Eureka!-Its a tent!

From the Conestoga wagon trains heading up the Oregon Trail to Sir Edmund Hillary's assault on Mt. Everest, the Eureka! company has been there.   Eureka's beginning in 1895 as a sewing shop making awnings, wagon covers, horse blankets, flags, and of course canvas tents, has developed into one of the country's premiere manufacturer of tents of all types.  

Unfortunately it took the onset of World War II for the Eureka brand to gain such industry prominence.  The huge demand for canvas products, tents in particular, during World War II lifted this small company into the spotlight it enjoys today.   Eureka was specially suited by the virtue of their ability to adapt their already quality products into the mass quantities required by military.  Eureka continues to produce tents for the military to this day, but it was the returning troops that had spent so much time under a Eureka tent that helped build the popularity of the brand.   After each campaign G.I.'s came home and remembered how their tents had been able to withstand the rigors of war and purchased Eureka products with confidence.

In the 1950's and 1960's Eureka entered the camping tent market in earnest.  It introduced the Draw-Tite®, the tents used by Sir Edmund Hillary and the first American Mt. Everest assault teams.  From these experiences the designs for camping tents began to grow and immerge into the general public's camping world.  Enter a backpacking dream, the Timberline®.  An innovation in tent design that brought lightweight self-supporting tents to the ultralight backpacking world.  The Timberline® Eureka tent sold 2,700 units the first year and now has exceeded 1 million copies in the StormShield® design.

From its meager beginnings as a simple canvas sewing shop to the numerous Himalayan Expeditions, Eureka has always been at the forefront, and as a division of Johnson Outdoors Inc., will continue to do so for many years to come.