FORLOH brings tech to outdoor clothing

Andy Techmanski, founder of FORLOH outdoor apparel company, was on a trip up the North Fork recently while wearing one of his company’s shirts. The mosquitoes were so bad, he sprayed himself down with bugs repellent multiple times, and the next day when he smelled the shirt, designed to eliminate scent for hunters, it smelled brand new.

The moment was a confirmation that the research, hard work and most importantly the technology that his company has poured into its products works out in the real world.

“We want to be the new leader in the outdoor industry and challenge other companies to bring forward the highest technology while being made in the U.S.,” he said in a recent interview. “If we can do it, then they can do it too.”

The Whitefish-based FORLOH launched online earlier this year and had a soft opening for its flagship retail store in July on Central Avenue. The company plans to continue releasing new products over the coming weeks with its full line set to be available this month. FORLOH comes from “for the love of hunting” because its foundation is in hunting and fishing gear, but its goal is to make the best made-in-America gear using the best technology available.

“Technology and made in the U.S., are our two mantras,” Techmanski said.

Techmanski created the concept for the company out of frustrations he had with outdoor clothing, primarily for hunting, including feeling like the technology was lacking to provide the best products and the consistency between garments in the same brand, and he saw a lack of quality in what he had been purchasing.

“As a consumer, the products I had purchased 10 to 15 years ago were outlasting the ones I bought just two years ago,” he said. “What I learned in starting on outdoor apparel company is that the same technology has been used for years, it’s just being recycled and called something new, and I wanted to change that.”

Techmanski says FORLOH gear uses five to seven times the technology as its competitors, and is committed to getting families outdoors together, thus its clothing line includes men, women’s and youth gear all designed based on that same technology.

Working for more than a year on design and research before its launch, the company says it recruited the most experienced product designers in the industry, sought out the most advanced technologies and fabrics, and created new science-based camouflage patterns.

FORLOH says it uses a range of cutting-edge and proprietary technologies to improve performance in warmth, breathability and waterproofing.

“We started with military specs and then said what can we do to make improvements in the fabric and improve the performance,” Techmanski said.

FORLOH’s down jacket, pant and vest use technology aimed at creating more breathable and more waterproof layers.

Techmanski points out that FORLOH eliminated stitching between baffles commonly used in down insulated layers and replaced it with “sonic-welded” seams to eliminate water getting into the garment. For more information, visit FORLOH.com.