Why companies like TNF, Patagonia, and Columbia Sportswear will not come back to the USA for manufacturing production

I saw an advertisement from Patagonia for a “cagoule” that sells for $349.00 that is made in China. I make and have made a cagoule for at least 15 years and I sell it for $140.00 and it is made in the USA from materials that are also made in the USA. The Patagonia cagoule is made from a Gore fabric which I expect is three times the price of what I pay. Taking that into consideration the price would probably be in the low $200.00 range since the labor doesn’t change.

Since the product is made in China the labor is probably 10 percent of my cost. Also the Patagonia cagoule is far simpler than mine. Having seen this product gave me the answer to the question as to the reason these and many other companies chose not to come back to the USA. The margin of profit that they work on and the fact that they advertise to an audience that is enamored by the products these companies offer regardless of price or ability to perform. So there are people who chose to spend the money that they ask, for products just to show what they have, have you noticed that all of these companies turn their customers into billboards for then. At one time companies put logo labels on the lining inside of the garments, now and I believe it was originally started by Patagonia they embroidery their logos on the chest or back shoulder or who knows where on the garments they sell. This in my opinion makes the customer a walking advertisement. Years ago when Patagonia started this practice I knew people who cut the thread and removed the Patagonia name. I wouldn’t purchase the garment.

ANOTHER NEW INSULATION AND WATERPROOF VAPOR PERMEABLE TECHNOLOGY?

Polartec Company is the latest company to venture into the business of selling insulation and waterproof vapor permeable materials. Their catch phase is the “IMPOSSIBLE MADE POSSIBLE”. They do not have any employee(s) that actually have knowledge of insulation. They may have employee(s) that know what it is, but that is all.

Their catch phase is asinine. How can something that is impossible be made possible? If something that initially is regarded as impossible but can be accomplished, therefore it is obviously not impossible. But, IF, they could accomplish this it would be a first. The fact is what they do have is impossible products to be made. Their new insulation is nothing more than chopped staple polyester fiberfill that has been around since 1960. The literature that I read on their web site states and I quote “an entirely new insulation”. Utter nonsense in my opinion, and as misleading as the Primaloft company is about their chopped staple fiberfill product! They also claim that their product is and I quote an “invention”. Remarkable that they invented what already exists. All they are doing is quilting a fabric they make to any one of three weights of polyester fiberfill, 80 (2.8 ounces), 100 (3.5 ounces), or 120 (4.25 ounces) grams each. These weights of fiberfill are not sufficient for outerwear garments used below 32 degrees. Their new “waterproof and breathable” material is, and I quote “this invention revolutionizes waterproof membranes used in outerwear”. When I spoke with them, they told me that the material used has a urethane coating. I can only assume the people employed at Polartec are new to the textile industry. I say that because chopped staple fiberfill for quilted purposes has been going on since 1960 and the use of urethane coating has been going on since the mid 1960’s from my experience. I first became aware of it when a company called Reeves Brothers presented a urethane coated fabric to the raincoat industry. They advertised this fabric as waterproof and breathable back then. It wasn’t then and it isn’t today and believe it or not it will not be tomorrow.

They list on their web site a fair number of clothing brands that sell garments made with the materials they make and I guess some of these companies are utilizing currently or will be using these materials for new garments in the future. Will any of these companies question; or heaven forbid actually test these materials to find out if they actually work as presented to them, of course not, why, the advertising dollars that are available for them.

For all the years I have owned Wiggy’s I have heard from people that they want the lightest sleeping bag they can find for a given temperature rating and that also includes their outerwear. Based upon my knowledge I have taken the position that if I can’t make a bag that meets the requested weight versus temperature rating nobody can because the Lamilite outperforms every other insulating medium in the world. That said, all of the fabric suppliers are pushed by the garment makers to come up with lighter and lighter weight fabrics and insulations. The fabric suppliers come up with fabrics and insulations that they claim will do what the maker wants so the maker can now tell the consumer they have this new miraculous product. The problem is quite simple, the fabric does not do what the fabric supplier claims so the garment or sleeping bag does not do what the maker claims, and who gets stuck with a bad product; the ultimate consumer.

FEATHERLESS INSULATION

I just read that the 3 M Company has introduced at the Outdoor Retailer trade show “featherless insulation”. It is trade named “Thinsulate Featherless Insulation”. When I read this news release I laughed to myself. I have been selling featherless insulation for 52 years, have I missed something? Their product they say and I quote; “3M Thinsulate Featherless Insulation was designed to closely mimic the look and performance of natural down with two times the loft when wet and without the allergens. The fill is as lightweight as natural down, highly breathable (to breathe it must be alive, is it?) and provides extreme warmth for extreme conditions. In addition, 3M claims the product is warm when wet, equal to 600 fill power and loftier than down at the same basis weight”. I guess 3M couldn’t let Primaloft be the only company that has a synthetic down like product, which it isn’t. Also, I wonder what they would say to you if you asked what they believe are extreme conditions and have they used their product in extreme conditions and if so what were the temperatures they encounter?

Unfortunately this is not a joke, they are serious about putting this product on the market and I believe that there will probably be a large advertising budget to entice companies to use their product. When they say designed to mimic the look of down are they saying their synthetic looks like a down cluster or possibly after it is quilted to fabric for use in making a jacket? Then the quilted jacket will look like a down jacket. Haven’t quilted jackets with polyester since the 1960’s looked like quilted down jackets? So, what is so new with what 3M is talking about, in my opinion nothing! What is so new about a polyester fiberfill not collapsing completely when it gets wet as happens to down, nothing!

The reason that 3M and Primaloft are offering products that are either a blend of down with polyester as Primaloft is doing and now the 3M product is because the price of down has increased significantly so the manufacturers of down jackets or sleeping bags, but specifically jackets can have lower priced for the winter of 2014. As 3M state’s and I quote; “3M Thinsulate Featherless Insulation brings real value by providing an effective and cost-effective alternative to natural down, said Erik Iverson for 3M Thinsulate Insulation. This innovation is just the beginning as the 3M Thinsulate Insulation brand continues to innovate bringing newer and better products to the marketplace”.

Who will be the recipient of garments made with these less than adequate insulating mediums, the general public that may very well be swayed by the advertising that is put out there!

It is my educated opinion that the reason the Climashield is not used by companies the market outerwear is because it is only made in the USA and these companies do not want to export the fiber to the Asian factories that work for them. They want to buy all of the components from Asian suppliers. Chopped staple fiber is readily available in Asia so that is what they will use and since these two companies make these products in Asia that is what is used.

I have said it before and will be saying as long as I am in the business, there is no fiberfill product for insulation purposes even close to Climashield and there is no better way to use it than laminated, Lamilite.