Our story

The history of Pinguin products, under the future brand name, started around 1986 when products for travelers, adventurers, climbers, and other nature enthusiasts began to appear on the Czech market.

This impetus gave rise to the idea of small-scale production for friends and acquaintances, with the intention of eventually starting serial production. The first products, custom-made for specific individuals, were down jackets and sleeping bags. Their handmade production in a one-room student apartment in Brno soon became well-known and sought after throughout the city.

By around 1988/1989, the demand for outdoor products was such that queues of eager customers waiting for the next shipment of Pinguin goods were not uncommon.

Now we move into the mid-1990s when the company, as one of the first Czech manufacturers, began developing lightweight double-wall tents for hiking and mountaineering. The first version of the highly popular Gemini tent, featuring a cross structure, was born and continues to be produced to this day (with improvements), initially with manually turned duraluminum pole segments.

The official founding of the company dates back to 1989, taking advantage of the opportunities for private entrepreneurship in Czechoslovakia.

In 1996, the production of Pinguin brand products was relocated from Brno to Velké Poříčí in Eastern Bohemia, and the number of employees increased from two to twenty.

Ten years later, in 2006, the company relocated to the nearby district town of Náchod due to insufficient operational and storage space, where it has been headquartered ever since.

Since then, the range of Pinguin brand products has significantly expanded and now includes a wide selection of equipment for active outdoor activities.

With the passing years and growing experience of the brand, our demands for the quality, functionality, and durability of Pinguin products have also increased.

In 2015, with the emergence of Bikepacking, which was at that time a niche activity pursued by a handful of enthusiasts, we leveraged our many years of experience in producing backpacks and founded the brand Acepac. We began focusing on the development of bikepacking bags.

During this development, we produced numerous series of bags that found their way to customers all over the world, allowing us to test and improve our products. In 2021, we expanded our product range to include the development and production of backpacks designed primarily for off-road cycling, and in 2022, we also introduced clothing, specifically jackets.

In 2020, we also established a collaboration with the company SRM, which manufactures high-quality outdoor knives at an affordable price, and after a year of testing, we became their distributors for the Czech market.

At the beginning of 2023, we acquired the distribution rights for the French helmet brand URGE.