About us
Objective and Responsibility - Production - Service - Brand - History
is one of the oldest Czech brands of equipment for active outdoor activities. It belongs among the traditional manufacturers in the tourism segment that have shaped outdoor equipment into the form we know today.
The owner of the Pinguin brand is the Czech company Activent 365 s.r.o., led by the original founders.
The company's headquarters, development, service workshop, and warehouses are located in the Czech Republic, in the town of Náchod in Eastern Bohemia, in the foothills of the Krkonoše Mountains.
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Our company employs 20 qualified Czech employees. Many of them have been with the company since its founding or since its relocation from Brno to Eastern Bohemia.
Objective and Responsibility
Our goal is to produce functional, long-term reliable, and affordable equipment for active outdoor activities.
The effort to create products with the longest possible lifespan is our driving force and contribution to the sustainable development of society and the protection of our planet.
That is why we devote a considerable amount of time and effort to development, selecting materials, choosing suppliers, and processing customer feedback from product testing, sometimes at the cost of delaying a product's market launch.
Ensuring that there is no safety risk, that the products are non-hazardous to health, and that they can be recycled is a given for us.
Production
Due to the level of demand and the expanding range of products, Pinguin products are primarily manufactured in Asia by specialized suppliers working with the latest technologies.
We recognize that the quality of workmanship and the resulting lifespan of products depend on the work of experienced and motivated employees who work in a safe working environment and can fully concentrate on their tasks.
For this reason, the working environment at all our suppliers is monitored by independent audits (BSCI) and must meet the requirements of the SA8000:2008 standard on employee working conditions.
Compliance with the above-mentioned requirements is demanded from our suppliers and is a prerequisite for our cooperation.
Our suppliers are companies with many years of experience in the industry and a strong tradition. Our mutual cooperation and business relationships with them are long-term. This allows us to have open and honest discussions about improving production, delivery, and development, as well as friendly conversations.
Salaries in Asia have been rising continuously in recent years, making it a great challenge and motivation for manufacturers to retain experienced employees. For this reason, our suppliers responsibly fulfill their legal obligations, paying their employees full wages, overtime compensation, and performance bonuses.
Responsible representatives of Activent 365 s.r.o. personally visit all our cooperating facilities at least twice a year to see firsthand the continuously improving quality of working conditions.
Service
Our interest in our products does not end with their sale to the customer. We provide both warranty and post-warranty service for all our products throughout their lifetime.
Selected products from our range come with an extended three-year warranty period.
The service workshop at our premises is fully equipped and prepared for any repairs of Pinguin products. This allows us to significantly extend the lifespan of purchased items, contributing to environmental protection as well as customer satisfaction.
In 2017, we proudly became members of the European Outdoor Conservation Association (EOCA), which unites outdoor companies worldwide to raise funds for nature conservation projects.
Why Pinguin
The name Pinguin was chosen as a synonym for resilience, inspired by a plant that grows wild on the slopes of the South American Andes—high above the tree line, in rocky and harsh conditions of strong wind, frost, and snow—Bromelia Pinguin.
Pinguin products have been used and tested by numerous high-altitude expeditions, including those to the world’s highest peaks. Insights and feedback from these expeditions are incorporated into the innovation and design of new models to provide users with maximum functionality, comfort, and safety. As a result, Pinguin products have found thousands of satisfied customers and are now distributed across many countries in Europe and beyond.
History
The history of products that would later bear the Pinguin brand began around 1986, when outdoor equipment for travelers, adventurers, mountaineers, and other nature enthusiasts first started appearing on the Czech market.
"The initial impulse was the need to equip ourselves, in the pre-revolution era, with outdoor gear that was otherwise unavailable, yet known to us through friends from the West or from television broadcasts."
This idea led to small-scale production for friends and acquaintances, eventually developing into full-scale manufacturing. The first products, tailored to individual customers, were down jackets and sleeping bags. Their handmade production in a small student apartment in Brno quickly gained recognition and demand throughout the city.
Around 1988/1989, the demand for outdoor products was so high that queues of eager customers waiting for the next batch of Pinguin goods were a common sight.
By the mid-1990s, the company had become one of the first Czech manufacturers to develop lightweight double-layer tents for hiking and mountaineering. The first version of the now-classic Gemini tent, featuring a crossed pole structure, was introduced. The early versions even had homemade turned aluminum pole segments.
Pinguin Gemini Tent 2004
The company was officially established in 1989, in line with the evolving private business opportunities in Czechoslovakia.
In 1996, the production of Pinguin products moved from Brno to Velké Poříčí in Eastern Bohemia, increasing the number of employees from two to twenty.
A decade later, in 2006, due to insufficient production and storage facilities, the company relocated to the nearby district town of Náchod, where it remains to this day.
Since then, the Pinguin brand has significantly expanded its product range, offering a wide selection of equipment for active outdoor pursuits.
As the brand has grown and accumulated experience over the years, our commitment to quality, functionality, and product longevity has also strengthened.