From PTT Outdoor to TAHAN: A Letter From the Founder

By Mike, Founder

Okay, I've been meaning to write this for a while.

If you've been with us for some time, ordered from us before, followed us online, maybe even messaged our support team, you probably noticed at some point that we stopped going by PTT Outdoor. Maybe you searched for us and landed on TAHAN. Maybe you got an email with a different name in the header. Maybe you just quietly wondered what happened.

This is me, finally sitting down to explain it properly.

Why We Changed

Honestly? PTT Outdoor was never supposed to be the end destination.

When we started, we were figuring things out like most small businesses do, listing products, running promos, staying competitive on price. The marketplace model made sense at the time. You had to play by certain rules to get noticed. Flash sales, bundle deals, discount codes. We did all of it.

But somewhere along the way, and I can point to specific conversations with customers, specific camping trips, specific products we developed, we realised we were building something that deserved more than that. We weren't just reselling gear. We were designing it. Testing it in actual Malaysian conditions. Thinking about what someone who camps at Sg. Sedim or hikes up Gunung Nuang actually needs, not what sells well on a platform.

And "PTT Outdoor" just... didn't carry that. It didn't say anything about who we were or what we stood for.

Why TAHAN

TAHAN means to endure. To withstand.

It's a Malay word that shows up in everyday language — you tahan the rain, you tahan the climb, you tahan when your legs want to quit at the last kilometre. That feeling of pushing through, of being built for the outdoors — that's what we want every piece of gear we make to embody.

And honestly, it just felt right. It felt Malaysian. It felt like us.

So we made the call. New name, same team, same obsession with making gear that holds up in the real world.

What This Means For You

Here's where I want to be upfront with you.

TAHAN is a different kind of brand than what you might remember from PTT Outdoor. We're not competing on price. We're not running 11.11 sales just because everyone else is. That's a deliberate choice — because every time we cut corners on pricing, we end up cutting corners on product. And that's not something I'm willing to do.

What we are doing is building products we'd actually use ourselves. Gear that justifies its price because it lasts, because it's designed for our climate, because it works when you actually need it to work — at 3am setting up camp in the rain, not just in a product shoot.

If you're used to the old PTT Outdoor experience, some things will feel different. Less noise. Fewer flash deals. More focus on the product itself.

But if you give TAHAN a proper shot — I think you'll get it.

Thank You

If you've been a customer since the PTT Outdoor days, genuinely — thank you. You helped us build something real before we even knew exactly what we were building.

And if you're new here and this is your first time hearing about any of this: welcome. You're getting us at our best.

Either way — we're glad you're here.

Stay tough out there.

Mike Founder, TAHAN Outdoor