BUILT FOR ALL

Postcard from Antarctica: How do you stay warm in Antarctic conditions?

Well, the key of course is good kit and layering. And not just one layer on top of another for the sake of it but ensuring gaps for air between each layer too. If talking about your feet for example, it is useful to have different-sized socks – one normal size to go next to your feet and then a larger size which is thicker over the top.

This Blue Monday, we’d like to encourage you to lean into the blue.

Lydia Paleschi is a sailor, writer and one third of Wild Swimming Cornwall. A group of friends for whom wild swimming has had a profound impact on their lives. So much so, that in 2020 they published ‘A Guide to Wild Swimming in Cornwall’ with the hope that it would make getting into the water more accessible for both locals and visitors to Cornwall.

Postcard from Antarctica - Life on base, what is it really like?

In 2022, XTRATUF were honoured to partner with the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust (UKAHT). Providing the team with boots as they embarked on their mission to run the world’s most southernmost (and most remote) post office.

The Lift All Boats Project - A Student Mentorship Program Creating a Wave of Change

The purpose of the project is to encourage new generations to join Maine’s lobster fishery and make it easier for historically disadvantaged groups to get licensed.

From Mountains to Waves - Holiday Traditions with Cotty

My time, even at the holidays, is always planned around the weather and the waves. This has become my tradition.

Chasing Monster Swells from Nazare to Ireland

Huge Atlantic swells mean only one thing. Monster waves. XT Crew member, Louis Thomas-Hudson talk us through his mission to Ireland in early November, alongside XTRATUF Pro Team, Andrew ‘Cotty’ Cotton.

Exploring The Heartbeat of The Haisla

“Bathing suit, towel, extra set of warm clothes, binoculars, coffee, snacks?”
“Check!”

Warm Holiday Tradtions

When I was younger winter break from school was a super special time for me - being able to spend family time, fishing at the community lake or playing dominoes with my sister.

The End of The Season Marks Family Time

For our fishing family, the holidays mark the end of one season and begets another. Our nets are mended and put away; my brother, Luke, switches gears to long trips offshore, and my father has traded his Xtratuf boots for skis, snow, and mountains.

Holiday Traditions: Cinnamon rolls, Grapefruit, and Skis

I was born and raised in Keene, New Hampshire, and now reside in Winter Park, Colorado and absolutely love being outside and being active.

A Recipe from "The Salmon Sisters: Harvest & Heritage

In Alaska, eating well through the seasons takes work, preparation and preservation. Through the winter, our fishing family relies on the wild salmon we harvested and put away during the summer months for many of our favorite meals.

Yukon Sleigh Ride

Every holiday season our family heads up to the Yukon to my brother's ranch.

Sea to Ski in Iceland: A Family Affair

I come from a family of fishermen and skiers. We seek excitement and aren’t afraid of hard work. We are comfortable on top of high peaks in the dead of winter and traveling through the rough seas of the Pacific. We are not sailers. For as much time as we have spent navigating the ocean, we are collectively clueless when it comes to harnessing the power of wind to propel a vessel.

Fishing the Wild Seas of Cornwall

Earlier this year, XTRATUF teamed up with Wild Seas – a collective of friends from Cornwall, who all share the same passion. Fishing. Wild Seas aims to bring the highest quality films to YouTube, whilst giving an insigh into the teams lives, from their eyes to your screens!

Catch of the Week: Pro Team’s Emmanuel Williams, First Ever to Catch a Swordfish on a PWC

Four years ago, Emmanuel Williams told his circle of friends that he would be the first person in history to catch a Swordfish on a PWC. Last week, he did just that, proving that if you set your mind to something and believe, it will get done. As a fisherman who is fully dedicated to his craft, this catch signifies one of his biggest dreams turned into a reality.

MAKING WAVES: A Profile on Addison Farr From Sea Dogs Expeditions

The idea of evolving is desired, but the feeling of connection to the process - that impact is contagious. When it comes to making an environmental difference in the ocean, well that isn’t simply conceived or executed by one, it’s a series of people making waves of connections that unite and inspire many to make sustainable changes.

