WE ARE CRUA OUTDOORS
Great ideas happen when you wake up shivering in the dead of night in the west of Ireland. We knew there had to be a better way of getting a good night's sleep in the great outdoors. We needed a tent that is more than a tent; that is a comfortable refuge that would be warm in the winter and cool in the summer. In a moment of freezing clarity, we realized that we were going to have to build it ourselves.
Crua™ was founded by an Irishman with years of experience in camping and trekking outdoors. The team has expanded now and we reckoned that building an all-weather tent worthy of our own adventures was a natural fit for our skills... so yeah, we pushed the limits and over-engineered the heck out of it. So much so that the unique Thermo Tent insulation that we developed is now patent protected.
Introducing the revolutionary Crua range of high quality insulated tents. It's all about getting a better night's sleep in any weather, which a Crua tent provides by virtue of its superior quality, functionality, and design. You won't find a better thermally and acoustically insulated tent in the world. The secret? It's got a double chamber. We've engineered an awesome inner compartment made of a three-layer blend of poly-cotton and high-density insulation. So no matter where you are, you stay wonderfully warm in the winter and refreshingly cool in the summer. And with unequaled toughness, it's sturdy as hell. That's why our company is called Crua, which means "hard" or "tough" in Gaelic.
Crua in Gaelic also means "forgiving", in the sense of being easy to manage or use. All of our tents are built to provide the most comfortable, quietest night's sleep you'll experience outside your own bedroom. When you sleep well, you camp well.
And about us? Well, we found the perfect excuse to give up our day jobs; so we pooled our funds, got on Kickstarter to fund our expansion, and now we apply all the stuff we learned in design and business to build more cool tents and camping products for Crua Outdoors. And yeah, it also means that a lot of field testing and camping outdoors is involved, which is exactly how a dream job should be.
We run our business from County Kerry in the southwest of Ireland, but with folks on the team from as far away as the arid outback of Australia to the lakeside camping retreats in the heart of the Adirondacks, we thought it was time to pitch another office, so you'll also find us in Lake Placid, New York. The global outdoors.
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THE ADVENTURERS THAT MAKE CRUA POSSIBLE
Derek O'Sullivan
Founder & CEO of Crua Outdoors
Born and Bred in Co.Kerry, Ireland. Derek is the brain behind the world’s first correctly insulated tent. Let’s just say he knows a thing or two about camping in wild weather conditions. After all, he is from the West of Ireland.
Vinny O'Brien
E-Commerce Strategist
Our e-commerce guru hails from Co.Kildare in Ireland. Vinny has big asperations for Crua and even bigger asperations for Friday night pints.
Chris Brennan
COO
Chris is based in our Co. Kerry office, but comes to us from the US. Chris and his family have been living in Ireland for the past 5 years and brings perspective from both sides of the pond. The Brennans are loving the amazing natural parks and sights Ireland has to offer.
Davin Kelly
Marketing Manager
After a number of years in Dublin, Davin has returned home to Co. Kerry. He can often be found brewing his own beer or surfing some waves out at Inch beach.
Zac Allen
Software Developer
After spending 5 years in the Merchant Navy working on Oil and Gas Carriers, Zac returned to Ireland and re-skilled as a Software Developer. He's travelled the world as a sailor, and plans to do it again, this time with a Crua tent on his back.
Dylan Van Cott
North American Operations Manager
An Adirondack native, Dylan manages our US Office in Saranac Lake. While his educational background is in Media Management, Dylan's work experience is more out of doors, than in. Dylan spends his weekends (and some afternoons) out paddling, hiking, skiing, and of course, camping.
Tarah Schlueter
Customer Service and Social Media
Originally from Windsor Colorado, Tarah has been in the Adirondacks for 3 years and loving every minute of it. With a background in Wilderness Recreation Leadership, Tarah has had years of experience in Customers Service in and around the outdoor experience.
Pierre Laplante
Logistics Manager
Pierre is a native son of New York State's North Country and has joined team Crua to manage our US Shipping department. He holds degrees in Wilderness Recreational Leadership and Environmental Studies; so the outdoors is truly his bread and butter. When not in the office, Pierre is likely out on the water or on the trail with his dog Minnie.