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A pair of products manufactured in our relatively tiny little city of Arcata have advanced to the second round of a competition honoring the “Coolest Things Made in California.”

The cool items in question happen to be produced by sister companies in the recently consolidated Wing Group: One is Kokatat’s Icon Dry Suit, a flexible, waterproof, full-body GORE-TEX getup designed for elite paddlers. The other, produced by Wing Inflatables, is the DBATS 5.2, a rigid-hulled tactical watercraft often employed by the U.S. military for combat/reconnaissance operations.

As for the “Coolest Things” competition, it’s a statewide voting contest presented annually by the California Manufacturers & Technology Association (CMTA). This year’s contest has been divided into two brackets: one for large manufacturers and another for small- and medium-sized manufacturers. That’s where the Wing Group companies fit in.

The competition began last Monday with 16 products duking it out in each bracket. [CORRECTION: It began two weeks ago, with 32 products per bracket.] Kokatat’s dry suit and Wing’s inflatable boat each defeated their second-round adversary to advance to the “Top 8.” Voting continues this week and next on the CMTA website, and the winners will be announced on Oct. 28.

Mark Branagh, the interim president of Kokatat, Inc., told the Outpost this morning that the homegrown company (established in 1971) is “one of the last standing drysuit manufacturers in North America.” Most of its competitors have outsourced their production, he said.

Wing Group CEO Andrew Branagh (Mark’s dad) noted that Kokatat also manufactures a specialized chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) protective suit that was originally developed for U.S. Special Forces.

“We’re able to manufacture those, and our workforce has the skills, because of our long term experience in the whitewater rafting [industry],” the elder Branagh said.

“The government is always coming to us because we have this crazy skill set, having built products in this harsh environment,” Mark Branagh added, referring to the whitewater rivers on the North Coast.

The Wing Group acquired Kokatat in January, and Andrew Branagh said the union has been symbiotic. “We effectively do similar things — seal, sew and welding waterproof fabrics,” he said. The two companies help each other out by sharing technology and workloads.

“We’re so proud of workforce the and innovation coming out of Arcata and Eureka,” he added. Kokatat currently has 105 employees, and with 18 open positions they’re looking to hire more. Wing Inflatables has about 223 employees. In the past year alone, Wing Inflatables has landed 27 federal government contracts collectively worth just under $65 million.

The Wing Group just joined the CMTA earlier this year (on 4/20, appropriately enough for Arcata). The trade group highlighted Wing’s bona fides in the aerospace and defense manufacturing sectors, noting that its companies recently assisted NASA’s Artemis II mission, “supplying the watercraft used to recover astronauts upon landing, as well as life jackets, rescue suits, life rafts, and onboard safety equipment.”

Here’s the link if you want to vote in the “Coolest Things Made in California” contest.