Which gear companies make their stuff in the USA?

had a similar question so I googled this a few months back and Western Mountaineering, Feathered Friends and some OR stuff is made in the States along with some smaller manufacturers. I have been saving for a WM Alpinlite as they are made in the USA and are the best!

thread on made in USA / Economic Stimulus package

Some of the very best! Look at cottage gear manufacturers like Six Moon Designs, ULA Equipment, and Shire's Tarptent. It is some of the best, lightest, functional gear on the market, usually for little or no more than equivalent (but heavier) mainstream gear companies.

Like Bearpaw says, most of the small, high quality, niche companies are made here by the people you talk to on the phone. Not exactly ultra light, but Mystery Ranch and Kifaru come to mind. I assume Moutain Laurel Designs and Gossamer Gear?

If I were starting new I'd shop for all of the U.S. made gear I could find. I wish I could justify dumping the gear I have and restocking with American and Canadian made.

Rivendell Mountain Works

Cooke Custom Sewing

Granite Gear may still make some of their stuff in the US. Until several years ago they made off of it here, but I know some is now made overseas.

McHale packs.

I hope this doesn't hijack this thread, but I hope we're not heading down some sort of jingoistic path here, assuming that only U.S.-made products are any good.

Limiting oneself to only US-made products would mean ruling out Svea stoves, Swiss army knives, all kinds of German optics, Snow Peak, and Montbell.

I can understand not wanting to support industries that use child labor or sweat-shop working conditions; those are wrong. But an argument can also be made that even those conditions offer developing nations an improvement in the standard of living - it's still not our standard, but it's better than what came before. (And, lest we become too holier-than-thou, those same conditions featured prominently in the early U.S. industrial revolution - the same revolution that eventually led to the highest standard of living ever known.)

Again, I'm not trying to justify horrendous working conditions. They are no more right now than they were in the U.S. 120 years ago. But I did feel constrained to at least offer some perspective. (And, in the immortal words of the Torch, "Flame on!")

JacksRBetter

I don't think quality is the issue so much as the multiplier effect of spending money within the US economy vs. buying imported goods. If you cast your bread upon the waters locally, then they will come back to you in the form of a 5 to 7 times increase in local economic spending (or so economists say).

aimless hit it on the head - at least for why i am looking for made in the US products these days. we're in a recession and the dollar is shrinking in value, so i'm trying to keep my dollars here.

Don't forget Equinox!

Hey OP:

Noticed that (1) you are brand new and (2) you have posted the same question over a whole myriad of forums. Are you on some kind of a "Buy American" crusade or something?

I'm not smart enough to know if that was meant to be a slam or not but I'm on his side...if I can find an equally well made product here in the US....that's what I'm buying....end of story!

Funny you are "taking sides" when all OP is asking for is a list.

But I am wondering why this guy is signing up brand new all across different forums... asking the exact same question everywhere -- and only this question!?! Seems like a man on a mission. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

In most cases I think the quality is better, not because US employees can sew better, but because of the nature the companies left making gear here in the states. What is left are small businesses generally making niche gear in many cases by the owners themselves. Prices are generally higher reflecting, among other things, less mass production. That certainly doesn't mean off shore brands are crap. Would you rather have a down bag by Western Mountaineering or Marmot? Both are good, most would prefer Western Mountaineering. The attention to the really small details throughout the entire product is what makes the Western bag better.

Maybe the mission is a long-postponed, imminently-due research paper? After all, school is out in another couple weeks. Hope the professors are sharp enough to point out that this is not a statistically valid sample. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />

What about products assembled in the USA with foreign materials? Are they really American?

I think it's not unreasonable to assume that many of our domestic gear makers are using offshore fabrics. My Nemo tent is one example.

And "Made in the USA" doesn't necessarily mean made in one of the 50 states with American labor. Case in point: Saipan.

It's increasingly difficult to find American goods made in the USA entirely of domestic materials with reasonable quality at a reasonable price.

One of the first sentences that my little neice put together was Made in China. It was cute. But, since probably all the toys she has are made in china. well go figure.

Be more specific.

Do you mean made by Americans in the USA or made by Mexicans in the USA?

Isn't ULA made by Mexicans? Yo pienso asi.

si los mexicanos estan aqui legalmentes y estan pagando sus impuestos, no me importa donde fueran nacidos. Estas diciendo que ULA emplea inmigrantes ilegales?

A poll was done in Florida asking if people thought illegal immigration was a serious problem. The results showed that 29 percent said, "Yes, there is a serious problem." But 71 percent said, "No es una problema seriosa."

LOL, that's a good one. works here in CA, too.

OK, just for kicks i looked up ULA's employee page. here are the two employees of spanish-speaking extraction (there are also two who do not appear to be from central or southern America):

Ruth began working with ULA-Equipment in February '05. She is originally from El Salvador and has been in the US for 25 years, the last 15 years being spent in Logan, UT.

Edith began working with ULA-Equipment in Nov '07. She is originally from Northern Mexico and has been in Logan, UT for 16 years. Edith has 4 kids and her husband works at the local cheese factory and dairy. Edith also works at a dairy here in Cache Valley.


hooty, what exactly was your point? mine (which i typed en espanol) was that if somebody's here legally and they're paying their taxes i don't care where they were born.

Don't forget Texas. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Thanks for the translation tarbubble. I speak two languages, but spanish isn't one of them. Most of the spanish I know is Texas slang. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

Alot of the "Tactical" nylon companies make their stuff in the USA still. Sure not exactly "camping" colors but works well and backed by lifetime warrentees that go the extra mile.

