A16's STORY
by John D. Mead
Hiphugger Pack 1962
As much as we love great gear, we'll leave it to other companies to promote and sell it. There are so many terrific brands out there who are building great gear, that I’m 100% certain that your needs will be well taken care of. Going forward, A16 will focus on offering unique lifestyle products online that remind all of us about where we have been and inspire us to keep-on-exploring. 
Mic & me on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River in Idaho, 1970
I first started working for A16 in 1970 as a 14-year-old kid who loved to spend time in the mountains. I idolized my uncle, Mic Mead who had just taken the reins of the 8-year-old company. I was more of Mic’s shadow than an employee as I followed on his heals from the factory floor to the retail shop. And I spent a lot of time in his office as a fly on the wall listening to him talk with suppliers, bankers, accountants, Employees, Customers, and the dozens of people who came seeking his advice and opinion. It was kinda like I was hanging out with the God Father meets John Muir. Mic was a naturalist, an inventor, a philosopher, a backpacker, an artist and one the best businesspeople I ever knew. He is still those things, except at 91, his backpack just hangs on the wall. It was a wonderful way for me to learn the business. In 1995 he finally shook off his aging shadow when he moved to the boonies of Indiana where he bought and settled on a good-sized plot of land with his wife Jill. It is the place where he went to camp as a kid and later became a Camp Counselor. Jill was the camp owner's daughter. It was at this place (Acorn Camp) throughout the 40s that he developed his love of nature and begam learning leadership skills. Someday the land will be a 40 acre wilderness park in the middle of a fast growing community just north of Indianapolis. Fitting!
Andy Drollinger
Adventure 16 began as the dream of an adventuresome group of young Explorer Scouts and their leaders who in the late 50’s and early '60s were involved with running rivers & backpacking. Under the leadership of an avid backpacker and talented aircraft engineer named Andy Drollinger, the older Scouts set out to make films documenting of their various high adventures to share with other outdoor groups. The goal was to raise enough money to purchase a 16mm movie camera. Thus, the name. In the process, their passion turned to making backpacks, and Andy's garage in La Mesa just East of San Diego became a workshop for the group. The filming stopped, but the name stuck, and their primary focus became the development and manufacture of a revolutionary pack design that allowed much of a pack's weight to be distributed comfortably around one’s hips. Their production methods were crude by today's standards, including dyeing nylon fabric in the bathtub, hand-bending tubing for the frames and hot cutting fabric one piece at a time.
By the mid '60s the hobby had turned into a bona fide business and later in the decade they moved into a World War II era Quonset Hut in Santee California, on the west side of Gillespie Airfield. By then the innovative, well-designed, and sewn line of products included not only the innovative and high-end backpack, but also down sleeping bags with unprecedented loft-to-weight ratios and the first commercially made two-layer dome shaped tents, built specifically to meet the needs of backpackers. At that time all the packs we’re custom made to match the Customers torso size. No matter what day you were measured and placed your order, your pack would “be ready a week from Thursday” just in time to hit the trail on Saturday morning. Wayne Gregory, who later founded the legendary Gregory Mountain Products, worked on pack design while his wife Suszy did the books. Steve Noals was the master tent designer, and Steve Williams ran the store in a small room next to the factory floor. Anyway, these were their jobs when they weren't out on the trail, which was nearly every weekend. Never did they return from a trip without an idea for improving a piece of gear. It was what I call the awakening period of the outdoor industry and the environmental movement, and a fertile time for dreamers and doers in the outdoor arena. The business was growing – but without a real understanding of how to solidify their efforts into a stable enterprise that would live beyond the next week.
