Dick Kelty - The Original Packman  

Dick Kelty was an avid outdoorsman.  He loved exploring by hiking the high country of the neighboring Sierras above his southern California Glendale home.  Hiking and backpacking in the late 1940's and early 1950's was a hobby that had few supporters and even fewer hiking gear manufacturers.   Hiking equipment of the day was largely army surplus and packs were no more than crude boards or loose canvas rucksacks.   When someone loves their avocation and has the desire to show others the wonders and splendors of the wilderness, inspiration can not be far behind.  Inspiration can also be driven by pain and backpacking with such rudimentary equipment drove Dick Kelty and his hiking buddy Clay Sherman to devise a means to reduce their discomfort.

Enter the shared load backpack.  As the story goes, during one of their summer treks in 1951, Dick and Clay experimented with shifting the weight of their packs from their shoulders to their hips.   Sliding the ends of their pack boards in the rear pockets of their jeans, they were able to reduce the amount of load directly on their shoulders by placing some of it on their hips.  The idea stayed with Dick and he continued to perfect it. 

The original design just added a hip belt to a conventential wooden frame and it worked wonderfully.   They were able to carry more weight and carry it more comfortably, but Dick wasn't satisfied.  The pack board material went from wood to lightweight welded aluminum tubing, and the rucksacks became nylon and were custom sewn to fit the frames by his wife Nina.  By the end of 1952 Dick was able to produce 29 backpacks that he sold for $24.00.  He guaranteed them for life.  Over the next few years more improvements were implemented, such as padded waist and shoulder straps. Convenience features such as exterior zipper pockets were also incorporated.

The first years of Kelty backpacks was supported by Dick's friends in the Sierra Club.  By the early 1970's outdoor activities started to skyrocket in popularity and hiking backpacks were known by only one moniker....Kelty.   Dick's company went from a home based business to a multi-million dollar corporation.  

Today Kelty is still known as one of the premiere lines of hiking backpacks and outdoor products in the world.  Although Dick is gone, his name lives on as many more are able to enjoy the wilderness he wanted them to see.