I'm the founder of Rock Exotica, Rock Thompson, and I'll tell this in the first person. Rock Exotica started in 1987 and made a variety of unique products. A few years later a big European company (BEC) approached me about making carabiners for them, so the BEC and I started another company, Thompson Manufacturing, Inc. (TMI). This was an interesting endeaver and I learned a lot. Even though Rock Exotica was running on auto pilot, its products continued to gain in popularity. There was a demand for them from around the world and eventually the BEC wanted them, so we made most of them under their brand and they distributed them. This was the period when Rock Exotica as a brand "disappeared". I enjoyed my time with the BEC, but I wanted to work more on innovation and new products of my choosing. Luckily I was able to buy the shares of the BEC so TMI could become independant and we could bring back Rock Exotica.