Twenty-something years of keeping people unreasonably warm.
Someone thought our story was worth filming. They were right.
How we got here.
From a dorm room scissor job to a product used in homes across the world.
The problem that started it all
A cold dorm room in Maine. Late night TV. A sleeping bag that made the remote physically unreachable. Gary's solution — cutting a hole in the sleeping bag — was inelegant, slightly dangerous, and absolutely genius. It worked. He filed it away.
He told one person. His mom.
Gary described the idea to his mother. She picked up her sewing machine and made the first Slanket. It was imperfect. It was exactly right. Gary used it for the rest of college. (It has since deteriorated. We're told it lived a full life.)
Boulder. A brother. A business plan.
Gary moved to Boulder, Colorado with his brother. The Slanket idea came with him. For a while it stayed quiet — tested on friends, refined, argued over. Then it stopped being a hobby and started being a company. Colorado's cold winters helped make the case.
January 21st. The website goes live.
The first Slanket website launched. A friend posted it to Digg.com. The gaming community found it. Within days, the first run of Slankets had sold out entirely — shipping to addresses worldwide.
Chicago. The Today Show. QVC. Everything at once.
Slanket went to the Home & Housewares tradeshow in Chicago. The Today Show filmed a segment at the booth and aired it nationally. The next morning the booth was surrounded. From there came QVC — a sales channel that ran across multiple countries for years. Also at this tradeshow: the first person who would go on to copy us. We noted that too.
30 Rock. Letterman. And the knockoffs.
Slanket became a cultural punchline — in the best possible way. It appeared in late night monologues, got product placement on 30 Rock, and was referenced in shows across the country. It also attracted its first serious wave of imitators. We took both as compliments.
Today. And wherever next.
Nearly three decades after a cold night in Maine sparked the idea, Slanket is still here. Still the original. Slanket, the Slanket Jr., the Siamese, the Stroller, the Onesie — all of it built on the same idea Gary had in 1998. That choosing between warm and using your hands is not an acceptable choice. That position has not changed.
The numbers behind the nonsense.
Years since Gary cut that first hole in a sleeping bag. Still going.
Countries Slanket has shipped to. Maine to everywhere.
Major national TV appearances. Letterman was the highlight. Conan would have been poetic.
How long Jacob has used the same Slanket. Daily. This is our quality guarantee in one person.
What we've always stood for.
Not a mission statement. Just three things we've never stopped believing.
You shouldn't have to choose between warm and functional.
That was the original insight. It still drives every product decision we make. If you have to readjust it, fight with it, or choose between warmth and using your hands — we haven't done our job.
We're not interested in making something you replace next year.
Jacob's 2006 Slanket is still in daily use. That is not an accident. It is the goal. We choose materials, construction, and design with that standard in mind. Cheap is easy. Lasting takes more work. We prefer the harder path.
There are a lot of blankets with sleeves now. We made the first one.
We don't say this to be precious about it. We say it because it matters to how we operate. Being original means you set the standard rather than follow it. We've spent 27 years trying to stay ahead of our own idea.
Now you know the whole story. There's only one thing left to do.
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