I've noted a marked decline in North Face quality compared to even 5 years ago (Steep Series notwithstanding). It's a shame, they used to be one of my go-to brands when I wanted to spend a bit more but get solid gear.<p>MEC in Canada has the same problem. Sometime around when their logo changed from the mountains to a modern box with "MEC" written in it they stopped stocking as much high quality gear and much of their in house stuff saw a decline in durability/functionality in the name of fashion. Although speaking to people who work there they had solid market research showing that the old audience of hardcore outdoorspeople would no longer be enough to support them as it was shrinking fairly rapidly.<p>These days I mostly stick to Arc'teryx outers/shells, Patagonia for my mid layers, and icebreaker for baselayers. All of my gear from any of those companies has proven to be reliable and durable if pricey. I've heard good things about Peak Performance and Rab as well, but I've yet to purchase anything from them.<p>Edit: since this is now the recommend brands that are good but people maybe haven't heard of thread, I'd also like to plug Hestra, Fjallraven, and Osprey Packs
There's a great podcast series from NPR called How I Built This. They recently interviewed Patagonia's founder Yvon Chouinard:<p><a href="http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/national-public-radio/how-i-built-this/e/patagonia-yvon-chouinard-48508362" rel="nofollow">http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/national-public-radio/how-i-...</a><p>I found it inspiring. If you're unfamiliar with the podcast, it's focused on makers and entrepreneurs.
> Selling professional-grade gear to people with no intention of using it professionally isn’t exactly a new trick in marketing, as the makers of SUVs, digital cameras and headphones can tell you.<p>A ton of companies started out selling legitimately tough things and then turned into just another logo on semi-acceptable products. The Hummer H1 was a legitimately strong vehicle, and could easily climb a 60% slope and travel over actually tough terrain - with 16" of ground clearance on a 72" tall vehicle. The H2 was a disgustingly fuel inefficient large truck, and the H3 was just a standard pickup with an ugly grille.<p>Some of my friends who explore/climb/etc all the time used to buy North Face gear; now, it's mostly another brand for college students. The last thing I personally bought from North Face was a jacket a few years ago - I wore the jacket a handful of times and into the closet it went.<p>Anyone else know more brands that did this? Start out selling gear for pros and then use that image to sell to people who just like the logo? I'd also love to hear about brands that aren't just clothing.
One thing the article does not mention is Chouinard's 1% For The Planet association (member companies pledge to donate 1% of gross annual sales to specific environmental organizations). Chouinard's approach to environmental lobbying and nonprofits is very outcome focused. If you run a business I recommend joining 1% For The Planet: <a href="https://www.onepercentfortheplanet.org/" rel="nofollow">https://www.onepercentfortheplanet.org/</a><p>A lot of details on environmentalism are described in Chouinard's <i>Let My People Go Surfing</i>, which I highly recommend reading. It is a great book about quality, technology, supply chain, and ethics in business.
Their "rivalry" reminds me of the Canon/Nikkon co-existence model. Where they competed but in slightly different market segments. One would have lenses for x-type of photography, while the other had them for y-type photography. Or one would have great sensor in some dimension (color vs bleed) or flash system, etc. And they both co-exist without annihilating the other one -although Nikkon seems to have made some poor decisions of late (and nixed one of their most anticipated products due to costs and ongoing product issues)
REI, Land Rover and most high-end mountain bikes arguably sit in the same microfiber travel chair that folds up into a credit-card: ostensible backcountry use luxury city gear.<p>Some motivations:<p>0. In affluent/flat societies, status is everything, even with home-improvement, camping and other common items. Showing overpaying for shit that doesn't matter is SharperImage's whole business model.<p>1. Some people want non-crappy, daily-practical, multi-use items: sure an over-priced rain jacket shell is good for running but it also fits into a glovebox. Or a sleeping pad that collapses down and fits in the closet behind all the other camping gear used at home.<p>Btw I bought a $250 Colombia Titanium GoreTex jacket with an actual lifetime warranty some years ago that's deteriorated not from normal W&T. Obviously, it cost them probably $15-20 landed to make it so it makes sense to honor such warranties for a time.
I've still own a North Face down jacket I received as a birthday gift 45 years ago. It doesn't fit me any more and could use a good cleaning but it is still wearable and useful for keeping warm. I also had a tent I used regularly for more than 20 years under all kinds of weather until the floor finally gave out. They made really quality stuff back in the day, expensive, yeah, but it lasted.
The North Face does quite a bit of its branding work in the ultrarunning space - they have their own race series, sponsor high-level athletes, and have Dean Karnazes as a spokesperson.<p>But the reason I call it branding is because most actual ultrarunners flock to other shoe brands - Hoka One One, Altra, Brooks. They also know Dean wasn't all that of a top elite in the sport... ever. And the secret is most of North Face's top ultrarunning athletes aren't winning the races actually running in their shoes.<p>All that said, it's a pretty fringe sport and it isn't a bad thing they have gotten involved - as they provide some cash into a sport whose top athletes make in a year what a top software developer makes in a month.
Pretty sure this article[0] went round here last week.<p>[0] <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/09/19/patagonias-philosopher-king" rel="nofollow">http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/09/19/patagonias-phil...</a>
Yvon Chouinard is a real fun guy. (and a stonemaster of old, so he's gotta be OK..)<p>Politics aside, I am thrilled with Patagonia's repair policy. They've repaired a pair of jeans for me 7 times now, several hoodies a few times each ... the up front cost for goods is high, but the durability and service life more than makes up for it.