Excellent
Rab is best known for its technical mountaineering apparel, but the U.K.-based brand is also making impressive progress toward reducing its environmental impact through using low-impact materials, measuring the impact of its supply chain, and launching its flagship down recycling program. While Rab has yet to launch a resale platform for used products, it repairs thousands of products each year. It has also made a concerted effort to improve transparency into the materials and energy used to manufacture its products through its unique Material Facts program.
This sustainability analysis evaluates both product- and brand-level initiatives to capture the full scope of Rab's efforts to reduce its environmental impact. Our research draws from Rab’s published sustainability data, third-party certifications (a cornerstone of our process), and correspondence with brand representatives. We have independently researched 11 Rab products to date, giving us a broad understanding of the brand’s use of low-impact materials, chemistry, and manufacturing practices.
You can explore our analyses of other outdoor brands, or use our advanced search to find products that align with your sustainability values.
Rab earns an “Excellent” rating for its transparency surrounding sustainability initiatives. Its product-level sustainability information is among the most comprehensive in the outdoor industry thanks to its Material Facts program, and its consumer-facing sustainability pages are detailed and easy to understand. The brand has published a comprehensive annual impact report since 2020, including emissions and materials data. Additionally, Rab has been responsive to our team’s inquiries regarding sustainability.
Compared to other brands, Rab uses an impressive share of recycled content across its products. Recycled synthetic materials typically have a smaller carbon footprint than their virgin alternatives, and as a result, these low-impact materials are becoming a key component of many outdoor brands’ carbon reduction strategies. These materials are becoming more common in outdoor apparel and soft goods from major brands, and leading brands like Rab are steadily moving toward exclusively using recycled materials in these product categories.
In 2024 (the most recent available data), Rab reported that nearly 70% of the fabric it purchased was made from recycled materials, placing it among industry leaders in this metric. (For reference, in 2025, over 95% of Patagonia’s polyester and nylon was recycled.) Additionally, across the Rab products we’ve researched, which range from down jackets to sleeping pads and backpacks, all of them feature recycled content.
Notably, Rab also uses recycled down in many of its products. In 2019, it launched the Horizon Down Hoody, its first product featuring recycled down. In 2024, over 60% of the down that Rab purchased came from recycled sources, putting it on par with industry leaders like Patagonia. To ensure traceability, all of the recycled down that Rab uses is certified to the Global Recycled Standard, which tracks and verifies recycled material content. The brand also operates a down recycling program, detailed later in this article.
Bluesign-approved materials are produced in accordance with high standards for chemical management, environmental impact, and worker safety, with traceability from chemical supplier to fabric mill to finished goods production. As a result, Bluesign-approved materials have become the gold standard for many outdoor brands seeking to reduce their environmental impact. In 2024, just under a quarter of Rab’s Tier 2 fabric mills were Bluesign System Partners, placing it a step behind leading brands in this area.
Rab was among the later brands to sign on as a Bluesign System Partner, joining the program in early 2026. Still, we congratulate the brand on its commitment to the system and responsible chemical management. Thus far, only a few of the Rab products we’ve researched feature Bluesign-approved materials, but as a result of its new partnership, we expect to see that statistic increase in the future.
In 2025, Rab eliminated intentionally added PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, from all its products, but its journey to remove these chemicals from its gear began in 2013. PFAS are a group of chemicals historically used to repel water and oil from outdoor gear. They’re linked to several adverse health impacts, ranging from cancer to developmental delays in children. In 2025, California and New York banned the chemicals from use in textiles, spurring brands to clean up their supply chains.
In 2013, Rab began experimenting with PFAS-free durable water-repellent (DWR) treatments, and by 2021, over half of its DWR-treated fabrics were PFAS-free. In 2023, it reached 95%, and in 2024, it missed its target to rid its entire supply chain of PFAS. Rab completed its phase-out in fall 2025, putting it on par with many outdoor brands. Industry leaders in this area, like Fjallraven and Keen, were early adopters, removing PFAS from their products and completing phase-outs of intentionally added fluorinated chemicals in 2015 and 2018, respectively.
Rab has made respectable progress toward sourcing responsibly-sourced natural fibers, or materials that comply with third-party standards for environmental impact and animal welfare. The brand uses a large share of down in its products, and all of Rab’s virgin down is certified to the Responsible Down Standard, which ensures traceability to farms that meet animal welfare standards. When it comes to leather, Rab only sources leather from suppliers that meet Leather Working Group (LWG) standards, meaning that leather is a byproduct of meat production and is produced in accordance with the LWG’s standards for waste, chemical, and water management.
Although Rab uses very little cotton in its products, all the cotton it does use is certified organic, reducing reliance on pesticides. Unfortunately, Rab does not source wool from third-party certified suppliers; instead, it sources mulesing-free wool, which is a good practice for animal welfare, but does not address the environmental impacts of wool production. All in all, Rab is moving in the right direction when it comes to responsible natural fiber sourcing.
In 2020, Rab became a member of Fair Wear, a nonprofit organization that works with brands to ensure fair wages, safe working conditions, and workers’ rights in the apparel industry. Fair Wear audits factories against its standards and provides member brands with ratings and annual performance reports reflecting their progress toward fair labor practices. In 2021, Rab received its first report, earning a “Good” rating. In 2022, it earned the organization’s highest distinction, known as “Leader” status, which it has held since then.
