The ALPS Story
Dennis Brune started ALPS in his garage in 1993. Since then he has turned the company into one of the most successful family-owned American outdoor brands.
By Brad Fitzpatrick
ALPS has offered outdoor enthusiasts superb gear and affordable prices since 1993, and though the ALPS name may be well known the backstory of this family-owned company may not be as familiar. Prior to founding ALPS, Dennis Brune spent 16 years working for Kelty, a popular outdoor and mountaineering brand. But by the early 1990s Dennis and his wife LaRayne had three active junior-high children, and Dennis decided that he wanted to spend more time with his family than his work would allow. He knew starting his own brand was not without its challenges, but he went ahead and incorporated ALPS in 1993 and left Kelty in 1994.
“My time at Kelty helped me get my feet wet in the outdoor industry, and I learned about international sourcing,” Brune says. However, he says something else in his past helped him take the bold step toward opening the doors on his own outdoor brand—growing up on his family’s farm in east-central Missouri.
“I think my background helped because I didn’t need a big budget to start and didn’t feel like I had to make a lot of money right away,” he says. It proved to be for the best that Brune was able to operate on a relatively thin budget during the early days because it was financially challenging to start a company from the ground up, even with his experience. His home garage served as the first warehouse.
Brune’s first brand was ALPS Mountaineering, which focused primarily on the same type of outdoor gear that Kelty provided, though Brune had to wait until 1996 to begin production due to a two-year noncompete clause he signed after leaving Kelty. The first products the company offered were sleeping bags and packs. Later the company expanded and began offering tents and camp furniture.
One of ALPS Mountaineering’s first signature products was an inflatable air pad for campers. At the time, the only other company that offered a similar product was Thermarest, and the brand had a loyal following and a reputation for quality. However, Brune proved that he could offer a product that was similar at a more attractive price. “That earned ALPS a reputation for providing really good products at an affordable price,” he says.
As ALPS grew so did the company’s need for space. So, one year after ALPS began the company expanded by building a 5,000-square-foot warehouse. As the ALPS catalog grew, so did demand for their products. Within a few years the company built six 12,000-square-foot warehouses. Eventually, Thune bought a building in nearby New Haven, Missouri. Vacated by Kelty’s parent company, it happened to the same building where he began working for the company in 1978.
“It was very satisfying to purchase the building where I began work for my own company,” Brune says.
Continued Growth
In 2007, the ALPS OutdoorZ brand was established, and that brand now offers a variety of products for turkey, deer, western, waterfowl, and upland hunters. Brune’s background certainly helped him build and grow the ALPS brands. Having grown up on a farm in Missouri, he understood the type of products hunters wanted and needed. He also had a background in product development, and his experience helped him achieve his goal of offering durable outdoor equipment at a fair price.
“A product manager is like a funnel,” Brune says. “You receive input from partners, influencers, employees, and friends, and you must take the best ideas from those sources to build the best products.” Other key partners, Brune says, are the factories he works with. He learned long ago to listen to the advice of the people manufacturing his products. At times, factories offered good advice about material selection or design that helped improve the final product.
This ability to take a broad range of ideas and channel them into a functional product has helped ALPS OutdoorZ achieve success over a relatively short time span. But success creates new challenges, and providing quality products for so many niche markets takes a good understanding of what the customer wants.
“I think the phrase ‘for hunters, by hunters’ is somewhat overused,” Brune says. “What you need are good, imaginative people who understand the product and the process.” Yes, many of the employees at ALPS are hunters, and they understand the features that hunters want and need. But they also understand the creative process and manufacturing. Having employees who understand what a hunter wants and how those products are manufactured has made ALPS a leader in the outdoor industry.
A top zippered compartment on the Extreme pack allows easy access to gear.
Family Affair
When Dennis Brune founded ALPS his children were still in their early teens, and he made efforts to balance work and family life. For example, once he flew home from a buyer’s show in Fort Worth on a Friday afternoon to watch his son in a high school football playoff. He then returned to the show on Saturday. But within a few years the brand had grown and the Brune children—Brian, Adam, and Sarah—were entering college and making their own career decisions. The obvious question, of course, was whether they would follow in the footsteps of their father at ALPS.
“Initially, I knew that I needed two pillars to make this company work,” Brune says. “I needed one successor to help with sales, another to handle marketing, product development, and international sourcing.” Oldest son Brian was adept at sales and handled that side of the business while younger son Adam had the right personality to handle the marketing, development, and sourcing aspects of the business. When daughter Sarah asked what her pillar was, Brune told her it was to ensure that the items Adam developed and Brian sold would be delivered on time. So, Sarah handles logistics for the company.
