Gear for the people who actually go up
Himalaya Trailworks is a trekking outfitter in Old Manali: a store, a rental desk, a repair bench and a small team of trek leaders who test everything we sell.
We opened in 2009 in a tin-roofed shed on Log Huts Road with forty hired sleeping bags and twelve tents. Most of our customers were first-time trekkers bound for Hampta, Bhrigu Lake and Beas Kund, and most of the gear they arrived with was rated for a summer campsite rather than a night at 3,600 m. Renting them something warmer was the obvious business.
Renting taught us what fails. Zips freeze, cheap down clumps after one wet night, hip belts are cut for one body shape. By 2016 we were designing our own packs and bags with a stitching unit in Ludhiana and a down filler in Dehradun, and every design still goes over a high pass with one of our trek leaders before it is listed. The specifications on this site - litres, grams, comfort temperatures, hydrostatic head - are the ones we measure, not the ones on a supplier sheet.
The rental desk is still open every season, and the rental fee comes off the price if you buy the same item within 30 days. The repair bench fixes zips, buckles, pole sections and tent seams for as long as you own the gear. And if you are unsure what you need, write to us with the trek and the month - a trek leader will answer, not a script.
- Rental shed opened in Old Manali
- 2009Rental shed opened in Old Manali
- Highest pass every product is carried over
- 4,270 mHighest pass every product is carried over
- Trekkers kitted out, rented or bought
- 31,000+Trekkers kitted out, rented or bought
A short history
2009
The rental shed
Forty sleeping bags and twelve tents for hire on Log Huts Road, Old Manali.
2016
Our own packs
The first Rohtang backpack, designed with a stitching unit in Ludhiana.
2020
Down from Dehradun
Sleeping bags and jackets filled with responsibly sourced 650-fill duck down.
2024
Repair bench
Free lifetime repairs on zips, buckles, poles and seams for everything we sell.
What we hold to
Rated honestly
Sleeping bags list the comfort temperature, not the survival limit. Packs list litres including the lid.
Repaired in Manali
Zips, buckles, pole sections and tent seams fixed at our workshop for as long as you own the gear.
Rent before you buy
Try a tent or down bag on your first trek. The rental fee comes off if you buy within 30 days.
What customers say
“Rented the Kunzum bag for Hampta, slept warm at Balu ka Ghera, bought it the week I got home. They took the rental off the price without me asking.”
“The Spiti tent took a night of wet snow at Juda ka Talab with no sag. Two of the hired tents around us collapsed by 3 a.m.”
“They fitted my pack to my back length in the shop and talked me out of a 75 L bag I did not need. That is rare.”
Snow lines and pass openings, every fortnight
When Hampta opens, when Kedarkantha has real snow, which roads are shut after a cloudburst - plus first word on new gear. Written by our trek leaders, no more than twice a month.