Hi everyone! My name is Nikita, I make outdoor gear (mostly bikepacking stuff for last 6 years). I am from Russia, emigrated 2 yrs ago. At the moment I am in Kazakhstan but soon I’ll move to Serbia. War and emigration ruined my business – I owned a growing company before 2022 but now NerpaGear is one man show again. I also run a local gear repair shop for fun mostly.
The question
After all these years in outdoor industry I learned that I do not want to do business. Soft goods engineering and design is my passion but I can’t say this about sales and marketing. So the question for those who work in outdoor industry – is there such option as a remote job of outdoor gear designer? What skillset is required, where to search job offers, etc. Any advice is welcome.
My strongest skill is bag design. I made bags and packs for my project and had experience as a freelance specialist. I focus on function, longevity and production speed. I also have 10+ yrs experience in gear repair – bags, packs and almost every type of outdoor apparel so I ve seen literally tons of bags and I know how they work and fail.
For last year I study sewing 2D CAD Grafis and CorelDraw and last freelance projects were made with digital project.
I know sewing, welding, pattern making. Job experience – own business ofc, rafts and packrafts, side projects as a gear designer, gear repairs.
My kinda portfolio is here: https://www.instagram.com/nerpagear
by nerpagear