I was doing a search for a jacket to wear this winter while attempting to snowshoe in the Rockies, and I came across this Oakley Squad Jacket.

backcountry.com had it for $138 and Steep and Cheap had it for a short while for $85. What intrigues me about this jacket is its country of origin. The Anguilla Islands.

It's really only the one Anguilla Island, and it's over there by St. Martin/St. Marteen in the Caribbean. It wasn't that long ago that Conde Naste named Anguilla as having one of the best beaches in the world (and not a whole lot else.) For many years they had a big Jimmy Buffett concert on the island each year. And now they are making ski jackets at $249-a-pop retail.

I get this vision of the locals working at their sewing machines in a cinderblock building, taking a break and looking out the window at a view to die for, wondering what the heck those wealthy North Americans are doing being -- actually playing -- in a place that requires us to a have "strategically placed Thinsulate insulation" on our backs to keep from freezing.

Reminds me of that Backpacker article a few years ago where the Vietnamese making all those name-brand backpacks were asked what they were making. Several answered that they were making packs for us to go shopping and put our "stuff" in (since how could we have time to do anything else?)

If that building down in Anguilla making those jackets doesn't have a/c, then what could possibly be a more scenic place for a sweatshop?
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- kevon

(avatar: raptor, Lake Dillon)