SOURCE (Outdoor & Tactical Gear)
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| Industry | Sport equipment, Outdoor Gear, Tactical Gear |
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| Founded | 1989 |
| Founder | Yoki Gill and Daniel Benoziliyo |
| Headquarters | Tirat Carmel, Haifa, Israel |
| Owner | Privately held |
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Number of employees
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200 |
| Website | SourceOutdoor.com, SourceTacticalGear.com |
Source Vagabond Systems Ltd. (brand: SOURCE) is known in the outdoor, trekking and sports market for sandals, hydration systems, packs and accessories and in the tactical market for hydration systems, packs, and its SOURCE Virtus Soldier System.
SOURCE (Shoresh in Hebrew) was founded in 1989 by Yoki Gill and Daniel Benoziliyo and now employs more than 200 workers. It has always been a groundbreaker in hydration and sandal technology and is well known in the Tactical Gear, hiking sandals, hydration and travel accessories categories worldwide for over 20 years, currently selling in more than 25 countries, including the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Switzerland, Australia, South Africa and many more.
The first Source Sandals were sold in 1991 under the name Shoresh (Hebrew for root, spring: שורש), at this time there were 3 models: The Biblical sandal, The Roman sandal, The Asia sandal.
The sandals were already featuring the 3 layered sole and the X-strap system, a design protected by a patent allowing the sandal to be fit to the foot independently from the heel. In 1995 the sandals were renamed and the Trek and the Stream appeared. Ten years later, in 2005, 8 references were on the catalog, among them the names of today’s sandals, the Classic, the Stream (+ the sport version), the Gobi, and the Djibouti. In 2008, the Adama sandal technology was launched with three models that didn’t work out.
In 1993 the first hydration system was introduced to the market, the Flexi-Flask, it was a water bottle protected by a tissu cover. Two volumes capacities were available, 1,5L and 2,5L. In 1995, the first water pipe was added to the water system. In 2000 more than 8 references were on the catalog for the hydration packs and accessories for the hydration systems were available: Rapid valve, Tube Kit, Source Filler Cap, Source Tik-Cap, Weave-Covered Tube Kit, Replacement Inner Bag
In 2005, we can find in the catalog the liquitainer a foldable bottle and a large variety of hydration packs featuring the widepac opening system, a patented system allowing a large opening to fill, clean and dry easily the bladder. The new references at this time have the names of today references, the Spinner, the Whistler and the Transporter. A winter collection has appeared however the company stopped to produce it.
Looking at the valves, the evolution in term of design and color can be observed through the years. In 2008, the Z-valve and the Storm valve are protected by US patent.
In 2008, Source entered the military hydration system market with the WXP hydration system and the NBC technology. Besides that, 27 references where on the military catalog. Today Source is supplying armies around the world and the Tactical division has been separated to the outdoor one.
In 2015 SOURCE was awarded a multi-year contract by the British MoD to supply an initial quantity of 9000 personal protection and load carriage systems to the British Army. SOURCE Virtus Soldier System is a new fully integrated personal protection and load carriage system. First units are supplied from Fall 2015.
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Wikipedia