Mic field testing the A16 Half Dome tent in the Sierra. c 1972
Mic in his Log Cabin Office 1978
Throughout the '70s, growth and innovation were steady. Mic focused on design, marketing, improving production efficiency and ingraining proper business practices. Under the new leadership, the company pioneered several innovations that are standard today. Mic and his young active team, among other things, designed the first baffled down parka; underarm ventilation; pioneered the use of aluminum alloy tent poles; opened several retail shops and began distributing products nationwide. So proud and confident did he become with the quality of Adventure 16’s line that he stamped every product with a Lifetime Guarantee, which was unheard of at the time. As steady growth continued for the next 40 years the core ideology remained intact: Recruit capable, caring outdoor active employees with character, provide high-quality innovative products, give plenty of inspiration and education. Early on A16 also helped introduce new and promising brands like Chouinard Equipment, The North Face, Eagle Creek and Patagonia to folks in Southern California. And years later we were first to market with brands like Mountain Hardwear, Ex Officio and Icebreaker. Always the best!
El Cajon Factory & Retail Shop 1974
A wholesale distribution division was started in 1980 and quickly gained the reputation for being the most responsive, innovative and loved outdoor accessory distributor in the industry. That division was sold in 2014 to help finance A16's online business.
Starting early on Andy would offer to take Customers to the mountains after teaching in-shop backpacking classes. The trips we’re done somewhat casually. In the early 80’s under the primary leadership of famed outdoor writer Michael Hodgson, the classes turned into a formal program with regular classes and trips for learning Backpacking, Snow Camping, Rock Climbing and Navigation with a couple thousand attending each year. For the most part, employees from nearly every department and division of the business were the instructors, which in turn helped strengthened the culture and integrity of the company.
Wholesale Distribution Catalog Cover 1980
A16 became an Employee-Owned company in 1987 which served to reward the exemplary staff and also gave them a piece of the risk as well. Soon thereafter we opened 7 beautiful and unique Southern California Mountain and Adventure Travel shops packed to the gills with the finest gear and clothing available. Not to mention hundreds of employees who knew their stuff from first-hand experience, and who were dedicated to serving their Customers exceptionally well.
A16 West LA
In 1997 we formed a non-profit entity, Donate-A-Pack Foundation. It provided copious quantities of gently used backpacking and camping gear, which primarily came from Customers, suppliers and A16’s rental program, to worthy SoCal organizations who took underserved youth on wilderness excursions. That Foundation lives on today as Adventure 16 Foundation.
Youth getting a Wilderness Experience is a recipe for magic!
Growth and prosperity would not last as the challenges of business in the radically changing retail landscape slowly took its toll. Try as we might, we couldn’t keep up, and in late November 2019 announced that we needed to close our doors within a couple of months. I’m proud to say that we wrapped up a 58-year run with our heads high as we served our beloved Customers with a grateful smile to the very end. And in the fairest way possible we ended our relationships with our wonderful suppliers and service providers, who we remain friends with today.
San Diego Shop Team early 80s
In those final days, I couldn’t help but be profoundly moved by the genuine heartfelt sentiments that hundreds of Customers and Employees shared with me. It became apparent that unlike other businesses that I’d seen come and go, the hole that A16 was about to leave would not be easily filled. During the wind down, people traveled, called and wrote from all over the country, in fact the world, to visit one last time and/or tell their A16 story. It was a crazy thing; we had in many ways fallen out of favor as their primary place to buy gear and get solid advice and service, but the meaningful memories we’d help create and the friendships we’d built had been deep and lasting. The place and what it represented was truly going to be missed. Many encouraged me to find a way to keep the name alive, but things had gone too far awry. We sold off everything including the kitchen sink (seriously) to pay the bills and fund our Foundation, then closed the doors for the last time. Of course, in A16 tradition we also through several large Going-Away parties.
A16ers together on San Jacinto 2011
My son Jordan who had been the loudest voice saying “hang on Dad and find a way” didn’t give up and helped me come up with a plan to keep the spirit alive. I’m delighted to write that I think we’ve figured out a way to keep A16’s heritage and spirit alive, for at least a while. A much smaller and more focused A16 began to emerge in late 2020. Jordan, who has built a successful sales business in the action sports industry and Ricky Schlesinger, who helped found and run the amazing travel luggage brand Eagle Creek and who has also been my long-time business advisor, are my partners in this new venture.
"The Mountains are Calling" Art Collection
The first 58-year journey was wonderful and rewarding. I’m now excited about the new journey that lies ahead and very much hope that you’ll jump in and join us on this new path.
In the Spirit of Adventure!