100ft Waves Andrew Cotty

The XTRATUF team headed down to Cotty’s hometown of Croyde, North Devon

I AM XTRATUF Tommy Snyder

Meet Tommy Snyder - fisherman, surfer, snowboarder - who lives to take on the challenges of all weather and environments.

Change of Season, Change of Shoes

XTRATUFs are the foundation, and with the change of season - from fishing to gear work and spring to winter - the Insulated Legacy Lace Boot and Legacy Clog are the perfect footings to take me from chilly predawn mornings - frosty nets and frozen fingers- to the warm golden midday sun that has you question whether it’s the same day you woke up to.

Wintertime in Alaska

When the dock ramp is a sheet of ice and it’s pitched at 45* degrees it's reassuring not having to worry about your footing. My go to for the wintertime in Alaska is the Men’s Swingsaw with the Glacier Trek sole. They’re warm boots so they end up being the first thing I grab before going out the door in most months. They’re comfortable to wear standing for long periods of time at the rail longlining and can handle whatever you throw at them off the boat and out in the wilderness.

Setting Goals

My favorite way to recuperate after the holiday is to set fitness goals. I start a very strict diet and go into hiding for about 90 days as I get ready for the next season.

The Home Pack

One of the many perks of spending the summer harvesting wild salmon in Alaska is the home pack —the fish that we bring home to feed our families. We make sure to smoke a good portion of the salmon that we bring home, creating a sweet and smoky treat that can be shared at family dinners or munched on for a quick healthy snack.

Giving Tuesday

This year XTRATUF is donating 10% of our sales today (Up to $5,000) to the Seattle Fishermen’s Memorial Fund.

Spring in the Arctic of Alaska

Tonje calls her self a professional nomad that adventures around, but the thing is - she’s been able to make a living as a modern adventurer since 2011. In Norway the culture of the outdoors and the traditions they live by, has made it possible to do something entirely different with her life. She quit school as a stubborn 18 year old to chase the impossible job title «full time dirtbag». It turned out it’s quite possible after all!

Andrew “Cotty”: Waves for Lakes

Andrew Cotton is best known for surfing some the worlds largest and most dangerous waves – swapping 100ft waves for ice cold lakes.

Passing on the Tradition of Fishing

For part-owner of Pike's Place Fish Market, Jaison, fishing has been in his life since his earliest memories spending time with his grandfather fishing for salmon and crab on the Puget Sound.

•Keree Smith•
All Aboard Amidst a Pandemic

For many months, we dreamed. We dreamed of a shimmering golden sea stretching across the horizon. We dreamed of dramatic granite faces rising from the depths of infinite blue, of mountains drawing lines of white from the sky to the ocean.

•Holiday Tradition•
Drifter's Fish

Our favorite holiday tradition is making our family's wild salmon gravlax recipe. We love this simple recipe for curing fish and always have a batch going through December to share with friends and family.

•Holiday Tradition•
Allan Mathisen

Our small town's take on the Scandinavian tradition. Instead of masked carolers going house to house and getting treats, its community members going business to business and getting food. For us Julebukking takes place the week before Christmas and is a way for the small business community of our town to give a thanks back to their patrons for their business throughout the year.

Our Path Forward

The events which have unfolded over the past weeks and that are happening as we type this are tragic and disheartening. They have brought to light many sad truths that aren't new, that racial inequality is far from uncommon. So, what do we do about it? What can we do...

Linda Leary & the Fishe®Wear Story

Growing up in Maine, Linda developed a love of fishing at an early age, learning the sport from her father who would bring her fishing on their local lakes and rivers for panfish, brook trout, and landlocked salmon. She carried this passion with her when she moved to Alaska after college...

Q & A:
The Salmon Sisters

In honor of National Siblings Day, we are celebrating The Salmon Sisters, Claire and Emma. Raised on a homestead in Alaska, they embody the hard work, dedication and commitment to community that we admire.