About Us
I never expected to start a sports apparel company!
Hey, I'm Malko - the guy in the middle smiling like crazy becuase I had just found these two guys from the UK wearing my socks at the Obstacle Course Racing World Championships. That was one of the first times I knew we were on to something special.
It all started in 2011, when I fell in love with obstacle course racing and did a bunch of Spartan Races, Tough Mudders and other events, and I saw how people's legs were getting destroyed on the rope climbs and traversers and by going over wooden walls and under barbed wire. People were just throwing away their torn-up socks and shirts at the end of those races.
I saw an opportunity to create a new brand of socks and apparel built tough enough for events like these and to market them in a grassroots way to that special community of crazy outdoor endurance athletes (IYKYK). I founded the company in 2012 and named it MudGear. My first product was a custom-built tall compression sock with extra leg protection and lots of drainage to handle running after going through mud and water. That's still our best-seller, and we make that and all of our socks in Hickory, North Carolina.
After 12 years of hard work, we're still energized to make the best socks and apparel we possibly can, and we love supporting our community and ambassadors in all their nutso challenges and adventures. We've followed our OCR customers into the worlds of trail running, rucking, and hybrid fitness. You'll find MudGear well represented in all of those sports, but also on the legs of everyday heroes who work on their feet for a living - we're honored to support them too.
Please check out our line of extremely well-built socks and apparel made for outdoor adventure. As we like to say, MudGear is Made Tougher - like you!
Dropping Some History
The history of MudGear is one of great partnerships, an awesome community, a phenominal team, and a lot of luck along the way. Here are some of our highlights...
2012
The MudGear brand launches as a grassroots effort inside the Obstacle Course Racing (OCR) community and introduces the The World's first OCR Tall Compression Sock, built for long miles and featuring extra leg protection against climbing ropes and wooden walls.
2012
F3 Nation
Partnership
Malko joined F3 Nation in 2012 and quickly became obsessed. He started his own workout location and voluntered to help with tee shirt orders for the guys. As F3 expanded quickly, the MudGear team became the operator of the F3 Gear Store.
The partnership has flourished for over a decade, and while the F3 Gear Store is run independently of MudGear.com at F3Gear.com, MudGear remains an Official Sponsor of F3 Nation
2013
MudGear releases new 1/4 Crew Trail Running Socks that are built with a special super-wicking synthetic yarn blend and drainage features to help expell water and enable runners to go many miles without blisters even after full submersion.
2014
Moving beyond socks, MudGear introduces the Men's Fitted Race Jersey featuring a honeycomb patterned fabric design that is strongly functional, lightweight, breathable and cooling even in black - the only good color for dirty adventures.
2014
For the Women's Fitted Performance Shirt MudGear introduces a propriatary silcone grip on top of elastic band edging to secure the shirt in place during intense competition.
2015
Answering the call from more OCR fanatics who are looking for arm protection on muddy barbed wire crawls, MudGear develops low-profile Padded Arm Sleeves that include a thin closed-cell foam pad that does not retain water weight during use.
2015
MudGear delivers more innovation for Obstacle Course Racers with the MudGear OCR Gloves - durable performance gloves that help protect hands while providing a superior grip that handles even wet obstacles.
2016
Partnership with
FiA Nation
MudGear partners with FiA (Females in Action) to provide the FiA Gear Store. FiA is " is a community of women dedicated to making each other stronger in all areas of our lives through activities that include bodies, minds, and hearts."
2016
MudGear introduces the MudGear Women's Flex Fit Capris and Shorts - a super-durable performance fabric with 4-way stretch, innovative quick drain pockets, and new double-layered knee protection.
2017
MudGear launches a better men's running short for outdoor adventure. The MudGear Men's Freestyle Shorts feature a new water resistant shell main body frabric with a fast drying inner-liner. A large horizontal zipperd pocket spans the back to create the perfect compartment for race nutrition or a phone.
2016
Partnership with
OCRWC
MudGear begins a multi-year sponsorship agreement with the Obstacle Course Racing World Championships and makes the official socks of the event.
2018
MudGear customers push further into trail running, longer distances, and nighttime training. MudGear launches Gloom Runner Reflective Socks with built in reflective accents for visibility in the late night or early morning headlamps.
2019
With all this muddy adventure, people need a better way to get home without destoying their car seats! MudGear introduces the Waterproof Car Seat Protector that makes sitting on a towel a thing of the past. It's not only waterproof, but also air-permiable making it resist oders and dry quickly.
2021
While COVID shut down most race events, MudGear customers turned to training and building community outdoors. And because they like to make everything harder, they strap extra weight on their backs, and our Rucking community starts to take shape. The MudGear Ruck Sock is the first merino wool performance sock built specifically for the sport of rucking.
2022
Events like Hyrox and Spartan DEKA mark the rise of "Hybrid Fitness" competitions. MudGear develops the Hybrid Training Sock featuring enhanced ankle support for stabilization and ridged traction elements for specialized events like the weighted sled push/pull, proving that MudGear innovation performs indoors as well as it does outdoors.
2016
Partnership with
Spartan Race / Tough Mudder
MudGear becomes the Official Performance Sock of Spartan Race and Tough Mudder in the North American and UK race markets.
2023
MudGear introduces the All-Weather Warrior Hoodie an improvement on the classic hoodie that features a fully water-repellent shell and warm fleece lining to enable better outdoor adventures in adverse conditions.
2024
The MudGear rucking community continues to thrive. MudGear parnters with accomplished Finnish mountanieering shoe maker VJ Shoes to create the MudGear Speed Ruck - The first shoe built specifically for competitive and elite ruckers combines the strength of a tactical boot with the lightweight speed of a trail running shoe.
2024
After 2 years of R&D, MudGear delivers to the world a better Performance Sports Bra designed with supperior support for endurance events and hidden functional pockets - the most functional pockets of any performance sports bra on the planet for holding nutrition, IDs, a phone, or a key.