Tactical Talior,, London Bridge Trading, HSGI Gear, Original SOE, Eagle Industries, TAG Gear etc.

Dimitri

T bubble - My point was to ask what does it matter- made in us or not, if it made by cheap imported labor. The economic problem is not going to be solved by purchasing more us made stuff. And it does matter that illegals work here - taxes or not. They will work for less money and drive down wages and working conditions - hence the rich get richer. If Americans will not work for less money, then just import cheap labor, but its okay cause they pay a little tax here and there???? No way. They need to fix their own problems and stay at home. I have nothing against them as humans. No prejudice here. I just hate to see them take jobs from people who have kids that go to school with my kids and that sort of stuff - and the only reason is that they work cheaper.

Wow! So you are categorizing all people that are either born in Mexico (or other places not the US) as illegals, as you seemed to have done in your previous two posts?! What is that?! I'm personally from immigrant decent, but I have a high paying job.

Plus, as far as "fixing their problems at home", what do you think drove the European immigration waves? The great Potato over abundance? All the religious tolerance? Boy I just wanted a cruise?

Besides, we don't need cheap labor to move here to "take" US jobs, we're more than happy to move those jobs out of the US. One way or another those jobs are no long accessible to the US, this is the world economy. Shutting down the borders is not going to change that. Innovation is the way forward, not clinging on to some past notion of what jobs we should have available to us. If we do not innovate, yet still demand to have the highest standard of living on the planet then our jobs are not taken, we have decided to give them away.

Thats why so many of the US cottage gear makers are so great, not because they are in the US, but because they innovate. I just hope that we continue to have an economic environment that encourages new ideas (even if the people who have them weren't born here).

Drow,
It always has to be about you doesn't it?
You must be very sensitive to have read all that in my posts. You might want to meet my wife before you accuse me of stereo typical behavior - sorry if I offended you. But -- for instance Miller brewing is one of the worst offenders of exploiting illegal immigrant workers in order to have a bigger bottom line - that is what I dislike. But you go ahead and let it happen - then if your payscale drops like that of other folks you might understand.

My issue had a lot more with you implying that ULA must have cheap imported labor because they have Latin Americans making the packs. This started with your comments about ULA employees then tarbubble asked "...if somebody's here legally and they're paying their taxes i don't care where they were born?" You then replied it didn't matter if they payed taxes or not, they were still damaging the economy (my paraphrase), and it seemed to me ignoring the fact that the employees were legal. Maybe I read it wrong, or misinterpreted, but it looked to me like you were lumping all immigrants legal or not in one pot.

Now to be fair, I stated that I was an immigrant decent, which is true, but it is of European decent (inheriting many advantages, however unfairly earned), and I am about 3-4 generations in. Nonetheless, it is my roots, and at one point my family was not from here. Probably disingenuous on my part. Sorry. But I also have a lot of friends that are zeroth and first generation Americans, and although they were not born here, we are better off having them here. I was more offended for them, rather than personally offended.

I think what might agree on is that illegal immigration is not good, not for the US and not for the illegal immigrants (or probably legal as well). I personally think we need some significant reform in our policies, but the details of which would cause this thread to wander even further from the point.

> I'm personally from immigrant decent

We all are over here. Even the "natives" walked in over a land bridge from Asia.

agreed. where are the native-born americans who are willing to take low-wage sewing jobs? my grandma slaved as a piece sewer and in sweatshops. it's hard unrewarding work and i don't want it for my kids, but somebody has to make clothes. minimum wage is minimum wage, whether you're a legal immigrant or USA-born.


and as far as immigrants coming in and dragging down our wages - at my husband's work (computer engineering) they CANNOT fill the positions with US citizens, because there are not enough US citizens going into the sciences. they can't get qualified candidates who are US-born. my husband's team at his last job was 60% vietnamese, 10% european and 20% us-born. when he left he was replaced by an Indian. At his newer job his team is mainly Indian, with one Greek and a couple of europeans thrown in. his boss is from China. This is just the reality in our little tech-centered area. it's not going to go away.

we are facing a huge problem here with a decline in placing importance on education. science is the future and we are falling behind fast. our culture no longer values education - we pay it lip service but everybody wants to get rich quick. it's why we've had bubble after bubble burst - the stock burst of 2000-2001, the housing bubble that's falling apart now, and the commodities bubble that's currently swelling (although gas won't be coming down again).

I think tarbubble is right-on here. I work with an R&D company as an engineer. There is a huge shortage of Engineers and Scientists in the country, and my company is having to pull many from overseas, especially India and China. These are high paying jobs (entry level $50,000+ a year) that could be filed with US citizens. My state is also having a huge shortage of machinists. I see education as a major problem.

Did this suddenly change to an illegal immigrant discussion site. WOW !!!!!! What just happened??? <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

Can't we all just get along ???????? <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

The impetus for my question is simply this: my wife and I are planning an AT thru and would like to buy gear as responsibly as possible. I used to be a journalist and learned that at times it is best to cast a wide net, to ask open ended questions, because that exposes you to unexpected answers, and to ask from as many sources as possible. I have even been learning that I don't yet know what "responsibly" means. I have been a member of some of the boards I posted this on for months, a lurker at others for months, and some I just joined. My "mission" is simply to learn.

And boy, have I been learning. I am grateful to everyone who has replied on every board. I am putting together quite a list. On one board someone even started a thread listing where different brands are made by country. Very interesting.

Thanks everyone.