Ethics

We like to have fun. We care a great deal about where we have it.

Bearproof is a joke about bears. This page isn’t a joke.

The looks on this site come from places we love: jungle trails, desert roads, cold harbors, long ridgelines, quiet beaches. They are home to animals and to people who were there long before us and will be there long after we’ve gone home. If we are going to send you out into those places, the least we can do is make sure that what you wear there didn’t do them harm on the way.

So every brand, vendor and supplier we work with has to qualify against the guidelines below before we list a single thing they make. We check again every year.

The places

The most sustainable jacket is the one you never have to replace. We list gear built to be worn for decades and fixed when it breaks.

• Every brand must publish an environmental policy and hold at least one independent credential, such as B Corp, bluesign®, Fair Trade, or Textile Exchange standards.
• Every brand must stand behind what it makes, with repair, resoling, re-waxing, a lifetime guarantee, or resale.
• No PFAS “forever chemical” water repellents.
• Nothing disposable, and nothing designed to be worn only a few times.

The animals

Our name comes from an animal, and we’re in its country as guests.

• Never fur, angora, or exotic skins.
• Never down from live-plucked or force-fed birds, and never wool from mulesed sheep.
• Down, wool and leather only with independent certification: the Responsible Down Standard, the Responsible Wool Standard, and Leather Working Group tanneries.
• Where a product contains an animal material, we say so in its description.

The people

Every shirt, boot and bag was made by someone. Fair trade and the dignity of that person’s work matter to us as much as the quality of the stitching.

• No forced labor, no child labor, no exceptions.
• Fair pay, paid on time, with a real commitment to a living wage.
• Safe workplaces, reasonable hours, and a day off every week.
• The freedom to join a union and to speak up without fear.
• Makers who publish where their products are made and let independent auditors in. We look for Fair Trade Certified™ factories, Fair Wear Foundation members, SA8000 facilities and the Fair Labor Association.

How we hold ourselves to it

• We qualify every brand before we list it, and recheck each one every twelve months.
• When a brand stops meeting these guidelines, we take it down within thirty days, and right away for serious harm to workers.
• We name the specific certification. You won’t see us call anything “eco-friendly” or “ethically made.”
• We earn a commission when you buy through our Amazon links. It never decides what we list. See our disclosure.

Where we are today

We’d rather be honest than look finished. These guidelines are new, and we are working through every product on the site against them now. Some of our current picks will not make it, and we’ll replace them with makers who do. If you know something about a brand we list that we should know, we want to hear it.

Go have fun out there. Leave it better than you found it.

Places · Animals · People