Comment by angerbot | Hacker News Reader

Comment by angerbot | Hacker News Reader

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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.

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.

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.

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

I think the term you're looking for is "athleisure". It is mostly associated with Lululemon and yoga pants all day, but I'd argue that TNF was the pioneer of it decades ago as climbing and hiking became mainstream and people started wearing practical outdoor gear everyday.

My problem with athleisure is that, while I enjoy that outdoor gear has gotten more fashionable and fit better; the trend tends to slide more into the "leisure" category than the "athletic" category over time. For people like me who actually do all those things in the marketing material like climb and hike, I find myself quickly running out of legitimate outdoor equipment options. Hell, even Arc'teryx now makes suits and topcoats for the Wall Street crowd! At the end of the day, this stuff still needs to be made by somebody because climbing and expedition hiking isn't going away.

I used to walk into REI and be bombarded by choice, but now more and more of their floor space is being taken over by casual clothing. The backpack area is now mostly laptop and messenger bags. The climbing section has gotten smaller and smaller.

Some years ago, after a visit to a college campus where TNF gear was everywhere, I found myself on a city bus, standing next to a young woman in a TNF sun dress. I guess it was well made, and certainly she looked charming in it, but it didn't seem the sort of thing to be worn on the north face of anything much but Capitol Hill. I was amused.

Key people left North Face over a decade ago, and some started Mountain Hardware. Then they moved on from there as well.

I like the way Voormi is coming together. Really high quality from a small company. Also Big Agnes for tents, sleeping bags, and the like.

Colorado fan, huh? I'll admit it was my desire to buy local that initially directed me towards Big Agnes. I've been very happy with their products, but "Buy Local" starts ringing a little bit hollow when every product I've purchased from them was actually manufactured in China.

At Melanzana the sewing machine is right there in Leadville. My friends were surreptitiously snapping photos of the people sewing together fleeces. There aren't many places were you can actually see your gear being made.

I actually found out about Big Agnes while I was living in NYC, but I'd like to see more domestic production as well. Melanzana looks interesting - I'll stop by sometime.

> Key people left North Face over a decade ago, and some started Mountain Hardware

Mountain Hardware was founded in 1993, per Wikipedia, and purchased by Columbia in 2003. Are you thinking of someone else?

OP might be thinking of Sierra Design guys starting up MH. It's a common cycle for these people to jump ship as companies get entrenched and they lose their creative freedom.

Same thing happened with backpacks: Dana Gleason of Dana Designs, sold to K2, fulfilled his noncompete, he starts up Mystery Ranch.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dana_Design

I'm just old - I forget how long ago some of these conversations took place, but mid-90s sounds right.

My wife has a great Rab jacket. Some other very high quality brands I've bought from that people might not have heard of: Mont-Bell (Japan), Montane (UK).

I've had very good experiences with Mont-Bell as well.

Some folks were saying TNF was on a decline even 15 years ago when the VF Corporation bought them.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VF_Corporation

MEC in fact now charge 20 CAD to have a "life warranty" backpack repaired, or give a rebate on a new one, and sure enough they break earlier and earlier.

Be simpler, people. Old Navy, Zero Exposure, Merona and Levis. Cheap and somewhat crappy, but worth every penny.

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