People & Culture

"I am so grateful that I have had the chance to spend the last 20 years in the outdoor industry. There are so many wonderful people. I couldn’t resist putting photos of some of them on our website. It has been an honor and a blessing for me to know them, work with them and share many things in life together. They have given me motivation to work hard, work with joy."

"It is my honor and privilege to introduce the heroes who saved DAC when times were hard

- SN Kim, YH Kim, TH Kim, CJ Lee and DO Park.

Nobody abandoned the sinking ship that was DAC, even though they had many opportunities to leave.

I feel so grateful to have spent the last 20 years with them."

~ Jake Lah

5 Heroes of DAC

SN Kim

Life time friend of Jake Lah since 1984. He deserves all the credit for DAC's consistent quality and on-time delivery. He saved DAC from falling apart.

Every detail of every process is under his guidance.

YH Kim

He first met Jake Lah in elementary school. He got a master's degree in material science at Yonsei University, the same University Jake graduated from. He has been a driving force at DAC for every development related to high strength aluminum - from new alloys to trekking poles.

TH Kim

People call him "DAC itself."

Since 1988, he has been there whenever and wherever DAC needs anything.

It was SN Kim who introduced him to DAC.

CJ Lee

He comes to work at least 50 days more every year than other people. Since 1989, he has dedicated himself to the health of DAC. He is a good friend of TH Kim. Together, they have gone through so many things.

DO Park

When he first started working in 1988, he did not know anything about aluminum. He is now one of the most knowledgeable people in the world on high strength aluminum processing from extrusion to final heat treatment.

JH Wang

Jake was lucky to meet him in 1987. 20 years ago, he was a brilliant young engineer who influenced Jake to start a new R&D center in DAC. It is not a surprise that he developed almost every toy and new trekking pole lock system produced by in DAC.

JB Oh

A good friend of JH Wang. He joined DAC as a set up member in 1988 introduced by JH Wang. Without his endurance, Green Anodizing of DAC couldn't have been possible.

Our Team

Ted Ganio A good friend of Jake	The North Face Reese White and his daughter in 2002
Sierra Designs Phil Mesdag at Jake's home	Kelty Andrew Day, a wonderful gentleman
Banpo Banpo team at Jake's home	Yuichiro Sato A humble gentleman who knows every detail
Mike Scherer Freelancer designer with the most experience and knowledge	MSR Paul and Adrienne
Bill Gamber of Big Agnes	Jack Wolfskin Gerold Ringsdorf
EMS Anthony Roina	Al and Lili Hausske
Jasper Man Yee, passionate and experienced hard worker	Tai Chung Canvas Grant Tsai started backpacking tent manufactured in Asia
Andrew Dawson A long time designer of Terra Nova	Lifetime members of the industry Mike Scherer, Frank Tehan, David Mydans and Jake Blakely
Jack Wolfskin Gerold Ringsdorf	David Mydans The designer of REI for more than 20 years
Ted Ganio A good friend of Jake	Reese White We all need to appreciate his unseen devotion
Banpo YH Kim, DO Park, Jake Lah, TS Choi in Qingdao	Banpo DAC team 2008
Yuichiro Sato Designer of Dunlop	Tae Kim Brings new blood to the industry 10-05-04
Mike Scherer Tent designer with the most experience and knowledge	Bob Swanson The founder of Sierra Designs
Vaude Al Dewitz and his team in Qingdao	Ogawa Mr. Tamaura, the man of Japanese camping industry
Johnson Team Bill Kelly, Joel Weeks	Hilleberg Hilleberg family with Jake's family
Hilleberg family Rolf, Petra and Bo Hilleberg with Jake	Exped Andy and Jake
Camelbak Sally McCoy and Jake in Friedrichshafen, Germany	Big Agnes Chris, Al, Bill at DAC 2006
Eureka! Europe Geor and his wife