“In 2009 we celebrated 35 years of Independent Innovation. Anchored by the design genius of company founder and head designer Mike Pfotenhauer, Osprey has long set the standard for comfortably and efficiently carrying your gear. Since 1974, every single pack design bearing the name Osprey has passed through his hands. That’s a legacy that makes all of us at Osprey very proud.

And while Mike has always been the cornerstone of all that is Osprey, he’s inclined to divert the honors to the people who have been part of Osprey over the years. From his business partners in the early days of selling wholesale, to his wife Diane, to the Navajo sewers that helped make the words ‘Osprey’ and ‘Quality’ synonymous, to the talented group at our offices in Ho Chi Minh City, to our superb Sales Representatives and International Distributors and of course, our team at Osprey Headquarters in Cortez – these are the people that Mike says make Osprey what we are today. In turn, each of us inevitably point back to that Pfotenhauer design genius as the unbreakable thread that makes Osprey a company like no other in the outdoor industry.”