Rab also partners with other fair labor audit programs, like Amfori Business Social Compliance Initiative, to monitor conditions. In 2024, 55% of its factories earned a rating of “B” or above, the minimum grade to meet our responsible manufacturing standard. While Rab is making progress to improve labor practices, in 2024, it reported that only 36% of its production volume was manufactured at sites where workers were paid a living wage. In this area, Rab, like the rest of the textile industry, has room for improvement.
While packaging typically accounts for only a small fraction of a brand’s greenhouse gas emissions, it’s a major source of waste. To reduce its packaging footprint, Rab has reduced the packaging volume of products shipped to its distribution centers and its customers. Since 2021, Rab has reduced its upstream poly bag volume by up to 70% by rolling and folding clothing into smaller shapes while steadily increasing the recycled content of its plastic poly bags. It also removed almost 8 metric tons of poly bags—equivalent to approximately 500,000 bags—from its downstream, or customer, shipments.
We appreciate that Rab collects poly bags from online orders in the U.S. and U.K. for recycling into pellets, which can be used to make new poly bags. The brand also swapped plastic mailers for paper ones (although we weren’t able to confirm what these paper mailers are made from). While Rab still has room for improvement, such as eliminating plastic poly bags entirely, it is making a strong effort to reduce waste.
Brands offer repair services to help you keep your gear in use longer, and Rab’s repair program stands out for its high volume and comprehensive offerings. In 2024, Rab repaired over 13,500 products through its service centers in the U.S., U.K., Netherlands, and Canada. The top repairs that year included patching, full zipper replacements, and panel replacements, but it can also fix stitching and seam issues. Repairs covered under warranty are fulfilled free of charge, while non-warranty repairs can be requested for a fee. Rab also washed almost 8,500 products, helping keep them fresh and water-repellent for longer. To help you care for your products at home, Rab publishes a variety of how-to articles on its website, addressing topics from washing a sleeping bag to repairing a Gore-Tex jacket.
We love Rab’s down recycling program, which accepts down from jackets, pillows, and bedding products. As of 2026, the brand accepts down products in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and the United States. Rab collects these products and sends them to its partner, Minardi Piume, for cleaning, sorting, and processing into Global Recycled Standard-certified down. During this process, the down is sterilized and treated with a hydrophobic finish.
As of 2024 (the most recent available data), Rab has collected over 1,000 pounds of down through the program. Notably, this recycled down has all of the same benefits as virgin down, maintaining its quality throughout the process. Unfortunately, unlike Arc’teryx, Patagonia, and The North Face, Rab doesn’t offer a resale platform for used products. Re-commerce programs like these help keep gear in use for longer, enhancing the circularity of a brand’s supply chain.
Like many brands in the outdoor industry, Rab started tracking its carbon emissions in 2019. Equip Outdoor Technologies, Rab’s parent company, set a target to reduce its Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 46% and its Scope 3 emissions intensity by 61% by 2030 compared to its 2019 baseline. Equip is also committed to reaching net-zero emissions by 2050, defined as a 90% absolute reduction across all scopes. Rab’s Scope 1 and 2 reduction targets were approved by the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) in 2024, an organization that ensures alignment with Paris Agreement temperature thresholds, while its Scope 3 target is science-aligned but not verified by the SBTi.
During its 2019 baseline year, Rab emitted just under 25,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, and in 2022, its emissions peaked at approximately 42,400 tCO2e. In 2023, the brand cut its footprint by nearly 70%, reporting a total of 13,200 tCO2, and in 2024, its emissions remained largely stable. All told, Rab has reduced its total emissions by just under half between 2019 and 2024, marking notable progress when compared to other outdoor brands; additionally, on average, each of its products’ carbon footprint was around 7 kilograms of CO2e in 2024. Progress has not been linear, but we hope to see Rab continue on its trajectory of carbon reduction.
Annual impact reports provide transparency into a brand’s sustainability data, typically including sustainability goals and in-depth emissions and materials data. Rab published its first annual impact report in 2021, detailing its sustainability progress for 2020-2021. In recent years, its impact reports have been incredibly thorough, describing year-over-year emissions data, low-impact material use, responsible manufacturing programs, circularity initiatives, and more. Rab’s impact report is among the most comprehensive in the outdoor industry, providing ample insight into its goals and progress toward achieving them.
In addition to its thorough annual reporting, we love Rab’s Material Facts program, which details the recycled and PFAS content of each product by fabric type, insulation, zips, and trims. It also details the percentage of renewable energy used in the final stage of manufacturing, and the product’s country of origin. Rab’s transparency around these data sets the standard for other brands in the industry, and we love seeing it take the initiative to improve customers’ understanding of the materials and energy used in its products.
Rab operates a stewardship fund that supports a variety of causes focused on protecting wild places, expanding access to the outdoors, supporting outdoor industry partnerships, and reducing the impact of outdoor gear production. Some of the organizations Rab supports include Boulder Climbing Community, the Outward Bound Trust, Ladies Weekend Out, Boulder U.K., and Wanderers of Colour.
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Better Trail Certified products score 4 out of 5 or higher in our sustainability ratings and generally meet around 80% or more of our criteria. While it’s true that no product is 100% sustainable—all take resources to create and arrive at your doorstep—these products are industry leaders and among the most sustainable on the market.
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