Hi Guys, I am Max (the store manager) that Brent mentioned.
First off, Thank you Rick for the excellent review! It is always nice to hear when all our efforts pay off and leave a satisfied customer.
Brent is out of town at the moment so I just wanted to pipe up and answer a few questions that have come up.
Brent,
I was in your store last month looking at your jackets. I noticed that they seemed to be made in Canada now. Being it was determined in would need a custom sleeve length, I was wondering if the custom jackets are made in Seattle? I am sure the Canadian jackets are top quality, but I still like to support local when I can.
Darob
Darob (and all), This is true, some of our lightest weight jackets are being made in Vancouver, BC. Rest assured all of the materials from zippers to fabric to down are exactly the same as we use in Seattle and every item still goes through our QC department here in Seattle before it ever reaches the sales floor or a customer. All of our mid- to heavy weight jackets along with all of our sleeping bags, bedding and any custom items are still made entirely in Seattle.
It was not an easy decision to let any production move outside of Seattle but our factory was practically bursting at the seams just trying to keep up with regular order volume. We took what we feel was the best course of action to allow our company to continue growing and keep up with forecasted future order volumes without imposing obnoxiously long production times on our customers simply because we couldn't hire enough qualified sewers in Seattle (already it can be 2-4 weeks for a standard item or 6-8 for a custom item). The factory in Vancouver meets or exceeds all of our standards and as I mentioned, everything still goes through our in-house QC.
Not for nothing, and made in USA is great by me, but then why do they use Egyptian cotton? Just curious, and not looking to bash; their stuff looks nice.
Kamo_gari, As alluded to by Sitka_deer Egyptian Cotton is a classification, not necessarily where it is currently made. We use Egyptian Cotton of approximately 300 thread count in a bi-cambric (1 to 1) weave because it provides the best balance of durability, down-proofness and comfort. The fabric actually comes from China (our fabrics for sleeping bags and garments typically come from Korea or Japan) because finding any fabric woven in the U.S. that meets our standards is next to impossible, let alone any fabric woven in the U.S. that isn't already committed to being used for products for our Armed Forces. All of the construction is done in Seattle (or Vancouver).
As with Brent, I have spent more than my fair share of time lurking here to research for hunting and shooting purchases so if we can be of any help for you guys in our area of expertise don't hesitate to call - 206-292-2210. I am also happy to answer any questions via PM.
