Our Story
How did it all start? Who are we, and what is Hawk Nest Hammocks all about? I will do my best to share the story of how we got to where we are now!
First and foremost, I would like to introduce myself. My name is Lukas Pfob, and I am the owner/founder of Hawk Nest Hammocks. I was born and raised in beautiful Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada, and have always had a passion for the outdoors ever since I was young! I had a YouTube wilderness survival channel when I was around 14 years old and called myself SurvivorDude. You are welcome to look it up to really get a feel for who you are doing business with! Needless to say, the outdoors were always incredibly important to me.
Where Did The Hammock Tent Idea Come From?
The first experience I had with a hammock was in my backyard when I was in my early 20s. I picked up a few cheap Amazon hammocks to simply lounge around in the back yard with my friends, and I would often find myself taking my hammock to the beach or having a quick siesta in the woods during the warm summer afternoons. This little hammock would go everywhere with me, even half way around the world when I visited Southeast Asia! The convenience and comfort of a hammock had really resonated with me and those around me.
Every year, a few friends and I would plan a big backpacking trip. I would typically lug along my two-person tent and be pawning off parts to my sleeping buddy to help lighten the load. It had worked for me in the past, but no matter what type of sleeping pad and sleeping bag I had, my sleep was always subpar, and I would wake up sore and stiff! This particular time, I thought I would bring my hammock with me. The weather was supposed to be good, so no chance of rain! I brought a cheap mosquito net to throw over top, and we set out. All was well until the mosquitoes, who were particularly bad in the area we were camping, found their way into my hammock to zap me all night long. My mosquito net system actually ended up trapping the bugs in my hammock with me! This was a big fail and a learning opportunity for me.
A mosquito filled trip on the sunshine coast, B.C., July 2022
If only there was a bug and rain-proof hammock...
My best friend had also been on the hammock train with me for the past year, and his birthday was coming up. I ended up getting him a Night Cat hammock tent from Amazon, and it was a great success! Straight from China, but it got the job done. I watched him use his hammock tent in days of downpour in Tofino, B.C., and stay completely dry. So, naturally, I got one for myself. I really loved the simplicity of it and how comfortable it was! BUT, there were some issues that started to arise. Some small and some big. The biggest was how fragile the fabric was, and it was impossible to use in cold weather unless you were okay with being a human popsicle! I would try to slap my sleeping pad in the hammock with me, only to slide around on it all night and wake up with it on top of me. This was very frustrating. The rain fly was also cheap fabric and would end up dripping lightly if it was raining hard enough.
The product was good, but there was real potential to make it great!
That is when I decided THIS would be my calling! The outdoors was always something I was passionate about, and this hammock tent was a product that could provide some real value to Canadians. I have always wanted to build a Canadian company to try and start building back some value in our economy, and this was my chance! After a month of doing some small tests and speaking to some Canadian manufacturers to see if this project would be feasible, I invested my savings and dove headfirst into making this product a reality!
And so Hawk Nest Hammocks was born!
But it was not that easy. I had started with a very small batch of hammocks and the business name Trail Haven. If you see any older videos of photos with this logo on the hammock, now you know why! After doing some small-scale sales to generate some brand awareness, things were looking promising. And then... BOOM! Patent infringement, and a week later, trademark infringement! I had done a rough patent and trademark search, but as a very new business owner, I was bound to make some mistakes. The affected businesses' were very understanding, and I made the pivots to my company and brand name right away. And so Trail Haven became Hawk Nest Hammocks, and it has been pedal to the medal ever since!
Me (Lukas Pfob) with the first prototype October 2023
Customers were really liking the product.
Which was fantastic! But I only had so much I could invest, and inventory ran out a lot quicker than I could have ever expected. This was a good problem to have, looking back at it now. Customers were still very interested in pre-ordering for my next batch, so I completely opened up shop to collect pre-orders for my next batch of Hawk Nest Hammocks! With some early feedback, small changes were made to increase the usability and durability of the hammock.
And that gets us to where we are now.
As things grow, I hope to be able to have more inventory in stock year-round, so there is less waiting and more camping! I am also very adamant about getting real, authentic feedback on the hammock so that it can be improved and made better! My goal is to provide Canadians with a hammock tent that is 100% reliable, undeniably convenient, ridiculously comfortable, and provides the most value a piece of camping equipment can provide!
I am excited to see how the product and business evolve with your help, and I wanted to thank you from the bottom of my heart for the early support of Hawk Nest Hammocks. One of the most meaningful parts of running this business is building real, authentic relationships with Canadians, so don't be a stranger. Here is to happy hammocking.