Our connection to OpenWater starts with our founder, Danny Nichols, and his involvement in creating an organization dedicated to supporting those who protect our communities and our country.

For Danny, the ocean has long been a place to find perspective. Through surfing, foiling, and paddling, time on the water offered a way to clear his mind, challenge himself, and return with a renewed sense of purpose. When he met Kyle Kelly, a U.S. Army veteran, they recognized something they wanted to share: the opportunity for adventure and fellowship on the water to serve the people who spend their lives serving others.

Together, Danny and Kyle co-founded OpenWater.

That shared belief became a mission to support the health and well-being of first responders and veterans through training, fellowship, and open water experiences. It gave people a reason to come together, take on a challenge, and find connection through a shared experience.

For Danny, helping create OpenWater also raised an ongoing possibility: how could that message reach more people, and how could he continue contributing to the work?

Through TRA'J, he saw another way to carry it forward.

Clothing moves through everyday life with us. A graphic on a shirt can catch someone’s attention. A name on a hat can start a conversation. Those small moments create opportunities to introduce someone to OpenWater, explain what the organization stands for, and invite them to become part of its community.

OW by TRA'J puts that idea into practice.

The collection brings OpenWater’s identity together with TRA'J’s approach to purposeful wears and provisions. Ocean-inspired artwork and messages of service and resilience carry a connection to the people and purpose behind the collaboration. They offer a way for those who serve, and those who stand beside them, to wear that connection in their daily lives.

“Forged by pressure. Carried with purpose.” expresses the spirit of the collection: respect for what people have faced, what they carry, and how they continue forward.

The collection also includes a 10% give-back to OpenWater, keeping support for the organization built into the collaboration. Alongside the opportunity to reach new people, that contribution helps support the work that brought us together in the first place.

For Danny and TRA'J, this collection continues a commitment that began with helping create OpenWater. It is another way to share its message, invite others into the community, and support those who protect ours.

Explore OW by TRA'J and learn more about the people and programs behind OpenWater at beopenwater.org.