Any climbing clothing companies that are sweat shop free?

Melanzana makes some great outdoor clothing right here in Leadville, CO.

Fun fact. If every american stopped purchasing chinese made products for 1 month we would cut into chinas annual profit by 5%. As it is now china owns america. The point of buying american made products is to further stimulate the currently failing american economy. Get on the band wagon and help be apart of the solution to the problem, instead apart of it

I hate to rain on the "made in america" parade, but I'd like to point out a few things.

A global economy is the reality we live in and we participate in a free market economy in our country.

The purpose of business is to make money. If it were anything else it would be charity. There is a place for that, but it's not business.

It generally costs more to produce goods here than in developing countries, therefore it is better for businesses to produce their wares in other countries and pay for shipping.

This is the reality that we live in. Until we face that reality and figure out how to encourage businesses to spend their money at home and still do good business, stuff is going to be expensive.

IMO just buy what you can afford and be your own judge.

Now I'm stoked! I'm off to buy the super-light Marmot Kompressor backpack and I don't care where it's made because it's the lightest thing on the market for a summit pack.

bull

canada goose and westcomb are just 2 examples of companies producing top notch gear in canada at prices that are comparable to a certain "canadian" outdoor clothing manufacturer makes the majority of their clothing overseas now

the one thats named after a dead bird

i prefer to support companies that produce locally if im paying yuppie prices ... not pay $$$$ for some jacket that is made overseas if they are functionally the same

if the overseas gear is discounted ... and im saving a lot of money, then ill definately take the savings and buy overseas

but please dont tell me they cant produce those $$$$ jackets locally ... because there are companies that do

Canada Goose CEO takes pride in remaining true to 'Made in Canada'

For many winter wanderers around the world, Canada Goose jackets are synonymous with warmth and quality, and Reiss believes a big part of that is because the company’s iconic down-filled jackets are still made right here in Canada.

While other clothing manufacturers have long since outsourced production to Asia, Canada Goose has kept all of its production within Canada, not only as a point of pride but as a crucial part of maintaining the brand’s credibility with consumers, Reiss says.

“Authenticity is everything. You can’t outsource the meaning behind the product. I’d like to think that ‘Made in Canada’ is going to see a renaissance and if it does, we’d like to think we were a part of that because we’ve taken a very strong position that is who we are,” Reiss said.

metronews.ca/vancouver/work…

Lauren D. Hollingsworth wrote:The purpose of business is to make money. If it were anything else it would be charity. There is a place for that, but it's not business.

OK, fair enough, but would we really have lost so many jobs here if our "leaders" hadn't been giving tax breaks and incentives to companies who outsource those jobs? We can make better policy decisions than that. There actually are companies here who don't use the "race to the bottom" model, and consistently turn a profit- do a search on Lincoln Electric in Ohio (they make welding equipment).

This subject might get a bit more interesting when oil gets up around $180/barrel- at that point shipping long distances may not be cheaper, even with the bogus policies we've all been paying for.

good words, Yarp.

Verve produces here in Boulder. check out "bluesign;" it's a third-party certification that tracks supply-consumer chain, rating social/environmental stuff. i know Rab's involved with them. patagonia does its own monitoring, though i know they've involved bluesign in their Common Threads program.

yeah, the argument "for" sweatshop labor smells suspiciously like a well-funded PR firm prepared talking points for the american trade association---who, by the way, is one of the foremost opponents to raising the minimum wage in China.

how very American.

Personally, I find it disgusting the amount of money these companies are charging when they're making the stuff in Asia.

Patagonia charges hundreds of dollars for gore-tex shells that probably only use 1-2 yards of fabric... I cannot believe that those jackets can't be made in America for a (handsome) profit.

Shame on them.

And don't even get me started on the 57 different full-color catalogs per year that patagonia prints and mails out....

They're soooooo green and friendly.

INBC uses american apparel t-shirts (sweatshop free):

I've Never Been Climbing

BDergay wrote:Personally, I find it disgusting the amount of money these companies are charging when they're making the stuff in Asia. Patagonia charges hundreds of dollars for gore-tex shells that probably only use 1-2 yards of fabric... I cannot believe that those jackets can't be made in America for a (handsome) profit. Shame on them. And don't even get me started on the 57 different full-color catalogs per year that patagonia prints and mails out.... They're soooooo green and friendly.

again ... westcomb ... same price as patagucci n dead bird ... not cheap that is

but top notch materials, top notch stitching, and made in vancouver canada

fashionable yuppie design as well ;)

we're talking about carhartt right?

Arcteryx, although a Canadian company has certain contracts with the U.S. military and has set up a factory in the U.S. to make garments that are berry compliant. My guess is that they also produce other things there non military related.

So Arcteryx maybe?

Here’s something that should revise a lot of clichés, though it probably won’t: less than 3% of U.S. consumption expenditures are on goods made in China. Almost 90% are made in the USA. Of course, the domestic total is boosted by services—but even durable goods are 12% China, 67% U.S. And less than half the value of Chinese imports go to China—55% of the money spent on “Chinese” goods represent processing and other services (like distribution and retailing) provided in the U.S.

This info comes from a new paper by Galina Hale and Bart Hobijn of the San Francisco Fed. Their point was to show that Chinese inflation has minimal influence on U.S. price levels, which is persuasive. But it’s also an antidote to the widespread belief that the U.S. is hollowed out and all the action is in China. We’ve got problems, yes, but we’ve also got resources—resources we can do a lot better with than we are now.
source: lbo-news.com/2011/08/09/mad…

Buy used. Nuff said.

Ice4life wrote:Arcteryx, although a Canadian company has certain contracts with the U.S. military and has set up a factory in the U.S. to make garments that are berry compliant. My guess is that they also produce other things there non military related. So Arcteryx maybe?

70% of dead birds are made overseas ... according to a recent fbook post by them ...

this includes such wonderous items as a 275$ polartec fleece jacket made in el salvador ;)

Joe Q's post is cut-and-pasted from a radio commentator's website- if you're interested in the actual Fed article mentioned, it's here:

frbsf.org/publications/econ…

just climb naked.

+1 for thrift stores.

ClimbAddict(my shop) uses blanks that are printed in the US. Some of the apparel blanks are imported, and others are made in US. Still, it is factory work.

My chalkbags, on the other hand, are made not only NOT in a factory, but made by myself. And not only are they not made in an assembly-line production, they actually each have about 45 minutes hand-sewing work(the inside of top collar and belt loops are attached by hand). I don't charge any extra for the handwork, though I am working on adding an information page about the work, and a donations buttons for those who feel they might like to pay more for the handwork.

So, while a chalkbag isn't clothing, per se, it's pretty much a part of the 'climber costume.'