. We made our first prototypes lighter, stronger and more mobile than their ancestors. We perfected our patented aluminum bracket, making the chair capable of supporting up to 1,000 lbs when assembled, then stowing for travel within 4 seconds. We added a magnetic latch system inside the bracket to make sure that when on adventures, the seat always stays in place. The energy was incredible; we went from concept to final product in 9 weeks.

Trippy founders with early prototypes

Our founders, chilling in ATX with some Trippy prototypes

And that’s how it all started. We hope every one of our Trippy products will inspire you to get out there and have a little fun, connect with nature and make memories. And remember, you don’t have to go far out to be far out. 

Back to blog