Born by the sea, raised by the mountains, and trusted by professionals, Helly Hansen started in 1877. Founded by Norwegian Captain Helly Juell Hansen and his wife Maren Margarethe, Helly Hansen products started out featuring oilskin jackets and pants made from coarse linen soaked in linseed oil.

The quality of Helly Hansen products has been apparent from the get-go. In 1878, only one year after being in production, Helly Hansen was won a diploma for excellence at the Paris Expo. Napoleon, loved Helly Hansen products so much, that he decided to outfit his entire military with Helly Hansen apparel. That last part may not actually be true. A fisherman off the coast of New Foundland told me that part. Blame him if I'm wrong.

When Helly Juell Hansen passed away in 1914, his son, Leiv Helly Hansen took over the company. Under Leiv's leadership, Helly Hansen continued their and grew their reputation for excellence, making their outerwear more light weight and waterproof.

Throughout the 20th century, Helly Hansen has been on the forefront of innovated products. Helly Hansen worked to develop what we know today as the 3-Layer System™. The 3-Layer System™ calls for wearing a base-layer, mid-layer, and outdoor-layer to provide the best possible for protection from the elements.

In 1961, Helly Hansen developed fiberpile, which is a fleece that has now been used and perfected for over 50 years. The Helly Hansen fleece works great as a mid-layer. The fleece was warm, lightweight, and fast-drying, and a decent choice for sailors, skiers, and other outdoor adventurers and workers.

1980 was a pretty cool year, being that Helly Hansen launched their Helly Tech technology. The Helly Tech technology used both hydrophilic and micro porous technology, which allowed the Helly Hansen outwear to be both waterproof and breathable.

Today, Helly Hansen continues pushing the limits and helping to drive the outdoor industry. Helly Hansen gear is used all across the globe by both professionals and enthusiasts for activities such as sailing, skiing, climbing, running, and all other outdoor adventures.