It's clear that ALPS is indeed a family company, but Brune told me that one of the characteristics that has helped ALPS flourish is the belief that “family” extends beyond blood relatives.
“The goal of our company is to exceed your expectations, but we don’t just limit that to our customers,” Brune says. “We want the same for our employees, and that is why so many of them have stayed with us for so long.” Brune also says that part of the “exceeding expectations” ethos is treating customers well during and after the sale. The company is proud of their products, but Brune said he’s also proud of how the brand prioritizes customer service.
Building Better Outdoor Products
With so many products in such varied categories as waterfowl and western hunting it can be a challenge to produce quality products that meet the needs modern outdoorsmen and women. Brune understood these challenges in 1993 and, over time, has assembled a product team that includes some of the top voices in this industry. Brune is quick to point out that having a relationship with the people who use their products in the field is vital to the success of the company. But coupling that with an understanding of manufacturing and material technology is part of the recipe that has made ALPS OutdoorZ so successful. By listening to the voices of customers, employees, and industry professionals and working closely with factories ALPS has been able to offer a range of products that meet the needs of so many hunters.
Sometimes, Brune says, that requires following the market, but at other times it demands going where the market has not yet been. An example is the company’s patented Zero-Gravity Layout Blind. Unlike other blinds, the Zero-Gravity blind elevates the hunter above the ground. This greatly improves comfort, but it also keeps hunters warmer since we lose body heat three times more quickly when lying on the ground than when we are elevated. Additionally, the blind requires no assembly (a real benefit on dark, cold mornings) and the rounded shape helps the blind more efficiently blend in with the surroundings while offering extra space inside for storage.
For western hunters, ALPS offers their Extreme frames and packs, which are lightweight yet comfortable to wear when hauling out a heavy load. Designing western packs seems straightforward, but there are many variables that can impact performance. An ill-fitting pack may cause extreme discomfort and the materials must stand up to heavy haul-outs and withstand being soaked. ALPS spent lots of time designing their Extreme packs so that they were comfortable and durable and—most importantly—that they performed well under heavy weight.
Brune and his family have done an excellent job fostering relationships with other brands, too. ALPS has been a Browning licensee for decades, and ALPS continues to offer a full line of Browning camping gear. More recently, the company developed a relationship with Ducks Unlimited and became a DU licensee as well. The DU partnership has been beneficial for hunters as well as waterfowl. Ducks Unlimited has helped restore millions of acres of vital wetlands across North America, and hunters who buy ALPS DU products know that their purchase not only supports a family-owned business but also provides additional funding for wildlife conservation.
ALPS continues to offer a variety of new products to hunters, and the company added to their product lineup in 2025. At SHOT Show 2025, ALPS introduced their Turkey Tracker lightweight modular pack system that is designed for run-and-gun turkey hunting. After the hunt is over you can also enjoy sitting alongside the company’s new Gaze Fire Pit, which is lightweight and collapsible for easy movement and storage yet holds up to 135 pounds of firewood for late-night gatherings under the stars. ALPS also showed off their extended lineup of DU merchandise at SHOT 2025.
For 2026, ALPS will introduce the versatile, durable Refuge Duffel. Constructed from 5000 PVC material, the Refuge Duffel is virtually impervious to the elements, so whether you’re headed to the duck blind or catching a cross-country flight you can rest assured your gear will stay safe and dry. Important items (even those at the bottom of the duffel) are accessible thanks to the U-shaped full-access main compartment zipper which provides instant access to all your equipment. Oversized end pockets with collapsible interiors also allow you to store items like boots, shoes, calls, rain gear, and extra clothing.
Built for a lifetime of hard use, the Refuge Duffel comes with heavy-duty zippers that can withstand years of hard use. The shoulder straps are removable and there are heavy-duty stitched grab handles at both ends of the duffel so that it is easy to transport and carry. The duffel will be available in two different colors (olive or tan) in 40-, 75-, or 110-liter sizes. SRP: $129.99-$169.99.
There are many aspects of a successful brand, but most of the key elements center around relationships—the relationship between the company and their employees, their customers, their factories, distributors, and sales teams. Providing customers with high-quality products at affordable prices has helped transform ALPS from a garage-based company to one of the major names in the outdoor market. The company was built on “exceeding expectations” and positive relationships, all of which began with Dennis Brune’s decision to spend more time with his children. Ironically, all his kids now work at the company he built, which, knowing Dennis, has made his years of work worthwhile.
The versatile and durable Refuge Duffel is constructed of 5000 PVC material.