3FULGEAR's VALUES
3FULGEAR is committed to making affordable ultralight hiking gear accessible to all hikers.
This has been engraved in the brand’s DNA since its founding, in 2008. 3F is short for the name of a mountain, a beginner’s peak that opens the door to the incredible outdoor world for hundreds of mountaineers every week, which is why we created 3FULGEAR in the first place. To bring people into the world of ultralight hiking with our products.
ORIGIN
Mr. Ye used to be a tent pattern maker, he worked in a Korean tent factory for many years until the Asian financial crisis in 2008, when a lot of tent factories closed down, he gathered workers who lost their jobs founded the 3FULGEAR.
While hiking, he met his hiking parterner Mr. Liang (trail name: Flat tank), they both love hiking, camping and fishing, Mr. Liang was deeply influenced by the lightweight philosophy. They began designing and sewing lightweight products.
Mr. Liang, who is influential in the lightweight community, met his new hiking partner Yu in 2015 completed some challenging trails. Yu has since quit his job as a guide and outdoor educator to join the team in improving and designing new products. They continued their hiking, completing thousands of kilometers of trails and testing gear on the trail, during which time the Lanshan line was updated and improved to become a very popular ultralight tent.
The naming of some products was also done on the trail. For example, in an expedition in Tibet. Standing on the summit and seeing the mountains stretching to the skyline, Yu asked Flat tank how about calling our new backpack “Yue” (岳，means big mountains in Chinese and Japanese), and he said: “Good idea, let’s do it.”
Who designed and made your equipment?
YePeihong - Founder
Ye (1st one on the right) is designing new tent
Mr. Ye is a professional tent pattern maker, engineer. All the technical matter of 3FULGEAR are developed by Mr. Ye. From pattern making, sewing, modifying and repairing sewing machines, to designing new manufacturing processes, Mr. Ye is very versatile. He has been fascinated by ultralight gear since the beginning of his business and has impressed UL Hikers with his personally hand-sewn tents.
In 2010, Mr. Ye made and sold the single person ultralight shelter Xingyun, which is affordable and weighs just under 800 grams. He enjoys talking to hikers in the backpacker community about how to make lightweight tents, and people were introduced to the unconventional concept.
In 2013, Mr. Ye met Liang Xueyan at an outdoor activity, and they were outdoor partners for many years before becoming colleagues.Together they made the Lanshan tents, which became one of the most popular tents.
Now, Mr. Ye no longer continues to hike due to overwork, but he continues to car camping and fishing, constantly seeking new ideas, and his Beetle tent designs are highly coveted in Japan and Korea.
Xu Xiaofang - Production Director
Ms. Xu Xiaofang has been manufacturing tents since 1997. She is a technical manager of a international outdoor products corporation with over 20,000 employees, so she is very familiar with various processes and manufacturing methods. After her marriage to Mr. Ye, she not only had a happy life, but also joined 3FULGEAR to manage the factory and develop technical details. She is a person who demands strict quality, and it can be said that without her there would be no well-made 3FULGEAR products.
Liang Xueyan (Flat tank) - Vice President
Flat tank is a experienced UL hiker who has traveled over 4,000 kilometers on trails, developed his outdoor skills on these treks, and generated a lot of ideas for outdoor gear – the Lanshan tent and Qidian pack was born out of his ideas. On several expeditions, he built packs for himself, such as the Tutor for a AOTAI trek (a high-altitude off trail with a high mortality rate), and tested rain kilts and tents in stormy weather. These products later received a widely good reputation.
He has no feeling on traditional outdoor things and instead used minimalist gear design by himself. Since Liang was heavily influenced by Ray Jardine’s philosophy of lightness, he named his pack Tutor, a tutor referring to the great master as respect.
Yu Liu (Little Yu) - Director of Branding and Design
Yu was an ecology scientific researcher who practiced a variety of outdoor techniques in the wilderness, and later founded a well-known outdoor/mountaineering company with his friend as an guide and outdoor educator, as well as being a senior outdoor instructor in National Mountaineering Association.
He hiked over 10,000 km on trails and off trails, living 2-3 months every year in wilderness. He has experienced knowledge about wild and enjoys MYOG and sharing how to made. Yu is also passionate about sharing hiking experiences and knowledge through presentations and outdoor courses, couching people how to make packs lighter, how to use a tarp instead of a tent, quilt instead of sleeping bag, map and compass instead of a GPS, and even stay health in extreme environments.
Since joining 3FULGEAR he has made the connection between product design and his own experience. He love talk with hikers, if you write us an email, then there is a chance that the one who replies will be him.
A disappearing generation
3FULGEAR tents and backpacks are manufactured by ourselves and most of our craftsman have been sewing for 15-20 years, in other words, they’ll be retiring in the near future. Very few young people can using sewing machines nowadays, they can’t find sewing work because more than 90% sewing factories have bankrupt in the last 20 years.
We provides free food, pension and health insurance to our staff. Our business is not only serving the hikers, but also helping them. We insist that people who work in a good environment create valuable products.