Where did the idea for the brand begin?
Honestly, this was never really meant to become a brand.
I had been experimenting with making small products here and there while working full-time in production at Arc’teryx, and the CBCS name mostly existed as an umbrella for freelance work.
The first real step was developing a soft flask that was both cost-effective and genuinely bulletproof. From there, I really cut my teeth working on technical socks. At a certain point, I realised there was more I could build - products with real intention and practical value.
From a brand perspective, I was not finding much I connected with beyond legacy companies that simply made good products. Nothing felt truly rooted in the pure mountain endurance scene. So the idea became simple: build the brand I wanted to see - one that genuinely represents that environment and the community around it.
What makes the brand and the products different?
A lot of what I saw in the space felt built around selling an aesthetic - a kind of trail-runner fantasy persona. But the real scene already exists without staged photoshoots or manufactured storytelling.
For me, it was about bringing a good camera into the mountains with friends and documenting what is actually happening, outside of a brand feed or Instagram carousel.
From a product standpoint, everything is designed around core users and very specific use cases. If something performs in the most aggressive conditions, it becomes valuable to a much wider audience. That mindset also means not being driven by price point or perceived value in the traditional sense.
A simple example is our $5 gloves - essentially refined gardening gloves. In reality, that is often the best tool for scrambling or for quick warmth at the start or end of an outing.
No one wants to ruin a $100 pair of gloves in those conditions. So the question becomes: what if we offer that same functional truth, but execute it better and make it visually considered?
It all comes down to designing from a real understanding of the end user - because the product is being created by that exact user.
What’s ahead for you in 2026?
The major focus is technical development.
We have a full range of technical apparel coming for spring/summer, including additional Net Mesh pieces, singlets, shorts, half tights, and more.
Everything is engineered around real-world use cases: reinforcing fail points where fabric meets rock during mixed-terrain movement, improving durability in areas that constantly brush against a vest, and ensuring performance in demanding mountain environments.
By testing in the harshest scenarios, the products meet the requirements of the trail and naturally overdeliver on the road.
Beyond product, the priority is simple: putting as many miles on my own body as possible. You cannot make truly functional gear without pushing it to failure in real conditions, again and again, until it genuinely works.